The community says
I picked this up during a slow winter, mostly to see how the region held up compared to what I remembered. It aged better than I expected.
Game entry
2009 · JRPG, Action RPG, Action-adventure, Strategy · Nintendo DS · Nintendo
Pokémon HeartGold Version is ranked no. 121 among the best video games of all time by GameForever voters, with an ELO score of 1,829 and 75% of duels won.
World rank
no. 121
ELO score
1,829
Wins
75%
Duels played
265
Pokémon HeartGold Version and Pokémon SoulSilver Version are paired Generation IV remakes of the Generation II games Pokémon Gold and Silver.
Much like how Pokémon FireRed and LeafGreen revisited the Generation I story of Kanto, HeartGold and SoulSilver retell the story of Johto, with the player's starting town being New Bark Town. While the games feature several expansions in key areas, the overall plot follows the same direction as the original Gold and Silver. Some aspects exclusive to Crystal are also included. Like how FireRed and LeafGreen could link up with Ruby, Sapphire, and Emerald to complete the Pokédex by trading regionally exclusive Pokémon, HeartGold and SoulSilver can link up with Diamond, Pearl, and Platinum to obtain Pokémon unavailable in Johto and Kanto (such as the Sinnoh starters) and vice versa.
Kris, despite being the female counterpart of Crystal's player character, is not included as the female player character, with a new character instead taking her place. Whether she is chosen to be the player character or not, this new character will still appear in the game. The unselected protagonist will take a pseudo-rival role similar to the unselected characters of Ruby, Sapphire, Emerald, Diamond, Pearl, and Platinum.
The games were released on September 12, 2009 in Japan, February 4, 2010 in Korea, March 14, 2010 in North America, March 25, 2010 in Australia and March 26, 2010 in Europe (this excludes the Netherlands, Luxembourg and parts of Belgium due to an in-game save error, with the patched copies later released on April 2, 2010).
The community says
I picked this up during a slow winter, mostly to see how the region held up compared to what I remembered. It aged better than I expected.
Score moved from 1,500 to 1,829 ELO points over the last 123 days.
Direct record on the most played match-ups.
The games Pokémon HeartGold Version sits between in the world ranking.
The community
19 comments
Coop_Hagenes
I picked this up during a slow winter, mostly to see how the region held up compared to what I remembered. It aged better than I expected.
SilentMaster
Same here actually, went in expecting it to feel clunky and it mostly didn't, the region layout still works.
NeonMaster51
It sits comfortably mid table against its usual rivals, which honestly feels about rite for a remake of this generation.
hamon_dominique
Le Pokéwalker, oui. Je l'avais toujours sur moi.
BossOwl1995
man i still remember carrying my crystal team data over lol spent like 40 hours just breeding before i even touched the elite four. the walking pokemon feature was the best thing ever to like 12 year old me. i put probably 200 hours total into this game back then
CoopRider2008
Le coup du Pokéwalker c'est TELLEMENT sous-coté quand on en parle aujourd'hui, franchement qui d'autre l'utilisait tous les jours pour faire éclore ses œufs ?
CosmoFox2
Was the breeding grind really worth 200 hours though, or does the nostalgia carry more weight than the actual gameplay here?
QuestLegend2
I keep going back and forth on this one, some days I think the rebuilt Johto is genuinely clever design, other days the whole thing feels like it's coasting on remembering Gold and Silver fondly, and I never quite land on one side.
CoopRider
What stuck with me most is the Pokéwalker, oddly enough. It turned waiting rooms and bus rides into something productive, which felt genuinely new at the time.