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 |
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| 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 two Game Boy video games. Released in 2000, these games started the second generation of the vastly popular Pokémon video game series. These games feature a new region called Johto, 100 new Pokémon and many more additions. They are also backward compatible with the first generation of games (Pokémon Red, Blue, and Yellow).Pokemon gold and silver were succeeded in 2001 by an enhanced remake entitled Pokemon Crystal.
New region of Johto
Pokémon Gold and Silver introduces a separate region from the one in the original Pokémon titles (Kanto). This new region, named Johto, offers one hundred new Pokémon for players to capture and discover with a new version of the Pokédex; other new features include the Pokégear, Berries, a full-color world, special Pokéballs, and breeding Pokémon to produce Pokémon Eggs from which baby Pokémon hatch.
Gameplay
Additions
More specialized Poké Balls were introduced in this game. A Lure Ball is more effective if used against a Pokémon caught with a fishing rod, and a Friend Ball will make a Pokémon more comfortable and friendly to its trainer much more quickly. To obtain these balls, Apricorns must be picked from special plants found throughout Johto, and Kurt in Azalea Town will fashion these into the different balls based on their color. However, Kurt can only make one ball at a time, and players must wait until the next day for Kurt to finish the ball. Although these specialized Poké Balls and Apricorns were not in future generations, there were other specialized balls.
The game introduces shiny Pokémon, i.e. Pokémon which have a different coloring than normal Pokémon of their species, and which appear very rarely (estimated to be a 1/8192 chance). In this second generation of games (though not the third generation which followed on GBA), these Pokémon often have better stats than regular non-shiny Pokémon, but can never get the maximum stats for that species. There is one exception to the shiny Pokémon system: A Red Gyarados can be found at the Lake of Rage. Since it is part of the storyline, it is impossible not to encounter this Pokémon. Some people have rumoured to have bred a male and female red Gyarados and have hatched a golden Magikarp from the egg that they have produced. However this is speculation, and the odds of hatching a shiny Pokémon from two shiny parents is just as likely as encountering a shiny Pokémon in the wild, or hatching one from breeding [1/8192].
Pokérus (Pokémon virus) was introduced. The virus is even rarer (about a 1 in 32768 chance) to get than a “shiny” Pokémon, and doubles the Special Experience (a concept adapted to later installments of the Pokémon series as effort values) that the player’s Pokémon gain each time the infected Pokémon participates in battle (provided the battle is won and the infected Pokémon does not faint).
Six legendary Pokémon were introduced:
- Raikou, Entei, and Suicune are three mammal-like Pokémon that have been informally called "Legendary Dogs," "Legendary Cats," and "Legendary Beasts." (This is a point of hot contention among fans, though Nintendo usually refers the them by their individual names or as “Legendary Pokémon,” only once having called them cats.) They wander around Johto after they have been “awakened” at the Burnt Tower, 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, and if unable, use the move Roar, which ends the battle by forcing the player's retreat. Because of this, many players catch them with a Master Ball to avoid the hassle of attempting a battle. However, if the player does engage them in battle, any HP loss or status effects will stay the next time they are encountered.
- Ho-Oh and Lugia are two new legendary birds; Ho-Oh is depicted on the cartridge of Gold while Lugia appears on Silver. Of the two, the one depicted on the game cartridge is encountered at level 40, while the other can be found at level 70 after the player defeats the Elite Four. Ho-Oh is said to control Raikou, Entei, and Suicune while Lugia is said to control Articuno, Zapdos, and Moltres from Pokémon Red and Blue.
- Another legendary Pokémon, Celebi, is analogous to Mew in the original set of games. Celebi can only be obtained through devices like GameSharks or through official Nintendo promotions, though it was available through a mobile phone connection in the Japanese Crystal version.
Several new moves were also added; to allow Pokémon to be traded back to the first generation games, a move deleter was introduced. He can be found at Blackthorn City. The move deleter can remove any move, including HM moves, which previously could not be unlearned once taught to a Pokémon other than through the daycare which has the rights to replace the Hms
Time
In addition of other new features, a time system was also introduced. At the beginning of the game, Professor Oak is awakened by the player before the traditional intro sequence. He asks the player the time. The game’s clock is set accordingly. Afterwards, the protagonist’s mother will ask about the day of the week and Daylight saving time.
Throughout the game, Pokémon appearances are influenced by time of day: morning, day, and night. Hoothoot, for example, only appears at night (since it’s an owl-like Pokémon). Certain events are also determined by the day of the week, like the bug catching contest which is held in Goldenrod City's national park on Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday. Depending on the day of the week, either "Pokémon March" or "Pokémon Lullaby" can be heard on the Pokégear radio. Pokémon March raises the chance of a Pokémon appearing when the player walks into the grass, while Pokémon Lullaby decreases that chance.
In addition, Eevee's two new evolutions, Espeon and Umbreon, will only appear at a certain time of day once Eevee levels up after becoming extremely attached to its trainer. Eevee will only evolve into Espeon in the morning or daytime and into Umbreon only at night.
Type changes
Two new types were introduced, Steel-type and Dark-type. These two types serve to balance the Psychic type, whose only weakness consisted of Bug-type moves; however, Bug-types lacked any powerful offensive moves in past games. In the second generation games, moves like the powerful Megahorn (120 power move with 85% accuracy) were added. In addition, the Steel and Dark types also balanced the Fighting type, which was only "super effective" against Normal, Ice and Rock types ( all of which are rarely used in competitive battling); Steel and Dark are both weak against Fighting. Steel-type Pokémon are known for their very high defense; they are highly resistant to many types and their moves are strong against Ice- and Rock-type Pokémon. Dark-types are immune to Psychic-type moves and have moves with malicious-sounding names, like Bite and Thief, which are super-effective against Psychic-type. Dark-types are also strong against Ghost-types, thus being the only type that has an attack advantage over Ghost-type Pokémon besides Ghost-type moves themselves.The Dark-type Pokémon are also weak against Bug-type attacks.
Another major change from the original series was the splitting of the Special stat into Special Attack and Special Defense. Again, this increased aspects of strategy, for Pokémon were now more specialized. Some were good special attackers, while others were better physical attackers; the same now held true for defense and special defense. For example, Cloyster has a decent Special stat in Red/Blue/Green/Yellow, but in all later games, has a decent Special Attack, but low Special Defense. Furthermore, Poison-type moves were recategorized as physical moves, making them now use the Attack stat rather than the Special Attack stat.
Some type match-ups were changed as well. In Pokémon Red and Blue Ghost-type moves had no effect on Psychic-types; this was changed to super-effective as it was in the Pokémon television series. Poison-types originally were effective against Bug-types and Bug-types ineffective against Poison; this was changed to Poison doing normal damage to Bug and Bug becoming not very effective against Poison, seriously limiting the effectiveness and usage of Bug-types and Poison-types. Ice-type moves were also made not very effective against Fire-types (previously they did normal damage). In this version several moves had their type changed. For example, the move Gust was a Normal-type in the first generation games but is now a Flying-type move; the move Bite was a Normal-type move in the first generation, but now is Dark-type. Two Pokémon, Magnemite and Magneton are now Electric/Steel (in Red and Blue, they were pure electric).
Held items
A new feature, Pokémon being able to hold items, raised the bar for strategy, because players could use held items to outspeed their rivals (Quick Claw), heal ailments (berries), restore HP in battle (Leftovers), boost element-specific attacks (Miracle Seed), or increase the Pokémon's happiness (Soothe Bell), among other uses.
Held items can be acquired on their own, but some are found already attached to Pokémon. For example, trading a Kadabra/Alakazam may result in obtaining a Twistedspoon, which is the only way to obtain this item. If the Pikachu that is given by Oak at the beginning of Pokémon Yellow is traded to Gold or Silver, it will be holding an item called the Light Ball, which doubles Pikachu's Special Attack power. Because of this, many players do not evolve their Pikachu and instead keep the massive power boost. Many other wild Pokémon hold items too, such as Leftovers from Snorlax and Lucky Egg from Chansey.
Breeding
With the introduction of breeding, all Pokémon belong to one or two breeding groups. It is important to note that legendary Pokémon cannot be bred; they are genderless, and will not breed, even with a Ditto (which can breed with any Pokémon capable of breeding except another Ditto).
A baby Pokémon will be born when a male Pokémon and a female Pokémon that share at least one breeding group are left at the Pokémon Daycare. In the case of Pokémon that are always male (Hitmontop, Nidoking, Tauros, etc.), or Gender Unknown group Pokémon (Magnemite, Voltorb), the only way to produce a baby from these species is by breeding them with a Ditto.
A baby Pokémon will inherit the species of its mother (or non-Ditto parent in the case of a Ditto breeding) and inheritable moves from its father (when it’s not a Ditto). Fathers always pass down TM moves that the baby’s species could learn, which are valuable (since some are only obtainable one time). If both parents know a move that the baby could learn by increasing its level, the baby is born knowing that move as well. Fathers may also pass down special moves called “Egg Moves” to the baby that it would not normally be able to learn by leveling up or evolving.
Story
The player is called to Professor Elm's Lab to run an errand. He gives you the choice of taking along one of three different Pokémon. Chikorita is the Grass-Type starter that evolves into Bayleef and Meganium. Cyndaquil is the Fire-Type starter that can evolve into Quilava and Typhlosion. Totodile is the Water-Type the player can choose, which evolves into Croconaw and Feraligatr. The player may only get the other two Pokémon he or she did not choose from Professor Elm by trading with another copy of Gold, Silver, or Crystal.
The player goes to Professor Oak who is found at an office near the next town. Oak thinks you have started your own Pokémon journey. He gives you a Pokédex to start out with. The rival is much different from the one presented in Red and Blue. This time, he steals a Pokémon from Professor Elm (the person who gives players their starter Pokémon) and becomes the player’s rival throughout the course of the game. His name is unknown at first, but like the rival in Red and Blue, the rival will start with a Pokémon that has a type advantage on the player's Pokėmon; eventually, like in previous games, the player names him. His rough personality and lack of love for his Pokémon shows players what their attitude should not be like. However, he gets a change of heart on a Mt. Moon battle seeing that his harsh attitude gets him nowhere. He tried to hinder you and Champion Lance at the Mahogany Rocket HQ. This is where he battled Champion Lance and first started to see glimpses that he was not treating his Pokémon right. In the manga he is Giovanni's son, and this may be hinted at in Fire Red and Leaf Green when a Rocket Scientist says "Giovanni's son has red hair."
Team Rocket has returned with a new attitude, since the disappearance of their leader Giovanni, and once again tries to take over the world, starting with the Johto region. They begin with petty things (such as cutting off the tails of Slowpokes to sell as food for a high price) before becoming more devious, such as a plan to use radio frequencies to artificially induce evolution in some Pokémon, as well as trying to contact their missing leader using radio broadcasts. The more recent FireRed and LeafGreen versions explained the origins of the admin who restarted Team Rocket being that he served as the leader of the Sevii Islands HQ and was defeated by Red. He returned later to settle the score and to restart the organization by first finding and restoring Giovanni.
Union Cave
Union cave is a cave that the player encounters after they have beaten the first gym leader. Although the cave seems small it is actually quite huge. After the player can use surf the player should return there and explore.
Return to Kanto
After beating the Elite Four at the Pokémon League, players can now access Kanto, the region from the previous games, and see how things have changed over the past three years as they continue their journey:
- The player can meet and battle many of the characters from the previous games, including the rival of the original games, Blue (Green in the Japanese versions). After completing the quests in Kanto, the player can access a new area in Johto and battle Red, the protagonist of the original games. Another quite notable difference is that Koga, gym leader of Fuchsia City (now Elite Four member), has been replaced by his daughter, Janine.
- Most of the music from the first generation games are used, and have had some major remixing done to most battle themes, and minor remixing done to the remaining tunes.
- Articuno, Zapdos, and Moltres are no longer here, partially because they can already be caught in Red/Blue/Yellow. The Cerulean Cave and Mewtwo are also gone, though an NPC does mention the dungeon and an item called a "Berserk Gene" is found in the water near where the Cerulean Cave once was.
- A key is no longer required to open the door to Lt. Surge in the Vermilion Gym, the garbage cans are all empty (except for trash) and there is no door at all.
- The Pokémon Tower in Lavender Town is replaced by a Radio Tower, similar to the one in Goldenrod City. In turn, the Pokémon gravesites were moved into the newly added Soul House. Also, you can only go on the first floor due to added security (caused because of Johto's radio tower being taken over by Team Rocket).
- The abandoned Power Plant is now in use to power the newly-opened Saffron City Magnet Train (which may have led to the departure of all the Pokémon that were infesting the plant in Pokémon Red, Blue and Yellow, among whom Zapdos).
- Team Rocket's headquarters in the basement of the Celadon City casino has been sealed, although it's hinted by the same man in Celadon's Pokémon Center.
- Copycat still lives in Saffron City, but has moved to another home. Her old house is now the Magnet Train station. After Copycat's house was torn down for the station, she received a free rail pass from a man at the station, which she gives to you after returning her lost doll from Vermilion City (the doll is found inside the Pokémon Fan Club). According to her mother this is the same doll that Red gives her in the first game for TM 31.
- The Fighting Dojo leader is away training, so the Fighting Dojo only provides a Focus Band item left behind, which can be held by a Pokémon. The Fighting Dojo leader is training in Mt. Mortar in Johto. He gives you a Tyrogue if you defeat him.
- The Safari Zone is closed while the warden is "on a vacation". Instead, the Johto Bug-Catching Contest at the National Park takes its place. A portal to the Safari Zone in Fuchsia City is also found, but is also not used.
- A volcano has destroyed everything but the Pokémon Center on Cinnabar Island.
- Blaine has moved his Gym to the Seafoam Islands due to the volcano eruption in Cinnabar Island (which is why Articuno and all water Pokémon there are no longer available).
- Pokémon seen in the wild are different: many Johto Pokémon exist in the grass. Some Pokémon that were previously restricted to the Safari Zone, can be caught in nearby wild areas, such as Rhyhorn in Victory Road, Kangaskhan in Rock Tunnel, and Chansey on the long bridge east of Vermillion.
- The Bike Shop in Cerulean City has been closed down, due to the owners moving to Goldenrod City.
- Gym Leader rosters are updated to include Johto Pokémon.
- Blue, the rival in Red and Blue is now the leader of the Viridian City Gym. Giovanni is nowhere to be seen, though he is mentioned.
- Red, the player’s character from Pokémon Red and Blue and Yellow shows up in Johto, in Mt. Silver and serves as the game's true final boss battle, his highest level Pokémon being a level 81 Pikachu. This is a nod to Ash Ketchum's Pikachu in the Pokémon anime; as Red also has a Snorlax at level 75. He also has a Blastoise, Venusaur, and Charizard at L77, and Espeon at L73.
- Victory Road’s length has been drastically shortened, and no longer includes the barriers, boulders, trainers, and pressure sensors, explaining why the trainers appear outside (which is why Moltres is no longer there)
- Viridian Forest has been reduced to that of a small group of trees visible outside the forest entrance, and wild Pokémon can only be caught there on the grass of what used to be Route 2.
- The other caverns and the Viridian Forest all have the same layout as they did before (with the exceptions of Mt. Moon and the Seafoam Islands), just shrunk down.
- The underground passage from Celadon City to Lavender Town has been sealed indefinitely, ostensibly due to "vandalism." The game cites local complaints about battles there.
- The museum in Pewter City is closed for renovations.
- The "coffee man" in Viridian city has now had his coffee, and says, "Hey, kid! I just had a double shot of espresso and I am wired!" He then says that he was once good at capturing Pokémon, and asks if you believe him. However, he does not show you how to catch Pokémon regardless of whether you answer "Yes" or "No."
- Bill's house is still present, but Bill himself now lives in Goldenrod City in Johto. The house is now home to Bill's grandfather, who gives the player a full set of evolution stones one by one after showing specific Pokémon that he describes.
- Most Routes were shortened, but cities and towns remained the same size except Celadon City, which shrunk slightly.
- Viridian city is now home to the Trainer House, a location where the player can battle one trainer per day. The player will face the last trainer they used Mystery Gift with, along with that trainer's party. If they have yet to unlock or use Mystery Gift, the opposing trainer will have a trio of Level 50 Pokémon, namely Meganium, Typhlosion and Feraligatr
Glitches
There is a well-known glitch in this game that allows players to clone Pokémon. It is achieved by powering off the Gameboy when the game is saving, slightly corrupting the savefile. This glitch was removed from the third generation games (Pokémon Ruby and Sapphire), yet returns in Pokémon Emerald.[1] This glitch is also in Pokémon Diamond and Pearl[2], but requires the use of online features of the game.
Internal battery failure
A common problem found in the second generation of games is a problem with the internal battery after roughly six years. The internal battery is located inside of the cartridge which allows the game to save the user's progress.
It is possible to fix this, but the cartridge must be opened and 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 and will last longer. 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) available from Digikey.[3] One will need to be able to use a soldering iron to remove the old battery and install the new one. One should get a battery with welded tabs such as the one mentioned above; it is difficult and unsafe to solder directly to a lithium battery without tabs.
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 & Silver", and was developed for Game Boy and Super Game Boy and was planned for release at the end of the same year.[4]
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 Pokémon in Pokémon Gold and Silver were just a few of many different designs that Game Freak created. 100 new Pokémon were added, and even those often went through redesigns before making it into the final product.
The battle screens are very similar to the final ones; however, the absence of gender notation is apparent. Pokémon gender was a previously announced feature, and the display of gender was likely added later as a convenience to players. The attack stats window, which in the final version tells you the remaining and total PP of each attack 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 Red/Green/Blue 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 R/G/B.
After release of "Pokémon Gold & 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 (from Red and Blue); and text referring to honey, an item that was not seen again until Pokémon Diamond and Pearl. There is also the 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 Poké Flute which works perfectly.
Since Pokémon Gold and Silver was released, 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 found in the ROM 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 GameCorner game.
Images have also since been found of various early ideas for the new Pokémon, including early prototypes of Qwilfish, Chikorita and Marill.