The most essential member of the Pokémon Role Playing Game Series
Pokémon SoulSilver Version, for the Nintendo DS, is a solid and undeniably worthy member of the Pokémon Role Playing Game (RPG) series because it has improved graphics, music, updates, and exclusive features.
You can compare the music of the original Silver Version to the music of SoulSilver, on YouTube, and you can definitely notice a change for the better. First of all, all of the original tunes, from the original Silver Version, have been brought into SoulSilver and still sound authentic. However, the music has also been modernized: stripped of the clunky, archaic beats of the past and replaced with smooth, beautiful tunes. In fact, the new, modernized music themes for Team Rocket, a Pokémon criminal organization, and the Kanto gym leaders are so catchy that I've put them on my iPod! If Nintendo were to sell these tunes in a music album, I'd pay!
It appears that SoulSilver is an updated version of the original Silver Version in nearly every aspect, including the small, picky game mechanics. Simply put, game mechanics are the mechanical, unobvious aspects of the game, and SoulSilver version has brought the original Silver version into the modern day game mechanics of Pokémon. SoulSilver Version came out during the fourth generation of Pokémon, a little after Diamond, Pearl, and Platinum, and feels a lot like its siblings. The character designs, Pokémon designs, and battles feel just the same as any fourth generation Pokémon game. In addition, for all you advanced Pokémon gamers, SoulSilver uses the modern, fourth generation effort and dynamic values system and the "physical-special move split", so it's completely modernized down to every specific and advanced game mechanic.
SoulSilver Version also has certain features that its siblings fail to have. The game has a wider variety of move tutors that can teach your Pokémon special moves, or attacks, that weren't possible in Diamond, Pearl, and Platinum; most notably, being able to teach Scizor "bug bite", which has given it a significant edge in competitive battling. So far, SoulSilver, and its counterpart Heartgold, have been the only games being able to do this. Also, for advanced gamers, with knowledge of the EV and dynamic values system, SoulSilver was the first Pokémon game to enable gamers to transfer IVs, or individual values, during Pokémon breeding. More specifically, using the power items, gamers can transfer IVs from the parents to the offspring Pokémon. This is still possible in the newest Black and White Versions of Pokémon, but keep in mind that SoulSilver was the first to enable this feature.
Of course, gamers would recognize the awe-inspiring graphics of SoulSilver during their first play through of the game. The original Silver Version introduced us to the brand new Pokémon region of Johto, and SoulSilver Version has completely modernized Johto's towns, cities, grasslands, seas, and caves, in addition to incorporating basic 3D graphics here and there. The trees are bright and green or orange, and there is a clear sense of depth when you climb up stairs or walk up and down inclines. Also, it would be unfair of me if I didn't mention the game's cinematic cut scenes. When you're about to face the Legendary Pokémon, Lugia, you see a beautiful cut scene of Kimono dancers performing a mystical dance: summoning Lugia. Then, when Lugia appears, he bursts out of a waterfall, and stretches his wings wide, all in impressive 3D quality. Overall, SoulSilver version even seems to rival the new Black and White Versions for high quality of graphics.
However, SoulSilver Version is, unfortunately, an imperfect game. You see, as one of the new animation features, gamers can have any Pokémon follow behind their character when walking through the lands of Johto. Moreover, every Pokémon has a unique sprite, or icon, that animatedly follows your character wherever you choose to walk. This is an overall neat idea, but it wasn't perfected; while having a Pokémon follow you around is a neat idea, the Pokémon's facial animations are general and uninteresting. More specifically, when you click on your Pokémon, a smiley face appears above them that signifies their mood. I felt this took away the uniqueness of having the Pokémon of your choice follow you. After all, there's nothing unique about a general smiley face smiling at you. It's just ugly. And a little creepy. In addition, your following Pokémon does just that: follow you. When you click on them, the game describes something like, "your Pokémon is smelling the grass", or "rolling on the floor!", but it fails to show these animations. It only has a lame shaking of the Pokémon sprite to indicate that your Pokémon is doing something. Overall, I felt that having a Pokémon following you was a neat, but flawed idea.
One last criticism has to do with your in-game PC. Since the first Pokémon RPG game, your character has always had a PC to store the Pokémon you capture. In Diamond, Pearl, and Platinum, which came out a little before SoulSilver, the PC was the easiest to use: being quick, efficient, and smooth. However, the first time I used SoulSilver's PC, I knew I didn't like it. The PC felt clunky and cumbersome because your cursor took a long time to navigate across the screen and, overall, it felt like a worse PC than its predecessors. However, the issues with the PC, and the following Pokémon sprites, are truthfully small issues and don't interfere with the game's success very much.
In conclusion, Pokémon SoulSilver is an undeniably good Pokémon RPG game – even rivaling the standards of the newest Black and White Versions. True, the game has flaws. However, the updated and exclusive features, graphics, and music far outweigh these flaws. SoulSilver is an essential member of the Pokémon RPG series and I'm sure it will be played for many more years even with newer Pokémon games being released.