Why Pokemon Gold and Silver are the best games in the series
By Matt Becker
Pokemon Gold and Silver recently released on the Nintendo 3DS Virtual Console. Here’s why we think these two classics are the best games in the series.
I would be lying if I said I wasn’t excited when I first heard that Pokemon Gold and Silver were coming to the Nintendo 3DS Virtual Console. I will admit that these two Pokemon games have always held a special place in my heart. Nintendo’s Game Boy Color was my very first self-purchased gaming device, and growing up in the 90s, Pokemon was the thing to play. What I didn’t realize was just how important these games became to the series as a whole. In fact, we think that Gold and Silver are the best games in the entire Pokemon franchise.
While Red, Blue, and Yellow (and Green) set in motion the international Pokemon craze, these games were a bit rough around the edges. As much as I loved my overpowered Alakazam, type balancing wasn’t quite refined. Glitches were rampant – who doesn’t remember exploiting the Old Man glitch to find MissingNo? Or going through the insane number of complicated steps required to trick the game into spawning a Mew? But Pokemon Gold and Silver took everything we loved about the OG Pokemon games and refined them.
Setting the stage for future generations
These two games were a huge step forward for the series, from the core gameplay to its endgame content to its wonderful colored graphics. I would go so far as to argue that Pokemon Gold and Silver‘s art style defines how the Pokemon games should look. As nice as the modern 3D player character models are, the colorful but simplistic look of the second generation games both play to nostalgia while still looking great. And Gold and Silver‘s new colored graphics was just a start – these two games brought so many additions to the series it’s hard to even list them all.
The day and night cycle based on a real-time internal clock was borderline genius. Limiting certain events and Pokemon’s availability to certain times of the day added a lot of variety and immersive changes to the gameplay. I remember setting up a jerry-rigged flashlight in my room just so I could play under the covers to catch those pesky nocturnal Houndours or level my Eevee into an Umbreon. The ability to breed Pokemon not only forced genders onto our favorite creatures but also gave us cute little baby Pokemon like Pichu and Elekid. I don’t think my parents appreciated either of these, however, when I came asking them late at night how breeding works.
Probably the biggest change mechanically was the introduction of Steel and Dark-type Pokemon, which fixed balance issues with Poison and Psychic types. Adding Dual-typed Pokemon helped with this too. Separating the relatively vague Special stat into Special Attack and Special Defense increased strategy in battle. This was one of the first games I actually paid attention to the nuances of Pokemon stats and didn’t just spam overpowered Psychic moves to victory.
And that’s just the tip of the iceberg. Shiny Pokemon, Hold items, specialized Pokeballs, Trainer rematches, wandering legendaries, friendship/happiness levels, new evolution mechanics, Berries, and experience point tracking all made their way into Gold and Silver. I struggle to think of any true sequel to a game that added this many new core gameplay features. And these are all features that played a huge part in the Pokemon games that we all know and love today: Gold and Silver paved the way for what modern day Pokemon has become.
Gotta catch em all!
Obviously, everyone is entitled to their opinions on the best generation of Pokemon. Maybe I’m old school, but some of the newer monster designs just aren’t doing it for me. For me, the pinnacle of awesome Pokemon is – you guessed it – the second generation. Game Freak hit a home run in monster design for Pokemon Gold and Silver.
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First off, the two games introduced 100 new Pokemon into the universe, bringing the total to 251. I’ve always felt like that was a well-balanced amount of newcomers, and the total count still kept that famous goal of “catching them all” a doable challenge. None of the new Pokemon felt overly obscure or as if the designers were stretching for ideas either (I’m looking at you, Garbodor). The addition of new evolutions and babies tied a bunch of these newcomers back to the first generation as well. This not only gave players fresh but familiar Pokemon to play with but tied in well with the end-game trip back to Kanto.
Pokemon Gold and Silver were also the first in the series to introduce legendary Pokemon that could actually move around the map. These difficult games of hide-and-seek made catching the three legendary beasts all the more exciting. This mechanic made players feel so much more accomplished than walking into a cave and finding a legendary just sitting there waiting for you. The legendary dogs in addition to Lugia and Ho-Oh more clearly tied into the game’s lore and story as well, giving extra special meaning to catching those illusive rascals.
The best kind of fan service
Take care: this section involves spoilers on a 17-year-old game! Pokemon Gold and Silver not only included its own full-length story in Johto, but also completely incorporated the Kanto region itself. You think you’ve beaten the game, only to realize you are only halfway through it. It’s time to go back to your favorite areas from the first generation, re-imagined in beautiful color.
This was fan service done right. The shoutouts to both the original trilogy and the anime were perfectly executed. The final climatic battle against Red, the player character from the first generation, was nothing short of epic. Hell, they even gave Red a Pikachu as a nice shout out to the anime. And not to mention that this battle was challenging, something some of the newer games are definitely lacking.
What makes the addition of Kanto in Gold and Silver truly impressive is its development story. The late Nintendo president Satoru Iwata flexed his programming prowess and added this entire region into the game by himself, in his spare time. Not to mention that the game itself was already being developed by a small team of only four programmers. If that’s not dedication to your craft, I’m not sure what is.
In fact, the second generation of Pokemon games are the only games in the series that take players back to the previous generation’s zone. This makes Pokemon Gold and Silver some of the longest Pokemon games ever in terms of content. As much as I wish they would do something similar for the modern games, this makes the second generation all the more special. The fact that such a small team of programmers created such an artistic, immersive, and most importantly, fun experience is a feat worth applauding.
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Don’t get me wrong, Pokemon has evolved (heh) in the positive direction as a video game series over the past twenty years. The games have been updated with an abundance of new monsters, new types, new gameplay mechanics, quality of life improvements, and modern graphics. But Pokemon Gold and Silver represent the Pokemon video game series in its prime. It’s a true sequel with an insane amount of new content and a fulfilling, challenging endgame. As Pokemon continues to expand, its certainly telling that the original Pokemon Gold and Silver could potentially be the best Pokemon games of the year.
Pokemon Gold and Silver are available now on the Nintendo 3DS Virtual Console for $9.99 each on the eShop.
The views expressed in this article explicitly belong to the author, and do not necessarily reflect the views of, nor should be attributed to, App Trigger or FanSided as an organization.