Full Review for Pokemon Soul Silver by Will d (mr ramdom)

Introduction

Pokemon Soul Sliver - released in Japan on the 12th of September ’09 – is a remake of the old Gamboy Colour game, Pokemon Sliver. Being a big hit for the Pokemon franchise, this remake of a classic Pokemon game follows the classic Pokemon Role Play style. It also brings back the classic Team Rocket as the game’s Antagonist.

As you would expect, the quality of this game is immensely better than it's predecessor. There is much more added to this game, but otherwise, it’s a better copy. You start out in a town called New Bark Town; you’re still trying to be the best by defeating the eight Gym Leaders and, finally, the Elite Four. Your Rival still appears out of seemingly nowhere and challenges you to a battle then swears he'll battle you again when you beat him; and you get the Johto Pokedex to complete.

Set in one of Pokemon’s fictional worlds, known as Johto, this game takes you through many myths and legends of Johto as your character travels around many detailed and challenging places; such as Caves (some even hidden!) and ancient buildings on your journey to being the best.

Graphics

The graphics in this game are actually very good. Immensely improved when compared to it's Gameboy counterpart, you’ll never find yourself squinting to have a good view of the game, even if it’s dark.

The graphics are very similar to that of Platinum, with pretty much the same look with scenery; however, the gyms have become much better. But it’s in the places where significant events occur where these much improved graphics truly shine.

The battle art is very similar to that of Platinum, but compared to SoulSliver’s counterpart, Sliver, the battle art is infinitely better; have bright and vibrate colors, along with a brilliant look for some attacks.

For this, I'll give it a 8/10. Mainly because of how improved it has become.

Sound

Nothing I can find to complain about here. The sound is nice and smooth and no mistakes in it that I can find.

The music for the scenery that you travel through fits quite well; being happy and upbeat in bright and lively areas, while deep and mysterious in dark, mysterious places, like caves. The battle music is good for whatever moment it is, too.

The sounds the Pokemon make is also allot better than previous games, but I can’t help but feel that they could do more with it. Like Pokemon conversations, something like that; just something to make it more realistic and thus more playable. While talking about the Pokemon, I feel the sounds the moves make could be improved also. It just doesn’t seem to go as well as it could.

I warn you now against using any kind of head phone; you’ll walk away with a headache. When your Pokemon is attacked, the sound will only come out of the left side; and when your Pokemon attacks, the sound will only come out of the right side. Can get very annoying very quickly.

Other than that, the sound is good and suits the game and the situations in the game. But I think I'll just give it a 7/10.

Gameplay

Now we get to the main part of the review: the gameplay. I’ll say it now: I was quite underwhelmed.

First off, I’d just like to mention how unrealistic the dialectic is. There doesn’t appear to be any emotion, just people telling/helping you to get from A to B. After all the years Pokemon games have been coming out, you’d think the dialectic would of grown up, even if just slightly, as the audience did. But no, we get silly and annoying lines that you’d hear when some bratty 6 year old doesn’t get what he wants; and it’s a darn shame.

The gameplay hasn’t changed in the slightest since Sliver. Sure if we were all six year olds enjoying our first Pokemon game, the story would be good enough; sadly, this is not the case. You can glitter, sparkle and modernise an old Ford Mustang; it will still perform the same as before, if not worse. This is the case with SoulSliver. It doesn’t take much brain power to notice how the gameplay in Pokemon games hasn’t changed at all. Nothing has been done to change or improve the gameplay; it’s a bright new fancy dress over an old and outdated woman. It’s all just becoming a bit boring now.

The story isn’t even that exciting anyway. Some kid is kicked out of the house by their mom at the age of ten, and then they go off and help some old professor, while catching and training lil’ Pokemon and become the best at it in a couple of days. Not to mention there’s an evil origination attempt to control Pokemon, and for some reason you get caught up in it all; and for some reason have to deal with it. Thrilling.

Of course, there have been some additions. New moves, new battle mechanics and abilities change how you go about battling in the game; also new areas and changes to previous areas have been made. Such as the Safari Zone - which you were told was moved in the original - is now found west of Cianwood. The old gambling area has been replaced for some “Voltorb Flip” game; where you simply have to flip over all the 2s and 3s while avoiding Voltorbs so you can get coins to buy more lil’ Pokemon and moves for said Pokemon. Not a nice improvement.

But a – I think – nice addition is that the first Pokemon in your party walks around with you. Something that was used in Amity Square, in Diamond, Pearl and Platinum; but not used throughout everywhere in the game since Pokemon Yellow. You can turn around and interact with it too, boosting it's happiness level. While all this has no effect on the actual game, it’s a nice addition.

I think I should point out how nice the Touch Screen is in this game. It’s very sensitive, so you won’t find yourself smashing it all day; and it can be used for pretty much everything in the game. You don’t even need to use the stylus; it’s so sensitive you can use your thumbs while holding the DS; this makes this a very nice game to play. Kudos on that part.

But I'm afraid it's only a 4/10 here. Because some of the many additions aren't actually beneficial for the game; that and the story is old, bland and wearing on thin.

Lastability

Well, you could take allot away from this game if you really wanted to tear at it, but you can’t take away how long this game lasts. Not only do you have the whole complete the Pokedex that’s in all the games, but you can travel into an entirely different region, defeat more Gym Leaders and even the greatest trainer of them all, Red.

The Gym Leaders and Elite Four can also be re-challenged, along with your Rival, who have all vastly improved their team. This makes great for training and more battling for when you finally challenge the final trainer, Red; and even after you defeat Red, there are still more things unlocked in the game.

Overall, if you wanted to, you could play this game for hours on end and still have plenty left to do. I definitely found myself spending uncounted hours on this game, still with much left to complete.

Overall

The game has it's ups and downs, but overall, it’s a quite enjoyable game. I don’t advise you buy this if you have the original stashed away somewhere then I advise you save yourself some money and play that instead.

But I'm giving this a 7/10 overall. Because once you get past all the flaws that can be found within this game, you'll find that it can be very enjoyable and a great way to just dwindle away unoccupied time.

Final Score: 72%