The Golden (& Silver) Age Is Back!

CoroCoro leaks reveal the first details & images of the long awaited Pokémon Heart Gold & Soul Silver games in all its splendour. There are only 4 pages to dissect but there is enough there to whet your appetite and plenty of gorgeous art work to drool over, so make sure you have a napkin at the ready.

The first double page spread unveils the updated look of the games protagonists. As you can see, Ethan is once again the male choice and he retains his striking ultra ball-esque cap. He looks as though he’s run off a few pounds since we last saw him too, whilst his clothes are more modern and much lighter looking. The Pokégear makes a jubilant return with a much more futuristic look, as if it’s been taken out of a sci-fi movie. The female counterpart however, is a completely new character. Fans of the originals may remember that the female choice was only available in Crystal and that her name was Kris. She had some sort of vibrant blue/green spiked up pigtailed hair, and wore a sporty outfit that consisted of a pair of bright yellow shorts, a red top and a white jacket. This time around, people will instead play as a girl named Lyra who as you can see dresses a lot like Mario, minus the jeans, red cap and moustache. She looks a lot less boisterous than Kris and in some ways reminds me of May from the Pokémon Advanced series.

Other than the two protagonists, the first couple of pages also show off numerous in game screenshots. Foremost the upper right image next to Ethan shows two extremely exciting aspects, the obvious one being the graphical overhaul to make it look like the D/P/Pt games. However the more enticing part of this image is the Pokémon. Noticed it? Anyone who has played Pokémon Yellow will know how awesome it was seeing Pikachu follow you about (until you swapped him for a stronger Pokémon). Could this be the same thing but with all Pokémon? Only time will tell but it looks promising. The other two pictures on this page show off what looks to be the stylised interior of the Bellsprout Tower, and the selection process for your starter (with a splendid 3D look). The final screenshot which is next to Lyra showcases some form of menu on the touch screen, which will probably be used for your bag, Pokédex, game save and so forth.

The final double page spread is filled with generation two concept art by the legendary Ken Sugimori. The Pokémon have been brushed up to today’s standards and look visibly stunning. There is a sole screenshot in the bottom right corner of the last page which shows off the Slowpoke Well and a Team Rocket grunt.

So that is all for this month’s CoroCoro, hopefully we will get it translated soon so we may uncover more from these pages.  But for now let’s recap and discuss our findings:

• Male protagonist Ethan returns with an updated look.
• There is a new female protagonist named Lyra.
• The game is made with the D/P/Pt engine.
• It looks like your main Pokémon follows you around in the game.
• The interior of the Bellsprout Tower looks stylised in some way.
• The selection process takes place on the touch screen with some nice 3D balls.
• Ken Sugimori has updated all of the generation two Pokémon so that they mix in with the current generations.
• Team Rocket returns (seen outside Slowpoke Well).

What are your thoughts? Do you like the new snazzy apparel? Would you like to be stalked by your Pokémon? Do you like big 3D balls? Leave your comments below J

This article was for the first round of the Pokéjungle competition (#8).
http://pokejungle.net/2012/05/13/jungle-games-episode-1-corocoro-heart-soul/

- Sam Peace