Pokemon: Gold and Silver
Pokemon: Gold and Silver is a role playing game that was developed by Nintendo and was released on October 15, 2000.
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Developer: Nintendo Publisher: Nintendo Release Date: October 15, 2000 Platforms: GBC JustRPG Score: 72% Pros: +Addictive gameplay. +Easy to learn gameplay. +Countless hours of game time. +Memorable story line. Cons: -Repetitive. -Rather easy for seasoned gamers. -Dated graphics. |
Pokemon: Gold and Silver Overview
Pokemon: Gold and Silver is a catch em’ all role playing game that were the first real sequels to the original GameBoy games. These versions which were released for the GameBoy Color added many new Pokemon to capture and an additional eight badges to collect. This game offers countless hours of gameplay and ties in well with the original games.
Pokemon: Gold and Silver Screenshots
Pokemon: Gold and Silver Featured Video
Pokemon: Gold and Silver Review
| A good developer knows that when you make a sequel to a game, you have to improve on where the original was lacking. So it’s without surprise that Pokemon versions silver and goldhave tweaked and expanded every aspect of the original Pokemon. What was surprising is that doing so cost the game its real attraction, being downright addictive. |
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Though the game is far from a graphical powerhouse, it does perfectly fine by Gameboy standards. The game is reasonably colorful, the creature designs are intriguing, and there’s no shortage of detail. As a sequel, it also solved the vexing ‘everything looks alike’ problems that plague previous titles. |
| The sound is also ‘bigger and better’. Gone are the wince-inducing wails of the first Pokemon, and in their place are somewhat more complicated tunes. Although discernibly based on the background noises of the original, Gold and Silver’s music is actually pleasant, and even uses a few more tracks. The only remaining flaw is that the music still loops too quickly, still leading down the path of irritation. The sound effects have the same treatments, the Pokemon calls sounding like 250 different animals rather than a handful of different electronic distortions. |
| Silver and Gold have the same basic focus of previous Pokemons: guiding a young trainer to greatness. This concept is even more so the focus of Gold and Silver, as the side trips and showdowns of previous versions are even less frequent. The game compensates for this somewhat in Sidequest and Replay, but more on that latter. |
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There are however more character interactions to be found here. This is due largely to one of the menu additions, the cell phone. With this devise you may keep in contact with other trainers, as well as receive news and advice from your various mentors. The non-playables also have a higher tendency to react to world events, and the game even does a better job of presenting the quirks of other trainers. Although not on the level of more advanced RPGs, it’s a sizable step toward it, and much appreciated. |
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| Outside of combat, the gameplay of Silver and Gold retains simplicity, aside from an added consideration, time. Hours and days pass in the game, with different battles between day and night, certain events happening on certain days of the week, and similar things. Otherwise, puzzles are limited to obstacles that require specific abilities or items to bypass, mostly placed to force a certain order to your exploration of the land. Here is another improvement though; examining these obstacles when you have the appropriate method to pass them causes the game to ask you if you want to do so! This in itself makes playing the game exponentially less frustrating. Once you have a destination, you still have the classic hazards of Pokemon, Tall Grass (host to random battles and potential new battlers) and other trainers who all seem to love Pokemon battles. |
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The basic form of combat is simple; the opposing trainer will send out a Pokemon (or the wild Pokemon will be ready), while the first of your potential six battlers is sent out. You have four basic options: Pack (use a stored item), Pkmn (send out another Pokemon), Fight (use the current Pokemon’s Moves), and Run (try to Flee a wild Pokemon). Any Pokemon can have up to four moves learned. The game makes use of ‘Types’ to determine how effective these moves are. Each Pokemon can have one or two Types, and each move has a Type. The Types (Gold and Silver adds 2, making 17 total) are arranged in a series of strengths and weaknesses, say Fire is weak against Water. So, a Water Move is more effective against a Fire-Typed Pokemon. |
| There are a great many more intricacies of course. Some moves are weak in terms of damage, but might add a status effect. Pokemon using Moves of their types are more effective, but if they know only one Type of move, they’ll be helpless if a type they’re not strong against comes along. The potential strategies, with 251 different Pokemon and more separate moves than I want to count, are the lifeblood of Pokemon, and what keeps a person playing. |
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Unlike the previous Pokemon, Gold and Silver have more mini-games and sidequests than you’ll know what to do with. Contest, a casino, Pokemon Breeding (not dissimilar from Chocobo Breeding in Final Fantasy VII), and the ever popular “catch ’em all” are just waiting to divert you. More interesting for the challenge seekers, after completing the main quest and becoming a champion, the Map of the previous games opens up, with seasoned versions of the old trainers, and even a nice optional final challenge. |
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| Despite all the extra going on, I found that I don’t care as much for Gold and Silver as I did for the previous games. In tweaking the moves and adding the new types, a certain amount of balance was lost. Although one type that was overpowered was cut down a tad, so were others that fit well before, and both new types were poorly balanced. Also, Gold and Silver allows for the same sort of ‘one man army’ tactics as the originals, which makes the game annoyingly easy for the single player quest. |
| Final Grade: 72% |
Pokemon: Gold and Silver Screenshots
Pokemon: Gold and Silver Videos
Pokemon Gold and Silver Trailer