Widely regarded as the best generation of Pokemon, the Johto region has been reborn and it doesn't disappoint.
As with any Pokemon game, there is absolutely zero story to be found here. It's been the same since the beginning. Get starter Pokemon, get Pokemon League badges, take down evil organization, catch version-exclusive legendary Pokemon, and conquer the Pokemon League. It would be nice if Nintendo would think of a deeper motivation behind our hero other than, "Hooray, I'm 10 years old! Time to venture out onto a potentially deadly quest! Bye, mom!" And motivation behind the bad guys further than, "Ooh! I want this Pokemon's power! Must have!"
The gameplay is largely the same, with your character venturing across the world from a bird's-eye view perspective and battles having the timeless turn-based Rock, Paper, Scissors mechanic with Fire beating Grass, Grass beating Water, etc. However, upon obtaining a certain badge, you can access a series of mini-games called the "Pokeathalon" that you can use your Pokemon in, such as racing, soccer, snowball fights, and various other touch-screen based mini-games. Believe it or not, it actually does have a bit of depth to it. There are new stats for your Pokemon that are entirely for these mini-games. Each stat measures how well a Pokemon will do in certain events. Speed is obviously how fast it goes, stamina dictates how long your Pokemon can go before needing a break, etc. This may sound like a useless gimmick, but it can actually pretty fun, experimenting with teams to see which teams work best with which category and be able to completely destroy any event.
Another thing included with Pokemon Heart Gold and Soul Silver is a fun little gadget called the Pokewalker. It's a small, Tomagachi-like device that allows you to carry your Pokemon along with you in your pocket, when you aren't playing your games. Using the Pokewalker, your Pokemon can collect watts, items, and even catch Pokemon to send back to your copy of the game. Although it's probably not going to keep your attention for very long, if you're a person like me, who doesn't care much for small virtual pet gadgets.
The 3D graphics look incredible for a DS game. The only problem is that you're going to mostly be seeing sprites that the GBA could probably handle. The foible about Pokemon games' graphics is that it swaps great animation for very nice-looking sprites. Pokemon Heart Gold and Soul Silver use the same graphics engine as Pokemon Platinum, so you probably won't be seeing anything too eye-catching, in terms of graphics. Actually, about 10% the graphics actually look kind of bland, aside from the 90% of seizure-inducingly colorful areas.
One thing that made me jump for joy when this was announced was that they would include the Kanto region from Fire Red/Leaf Green/Red/Blue, just like they did with the original Gold and Silver. That means instead of the usual 8 badges and disappointingly average-length quest of around 8-10 hours, not including grinding and raising levels, you get 16 badges and it will likely take around 15-20 hours, doubling the amount of time it would probably take to finish the game. Even after that, there are even more powerful Pokemon to catch.
As I've already said, the main quest will take 15-20 hours to complete, not including grinding, sidequests, or anything like that. That, and if you're a hardcore completist, there will be plenty of other things to do, such as Pokedex data and sidequests, giving you 60+ hours of play time. Pokemon games can last forever, but before you can complete one version, Nintendo is likely to have released another Pokemon game.
Soundwise, you will hear many familiar tunes, if you've played Gold and Silver. Later in the game, you can actually get a key item that allows you to play the squeaky, 8-Bit sounds and music from Gold and Silver. I personally prefer 8-Bit, because the majority of the soundtrack doesn't sound nearly as energetic as the original games. Some even sound boring. But if there's one thing Pokemon music can do right, it's definitely the battle music. Almost all of the battle themes are very fast and fun to listen to. I quite often stopped fighting on multiple occasions, just to listen to the battle music.
Gameplay: 9
Graphics: 8
Sound: 6
Story: 4
Entertainment: 9
Replay Value: 10
Final Score: 9.2
Pros and Cons:
+493 Pokemon to collect adds insane lasting value
+Colorful Graphics
+Still Rock-Solid Gameplay
+Lengthy Main Quest
+Pokealthalon Mini-Games
+The Pokewalker
+Amazing 3D, for a handheld
-Some Bland Environments
-Zero Story
-Bland Characters
-Uncountable amount of recycled features from previous installments
-Boring Remixed Music