Pokémon HeartGold and SoulSilver (often abbreviated to “HGSS“) are two Generation IV remakes of the original Pokémon Gold and Silver, released in Japan 10 years prior. The games were officially released on September 12, 2009 in Japan, March 14th, 2010 in the USA, March 25th, 2010 in Australia, and March 26th in Europe.
Look and Appearance
A lot has changed in the ten years since Gold and Silver’s original release. Pokémon fans have gone from the limited color of the Game Boy Color, to the 16-bit color of the Game Boy Advance, all the way to the dual-screen, 3D environment appearance of the Nintendo DS. As such, the look and feel of HeartGold and SoulSilver are drastically different from its original debut, looking more in line with Diamond, Pearl, and Platinum, but still keeping plenty to bring back memories!
If you haven’t played the original Gold and Silver, well, everything will look new to you! Not all of us grew up on the originals, so you’ll find that it’s a brave new world of Johto to explore for you. But if you are a veteran of the Pokémon series, you’ll also find the games to be true to the originals while still adding enough to make it thoroughly enjoyable.
Pokémon now follow you around!
One very pleasing addition to the game is that your lead Pokemon will now follow you around outside of battle, similar to the Pikachu in Pokémon Yellow or the Pokémon you could bring into the Amity Square in Diamond, Pearl, and Platinum.
The game is now much more touch-screen friendly and makes much better use of the bottom screen for displaying menus, selections, and a bunch of other stuff. For instance, rather than displaying the menu (when you would normally press X) on the top screen, it is always available for you on the bottom screen. You can just tap, say, Items or Pokémon to go to that screen — or you can press X and use the control pad to navigate down there.
It’s a really nice touch (no pun intended), because HeartGold and SoulSilver do a great job at making the game fully playable without using a stylus, too, for more traditional playing, while also allowing those that enjoy tapping to get through menus that option.
One more nice touch is that all of the Gyms in the game have been remastered. Some of them have new puzzles to them or new ways of getting through, while others may just look a bit nicer than before and be roughly the same.
It’s a very nice touch that will make the game seem fresh, regardless of if you’re a Pokémon veteran of the Gold and Silver era or a new fledgling eager to see what it’s all about!
Features Improved from Gold and Silver
PokéGear
The PokéGear from the original Gold and Silver is back, though it has been improved quite a bit. It still has all of the features from the originals, but with some improvements made.
For instance, you can now store unlimited phone numbers in your phone for the PokéGear. It used to be that you could only store so many numbers and you’d have to delete people from your list. That’s no longer the case.
One other change with the phone is that it’s a lot less annoying. The phone will ring and ring, but you aren’t forced to answer. You’ll need to access your PokéGear from the menu in order to pick up. That can be convenient if you don’t want to be bothered listening to people jabber on.
The map for the PokéGear is bright and colorful, showing you all of the different areas in Johto (and Kanto), and it will also show you any roaming Legendary Pokémon on the map, like Raikou or Entei. Unfortunately, I have to say I prefer the Pokétch from Diamond, Pearl, and Platinum, because you have to open the PokéGear every time you change a route when trying to chase these Pokemon, as opposed to just peeking at the bottom screen, but it’s much better than it used to be.
You can also mark each location and put your own notes to it, with markings like TMs and Pokémon, reminding you what you need to get through the route or area, or what kind of Pokémon lurk there. Anything, really.
In addition to that, there’s the radio (obtained in Goldenrod City) which is basically the same, although a little more interesting than before, perhaps.
Apricorn Improvements
Returning to the Pokémon series are Apricorns and the seven types of Poké Balls that can be crafted from them. Instead of finding berries scattered all across Johto, you’ll find Apricorn Trees instead. Once you get the Apricorn Case (found on Route 30), you can start shaking those trees and pick Apricorns — one from each tree each day.
These Apricorns can either be given to Kurt in Azalea Town, where he’ll make special types of Poké Balls for you that have different effects and such, or you can use the Apricorn Shaker to make shakes to improve your Pokémon’s Pokéthlon stats.
One nice change from the original Gold and Silver is that you can give Kurt multiples of a certain type of Apricorn, and he’ll make them all for you the next day. Give him 7 Green Apricorns, for instance, and he’ll have 7 Friend Balls for you the next day. That makes it pretty easy to get a good amount of these special sorts of Poké Balls if you have a bit of patience.
Totally New Features
Poké Walker
One of the first things you may notice when you get your copy of Pokémon HeartGold or SoulSilver is this mysterious looking Poké Ball thing that comes with it, all neatly wrapped up and secure. What is this thing, you ask? It’s the Poké Walker!
You can transfer a Pokémon from your PC into the Poké Walker and take it around with you! It will count your steps, like a pedometer, and you’ll earn a sort of currency known as Watts (marked with a W, like 10 W). You can spend 3 W to use the Item Finder on the Poké Walker to try get some items, spend 10 W to use the Poké Radar on the Poké Walker to have a little mini-battle against a Pokémon and try catch it, or you can just send all of your unused Watts back to your HeartGold or SoulSilver game to unlock new courses you can send your Pokémon to, with each course having its own selection of Pokémon and items to find.
There are only three buttons—left, right, and the middle button—but don’t let its simplicity fool you: it’s a potent little device! Take it with you to school, on your walks, or find other creative uses to shake it and earn yourself some Watts!
Pokéthlon
Gone are the days of Pokémon Contests in Johto — in their place is a wildly fun new minigame area called the Pokéthlon (Poké – athlon, like a triathlon). You can find the Pokéthlon Hall at the entrance to the National Park.
What is the Pokéthlon? Its namesake is from a triathlon, where three members form a team to compete in sporting events. There are five different categories you can enter three of your Pokémon to compete in. Each of these categories use the bottom screen and all three of your Pokémon in tag-team fashioned minigames.
It’s a lot of fun! Each Pokémon species has individual limits on, say, speed, power, and stamina, but some individual Pokemon are better than others. They can be improved (up to the limit) by feeding your Pokémon special drinks made from Apricorns using the Apricorn Shaker item.
This is a great way to get some useful items, including evolutionary stones (which were very hard to get in the original Gold and Silver).
The Safari Zone
In the original Gold and Silver, the Safari Zone had apparently been moved somewhere, because its old home in Fuchsia City was nothing more than a bunch of trees. However, HeartGold and SoulSilver decided to bring back that fun Pokemon-catching minigame, and even added some sweet improvements to it compared to the Great Marsh in Diamond, Pearl, and Platinum.
You can access the Safari Zone from a cave north of Cianwood City. You’ll need to have beaten Jasmine in Olivine City before you can proceed, but past the cave are the two new routes — Route 47 and 48 — as well as the Safari Zone at the very end.
You’ll first be asked to catch a Geodude in the Safari Zone if you talk to the Safari Zone owner, Baoba (who you meet on your way to Olivine City and who calls you when you can go there). If you do and show it to him, the next day, he’ll let you play around and rearrange the Safari Zone’s six areas to your liking—you can place different landscapes, and a bit later on, you can even place decorations that will help improve the odds of you encountering specific Pokémon!
It’s definitely a lot more three-dimensional than any older incarnation of the Safari Zone. The new customization is pretty sweet, plus there’s quite a few nifty Pokémon you can catch in there, both early on and after you get the National Dex!