Pokémon Gold and Silver
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| Pokémon Gold and Pokémon Silver | |
|---|---|
| File:Pokemon gold.jpg File:Silver v.jpg | |
| Developer(s) | Game Freak |
| Publisher(s) | Nintendo / The Pokémon Company |
| Designer(s) | Satoshi Tajiri (director) Junichi Masuda (sub-director) Ken Sugimori (artist) |
| Series | Pokémon series |
| Platform(s) | Game Boy (with SGB and GBC support) |
| Release |
|
| Genre(s) | Console role-playing game |
| Mode(s) | Single player, Multiplayer |
Pokémon Gold and Pokémon Silver, released in Japan as Pocket Monsters Gold and Pocket Monsters Silver (ポケットモンスター 金・銀, Poketto Monsutā Kin, Gin, lit. "Pocket Monsters Gold, Silver"), are the second two installments of the Pokémon series of role-playing video games, succeeding Pokémon Red, Blue, and Yellow. They were first released for the Game Boy in Japan in 1999, and later released to the rest of the world in 2000 (Australia and North America) and 2001 (Europe.) Pokémon Crystal, a special edition version, was released for the Game Boy Color one year later in each region. These three games (Pokémon Gold, Silver, and Crystal) form the second generation of the Pokémon video games.
The games are set in the fantasy world of Johto, which is the habitat for 100 new and exclusive species of Pokémon, and follow the progress of the central character, Gold, in his quest to master Pokémon battling. Both games are independent of each other but feature largely the same plot and, while both can be played separately, is it necessary to trade between them and their backward compatible predecessors in order to fully complete the games' Pokédexes. The Johto Saga of the Pokémon anime is based on the games' plots.
Setting and plot
Pokémon Gold and Silver takes place in Johto, a fictional region modeled after the Kansai and Tokai regions of Japan. This is one distinct region of many shown in the various Pokémon video games. It features a total of seven cities and three towns, along with different geographical locations and Routes connecting most locations to one another. Some areas are only accessible once the player learns a special ability or gains a special item; for instance, the player must acquire the HM Surf, which allows the character to ride certain Pokémon across the sea, in order to reach Cianwood City.
The silent protagonist of Pokémon Gold and Silver, called Gold, is a young boy who lives in New Bark Town. At the beginning of the games, players may choose either Chikorita, Cyndaquil, or Totodile as their starter Pokémon from Professor Elm. In addition, a boy will steal a Pokémon from Professor Elm and become the protagonist's rival, battling the player at certain points in the game to test the player's Pokémon.
The basic goal of the game is to become the best trainer in all of Johto and Kanto; which is done by raising Pokémon, defeating the eight Gym Leaders in Johto for Gym Badges, and challenging the Elite Four and the Champion, and defeating the eight Gym Leaders in Kanto. Finally, the player may face off against Red atop of Mt. Silver. Also throughout the game, the player will have to battle against the forces of Team Rocket, a criminal organization that abuses Pokémon.
Gameplay
While Gold and Silver retain the basic mechanics of capturing, battling, and evolving introduced in Red and Blue, many new features were added.
Time
A time system was introduced, which makes use of a real-time internal clock. At the beginning of the game, the player inputs the time of day, the day of the week, and if it is daylight saving time. Pokémon appearances are influenced by time of day: morning, day, and night. The owl Pokémon Hoothoot, for example, only appears at night. Certain events are also determined by the day of the week, such as the bug catching contest, which is held in Goldenrod City's national park on Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday. In addition, a happy Eevee will evolve into one of its new evolutions, depending on the time of day: it will evolve into Espeon in the morning and daytime, and Umbreon at night.
Items
A variety of new items were introduced in these games. Some are designed to exploit a new mechanic, Pokémon being able to hold an item. Some held items restore health, such as the Berries introduced in this game and expanded upon in later generations. Others can give boosts to the Pokémon in battle (Miracle Seed, which increases the power of Grass-type attacks) or out of battle (Soothe Bell, which increase the Pokémon's happiness), among other uses. Most held items are acquired on their own, but some are found already attached to Pokémon. For example, trading a Kadabra to another player may result in the evolved Alakazam holding a Twistedspoon. Many wild Pokémon can hold items, such as the Leftovers sometimes found on Snorlax.
More specialized Poké Balls were also introduced, such as the Lure Ball, which is more effective if used against a Pokémon encountered with a fishing rod. To obtain these, Apricorns must be picked from special plants found throughout Johto, and a man in Azalea Town will fashion these into the different balls based on their color. Most of these specialized Poké Balls are not found in future generation games.
Rare Pokémon
Gold and Silver introduced six new legendary Pokémon, which have started trends imitated in later generations. Raikou, Entei, and Suicune are three mammal-like Pokémon. They are the first in the series to wander around the world after they have been "awakened", changing locations every time the player moves to a new location, though they can be tracked with the Pokédex once sighted. If encountered, they instantly attempt to run away, but they can continue to be encountered, and any HP loss or status effects will remain the next time they are fought. Ho-Oh and Lugia are two legendary birds, depicted on the cartridges of Gold and Silver respectively; all succeeding games except FireRed and LeafGreen are associated with a legendary depicted on their covers. Celebi, analogous to Mew, can only be obtained through cheating devices or through official Nintendo promotions, though it was available through a mobile phone connection in the Japanese Crystal version.
The games also introduced shiny Pokémon, which have a different coloration than normal Pokémon of their species, and which appear very rarely. In this generation, these Pokémon often have better stats than regular, non-shiny Pokémon. However, in future generations they do not, and the shiny attribute is purely aesthetic. There is one exception to the shiny Pokémon system: one red Gyarados can always be found at the Lake of Rage.
Pokémon attributes
Two new Pokémon types were introduced, Steel-type and Dark-type. These two types serve to balance the Psychic-type; in the first generation games, its only weakness was the Bug-type, which lacked powerful offensive moves. In Pokémon Gold and Silver, more powerful Bug-type moves were added. In addition, Steel and Dark-type Pokémon are weak to Fighting-type moves, which were only "super effective" against Normal, Ice and Rock-type Pokémon in the first generation, all of which were rarely used in competitive battling. Steel-type Pokémon are known for their very high defense and resistance to many other types, and Dark-type Pokémon are immune to Psychic-type moves and are strong against Psychic and Ghost-type Pokémon. Some type match-ups were changed as well. For example, Ice-type moves were made "not very effective" against Fire-types, when they previously did normal damage.
In addition, several moves had their types changed, and many new moves were added. However, Pokémon knowing the new moves are not allowed to be traded to the first generation games. To solve this, a move deleter was introduced, capable of erasing any move known by the Pokémon, including HM moves, which previously could not be unlearned once taught to a Pokémon. Another major change from the original series was the splitting of the Special stat into Special Attack and Special Defense. This increased aspects of strategy, for Pokémon were now more specialized.
Pokérus (Pokémon virus) was introduced in this game. This virus is actually beneficial to the host and doubles the effort values it receives after a battle. The virus is encountered by fighting an infected wild Pokémon and is even rarer to acquire than a shiny Pokémon.
Breeding
With the introduction of Pokémon breeding, all Pokémon are assigned to one or two breeding groups. When a male and female Pokémon that share at least one breeding group are left a Pokémon Daycare, they may produce an egg, which will hatch into a young Pokémon. Another way to produce an egg is by breeding any Pokémon with a Ditto, which is genderless and will mate with any Pokémon capable of breeding. Legendary Pokémon and Baby Pokémon, among certain other species, cannot be bred. A baby Pokémon will inherit the species of its mother (or non-Ditto parent in the case of Ditto breeding), and certain moves from its father, which can be inherited in a variety of ways.
Internal battery failure
A common problem found in the second generation of games is the corruption of the internal battery after roughly six years. The battery is located inside of the cartridge and allows the game to save the user's progress.
It is possible to fix this, but the cartridge must be opened, the battery must be taken out, and a new battery must be soldered in. The battery model is model CR2025, although a larger CR2032 fits as well. An inexpensive replacement battery can be purchased with the same welded tabs and insulating ring already attached such as the Panasonic BSG series (part # BR2032-1F2.)[1] A battery with welded tabs should be used, such as the one mentioned above, as it is difficult and unsafe to solder directly to a lithium battery without tabs. Then he or she will need to use a soldering iron to remove the old battery and install the new one.
With a new battery, the game's save file lasts much longer; however, any previous data saved on the game is lost when the battery is replaced.
Pokémon Gold and Silver beta
In 1997 Nintendo put the first details and screenshots of their next Pocket Monsters game online. It was initially named Pocket Monsters 2 Gold and Silver, and was developed for Game Boy and Super Game Boy and planned for release at the end of the year.[2] However, no more news was heard, and the game was not released at the end of the year.
Following a year without press releases, the official Nintendo site was updated with new information on Pokémon Gold and Silver. It gave information on the revised release date (June 1999) and it was stated to be compatible with the then-unreleased Game Boy Color. The 100 Pokémon added to Pokémon Gold and Silver were just a few of many different designs that Game Freak created, and even those often went through redesigns before making it into the final product.
The prototype battle screens were very similar to the final ones, however; the absence of gender notation was apparent. Pokémon gender was a previously announced feature, and the display of gender was likely added later as a convenience to players. The move status window, which in the final version tells you the remaining and total PP of each move and its type was not fully completed at this point in development.
One of the main points posted was the addition of a skateboard as a secondary transportation method besides the bicycle from the previous games. It was said that the skateboard would allow the player to go to unusual places. Also mentioned in the releases were the integrated RTC (Real Time Clock), additional evolutions for first generation Pokémon, breeding and Pokémon eggs, 100 new Pokémon boosting the total amount to 251, new Technical and Hidden Machines, new attacks, and better in-battle graphics. The game's communication abilities were also improved, adding trading and fighting between each version and backwards compatibility with the first generation.
After release of Pokémon Gold and Silver, ROM hackers began to notice leftover code in the game data not used in the final release: beta versions of every town in Johto; beta maps of every room in the lab from Cinnabar Island; and text referring to honey, an item that is not seen again until Pokémon Diamond and Pearl. As well as text referring to a "Voltorb Badge" while there is no pointer referencing this bit of text and no beta script has ever been found calling it. Also, when enabling the "Use" option on certain Teru-Sama's through hacking, some left over item coding remains from Red/Blue, such as the Town Map (which displays Kanto even if the player is in Johto), and a PokéFlute which works perfectly. Other things have been uncovered that reveal details about the games' development. The final games have full beta maps of every single Johto town remaining in their ROM, most of which are significantly different from their final counterparts. One particular beta map seems to be detailing the Safari Zone, which did not make it into the final game. Apart from maps, other beta discoveries include a mine cart image, text and evidence of another Game Corner game. Images have also since been found of various early ideas for the new Pokémon, including early prototypes of Qwilfish, Chikorita and Marill.
Pokémon Crystal
| Pokémon Crystal | |
|---|---|
| File:Pokémon Crystal Coverart.png | |
| Developer(s) | Game Freak |
| Publisher(s) | Nintendo |
| Designer(s) | Satoshi Tajiri (director) Junichi Masuda (co-director) Ken Sugimori (artist) |
| Series | Pokémon series |
| Platform(s) | Game Boy Color |
| Release |
|
| Genre(s) | RPG |
| Mode(s) | Single player Multiplayer |
Pokémon Crystal Pocket Monsters Crystal (ポケットモンスター クリスタル, Poketto Monsutā Kurisutaru), is an enhanced remake of Pokémon Gold and Silver. It was first released in Japan, and was later released in North America, Australia, and Europe.
New features
Pokémon Crystal was the first in the Game Boy series to allow players to choose the gender of their character. Also added was a subplot involving the legendary Pokémon Suicune and a man named Eusine hoping to catch it. One of the game’s biggest additions was the Battle Tower, a new building added west of Olivine City which allowed players to participate in Pokémon Stadium-like fights. Another change, noticeable when first starting the game, was that all Pokémon had animated battle sprites once a battle began. For example, when Cyndaquil entered battle, the flames on its back flickered. This feature later returned in Pokémon Emerald and Pokémon Diamond and Pearl.
Previously, trainers who called on the cell phone all said the same thing with only the names of the Pokémon they reference. Trainers are now given distinct personalities (one talks about shopping, another about grooming), and call for reasons other than battling, such as giving the player items or informing them of a rare Pokémon appearing.
There were also some changes made to the Ruins of Alph. This included more common Unown, as well as a new subplot — completing enough puzzles lets the player read a secret message left behind by the Unown. It suggested that the Unown were left behind by the ancient civilization that constructed the Ruins of Alph, and that the statues that lined the interior were made by the Unown. The Unown are shrouded with mystery, they even appear to generate a radio signal (only in the Ruins of Alph).
Another feature introduced in Crystal and reused in later games is the Move Tutor. After the Elite Four is defeated, a man would start appearing twice a week who would teach the player’s Pokémon a few certain moves.
Mobile Phone System (Japan only)
In the Japanese version of Crystal, the player could link up with others through the use of a mobile phone. The Goldenrod City Pokémon Center was replaced by a much larger building which included the machine to use this feature. Using the mobile phone link-up would give the player an extra item, a GS Ball. After taking the Ball to Kurt in Azalea Town to examine, the player would place the GS Ball in the Ilex Forest shrine. This would cause a Celebi to fly down and attack the player.
Two GameShark codes can be used to activate the GS Ball related events and eventually catch Celebi in the English version of Crystal. Why this was not available in the United States has never been officially revealed; Nintendo says that they had FCC issues (the mobile adapter system did not make the cut, but the maps and text for the system are in English Crystal), but it is most likely because children with cell phones were not nearly as common outside Japan in 2001 and to the plethora of different styles of phones in use in the US.
Pokémon Stadium 2
Like Gold and Silver, the game could be used in Pokémon Stadium 2 via a Transfer Pak much in the same way as the other games, but with a few changes. When Crystal is put into the Transfer Pak, info is added to Earl's Pokémon Academy that shows the availability of Pokémon in the Crystal version and remains in the game even when Crystal is not in the Transfer Pak. The game takes considerably longer time to load at the GB Tower compared to the other versions, and comes with its own loading screen, which shows the current Pokémon in the party. Another notable change is in the battle modes of Pokémon Stadium 2. When using non-registered Crystal Version Pokémon, the trainer's picture that represents the player is female, regardless of whether or not the trainer is a male.