20 Essential Video Games You Must Play Before You Die

14. Pokemon HeartGold & SoulSilver

If Call of Duty is a game designed for adults but mostly played by children, then Pokemon is the genetic opposite; a game largely designed for children, but played predominantly by adults. Putting to one side the cartoon, card games, cuddly toys, comic books, and weird fan fiction, the Pokemon series remains one of the most innovative, engrossing, and highly-detailed RPGs ever conceived.

The premise for the game's six different generations is always the same; a budding young trainer heads out into the world to catch these creatures called Pokemon, train them, and use them to battle his or her way to glory and save the world in the process. There's something like 649 of these creatures now, each with their own abilities and moves, and their base statistics vary wildly between each individual. Making it one of the most detailed micromanagement games in existence.

Despite all the different variations, directors cuts, and rereleases, HeartGold and SoulSilver - a 2009 reboot of the 1999 edition of the game - is probably the best instalment of the franchise to date.