The official Nintendo of America news account appears to tease an upcoming re-release, some kind of general port, a new remake, and/or broadly something for the beloved Pokemon games HeartGold and SoulSilver. Given their age, not to mention the massive differences between the Nintendo Switch 2 and the original Nintendo DS, it seems safe to say that Pokemon HeartGold and SoulSilver would require more work than most ports.
Now, it bears repeating that this news comes in the context of classic Pokemon games coming to the Nintendo Switch/Switch 2 platform. Earlier this year, Pokemon FireRed and LeafGreen finally hit Switch, with a reliable insider also suggesting that Pokemon Ruby, Sapphire, and Emerald would come to Switch in late September or October. The process of bringing older Pokemon games to modern hardware makes perfect sense, and while it remains to be seen if that’s even truly possible for HG/SS, many fans want something related to the beloved Johto region (Pokemon Legends: Johto was a popular rumor for a while, for this reason).
Nintendo Recreates Pokemon HG/SS Moment in Pokopia
Nintendo of America has posted an image recreating one of the most recognizable moments from the Johto games using Pokemon Pokopia. Specifically, as seen above, it recreates the moment that players first see their rival/Silver looking into Professor Elm’s Lab. He would later steal a starter not chosen by the player, and the two would battle it out as the player returns to the lab. Alongside the image, Nintendo captioned it: “Make new friends, but keep the old. One is silver, the other is gold.”
New Questions Added!
GameRant Quiz
While this may amount to nothing in the short term, it’s hard to see it as anything but a tease. As Twitter user Aster314 pointed out about the post, it would be “diabolical” to go to such an extent and make such a post without there being some kind of intent behind it. It might not be immediate, and perhaps it could even be continued marketing for Pokemon Pokopia, although it definitely evokes more for HG/SS. Ultimately, it remains to be seen if this is just a random post, truly is an official tease, and/or if Pokemon HeartGold and SoulSilver eventually come to Switch 2 in some form.
Based on the past Teraleaks, this isn’t the case—fans have details on Pokemon Legends 3 (Galar), Pokemon Winds and Waves, and other titles through this, including the fact that Game Freak is not planning more remakes (by their omission). That said, said documents could have been updated since then or not include outsourced work. The documents didn’t leak the Pokemon FireRed and LeafGreen ports, but insiders did. And they didn’t mention the upcoming Pokemon Ruby, Sapphire, and Emerald ports, which do remain to be seen, so they are not 100% accurate. Things change. It’s possible that whatever team is working on R/S/E is also working on Pokemon HeartGold and SoulSilver for Switch.
Who’s That Character?
Identify the silhouettes before time runs out.
Of course, fans should not take this as confirmation of HeartGold and SoulSilver returning, as even the exact form would be hard to predict. Plus, Nintendo could simply be having fun with one of the most recognizable scenes from the franchise, and Pokopia is already designed around rebuilding the Pokemon world. But with the original Johto games now decades old and HeartGold and SoulSilver becoming increasingly difficult to play on modern hardware, it seems Nintendo understands that fans want Johto.
- Released
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March 14, 2010
- ESRB
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e
- Publisher(s)
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Nintendo
