Pokémon Soul Silver Review

As a remake, the journey offered in Pokémon Soul Silver is similar to the one many gamers took around 10 years ago. With the introduction of many new features, like night & day and breeding, the original Silver/Gold games were the perfect follow-up sequel fans were craving. With a fresh coat of paint, a lot of changes from the original, and a Pokéwalker, this game is a shining example of how far the Pokémon series has come and what changes need to be made to keep series fun for long time players.

Gameplay

If you’ve played any game in the series before, then the main gameplay is pretty self explanatory. The game involves raising and catching a wide range of creatures, known as “Pokémon,” throughout many different areas and environments. As with any role-playing game, each Pokémon you defeat gives you experience points which allow your Pokémon to level up and become more powerful. Battles are a fairly straightforward turn based operation; choose a Pokémon that is strong and/or not weak against your opponent. Use the most effective attacks you can and try to win without loosing anyone on your team. While the game does have a lot of depth thanks to the large range of Pokémon types, strengths/weaknesses, abilities, and hidden statistics, this also makes the main flaw that much more obvious: the game is extremely easy to beat if you don’t set any restrictions for yourself. The high random encounter rate, which many people may still not enjoy, means you’ll do plenty of additional leveling up while traveling the pathway towards the next location you need to visit.

Even when you do only a minimal amount of grinding, your main Pokémon will generally be much stronger than all of your opponents as long as you keep leveling it. If you’re facing an opponent who has a major type advantage over it, no problem; just go out and easily catch a high enough leveled Pokémon of the type you need, then proceed to beat them as easily as always. Many people rush through the game since they care more about the post-game content than most of the gameplay itself. If you’re after a challenge, you’ll have to connect with a friend or play over WiFi where there’s a really competitive, and fun, battling scene. While the game itself is easy, the combination of complexity and ease of use, for people who don’t want to delve deeper, makes the battle system very solid and enjoyable.

On the side of the main gameplay, there’s a variety of side mini-games that can be played in-game. The biggest new addition is the Pokéathlon. It offers a number of different events your Pokémon can compete in. Each Pokémon has stats, which can be improved with Apricorns, that allow it to do better in certain events. None of them are particularly challenging, but it offers a nice break from the main game. Additionally, after you beat the game, the Battle Frontier is accessible once again. This offers different ways to battle with your Pokémon and can be rather challenging after you get on a winning streak. It’s the best location to face non-human trainers if you’re wanting to test your team.

The game also comes packed with a Pokéwalker, which is essentially a pedometer with a Pokémon themed twist. You can transfer one of your Pokémon to the walker and have the opportunity to catch a limited number of Pokemon and get items in a few small mini-games. To do these mini-games, you need to build up “Watts” by walking around with it. This makes a great incentive to get outside more and exercise while continuing to enjoy your game.

Storyline

It could be argued that going on your own adventure and raising whatever Pokémon you feel like is technically a storyline, this is the same argument Civilization fans use to explain why the strategy series has no storyline; you’re essentially making your own story. Based on what’s found in-game, however, there’s not much storyline to be found. Even though there’s not much to “spoil,” I’ll avoid the exact details and circumstances to keep this as spoiler free as possible. You travel and collect all of the gym badges while filling your Pokédex for Professor Oak. You‘re also complimented for your “natural talent” and a lot problems end with some variation of “I had faith in you.“ Doesn’t that sound familiar? In comparison to the original Silver/Gold games, the storyline is better developed and the characters have a little more personality, but that’s still not saying much.

Audio

The sound and the music will sound fairly typical for a Pokémon/RPG type experience. There’s a few memorable remakes of older songs that you’ll appreciate more if you experienced the Silver or Gold. While the “cries” of each Pokémon aren’t always impressive, especially with the earlier generation Pokémon, they’ll bring back a lot of memories. As a remake and not a brand new generation, the choice to not redo any of the older Pokémon cries fits this game very well. Newcomers to the series may be disappointed with the lower audio quality, but veterans will find it very fitting.

Graphics

As a step up from Pokémon Diamond/Pearl, it shows the developers wanted to experiment with 3D which, as most people now know, is mostly implemented into the upcoming Pokémon Black/White. The majority of the game looks decent and the 2D mixed with 3D works well. However, some of the over-the-top 3D in a few of the areas feels out of place because you will not find it consistently throughout the game. You’ll often times forget that parts of the game are in 3D which these areas to awkwardly stand out. In battles, all of the Pokémon sprites are 2D. With the huge number of possible Pokémon to catch, this is acceptable considering the limits of the DS system and cartridge. While it‘s not perfect, the additional graphical upgrades are a welcome change.

Conclusion

There’s no denying that Pokémon Soul Silver is a great remake and another solid iteration in the series. While it doesn’t bring many new things to the table, other than the Pokéwalker (pedometer), it offers a lengthy single player experience thanks to two regions and 16 badges to collect. For people who are trying to “catch em’ all,” this game also offers some Pokémon that are much more difficult to obtain without owning it. The main downside is the lack of any major additions or features, so it may not be worth the price of admission for some. As everyone is waiting for the US release of generation 5, Pokémon Black & White, this offers a nice distraction while waiting for the real sequel.

Rating: