The internet REALLY turned on gen 2 in recent years, which is surprising to me; I remember not too long ago, in like 2015 when I first got into the franchise (around then anyway) that these games were seen as beloved and staples within the franchise. While I still see a lot of love, I also see quite a bit of hate. I love these games, I think they're some of the best, and I know HeartGold/SoulSIlver get a lot of love in the fandom still mostly but I also see things about them. I wanted to make this post to explain why I personally believe they're amazing and why they definitely are as some of the BEST Pokemon games (not the best though).
==CHARACTERS & GAMEPLAY==
In HGSS, I see people complain about the grinding. Grinding was never an issue for me in Pokemon, actually I didn't really see people complain about this in the past at all, I prefer working towards my goals rather than having them handed to me on a silver platter. Plus, the grinding isn't that bad until Kanto which it becomes a problem because of underleveled wild Pokemon. In Johto you're most likely to have at least level 41-44s if you've battled every trainer up until the elite four, matching the elite four and champion's level variance. Harder battles against bigger opponents? Not that bad! Using items like X attack, X defense, and purchasing protein and stuff like that ensures that you're gonna be just fine as with stocking up on restores.
The gym leaders are actually better characters than the Kanto ones and i really dug Claire for example and how she was in the game; it was fun having to actually prove your worth instead of just being given a badge immediately, it is almost like an actual arc in an anime, something I wish they did more often rather than just blandly handing you the badge. Jasmine is a fun character who you actually first see as a gym leader who interacts with other things around the world than just her gym, taking care of a sick Pokemon, working with you to cure the Ampharos in the lighthouse. She's soft-spoken yet confident in her skills. Whitney is a bit of a mixed bag for people but I found it kind of funny. Lance is an amazing character and its even more impactful when you find out that hes the Champion; someone YOU worked with to put a stop to the evil forces and saving an entire town and putting a stop to the lake of rage situation. It is an incredible feeling to take on someone you see as so strong, someone to look up to, someone that guided you into shaping yourself to be the best version of yourself and helped you battle against Team Rocket.
Team Rocket themselves in this game are actually phenomenal, especially in the remakes, you actually get to see the things they do that affect the world from cutting off Slowpoke tails, selling them, and putting a stop to it, taking over the radio tower and literally holding the CEO hostage, turning Pokemon into Gyarados at the Lake of Rage for the sake of profit and abusing them. They're menacing, its great. One of the best portrayals of them.
As for the rival, friendly rivals are not fun. They're extremely overdone and don't even fit in context of a rival. In this game you have one of the most memorable, Silver.
Silver grows a LOT as a character in HGSS and is one of the best rivals (never been a fan of the friendly pushover ones) up there with Blue and N, and you even get a glimpse into his backstory which shows his character and why he is the way he is. Plus unlike most rivals you see how what HE DOES impacts OTHERS in the world and not just the character you are playing as; like in Cianwood City when he has quite literally made a renowned collector fear for his Pokemon's safety to the point he gives you one to watch over for him because of Silver's threat and braking in, you see the Sprout Tower guy talk to silver on how he raises his Pokemon, warning him. The peak of it all? When you see him try to return his starter to Professor Elm later on after Lance's words resonated within him, only to be told to keep it because it actually grew attached + his Golbat evolves into Crobat signifying high bond. You even take on Clair and Lance with him in the Dragon's Den in rematches. Though it may be small too, in gen 2 when you fought him at the Pokemon league on Mondays and Wednesdays in rematches, his theme is now the same as Red's and Lance's; almost as if Lance's words are shining through him.
The Red battle is beautiful, an absolute narrative gem. You're fighting your past self, as your grown, improved, and changed, much wiser self with all the new strategies, the new team, the new movesets you devised. Everything you've learned comes into play. Its beautiful. Blue even has changed as a person in the three years of when this game takes place. The story is incredible, especially with all the additions that the remakes added.
==BATTLING==
The battle AI is actually very smart and intricate; I watched a video on it in gen 2 and it is a perfect example of Pokemon battling done right (https://youtu.be/xNqiqFZmUjs?t=471), though the one in HGSS shows how much theyve grown as a game developing company, plus a lot of the mechanics that future games built off are built off gen 2 in general (though im mostly talking HGSS here) it literally introduced berries, more fair battle mechanics, eggs, raising pokemon via the friendship mechanic (which wasnt yet perfected though, it takes too long here).
==WORLDBUILDING==
Not to mention, but Johto also has some of the greatest worldbuilding of the entire series, and some of the most fun to explore locations. It's not my favorite region, no, that goes to either Unova or Hoenn, but it is definitely up there as one of the best. The weekly events of the bug catching contest is actually a blast to play and participate in, catching bug Pokemon you can't find anywhere else. You can get actual discounts on items in the department store on certain days, the S.S. Aqua lets you rematch trainers there and experience riding on a ship on certain days just like real life, the towns light up in beautiful ways during the night.
PokeGear itself is an example of amazing worldbuilding. It makes great immersion and worldbuilding as well with actually having conversations with characters you meet, having rematches and seeing their pokemon grow and evolve, your mother being an actual character and having dialog change based on the town you are in.
Another thing that contributes to this is just how much there is to explore in this game. An issue I have with gens 8 and 9 for instance is the lack of exploration (for goodness sake, you can't even go in most buildings in gen 9 or have that many standout landmarks unlike the regions with a lot of them). In this game you have towers modeled directly off real life Japanese locations, and they even have their own myths and folklore that you get to discover through te tellings of the elders. It's incredible, and quite beautiful. It really adds to giving the region its own lore and story, same with the Ruins of Alph, while it doesn't lead to much, it is a fabulous mystery.
Even the houses are decorated like Japanese culture and the furniture is very much like that too, it also has the shoes of the NPC's in the corner by the door like how Japanese customs are in the original G/S/C. I love that, this is the only region that truly feels like Japan and it is wonderful. Many memorable locations and events.
Kanto sucks in the original Gen 2 in terms of postgame, it wasn't that good and while the excitement of having two regions was there you'd quickly grow bored of it, and in HeartGold and SoulSilver, Kanto is fleshed out back to the way it is meant to be, its actually fun again and adds to the experience.
==CONCLUDING==
Do HG/SS and G/S/C have their issues? Yes. Yes they do, but the positive EASILY outweighs the negative so hard that its hard to justify calling them garbage or saying that they 'aged like milk' or are 'bad'. In fact, I'd recommend HG/SS, B2/W2, B/W, Emerald, FR/LG, Platinum, Crystal, and X/Y as games for people getting into the franchise to play.
I typed a lot, but that is because that is how passionate I am when it comes to the Johto games, I would have done the same for Hoenn, Sinnoh, Unova, or Kalos but there's no need for those ones, they aren't growing into a mixed reception the same way this one is sadly headed towards (at least the original gen 2).
by ApprehensiveNatural9