![pokemon gold vs crystal pokemon gold vs crystal](https://i.ytimg.com/vi/18nRQ1S8TE8/maxresdefault.jpg)
I actually had to think pretty hard about which Pokemon generation I wanted to represent on this list. Its final battle would have been the perfect coda to the series: a duel with Red, the hero of the original game. Pokemon Gold and Silver was to be Game Freak's ultimate mic drop. It was the first instance of Pokemon being a connected platform that kept all the versions relevant. Doing so granted access to certain exclusive moves. Using a time machine, it was possible to send monsters back and forth between the two games, albeit with certain restrictions. Remarkably, even with these new additions, Game Freak was able to retain compatibility with the original Red and Blue. It addressed the overwhelming strength of Psychic Pokemon with new Dark and Steel types, adding corresponding evolutions for Eevee and Onix. It introduced breeding, thus condemning trainers to forever ride back and forth on their bike looking for the Perfect Pokemon. It introduced timed events and vendors who would only appear on certain days. It introduced the day/night cycle that would become common in every generation to follow (except Gen 3 for some reason). On the mechanical front, Pokemon Gold and Silver dramatically expanded upon the original Pokemon Red and Blue. Pokemon has played it relatively safe ever since. It's too bad: Silver was the last really memorable rival. He was such a nasty piece of work that Game Freak wound up making the rivals that followed into friends rather than foes. Pokemon Gold and Silver does match Red and Blue from a rivalry perspective by introducing the truly vile Silver: a cruel and abusive trainer who is willing to go as far as to steal Pokemon for his own gain. The Johto starters certainly have their fans, but they suffer from being sandwiched between two of the best sets of starters in franchise history. It's one area in which Pokemon Gold and Silver can't quite top its predecessor. In its starters-the mouse-like Cyndaquil, the crocodile-like Totodile, and the dinosaur-like Chikorita-Gold and Silver has the tricky task of following up on some of the most beloved Pokemon ever. Its centerpiece is the Burned Tower, a mysterious building where three Pokemon were said to have perished in a fire, only to be revived by Ho-Oh and turned into Raiou, Entei, and Suicune. Many of the characters dress in traditional Japanese garb, as exemplified in the battle with the Eevee trainers in Ecruteak City, all of whom are wearing kimonos. Compared to the high-tech Kanto, Johto is steeped in ancient tradition and mystery.
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Pokemon Gold and Silver famously moves the story to Johto, which serves as the Kyoto to Kanto's Tokyo.
#POKEMON GOLD VS CRYSTAL SERIES#
In many ways the series has still yet to top it. The result was perhaps the biggest and most technically ambitious Game Boy game of all time. Knowing this, Game Freak decided to throw everything it had into making Pokemon Gold and Silver into the biggest and best sequel it could. With Pokemania waning and programmer Satoru Iwata set to take a leading role at Nintendo, Game Freak was set to move on to other things. Obviously it didn't turn out that way, but those of us with GSC still had those laughable 4-way polls to fall back on.Īnd of course, we have more LOL Wii action going on.Pokemon Gold and Silver were supposed to be the last in the series. It was certainly a much better effort by GSC than that embarrassing percentage bleed against Advance Wars, so to this point it was fair to say the match was up in the air. But this picture isn't the best one from round 2, though, that honor goes to Prime vs DMC3.Īs for the actual match, GSC went out and outdid the Majora > Chrono Cross percentage by enough to keep that match debatable. I'm obviously biased, but that GSC picture is the best singular picture in rounds 2 and 3 (before freeform started).