Anyone who has been reading the things I've been posting about the most recent Pokémon games these past several months knows that I haven't completely been kind to them. Case in point, here, here, and here. While these games are not abominable garbage that no man or woman should touch with a ten-foot pole, I personally think they are indicative of their creators taking shortcuts and revealing indirectly that they are willing to cut corners and reduce the overall quality of something in order to make a quick profit. Despite this, I do have a few Pokémon games up my sleeve that I think deserve endless praise and recognition.

These are the first of those: "Pokémon HeartGold" and "SoulSilver."

Let's begin by stating something factual: these games are remakes of the second generation games that were released in 2000: "Pokémon Gold" and "Silver." They are ports that have graphical enhancements, some minor plot and story changes, and connectivity to the internet á la the generation four games on the DS, and most importantly, have a plethora of new and exciting features that add to the experience. I will get to some of the more relevant ones momentarily.

Instead of writing on and on about these games, I'll instead show you four things that make "HeartGold" and "SoulSilver" great.

Difficulty Level:

One of my biggest criticisms of "Pokémon X" and "Y," as well as "Sun" and "Moon," is that they are way too easy. The entire game holds your hand, gives you free stuff, and even has a tool to prevent you from having to train your Pokémon! It does it all for you! Not this time, though! Pokémon HGSS (as I've abbreviated them) actually make you construct a team of Pokémon and train them individually, with a bit of grinding. While "grinding" is a hot-button term in RPG communities, every RPG should have a little bit of grinding necessary, particularly Pokémon. You will find yourself under-leveled and outmanned sometimes, but it's nothing a little grinding and some new moves can't solve. These games also bring back tough foes in new formats like Whitney and her famed Miltank, Morty and his swift Gengar, and especially the final trainer that awaits you at the top of Mt. Silver: Red.

Post-Story Content:

HGSS absolutely is chock-full of content beyond just the base story, which will already take you about thirty or so hours to complete, there's at least another twenty on top of that, making these games full-fledged RPG experiences. These games and their original versions are still the only Pokémon games with more than eight badges to collect, and as such the Kanto region post-game has many more tough trainers to defeat. After that, you can challenge Red on Mt. Silver, who is heralded as the strongest boss in any Pokémon game. Another excellent feature of this game is the Battle Frontier, where you can take your well-trained Pokémon to battle in heated matches against the five leaders there.

Pokédex:

HGSS's Pokédex is excellent in that it's not too small, but not too big either. It has around 280 'mons to collect, which is the original 251 from "Gold" and "Silver," as well as some new evolutions of old Pokémon introduced in generation four. I've criticized X and Y for having too big of a Pokédex where the newer Pokémon get drowned out by the older ones, and "Sun" and "Moon's" Pokédex for having too few new Pokémon, as well as having some of them being so hard to find. HGSS has very few Pokémon that are difficult to find, and you'll see most of the relevant Pokédex during your main quest.

Trueness to its Predecessors:

Despite how good these games are, they are still remakes. Despite this, even though Game Freak could've made these games completely unrecognizable by putting in too many new features, the games are still very, very similar to their predecessors, and the new features don't take away from the quintessential Johto experience. You aren't forced to try new features like you are in "Sun" and "Moon." You are left to your own devices and can do your adventure your way like a Pokémon game should be, not railroaded into something stupid and uneventful.

In conclusion, "Pokémon HeartGold" and "SoulSilver" are the quintessential Pokémon experience and should be one of the first games you get your hands on if you want to experience a good Pokémon game. Be careful, though, as these games can hit about $60 retail out of the box! There are also scalpers reading to take advantage of naive folks with bootleg versions of the game. Tread carefully!

Pros:

+ Great sprites and excellent animations, particularly for the DS

+ Engaging story that only shows itself at the best times, instead of all the time

+ No handholding and railroading: you're left to adventure how you want!

+ Excellent soundtrack with great ambient and exciting music!

+ Has a lot of content without it being just "fluff"

+ Not too hard, but not too easy, either

+ Great Pokémon variety and lots of options for team-building

Cons:

- The level curve in the game can be awkward; some grinding may be required

- Despite it being a "generation two" game, a lot of really good generation two Pokémon (houndour, slugma) are only available in Kanto

Overall Rating: 9.5/10