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Pokemon Gold / Silver Are Great, And Here's Why

I was going to talk about Pokemon Gold / Silver in the same way that I've talked about the other games, but I wanted to change things up a bit. So instead, I'm simply going to bring up 5 reasons why Pokemon Gold / Silver are great. I really like the second generation because it not only gave you a new region of Johto to adventure through, but on top of that, you get to adventure through Kanto again. And to have two regions to go through, well that's just a recipe for success as far as I'm concerned.

#1: Johto / Kanto
I mentioned that I like the fact that Pokemon Gold / Silver have two regions, one new one, and one that should be familiar to you if you have played the first generation. It's nothing you haven't seen before in Kanto, however given that you are much further in the game when you first get to Kanto, it can still be a challenge if you're not fully prepared. But nothing too crazy. I do like Pokemon Gold / Silver's version of Kanto, just because it feels like there's more going on, which should be the case given that this is basically an improved version of the first game.

#2: Cool Cartridges
If I'm remembering this correctly, the game boy cartridges for Pokemon Gold / Silver were sparkly and almost holographic, right? If that's the case, god damn those were good times. I personally played Pokemon Gold and I just thought the cartridge alone looked good and it was certainly inviting. I played the **** out of that game.

#3: 16 Badges
Along with the addition of having both Johto and Kanto in this game, they also made it so that once you finished your adventure in Johto and defeated the Pokemon League, you are then presented with the task of taking on the original 8 gyms from the previous generation, with a few changes thrown in here and there.

#2: Rival
I love the third generation of games and I really think they nailed everything perfectly with Ruby / Sapphire, but I really really enjoy the rival fights and the overall feeling of the rival in Gold / Silver because as the games evolved, your rival or rivals sort of became your allies or friends, and Gold / Silver basically did away with that and set you up with a rival that can actually pose a challenge to your adventure. Plus, the music is dope:



#1: It's just a gream game, really.

I don't really know how else to put it other than that. Pokemon Gold / Silver are two of the finest made game boy games ever made, probably. I thought it was extra cool that these came out at a time where I personally was not too familiar with the idea of games having sequels. So, my excitement was definitely real when I found out that Pokemon Red / Blue were going to have sequels with Pokemon Gold / Silver. But, these games aren't just sequels. They're not just an overhaul of the previous game. In fact, both games look relatively the same as far as sprite art is concerned though graphically Pokemon Gold / Silver is far superior. On top of that though, they are just great games to playthrough in their own respects. Hell, I'd even say why bother starting with the first generation of games when Pokemon Gold / Silver are basically two games in one. Remember how I mentioned that the game has two regions, Johto and Kanto. Well, Kanto is the OG region taken directly out of Pokemon Red / Blue be it a few changes. So, y'know, you can easily start with Pokemon Gold / Silver and probably get close to the same if not much more enjoyment out of it than starting with the first games. I'd also like to mention that I am currently playing through Pokemon Red on my Game Boy Advance right now given that the copy I have of Pokemon Silver won't save. I'm still having a good time, but I'm eager to see if I can get my Pokemon Silver copy fixed. We'll see.

It seems I rambled off into something else there but the point of all of this is simply to say that despite the third generation of games being my absolute favorite, I still have a humongous soft spot and love with the second generation. The legendaries Ho-Oh and Lugia and even Celebi to name a few are simply amazing, and a lot of fun to get to and catch in the games. I mean, you get to go to the top of a burnt tower to find Ho-Oh and take it on one on one. It's worth catching. It's a fun Pokemon to use for sure. They all are. Not just the legendaries though, all the new Pokemon that were introduced in this generation are awesome. I love the starters and like I said in a previous post, my main compadre was always Cyndaquil. But I definitely don't think you can go wrong with choosing any of them, because both Totodile and Chikorita are great, and turn into some serious powerhouses of their own at a certain point in your journey. You're good with whoever in this regard.

Anyway, all of this really shouldn't be too much of a surprise given how much I have always said I have enjoyed these games. I mean, Pokemon Gold / Silver are pretty unanimously loved for a lot of the same reasons and more than I put here, certainly. I also want to briefly mention that while Pokemon Gold / Silver are great in their own respects, Pokemon Heart Gold and Soul Silver are amazing. I kind of relate these remakes to Fable Anniversary. Takes all the best things from the original and simply improves on them graphically and strengthens the mechanics within the games themselves making the games feel fresh though familiar given that they are remakes. I absolutely loved playing through Pokemon Heart Gold when I got my copy of it. It's just a much better version of the originals in the same way that Pokemon Fire Red and Leaf Green are just objectively better versions of themselves. And I think that's a pretty unanimous opinion, I think.

So yeah, gen 2 is good ****.