The Great Gold, Silver, and Crystal Pokemon Games

I completely missed out on the second generation of Pokémon. The biggest reason for this was my friends. None of them were interested in the games anymore, and for the most part, we were too “grown up” for them.

When the first generation games were released in North America, I was a Freshman in high school. It seemed like all of my friends went out of their way to get the games. I didn’t get Red or Blue when they were released. Yellow was the first one I got, and by the time it was released, everyone I knew had moved on to the next thing.

When Gold and Silver were released, we all knew about it, but none of them seemed too excited. I had a PS1 at that point, which was consuming all my attention. None of my friends got the games, so I didn’t have much of a reason to care.

A few years ago, I went back to play these games, and I found them to be pretty fun. There were a few improvements from the first generation of games, and some things that I found more annoying as the game went on. I’m going to give a little overview of Gold, Silver, and Crystal, then I’ll talk about some of the things that I found odd or interesting.

Gold, Silver, and Crystal

The second generation of games takes place three years after the first generation. This isn’t all that important to the overall story, and it could’ve easily taken place right afterwards. Things aren’t all that different from how the first group of games are structured.

You play as a child who is sent on a quest to become the Pokémon Champion. Your dad is nowhere to be found, a lazy professor has you do their job for them, and you have to fight a terrorist organization. I really feel like all the adults in these games are morons.

There are new Pokémon for you to capture, a new region to explore, and different challenges from the Gym Leaders. These gym leaders have different themes, which makes for some fun twists to the gameplay.  

The core gameplay wasn’t changed. It really didn’t need to be, and I’m glad that it went through a gradual change over time, and those changes didn’t totally replace things. The core of this game is one-on-one battles with your Pokémon. You can also customize your party to best fit your style of play.

I do like the story. While it isn’t all that different from the previous games, this does change a bit at the end. You visit the world from Red, Blue, and Yellow. Then there is a final battle against Red, the protagonist from the first generation games.

Overall, the second generation games are familiar enough for me to know what is going on. The story is fine, and the game is carried by the gameplay. Being able to trade and battle your friends is cool, but not really needed. I really enjoy these as single player games.

What Crystal does differently

The first few generations of Pokémon games had these special versions of the game. They added a little more content, which feels like they were playing into the collectors’ market in retrospect. Unlike Yellow, Crystal doesn’t have too much that is different from the other versions.

There are a few new characters and an expanded plot in Crystal. The legendary Pokemon have a bigger role in the game, as you awaken them and have encounters with them throughout the game. There is also a little storyline that gives the player more motivation to look for the Legendary Pokemon.

The Unown Pokemon have more of a story in the game. There are also a few more puzzles for them. They added just enough to make this version of the game stand out a little.

Overall, I like this version of the second generation games. A while ago, I found all three games. Because of how many bootlegs there are when it comes to Pokémon games, I’m not totally sure if mine are all original.

Terrible Parents, but at least I have a phone

As far as I know, every protagonist in the Pokémon games has an absent Father. In a game where everyone seemingly is out to get your character, for no real reason, this always bothered me. Your mom is a single parent, and your dad just went to the PokeMart for a pack of Wheezing Brand Cigarettes and never came back.

The closest thing you have to a father figure would be the various professors. Unfortunately, they’re so obsessed with not doing anything that they send the player’s character off to gather data on Pokémon. In the second generation games, you have both Professor Elm and Oak.

Your mom in the second generation games is a little more responsible. She still sucks, but at least she gives you a phone so you can call her while wild Pokémon are eating you, or when the terrorist organization you’re fighting is chasing after you. Unfortunately, she also randomly spends your money whenever she feels like it. This only happens if you send her money after each fight.

While the parents in Gold, Silver, and Crystal are a little better, they aren’t much better. When you really look at these games, it is alarming that the adults pin their fates on some random kid. Could the police stop the various terrorist groups in the games? Yeah, they could, but they don’t seem interested in it.

As I go through these games one generation at a time, it will be interesting to see if you have a single father in any of them. I’ve come to expect a single mom in all these games. There was a war at some point in the series’ past, which might explain where every main character’s dad went.

Why did I give out my phone number?

In this game, you can give out your phone number to some of the trainers that you beat. While this sounds like a fun idea, I found it very annoying. Maybe it is the introvert in me, but I don’t feel like keeping in touch with some random NPCs who never have anything to say.

I should probably clarify that this is the phone that your character has. Randomly, these NPCs will call you up. This stops the game in its tracks for something that normally isn’t relevant. Something like this could be done better in the modern versions of Pokémon, where you have more dialogue options.

I’m willing to overlook when the character’s mom calls or when Professor Elm calls, since they’re important to the plot. Even when your mom calls to tell you she spent your money on something. This makes more sense than just having Professor Oak’s disembodied voice talking to you.

This feature was a bit ahead of its time. If something like this were in a modern version of the game, that would be awesome! It would’ve been something fun during the COVID-19 pandemic, but of course there was no way Nintendo could’ve seen that coming.

Some cool ideas

Gold, Silver, and Crystal have some good ideas. They didn’t have to continue the story from the previous game, but they did. Having additional Pokémon is fun, and I like the three starters. I do wish the map were less confusing to navigate.

I like the idea of having a phone. It makes more sense than having a disembodied voice come in from time to time. It also explains how your character can get in touch with Professor Elm.

The mystery egg is a fun idea. This is something that I don’t think was executed all that well because it feels like the Pokémon you get isn’t really worth it. I probably just didn’t have the patience to make it better. There is probably a guide out there on it, but I never like going to those things. It kind of defeats the purpose of playing for me.

The setup for the rival is a cool idea, but it doesn’t really go anywhere. It turned into a lamer version of Professor Oak’s kid from the first generation. I know there is more to it, but I would’ve liked it if they’d taken it in a different direction.

The Unowns are a cool idea, but they didn’t do much with them. This is something that I probably missed when I was playing through Gold and Crystal, so I have a reason to go back. It just felt like they were supposed to be more than what they were in the second generation games.

There are some other things in this generation that are fun. The new Pokémon are very good for the most part. I like the new abilities you have outside of combat, and I like the follow up to the first game’s story. This is a fun little RPG.  

Wrap up

These are some of the games that I missed out on. I had other things going on at the time, and dusting off my GameBoy wasn’t exactly a top priority for me. It didn’t help that my friends had moved on from the series, so I didn’t have anyone to play with.

These games are usually solid RPGs. They’re easy to get into, the stories don’t get too crazy, and there is something fun about collecting monsters. While I never cared about “catching them all,” I can see why it was appealing to others.

Pokemon is one of the fads that I got into right away because of my friends. It is similar to other “nerdy” things that I got into. Unlike the Pokémon trading card game, Magic: The Gathering, or the Star Wars card game, I came back to this series. There is something about it that I really enjoy.

Coming back to play these games has been a lot of fun. The graphics are a little better, the gameplay is still solid, and a few of the new features are great. Several ideas felt underdeveloped, which is a product of the developers experimenting. I like these games quite a bit, even though I prefer the first generation games.  

If you liked this post, check out some of my others. Such as Monsters in the Grass or Jade Cocoon.