Even after 17 years, Pokémon HeartGold and SoulSilver are widely considered the best entries in Nintendo’s popular creature-catching series, and there are tons of reasons that lead to that. Released in 2009 for the Nintendo DS, HeartGold and SoulSilver were remakes of the 1999 games, Pokémon Gold and Silver, the first of the Generation 2 games. Pokémon HeartGold and SoulSilver are returning in 2027 in the form of a premium pin collection, though it’s safe to say that what fans really want is a port for modern Nintendo platforms, namely the Switch and Switch 2.
Since their release, there has been at least another remarkable duo of remakes, Omega Ruby and Alpha Sapphire in 2014 for the 3DS, but as great as they are, they don’t seem to reach the might of the 2009 titles. The hopes for a HeartGold and SoulSilver release on Nintendo Switch are still very much alive, and while that has not yet been formally announced, we can reflect on why these are the very best games in the Pokémon franchise.
One of the most straightforward reasons that explains why HeartGold and SoulSilver are so good is the fact that they are remakes of Gold and Silver, the two main Gen 2 games. To many, Gen 2 is the very best Pokémon Generation of all time. With the 1999 releases, fans were introduced to over 100 new Pokémon, on top of the 151 they already knew from Red and Blue. As such, the source material enabled these Nintendo DS games to be the best remakes ever made.
With these remakes came several amazing features that made what was already good feel even better. For example, you could actively have any Pokémon in the game follow you around, an improvement over the rare and limited version of Pikachu following you in Pokémon Yellow. The games also embraced the Gen 4 split between physical and special moves, as well as several other quality-of-life tools that made playing through them a blast.
Of course, one of the biggest merits carried by HeartGold and SoulSilver is an inheritance from the original 1999 versions. While the games do take place in Johto, they’re actually a 2-in-1 deal. After defeating the Johto League and the Elite Four, you are taken to the Kanto region and are given free rein to explore it fully and beat its Gym Leaders.
If you think about it, Kanto itself is a game of its own; it’s the setting for Pokémon Red and Blue, as well as the remakes FireRed and LeafGreen. Having the entire Kanto region within the HeartGold and SoulSilver remakes was just as delightful as discovering that it was in Gold and Silver ten years prior. The sheer amount of content in HeartGold and SoulSilver helps contribute to why they are the best Pokémon games of all time.
The base game content is only part of what the Gen 2 remakes have to offer. The post-game in Pokémon HeartGold and SoulSilver is absolutely massive, featuring tons of different activities to partake in, in what feels like an endless stream of content. You can, for example, take advantage of the fleshed-out Safari Zone, which arguably reached its peak in these games.
The games also featured the amazing Pokéathlon activities, which offered Trainers a break from battles in innovative new mini-games that took advantage of the DS hardware. Of course, it’s hard to think about a great Pokémon post-game without the Battle Frontier, and HeartGold and SoulSilver had it available promptly for players to enjoy and challenge themselves to the limit.
Another reason that makes Pokémon HeartGold and SoulSilver undeniable Nintendo DS game masterpieces is that there was a ton of Pokémon to catch. While Gold and Silver were limited to the first two generations, the remakes were actually part of Gen 4, and that is seen. You could transfer Pokémon from Ruby, Sapphire, and Emerald, as well as Diamond, Pearl, and Platinum to HeartGold and SoulSilver.
Sure, there were a few restrictions, but out of 493 Pokémon available at the time, 375 were obtainable natively within a single copy of HeartGold or SoulSilver. If you used trades, transfers, events, and other features, you could actually own all 493 Pokémon within HeartGold and SoulSilver. This was a huge feat for Pokémon games at the time, and it’s still something enviable nowadays.
Nevertheless, it’s impossible to think about HeartGold and SoulSilver and not be reminded that it hosts the best Pokémon battle in the series. As part of the post-game content, once you beat the Kanto Gym Leaders and talk to Professor Oak, you’ll be guided to Mt. Silver, west of the Indigo Plateau. Once you reach the summit, you encounter Red, the protagonist from Red and Blue (or FireRed and LeafGreen).
This is considered one of the toughest NPC battles in the entire franchise, as Red’s team is designed to have powerful juggernauts that will resist being taken down with a single attack and will deal loads of damage. This is post-game content, indeed, but it is a topic of its own because of how much it adds to Pokémon HeartGold and SoulSilver’s legendary status.
