the net raiders

Christmas morning of 1996 will live on in my memory as being the first day I turned on a Gameboy and began my adventures in the wonderful world of Pokemon. It was a day that has taken part in shaping the rest of my life. Now I can venture anywhere and know that I can find common ground with anyone who crosses my path.

But in all seriousness, Pokemon has been a series that has been able to stay consistent and adapt new and interesting gameplay that keeps people like myself coming back for more. I really doubt that the newest addition to the Pokemon line up will be any different. Heart Gold and Soul Silver are due to be released March 14 of 2010, and it looks just as exciting as when the originals were released back in 2000. As an extra incentive pre-orders will also receive  the Pokewalker, an external adventuring device! (Learn more by watching this video!)

Recently I’ve been exploring Diamond and Pearl, trying to catch up to all of the new interface changes and Pokemon. While some of the new features can be aggravating (like the dance competition) there haven’t been that many changes from the older games. Spoiler alert! Team Rocket is no longer around. Instead they’ve been replaced with a new threat, which is basically Team Rocket but with a “green”er perspective.

For those of you have played the newer games in the series, you may or may not be happy to hear that they have remade Heart Gold and Soul Silver in the same style as Diamond and Pearl. There have been many complaints about the newer series, generally revolving around how strange the newest pokemon look. I have to admit, the character designs have slowly began to decrease in the awesomeness of the original series. On the other hand though the designs of the world, and the variety of activities in the gameplay make up for it in my mind.

Hence my excitement for the newest addition to the series. I expect for Pokemon Heart Gold and Soul Silver to have all of the awesomeness of their originals, and all the variety of Diamond and Pearl. Perhaps my view is a little biased. Gold and Silver were my favorites because they were close to the original games (Red, Blue and Yellow) but had been updated with better graphics, a larger variety of pokemon that were still within the realm of reason and had new applications to increase the variety of gameplay.

I strongly suggest this game to anyone who loves Pokemon but feels overwhelmed by the changes the series had gone through over the years. This game will be fantastic, and I believe that with my heart and soul.