Buying guide
Pokémon SoulSilver — buying an original cartridge
SoulSilver — often written Soul Silver — is the Lugia half of the 2010 Johto remakes, for many people the high point of the whole series. Today it sits with HeartGold at the top of the DS price range, which also makes it one of the most counterfeited cartridges there is. Buying a genuine one comes down to knowing one test.
The short answer
A genuine SoulSilver cartridge is a slightly larger black shell with a dark translucent infrared window in the top edge — it pairs with the Pokéwalker through it. Counterfeits leave the sensor out: the game boots, but the pairing screen does nothing. If the seller cannot show the IR window or the pairing working, keep your money.
SoulSilver or HeartGold?
They tell the same story: eight gym leaders in Johto, the Elite Four, then a second region — Kanto — with eight more. The differences are the cover legendary and the version-exclusives. SoulSilver has Lugia, caught in the Whirl Islands while the story is still running, once you hold the Silver Wing; Ho-Oh is the post-game catch. HeartGold flips that order.
Version-exclusive to SoulSilver are Vulpix, Meowth, Ledyba, Delibird, Skarmory and Teddiursa; HeartGold answers with Growlithe, Mankey, Spinarak, Gligar and Phanpy. Play the version whose legendary you want early in your team — completing the dex means trading with the other one, exactly as intended.
Loose, boxed, or with the Pokéwalker
SoulSilver originally shipped in a box with the manual and the Pokéwalker — a pedometer shaped like a Poké Ball that talks to the cartridge over infrared. You transfer a Pokémon onto it, take it for a walk, and earn experience and items on the way.
That splits the market three ways, with real price differences. A loose cartridge is the affordable way to play — it saves normally and misses nothing in gameplay. A boxed copy adds the box and manual. And a complete set with the Pokéwalker is collector material: the accessory is hard to find on its own and drives the value. We list per unit exactly what is included — no surprises afterwards.
The authenticity check, in order of certainty
- The infrared window. Top edge of the cartridge, dark translucent plastic instead of matte grey. No window — or a painted-on imitation — is an immediate fail.
- The Pokéwalker pairing. The functional version of the same test: start a pairing from the in-game menu. Genuine cartridges connect; fakes sit on the pairing screen doing nothing, or freeze after roughly 30 seconds.
- The shell. HG/SS shipped in the slightly larger black cartridge, not the standard grey one. Label print should be sharp, not washed out.
- The save test. Save, power off, restart. DS saves live on flash memory, so a genuine cartridge keeps your progress — many counterfeit boards do not.
Those checks come straight from our full fake-cartridge guide — written from the roughly 12% of cartridges we reject when buying stock.
Buy it already tested
Every SoulSilver we sell has been through the infrared, shell and board checks and a play test on real hardware, save included. We have been doing this since 2019, with 1400+ verified reviews at 5.0★, and we ship tracked from the Netherlands to all 27 EU countries — no customs inside the EU.
See SoulSilver in stockQuestions we get asked
What is the difference between SoulSilver and HeartGold?
The story is identical; they differ in version-exclusive Pokémon and the legendary on the cover — Lugia in SoulSilver, Ho-Oh in HeartGold. In SoulSilver you catch Lugia during the story, in the Whirl Islands once you hold the Silver Wing; Ho-Oh waits until after the Elite Four. HeartGold flips that order. SoulSilver exclusives include Vulpix, Meowth, Ledyba, Delibird, Skarmory and Teddiursa.
Is "Soul Silver" the same game as SoulSilver?
Yes — you see the title written both ways online. Soul Silver, SoulSilver, SS: it is all the same 2010 Nintendo DS remake of Pokémon Silver. The same goes for Heart Gold and HeartGold.
How do I know a SoulSilver cartridge is genuine?
The one test counterfeits cannot pass: the infrared sensor. A genuine SoulSilver is the slightly larger black shell with a dark translucent IR window in the top edge, used to pair with the Pokéwalker. Start a pairing — on a fake, the screen does nothing or freezes. A plain matte top edge almost always means a counterfeit.
Does SoulSilver come with the Pokéwalker?
Originally it shipped with one — a pedometer shaped like a Poké Ball that pairs with the cartridge over infrared. The game is fully playable without it, and a loose cartridge is the affordable way to play. A complete boxed set with the Pokéwalker is the collector configuration; we list per unit exactly what is included.
Why is Pokémon SoulSilver so expensive?
It is a remake of the best-loved generation, it shipped with the Pokéwalker accessory, and demand never dropped. That makes SoulSilver and HeartGold the priciest mainline DS games — and, as a direct consequence, the most counterfeited ones.
Which consoles does SoulSilver play on?
It is a Nintendo DS game, so it plays on the DS, DS Lite, DSi and every 3DS and 2DS model — DS games are not region-locked. The saves live on flash memory, so there is no battery to run empty, and Pokéwalker pairing works from any of these consoles.
Where SoulSilver fits in the series: all Pokémon games in order — or the full Pokémon DS list.
Dutch reader? Pokémon SoulSilver kopen — dezelfde gids in het Nederlands.
