So I skipped over the third generation of games. Then a friend and I went to Gamestop looking at DS games and we came across Diamond and Pearl. I grabbed Pearl, he got Diamond. We didn't expect much of anything, but we wound up really enjoying the games. I'd wind up picking up Leaf Green and Emerald. I enjoyed both of them and I think Leaf Green was a great upgrade to Red and Blue while bringing everything new that the second and third generation games had brought to the series. From there I pretty much continued getting games in the series as they came out. Despite all of those new Pokemon games coming out, one generation in particular remained my favorite and when it had it's shot at a remake on a dual screened Nintendo console I freaked. In fact I think I have more hours logged into that remake than any other Pokemon game outside of the originals of that remake.
At the end of the day, my favorite generation of Pokemon is, was, and always will be the second. This generation encompasses Pokemon Gold, Silver, and Crystal and are Game Boy/ Game Boy Color games.
******SPOILERS AHEAD******
They would eventually get an incredible remake (not Crystal) in Heart Gold and Soul Silver on the Nintendo DS as a part of the fourth generation of games. What is there not to love about these games. They pretty much took everything that made the first generation great and built upon it in big ways. Before going into which Pokemon I like the best from this generation I want to touch on some of what I love about this game. The first two things literally takes place within the first minute of playing.
Now this first thing doesn't seem like a big deal and honestly today a part of me feels scared that this question may actually offend people, but at the time this was a big deal. In Pokemon Red, Blue, Green, and Yellow you played as a boy (Red) by default with no option. Gold and Silver followed this with the player playing as a boy (Ethan). Crystal on the other hand, with it's later release threw in a girl playable character (Kris) for the first time ever in a Pokemon game. To me this was huge. Even back then I knew that a lot of girls played these games and for them to be able to play as a girl in the game was pretty cool. In fact I know a lot of guys now that play as the girl over the boy in many of the newer generations. It all started in generation two. As big as this addition was, it was still overshadowed by another feature that was introduced in Gold and Silver. Sadly this feature would vanish in the third generation and still feel like to this day, generation two did this the best.
For me, the biggest win and one of my absolute favorite features of Pokemon Gold, Silver, and Crystal is the in game clock. It's so simple, yet oh so important. In Pokemon Red, Blue, Green, and Yellow, all of the Pokemon showed up in their respective areas at any time, day or night. This made it real easy to catch what you wanted at any time. Gold, Silver, and Crystal changed all of that. The day was divided into three portions. Morning, Day, and Night. Depending on what time of the day you played, different Pokemon would be out. In some cases a Pokemon would go from say common during the day to rare or even uncatchable at night. Some Pokemon could only be caught at night. Some only in the morning. Some could be caught anytime day or night. This blew my mind as a kid and even going back and playing through this game again a couple months ago, I still found myself at the mercy of time, just like in real life. I had to think about what I wanted to catch and play the game at the right time. If I wanted that Murkrow I had to make sure I was playing at night. As a kid that meant hooking my Game Boy Color or Game Boy light up to the console and sneaking in some playing time after I was supposed to be going to sleep. It was quite thrilling. Now it's more of just something on the mind as opposed to a thrill of sneaking staying up late.
In addition to Pokemon showing up at different times, the game actually changed from day to night. It was always much nicer to look at the game on the Game Boy Color or Super Game Boy, but the day to night was actually pretty cool. The screen would simply get darker and the lights in all the houses and shops would go on signaling that time had shifted. It wasn't really stellar in how it happened. In fact it was basically in the blink of an eye (fastest sunset ever), but it was better than there being a text box signaling the transition like in Castlevania II: Simon's Quest. It's something small, that the series now does regularly since Diamond/Pearl/Platinum. It was absent during the thrid generation of games, which I always thought was actually a step backwards despite the series jumping to the Game Boy Advance.
There are a plethora of other small things that I completely love about this game. The introduction of being able to raise a Pokemon's happiness through battle, paying for haircuts, and a potential evolution as a reward was something worth sinking time into. Other additions to the games that would change the series forever included breeding, pokemon genders, hold items, hold item trade evolutions, and two brand new types in the form of dark and steel. Both types right from the first game would have powerful additions and even effect some of the Pokemon that existed already. For example, Magnemite was converted from an electric type to an electric/steel type. This led to it having a lot more in terms of defense, but added other weaknesses such as Fire. Other Pokemon such as Onyx and Eevee would gain new evolutions with the new typing in Steelix and Umbreon. Another added feature was the division of special attack from regular attack in the Pokemon's stats screen. Smaller features like an XP meter were great quality of life changes that made things just a touch less frustrating.
There is one last thing that I think sets this game apart from any other Pokemon game. The standard number of gym badges that a Pokemon game has is eight. Gold/Silver/Crystal has sixteen. That's right twice as many and the reason for it is awesome. After defeating the Pokemon League for the first time, you run into some very familiar territory if you've played Pokemon Red/Blue/Green/Yellow. After conquering Johto you end up in Kanto, the region in which the first Pokemon game takes place. In true sequel fashion time has passed. Blue has taken Giovanni's spot as head of the Viridian City gym, Koga's daughter now runs Fusia City's gym, Cinnabar island's gym has relocated to Seafoam island, and a number of other changes have happened as well. It's an awesome feeling in both nostalgia and excitement to be back in Kanto tackling the region with all new Pokemon and gameplay features. It's a feeling that would later be renewed in Pokemon Fire Red and Leaf Green. In addition to Kanto being in the picture, there is one last major piece that I have not talked about. That is the ultimate battle that takes place once you collect all sixteen badges. With all sixteen collected you can visit Mount Silver. Upon reaching the summit, there is one person there, Red, the hero of the first game. You face off with him in one of the most intense battles in any Pokemon game. The sense of accomplishment upon defeating him is one not commonly felt, but it is very special.
The Pokemon series would continue to grow and expand. New ideas would come such as contests, and diving, and what not, but none of them really ever had the impact that the additions in this game had. Breeding I'd say is the biggest and while it has undergone some changes, the core of it remains the same. The day/night cycle returned in Diamond/Pearl/Platinum and has been in the series since, but I still feel like Gold and Silver had the biggest difference in Pokemon available depending on the time of day. Seasons would be introduced in later games, further expanding on the day and time, as well as timed events, that began with these games. At the end of the day, the second generation of Pokemon games laid the a large chunk of the foundation that led the series to where it is today. The first generation I would say was the blueprint, but I think as far as the games themselves go, that Gold/Silver/Crystal are the best games in the series for bringing in the sheer number of things that they brought into the series as well as a great story and a host of fun new Pokemon which I'll take a look at in Part 2 of this blog. As always thank you for reading and stay tuned for part 2 coming soon!
