When did pokemon heartgold come out ? For a multimedia franchise as long-running and ingrained in pop culture as Pokémon, it’s expected for the video game series to make remakes a staple, but after four generations’ worth of them, HeartGold and SoulSilver are still the games to beat.

Developed by long-time developer GameFreak, these Nintendo DS remakes reimagined the beloved Johto region with the then-modern sensibilities of the Sinnoh-region trio of games.

But unlike the most recent pair of remakes — ironically for the Sinnoh region — HeartGold and SoulSilver struck the ideal balance of nostalgia and creative liberties.

They faithfully recreated the best elements of the story and environment while complementing it with new features to streamline combat, incorporate newer Pokémon species, and substantive post-game content.

HeartGold & SoulSilver Used FireRed & LeafGreen As Its Standard to Beat

Before Pokémon HeartGold and SoulSilver, FireRed and LeafGreen for the Game Boy Advance were the trailblazers for mainline remakes. It was an exciting time for the series, and FireRed and LeafGreen make their case for best Pokémon games among some veteran fans.

Regardless of the critical consensus, the foundation that the Kanto remakes laid out is arguably what pushed for HeartGold and SoulSilver to be as content-rich as they were.

The argument could be made that Pokémon FireRed and LeafGreen had a lower bar to clear given how Red, Green, and Blue held up. Because as groundbreaking as the original games were, the games — when viewed strictly through a modern lens — fall apart due to the understandable technical limitations GameFreak had to work with on the GameBoy in the mid-late ’90s.

In a way, that made FireRed and LeafGreen look even stronger in retrospect, but even by today’s standards for mainline Pokémon games, it’s clear that those remakes strived to go above and beyond.

On top of the obvious visual upgrades and bug fixes, GameFreak went out of its way to add mechanics to streamline turn-based combat, wider move pools for Pokémon, and even add original story content to complement the base game.

Regardless of the context for either pair of remakes’ releases, this proved to be the winning formula for Pokémon HeartGold and SoulSilver going forward, as they aimed to be far more than glorified remasters in terms of content.

The core Johto journey was faithfully recreated, but the games also made it a point to bake in Crystal’s original story, one of the most revered “third-version” Pokémon titles. Likewise, they managed to capitalize on some missed opportunities from the source material — like having the Safari Zone in the main game — and bolstering the available roster of Pokémon from the first four generations in both the story and post-game adventures.

For a video game series defined by its monster-collecting JRPG gameplay loop, allowing players more diverse options in team compositions like this goes a long way toward a Pokémon game’s lasting appeal.

Especially so for remakes, which, by design, are meant to give a reason for fans to jump back into an already fondly remembered and familiar experience — while serving as new jumping-on points for potential newcomers.

Just as well, their original Game Boy Color counterparts gave these Nintendo DS titles an even stronger foundation to build upon, with the generation still being the only one to let players play through more than one region.

GameFreak Took What Made Sinnoh Great and Applied It to HeartGold & SoulSilver

The next Pokémon games should tap into its golden age of installments to introduce some more depth — remakes or otherwise — especially when seeing how the Sinnoh region entries also pay it forward to make HeartGold and SoulSilver the most complete mainline reimaginings.

In addition to setting the standard for what’s debatably the best use of 32-bit pixel art graphics in a Pokémon game, the Johto remakes learned important lessons from Diamond, Pearl, and Platinum when it comes to gameplay features and pacing.

Combat felt more versatile, traversal was more convenient, and story elements were expanded upon based on what the Sinnoh games — and Platinum, in particular — made possible.

That’s not to say everything was perfect, of course, as while the level curve from Johto to Kanto was improved somewhat compared to Gold, Silver, and Crystal, the remakes still didn’t do quite enough to ease off the end-game grinding.

Even so, considering the Pokémon franchise lacks any real competition, resulting in some recent installments feeling creatively stagnant, GameFreak’s willingness to let HeartGold and SoulSilver build on their predecessors is more than worth applauding today.

The post-game adventure in Kanto, for instance, incorporated perhaps the best version of the veteran fan-favorite Battle Frontier, which greatly bolstered the games’ runtimes in meaningful ways for those that wanted an extra degree of challenge.

After Brilliant Diamond & Shining Pearl, the Johto Remakes Need to Be Unova’s Baseline

As widely praised as Pokémon HeartGold and SoulSilver deservedly are, that’s not to say the sets of remakes that followed them were poorly done. Despite bafflingly cutting the end-game appeal of the Battle Frontier that Emerald offered, Omega Ruby and Alpha Sapphire for the 3DS were solid remakes that incorporated Mega Evolution effectively, both as a story concept and gameplay mechanic.

Even Let’s Go, Pikachu! and Eevee! for the Switch, despite their limited scopes, were fun and nostalgic romps based on the Game Boy’s Pokémon Yellow.

However, the inevitable Pokémon Black and White remakes need to raise the bar like how HeartGold and SoulSilver did. The lukewarm critical reception of Brilliant Diamond and Shining Pearl should be enough reason for this.

Aside from the admittedly engaging Grand Underground feature, these Sinnoh remakes play things aggressively safe as near-carbon copies of Diamond and Pearl — and explicitly not Platinum.

Pokémon HeartGold and SoulSilver are still the collective gold standard for mainline remakes, as they represent a time when the goal of GameFreak and/or The Pokémon Company wasn’t simply to appease a brand tradition.

They meshed the spirit of the original titles and the gameplay functionalities that succeeded them, resulting in a pair of remakes that feel more “content complete” than the likes of Brilliant Diamond and Shining Pearl​​​​​​, setting the bar extremely high for all Pokémon remakes to come.

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