Pokémon—the cultural zeitgeist over a decade long and going just as strong—continues to run wild on the wallets of parents, kids, teens and twenty-somethings, having just come out with Pokémon Heart Gold and Soul Silver but a few short weeks ago. Although this latest batch is just a remake of a previous round of Game Boy games, the quest to catch ‘em all hasn’t been as fun, or as addicting, for quite some time (yes, even to college kids who wax nostalgic about playing the original games when they were little children).

Both Heart Gold and Soul Silver (previously the second-generation Pokémon Gold and Silver games on the Game Boy) have been graphically updated, maxing out the 2.5D capabilities and the full color pixilation the Nintendo DS has to offer. The gameplay is, of course, centered on the neurotic quest to be the very best, to catch all the Pokémon, to overcome your rivals and to be champion of Nerdtopia, crushing all those who dare oppose your PokéGod-like powers. The gameplay has changed little from previous iterations of the popular RPG, except that the features and controls are simplified and much easier to deal with than the Diamond, Pearl and Platinum games released in 2007 and 2009 respectively.

The big draw to these games is the add-on accessory, a pedometer that you can download your Pokémon to in order to gain experience, find more Pokémon and items, and get classically-conditioned exercise. Appropriately titled the Pokewalker, it adds another dimension to your PokeSkills by finding stuff that isn’t available in the games proper. It’s yet another gimmick that guarantees addiction to the PokeMadness, but it’s still kind of neat and fun (in a very, very geeky way) and adds a new dimension that makes an otherwise semi-stagnating game franchise feel fresh and current.

It’s juvenile. It’s geeky. It’s Pokémon. Unfortunately, it’s still a lot of fun for those who remember playing the original games or even some of the recent games. While spending time playing Pokémon may garner you a few looks, Heart Gold and Soul Silver are still an enjoyable handheld experience for gamers everywhere.