Take a look at these exciting new screenshots and character artwork from the remakes of Pokémon Gold & Silver for the Nintendo DS…

Here’s a turn-up for the books! Nintendo is remaking its classic Pokémon Gold and Silver games, using the new graphics technology it has pioneered in Pokémon Platinum. The new editions, Pokémon HeartGold and SoulSilver, are shaping up nicely and we have been lucky enough to see early versions of the games…

Yes, these are Generation IV remakes of the Generation II originals and take us back to the land of Johto. You start out the adventure in New Bark Town as a rookie Pokémon Trainer. You have a rival (well, don’t you always?) called Silver, and you are both desperate to impress Professor Elm.

Just like what happened when Nintendo remade Pokémon FireRed and LeafGreen (the originals were Red and Green), there are lots of enhancements that have been made to the original games. The major change is that these new games will include Pokémon that have been introduced in Generation III and IV of the games. When Gold and Silver were originally released, there were only 251 Pokémon in total, the latest of which was Celebi, so we’ve obviously come a long way since then!

Those boffins who love deconstructing games have discovered that there was always data in the Diamond, Pearl and Platinum games that will make battling and trading between them and these two new games possible. So Nintendo was obviously planning well ahead! We believe that you will have to complete certain objectives in the games before this becomes possible. Nintendo always likes to make players work for their rewards!

The boy character you get to select is called Gold, just like in the originals. Interestingly though, the original female counterpart to Gold, called Kris, isn’t believed to be in the new games. Instead there’s a new female lead named Soul. She is a young girl who lives with her mother in New Bark Town.

Now for the weird bit! The games come packed with a Pokémon pedometer called the PokéWalker. The idea is you transfer a Pokémon to the device, then it counts the number of steps you make in a day. The more you move, the bigger happiness boost your Pokémon will receive! What a great way to get kids up off their bums and moving!

This is the PokéWalker! It registers how many steps you have taken throughout the day and raises your Pokémon’s level and happiness accordingly.

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