Pokémon HeartGold and SoulSilver (2010, DS)

Everything FireRed and LeafGreen did right, HeartGold and SoulSilver did better. For starters, Gold and Silver (and Crystal) are just generally better than Red and Blue (and Yellow). For another, the fourth generation is better than the third. As mentioned, that’s when Pokémon was at the height of its powers—and getting to use the modernized battle system elevated the original games to new heights.

In Gold and Silver, the difference between physical attacks (dictated by the attack and defense stats) and special attacks (dictated by the two “special” stats) was broken down largely by type. All water moves, for instance, were categorized as special attacks. So if you had a Feraligatr with a sky-high attack stat, they’d be more or less useless. With these fourth-generation remakes, though, whether or not a move was a physical or special attack was determined by the actual move itself. All of a sudden, that Feraligatr with a sky-high attack stat could level battlefields—well, if it had some physical-attack water moves.

And that’s to say nothing of the other things we rattle off when discussing remakes: better graphics, more features, the ability to use more Pokémon. Pokémon, apparently, is at its best when marrying old games with new features, drumming up nostalgia while introducing innovation. This potent combo was at its max with HeartGold and SoulSilver. That’s why it’s the Ash Ketchum of mainline Pokémon games.