Pokemon Gold/Silver/Crystal Review(s)
Apr 6, 2013 19:05:58 GMT -8
Gengar, praise luke, and 6 more like this
Post by Deleted on Apr 6, 2013 19:05:58 GMT -8
Remember the good ol' days? Remember playing with friends on Red, Blue, and Yellow thinking to yourself, "Imagine there were more Pokemon!" Well, boys and girls, you've just wished a miracle. Following the success of the 1st Gen Pokemon, we've received, starting in 1998 for Japan, Pokemon Gold and Silver for the Gameboy Color!
Originally meant for the original Gameboy, this adds a whole new dimension of playing with newly added mechanics, new Pokemon, and a whole new region! ... Don't give me that look, back in those days that was amazing! Sure, now it's guaranteed, but... well, shut up!
With this, the Pokemon craze has hit its peak and it shows! Now, as before, I will review this game as the day it came out. Once that's done, I will then give it a score on how it holds to this day. Excited? No? ... On with the review!
Story:
Remember the story of Red, the character from Red, Blue, and Yellow? Well, we're not playing as him! Instead, we're in a whole new region called Johto with a new kid, who's just beginning his journey! Apparently, this region is connected to Kanto, which is weird as how they've never mentioned it before - but who cares, right? It's a new area to explore!
His name? Well, we'll call him "Gold". Anyway, Gold is a new kid that's about to start his journey as he enters the Professor's Lab. This professor is called Elm... Haha, I get it... a tree! How funny... Okay, it's not funny, but hey - new Pokemon!
In Crystal, we're introduced to another character to choose to play as: a girl. Her name is Crystal and she's the counterpart of Gold. For convenience, you can choose either or and they'd still follow the story and plot.
So, we start out the same as before: choosing 1 out of the 3 possible Pokemon to start with. As you go adventure, you'll meet this rival that stole Elm's other starter Pokemon. Also, you meet up with Professor Oak, hooray for consistencies! Anyway, you also meet the dreaded... wait, former Team Rocket? Oh right, I remember now... Go play the 1st Gen games to find out why!
Anyway, the story is a little lackluster, compared to the first one. As it's just more of a straight-on story, even more so than the original. At least there, you had a full organization. Here it's just some random thugs that once belonged to it.
However, the plot is more than what the story seems. It's still the same, "go to defeat 8 badges, defeat the Elite 4, and then become champion", but there's an added twist!
Did I also mention the game takes place 3 years after the events of Red's journey?
Gameplay:
Similar to the original game. That's all I have to say.
However, that doesn't mean it doesn't come with added stuff. On the contrary, it adds a whole new strategy to the games!
With this game, we're introduced to 2 new Pokemon types: Dark Types and Steel Types.
But before we talk about them, let me make an important announcement: THEY'VE FIXED THE ITEM MENU! Yes! You can NOW store more items and they'll be sorted into different areas, so they don't stack up into one huge mess!
Anyway... onto the types!
Dark Types are strong against Psychic, so we finally have some way of defeating those Psychic bastards! Steel Types are strong against Rock Types, giving the weak Rock Types even more weaknesses. However, to combat these new types, Fighting types can easily whoop their "ahem". To add on, we even get more movesets for each new type! How thrilling!
Suffice to say, there aren't enough movesets for both Dark and Steel types, making them rather limited.
Speaking of them, they've introduced the "Shiny Pokemon" which is just an alternate color of a Pokemon. When they're introduced, they sparkle. However, it's just a cosmetic change and really rare.
They've added a day and night system, which is pretty awesome and works well! You see, you'll get certain Pokemon in the day and certain Pokemon in the night - it's pretty immersing. The new Pokemon make it seem like it's more real, compared to the first games.
Remember the day care center you usually used? Well, they're back and in comes the newest innovation: breeding! You can now learn about the Birds and the Bees all by yourself using this! You see, when a Mommy Pokemon and Daddy Pokemon love each other very much, they... Yeah, not really the way it's done. Just simply go to a Day Care Center, put two Pokemon in, see if they interact well, come back a few minutes or hours and find out they made an egg!
But the best part is... two whole regions! Yes, after you complete the story mode - you get to go to the Kanto Region and face all 8 Gym Leaders there and go against the Kanto Elite 4! You also get to fight
Red
- le gasp!My main issue though is that, due to the new mechanics, the game seems rather easier and in some cases, some Pokemon have been made weaker than before due to the changes. Especially since they've split the "Special" stat to 2 new stats: Special Attack and Special Defense.
Due to this, you might find yourself breezing through it... after you defeat a certain 3rd Gym Leader.
Lastly, with the introduction of Crystal on the year of the Gameboy Color's death, they've added Pokemon and trainers move in their animation for a bit - which is interesting!
Presentation:
With the day and night system included, you've essentially got a living world in a game! That really doesn't make it living, does it? Any who, the game looks amazing in 8-bit. It looks more amazing than the original game, even the sprites and back sprites are made better!
The new region has towns that look different from the rest, they all have their own atmosphere, and even the Pokemon look more natural than before.
In addition to the looks of the region, due to the 3 year difference, you can see that Kanto has changed in those years. Some areas are smaller, a certain scary town has changed, and the trainers are tougher than ever. Still, the game is easier than the original, so you will still breeze right through it.
Overall, the game sets the bar for presentation in the series.
Music:
You might think, "How can this game have better music than the original?" Well, for one thing: it's not. It's just as good. It's just as memorable and it works.
Due to the better sound chip in the Gameboy Color, even though it's still crap, it has produced pretty good chiptunes. What's better is that some of the Legendary Pokemon have been given their own theme. The thing is, they still use the same theme for a wild Pokemon, though that's due to the limitations in memory.
The music for the Kanto region has been improved in quality and they're a joy to hear in better quality! The high pitched noises from the first games are gone and now we have true 8 bit tunes!
Conclusion:
With this, you can see how they've improved tremendously from the first game. That said, it's quite easier than the previous game and while improving in certain aspects, they've never made the game truly an improvement in certain aspects. The story is lackluster and some of the new mechanics aren't that great to take advantage of.
Crystal is a fine version, being the definitive version, but it's still the same game but with the ability to get all Legendaries and a new person to play as.
The series hit its peak and this game made it hit its peak! It's a great game and a fantastic sequel to the original.
Score: 8.5/10
Here's what the score would be if comparing to the newer ones:
Score: 8.5/10
It retains its score primarily due to the fixes and how it's more accessible than the first games in the series. It shows its age by having no way to save anymore, due to the battery being long dead. All I can say is, get the remake if you haven't already.
