Nostalgia

[#183Marill]

I havn't posted in a long time and I get the feeling this old board doesn't see much action very often these days but I just thought I'd throw in post to see if there are any old skool members out there who are getting suckered in to buying a game we mastered years ago (heart gold/soul silver). One of my mates brought heart gold around to my house the other day to show me how cool it was. I told him to keep it away from me as it was like heroin to an addict...
Fifteen minutes later I put a bid on a NDS on eBay. FML

Has anyone else who played the originals gone out there and purchased the remakes? How have you liked it? What are the coolest new features, best changes or the worst changes?!

[Austrian ViceMaster Alex]

I was so looking forward to the GS remakes that I went out and actually bought the Japanese versions on their release date without even speaking a word Japanese. I still managed to play through it as I remembered everything from the original versions - and I had an old, dusty Versus Books (lucky you if you remember those, especially those written by Casey Loe) guide to help for the few spots where I got stuck.

I even started up the old GS titles on the Game Boy but only played them for a bit ... they are so old and uncomfortable to play now compared to the DS titles.

I liked everything about the remakes!

[Bear]

I liked the remakes too. They added a few new things to them besides just graphics updates. I also like the conversion to the new battle system, with physical/special separations within types and such. It was pretty cool and nostalgic to replay it, as it really felt like the old game again. Everything came back to me pretty quickly. Right now I'm doing a Nuzlocke challenge in my HG version just for fun . I liked this Gen the best anyway because you could play all 16 gyms and travel around alot more.

[Mikachu Yukitatsu]

One word: PokeWalker.

Other than that, one obvious change are the graphics, which, in a way, either drive away the nostalgia people OR refresh their memories and bring them new life. Then there are the DS controls via touch screen, those who miss traditional feeling may want to avoid them as much as possible. As you can see, I can't say much of it, I haven't had 'enough time' to play my SoulSilver, but hey, I still bought it!

[Link]

I enjoyed playing the G/S remakes because the nostalgia alone is enough to make fans of the old games come back for the remakes a second time around. That said, I think the graphics look good and I lost to Red the first time I played HG, but it just seemed to me that everything was a bit more challenging this time around in HG/SS.

[Poryhedron]

The remakes are excellent. For one thing, they expanded Kanto from the afterthought it felt like in the original Gold/Silver; there's actually a Viridian Forest again, as well as the ability to explore Seafoam Island, and yet at the same time they did that they also beefed up Blaine's corner of it to be more like a real Gym, and they also beefed up Viridian Gym a lot. I actually respect Blue instead of wanting to nickname him "Lego Boy".

Plus, if you like breeding for competitive teams, Heart/Soul is very handy. Not only did they make it so the stats that are raised and lowered by Natures are subtly highlighted as such, they also added a way to increase control over IV inheritance. It costs Battle Points to get them, but that's fine because it's not that hard to earn BP in the Battle Hall area. If you can raise a pokémon to high levels and not let it be completely hosed by any one enemy type, you can be a star there.

There is one downside that I guess I'll go ahead and mention. The Pokégear's phone function now has enough memory to store every trainer in the game who might choose to call you...and because of that, they removed the ability to delete trainers from your phone list. Even if you're not hardcore enough to do things like deleting everyone except Schoolboy Alan so you can get a Fire Stone faster, you'll probably end up desperately wanting a delete function so you can stop hearing about a certain Rattata...luckily, you don't actually have to answer the Pokégear every time it rings. You can just let it ring until the caller gives up, and they'll automatically give up if you enter or exit a room. That can actually be another downside, though, because sometimes you'll get a call from someone you want to hear from just as you're about to walk through a door and you end up losing the call by accident.

[#183Marill]

So I got my hands on Soul Silver two days ago and I think its awesome. My one negative thought however is that Lugia is spoon fed to you to catch. And it seems like it is easier to encounter the legendary dogs as well. I kind of think that this detracts from the mystery of the legendary pokemon a little however there are so many legendaries today I guess its not that bad if a few are easier to get then others.

[Galdr]

I'll agree: The remakes are as fantastic as the original GSC. Poryhedron made a good point about Joey and his perfect IV Rattata/Raticate and him calling endlessly. The delete option in the Pokegear does not exist. D: That was a little disappointing. And for those of you who have played Crystal Version especially, Kris, the first female trainer player, was replaced by her new anime counterpart, Kotone/Lyra. (which Crys/Kris wears the Lyra outfit in the HGSS manga special) I didn't like the fact they replaced Kris for some new chick, but oh well. Some changes had to be made, apparently. They could have just updated Kris' sprite like they had for Gold/Jimmy.

I do like how the Running Shoes have their own tab at the bottom screen, allowing you to "keep running" when the button is tapped, rather than tirelessly hold down the B Button. I also loved how the Pokemon in the front of the party follows you around like a helpless puppy; it's really cute~ Unless they're an enormous sized Pokemon like Lugia and Ho-Oh, then they'll fit inside the houses you enter, etc. And if they're shiny, the sprites stay shiny~

And, I'm sad to say that Todd the Camper doesn't tell you about "OMG GOLDENROD DEPARTMENT STORE IS HAVING A SALE NOW 8D" anymore. D:

Also, I don't like how they recycled some sprites from DPPt. The Campers and Picnickers to be precise. I also like how Crystal's Suicune story was fused into the games as well~ Eusine is just an awesome character; Suicune obsessed guy. XD

And too bad the Sevii Islands weren't included like from FRLG GBA series. That would have been a nice addition, and maybe a cool way to obtain Deoxys in Gen IV via Wifi Event if need be. ;D Ah well~

Other than that, everything about the remakes are awesome. I enjoyed the nostalgia returning to my eyes. I even tried to revive my old Crystal version team. XD It failed, but oh well, it was fun to try.

[Bear]

I love the sprites. I love the impossibly hueg ones that are looming over you all the time, and how Geodude looks like a big floating turd behind you.