Pokemon HeartGold & SoulSilver

Before you ask, ‘Surely university students are far too old to play Pokemon?’, think again. I’m sure that many of you who owned the original Gameboy played either Pokemon Red or Blue, the first generation of the game series, back in 1998. If you want to exaggerate slightly, you could say that our age group were the first generation to play Pokemon, so nostalgia practically dictates that the most dedicated fans of the game will want to play the re-mastered DS versions of what were generally accepted to be the best games of the series.
HeartGold and SoulSilver, the remakes of Gold and Silver, are two separate games that are practically identical with the exception of being able to catch some different Pokemon; you only really need to buy one of them. Thanks to the DS’ wifi, you can trade either globally or with a friend who has the other game to get the Pokemon you don’t have.

To clarify, there are now four generations of the Pokemon games. Most of you might remember Red and Blue, the first generation, and Gold and Silver, the second and most popular generation. Since then, we have also had Ruby and Sapphire for the Gameboy Advance and Diamond and Pearl for the DS. Only weeks ago, Japan announced the fifth generation, Black and White, also for the DS, which will reach Europe some time in 2011. Considering the number of games produced and the fact that they have continuously sold in their millions, both from old school and newer buyers, proves that Pokemon is an extremely popular and addictive series.

For those of you who never played the games or have simply forgotten, here’s a quick recap of the plot. You start off in your hometown as a budding trainer of the weird and wonderful creatures known as Pokemon. After collecting your first Pokemon from your local professor (Yes, I know, Pokemon is apparently an acceptable path of scientific research) your mission is to travel across the continent of Johto, capturing more Pokemon, training and evolving them into stronger fighters, defeating Pokemon gym leaders for badges and eventually taking on the Elite Four to become the champion. As well as this, you can complete the equivalent of the Pokemon encyclopaedia, the Pokedex, by travelling and meeting new species. This task is much harder than it sounds because, now that there are four generations of Pokemon, there are 493 Pokemon in total.

This general story has been integral to all of the Pokemon games since the first generation, so why is HeartGold and SoulSilver so much better? First of all, many brand new features have been added to the games and the in-game legendary Pokemon that you have to fight in the game, Ho-oh and Lugia, return as old favourites. Your character becomes more personally involved in the plot as they battle the evil corporation Team Rocket, who seek to take over the world with Pokemon, and even as they battle the previously mentioned legendary Pokemon, to reconcile the differences between humans and Pokemon. Whilst the plot isn’t exactly complicated, it’s a formula that has worked well for the last decade and allows you plenty of room to play the game exactly how you want.

In terms of new features, the most popular one is that, rather than walking around on your own, the first Pokemon in your team will now follow you. It’s very entertaining talking to whichever Pokemon is following you, whether they’re sulking and wanting attention or doing warm up exercises, and also useful as they can pick up items on the ground as you’re walking.
The second new feature is the Pokewalker, a pedometer that connects to your DS wirelessly. Simply choose a Pokemon you want to level up, transfer it to the Pokewalker, clip it to your belt and go! The more you walk about in the real world, the more experience your Pokemon gets and the more watts you get which opens more areas on the Pokewalker where you can catch new Pokemon. As well as this, you can point your Pokewalker at a friend’s to receive a gift, often something pretty valuable! Walking to lectures now has a fun and non-academic purpose. Who said gaming wasn’t good for your health?

You may be wondering how on earth you are supposed to get 493 Pokemon if you don’t have the other games but, thanks to the bonus features of HeartGold and SoulSilver, it’s easier than you’d think. The Pokewalker unlocks Pokemon from other generations that you won’t have found by just playing HeartGold and SoulSilver alone and, once you have defeated the Elite Four, you can play music on your radio from the other generations to make new Pokemon appear in certain areas. If you’ve kept your previous games rather than sold them to try and get some of your student loan back, there is an easier option of either plugging a Gameboy Advance game into the spare slot of the DS to migrate other Pokemon over or borrowing a friend’s DS to wirelessly trade your Diamond and Pearl team.

What is perhaps most exciting is that you can travel to the continent from the first generation, Kanto, after having defeated the Elite Four. This is great news for the nostalgic fans who played the original Red and Blue games because you effectively get two games in one and have another eight gym leaders to beat.

As an old school fan of the Pokemon video game series, I cannot recommend HeartGold and SoulSilver enough. If you have ever played a Pokemon game before, I can guarantee you will enjoy this latest instalment of the series. If you have never played any of the Pokemon games before it’s not too late to get started. It’s an ideal game to play around revision; you can quickly pick it up, play it for half an hour, save wherever you want (no need to worry about finding a save point) and then get back to work. Saying that, you can easily get too addicted, suddenly find that it’s ten o’clock at night and you haven’t had dinner, depending on how strong your will power is!