Press X to Win

For those not in the know, I’m a total Pokemon fangirl. I’ve played since they first came out with the series way back when and I’ve gotten all the (main) games ever since then. But one particular game in the series had a special place in my heart — that game being Pokemon Crystal. So, myself, along with a countless number of those Pokefans, have been hoping ever since the remakes of the first generation games (those remakes being FireRed and LeafGreen) that Nintendo would heed our pleas for a remake to the second generation, of which Crystal is a part. Then came the fourth generation, and our hopes were renewed that maybe Nintendo would make a repeat performance with their remakes.

Earlier this year our prayers were answered.

Nintendo announced the next two games in the Pokemon series: HeartGold and SoulSilver. These games would be remakes of the second generation games, Gold and Silver with added content and some changed things, the most drastic of which being the inclusion of a girl character — not Kris, who was the first girl character of the series (in Crystal), but Kotone, a character who people have likened to looking like Mario. And these two games released nigh two days ago in Japan. And every Pokefan squee’d with such delight. … or at least I did.

A couple of days before, the game got leaked. We here at Press X to Win do not advocate piracy in any way, but I’m such a Pokefreak that I HAD to play it now rather than waiting till Spring 2010 when the games are slated to be released in the States. And sadly, I currently don’t have the money to actually import it — if you would like to play the games, I highly suggest that you try and import, since the DS Phat and DS Lite are both region-free (though I’ve heard that the DSi is not). At first, things were a little difficult because the rom image itself seems to like freezing when it’s not on its original SD card. However, a few patches have been created to keep this from occurring — sadly, the game still does not work on no$gba, but there are some DS emulators that will work with the game. The intro is only a small taste of the awesomesauce to come in the game. I put in my name (in Japanese of course ^^;) and started on my adventure into the world of Pokemon.

Those of you who are familiar with the layout of the fourth generation will notice some differences in the way things look in HG/SS. For one thing, the touch screen is MUCH more prominent.

The touch screen allows you to quickly access various functions.

You can still use the same commands as before to access different things — the X button still allows you to access the menu items, though your selection will be on the bottom screen, rather than the menu showing up on the top screen. You might also notice the shoe icon right above the A button indicator (which changes its text depending on the situation: Speak, Examine, etc). This is a handy feature that allows you to auto-run instead of having to hold down the B button all the time to use the Running Shoes. I found this very handy, as it saves my thumb some stress. Though, I did find myself holding down the B button anyways out of habit.

Many of the menu options have had their looks changed to accomodate better the extra use of the touch screen. This is most apparent in places like the Trainer Card (where the badges are shown on the top screen — no more cleaning and playing songs!), the Save option, and in particular the Pokedex, which is much easier to navigate, though deviates quite a bit from how it has looked for the past 14 games.

No more scrolling -- just drag and pick!

The bag has been changed drastically from its fourth generation counterpart. Instead of having a list like the first three games, you now have a screen similar to the battle system. Your character also appears as a 3D model on the top screen, rotating to show the different locations of where the items are in the bag.

The bag looks very different this time around.

The battle system remains mostly unchanged from the rest of the fourth generation. The Physcial/Special split is still in place and the system itself functions just as it has for the entire series. The bottom screen’s menu is much cleaner, however, and seems to respond a little better than the first three games.

The remixed battle music is a very nice plus!

All-in-all, I believe these remakes do the original games complete and total justice, and could probably be considered one of the best Pokemon games of the series — if only because it takes the greatest games of the series and makes them better. I’m anxiously awaiting the full English version in the Spring — in fact, it’s the only other game I’m getting other than Dissidia in the coming year. Expect to see a full review of SoulSilver when I get it in the spring!