The Pokémon franchise is enormous, with twenty-seven main series games that have been released over the last twenty years. However, despite the continuing expansion of the Pokémon universe, the 2nd generation games, Pokémon Gold and Silver, continue to be revered by fans as the best games of the series. Even eighteen years after their release.
Pokémon Gold and Silver were developed by Game Freak and published by Nintendo in 1999. These two games were the sequels to the original Pokémon games, Pokémon Red and Blue. The storyline of the first two generations of Pokémon games are very similar as they are both single player role-playing games that follow the adventures of a young boy as he leaves home and attempts to become the greatest Pokémon trainer in his region. During their journey, the player will also encounter countless other Pokémon trainers, who they can battle to raise the level of their own Pokémon, and they will have to fight the evil Team Rocket to stop them from stealing innocent Pokémon to use in their sinister schemes. As in the first games, players can trade their Pokémon and battle against their friends using a Gameboy link cable. Some Pokémon only appear in one of the two games and so this brings players together so that they can catch them all. However, In Gold and Silver, once the player has defeated all eight gyms in the Johto region, they are then able to unlock the Kanto region, where the 1st generation games are set, and battle the Pokémon gyms and the main character from those games. Gold and Silver also include a range of new features. Some of these features simply enhance the gameplay for an easier and more enjoyable experience, and others have become iconic parts of the Pokémon universe, such as: male and female Pokémon, new Pokémon types, the ability to breed Pokémon, shiny Pokémon, day and night cycles which allow the player to catch certain Pokémon depending on the time of day, and of course, a hundred new Pokémon to catch.
Pokémon Gold and Silver are also the first Pokémon games to have full colour, as opposed to the in-denial originals that simply replaced black and white with red and green. The graphics are greatly improved in the 2nd generation games, meaning that the Pokémon sprites are more detailed and aesthetically pleasing. The glitches that appeared in the earlier games and caused data files to become corrupted, have been fixed in Gold and Silver. Because of the early technology of the Gameboy Colour, the player is still able to clearly see every pixel. Despite the less detailed imagery, this gives the game a level of nostalgia that the later games lack, and the added effort that went into creating interesting and original creatures for the earlier platforms definitely shows, especially when compared to the new sprites from the later games, which appear rushed and show little change in variety. Unfortunately, like the earlier games, the player is only able to select a male character as their sprite. However, this issue is fixed in the following generations of Pokémon games.
The 2nd generation games are easier to navigate than their predecessors. The locations are more clearly labelled and the game guides the player better so that the player knows exactly where they need to take their character next. This makes the games more enjoyable because the player doesn’t feel confused or frustrated from being unable to find the next town, an issue with the previous games. Nintendo’s Gameboys are ideal for first time gamers as the simple controls allow anyone to use them. The controls in Pokémon are self-explanatory and easy to follow so that players can focus purely on the game. The concept of the game also remains simple as the battles continue to follow the turn-taking, rock-paper-scissors format of the original game.
Pokémon Gold and Silver are ideal games for both returning fans of the franchise and new-comers because they follow the distinctive pattern of the other Pokémon games, yet also include a range of features that make them vastly more enjoyable than their predecessors. Gold and Silver still capture the nostalgia that was lost in the later games in the ever-expanding Pokémon universe. The graphics and sound effects are ahead of their time and the action-packed content has made every other Pokémon game released since 1999 almost boring by comparison. 9/10.