Ladies and Gentlemen: we have a winner!

After the release of Pokemon Red, Blue and Yellow some years back, Nintendo has finally produced another two much-awaited games for the Gameboy, fuelling the passion of more junkies who fancy that little bit of portable entertainment. Apparently, after much criticism over the similarity of the first three games, Nintendo has finally decided to do away with the redundancy, producing Pokemon Gold and Silver that are arguably true sequels of their ancestors.

A lot more effort was definitely put into these two games as a large amount of changes and improvements are notable. The actual story line has been changed, as mentioned above and the Gold version allows you to catch about 100 new Pokemon, some of which were featured in both Pokemon movies.

Sound effects and music: just simply astounding!!

One of the first thing that hits your ears when the game starts up is the fantastic sound. A large improvement over that of Red, Blue and Yellow, the music in Gold seems to have a stereo effect and many of the tunes are incredibly catchy. The higher-pitched, repetitive tones of the first three games have finally given way to true music. I found myself humming sometimes and I really enjoyed it.

The sound effects have been tweaked as well, though some of them have been reused from the previous games. Also possessing a nice stereo effect, the sound has stronger bass and treble, giving it remarkable clarity. When heard in the battle modes, it is truly blood pumping!

Graphics: New, rearranged and cuter with faster animation!

Just like Pokemon Yellow, the actual game itself is preceeded by a short introduction, in this case, a highly entertaining one. Featuring well thought out music to complement the various scenes, the introduction also displays some of the Pokemon in the game like Shellder, Lapras, Jigglypuff, Magikarp, Charizard and four new Pokemon, Houou, Totodile, Chikorita and Cyndaquil (these are the Japanese names) In the game itself, you would be able to pick one of the last three Pokemon as your starter.

The new Gameboy Colour systems are able to produce up 56 colours in an incredibly compact TFT screen. Both Gold and Silver have managed to exploit the strength of this display and produce better images. Many of the old Pokemon characters have been redrawn, with a lot more colour added to them and with better resolution, making blocky graphics a thing of the past. Growlithe really looks like a dog now and it’s real cute! Combined with the great sound in this game, the graphics has taken small console RPG to a whole new level.

Another new nifty feature has been added to make life for Pokemon masters much easier. In the past, changing of menus was necessary to check out a Pokemon’s experience points and how far it was from attaining a new level. In Pokemon Gold, a little bar has been added below the Pokemon’s life gauge that is visible in the battle mode as well. As the Pokemon gains more experience, the bar fills up and once it reaches the end, your Pokemon hits a new level!

Animation here is undisputedly an improvement over the previous games. The speed has been increased, with the words scrolling faster as well. Certain attacks, which only featured a small effect on the enemy Pokemon in the past, Bite for example, is now expanded and the special effects resemble a clamping shark’s jaw eviscerating your opponent!

Storyline: Rewritten, more life-like and with the addition of some cool gadgets!

From the story’s point of view, it appears that it has been years since you went on your last adventure in Pokemon Yellow. Your character now resembles a teenager and looks more mature than the previous one. Instead of starting out in Professor Oak’s lab, you will first see Professor Elm, Oak’s new associate. In the case of the first three games, your rival gets his Pokemon in a fair manner, but in the new versions, he lets the dark side get the better of him and steals a Pokemon from the lab where you obtained your own.

You have, on the other hand, grown wiser and now carry a more organized backpack with four different compartments for various items. At least now you won’t have to fumble through your whole list of items to look for that Pokeball. In addition to this, the various TMs (technical machines) and HMs (hidden machines) are individually named and when you scroll down to them, they reveal what skill they would teach. Gone are the days when you had to access every single TM to find the correct one. You will be able to obtain a bicycle along the way, but I was hoping that in the light of the newest craze, they would have given an option for a scooter instead.

In addition, your character carries a sack called the Pokegear, which is comprised of the clock, a map, a handphone (yes, you have one) and a radio. The handphone can be used to phone your mum (don’t worry, she won’t bite) or Professor Elm and can be used to receive calls from the trainers you meet along the way. Some will challenge you to a new battle and others will simply call for a chat. The radio has to be activated in one of the towns by answering a series of simple questions. It might be worth the trouble, just for fun, but the radio is hardly of any use, unless I unintentionally missed something.

The Gym leaders have been changed as well, phasing out familiar people like Brock, Misty and Erika. The new Gym leaders carry Pokemon of more interesting types like Ice, Bug, Dragon and Flying, instead of generic ones like Fighting, Water and Psychic. (not meant to be complete lists) There are still only eight of them, so there isn’t much to worry about collecting the badges…surprise! That’s really only half the story.

You apparently start off in Johto, a completely new map that is unique only to the Gold and Silver versions, but after collecting the eight badges there, the story brings you back to Kanto, a map that many players of the Red, Blue and Yellow versions will find familiar. Except for minor changes in music, improvement in graphics and tougher trainers, the map of Kanto clearly resembles that of the earlier versions. With the previous Gym Leaders still in action, it now means you have a total of sixteen badges to collect. (eight from Johto and another eight from Kanto) For somebody new to this array of games, both Gold and Silver offer literally two games in one!

The Pokemon are now able to breed after the producers paid more attention to their gender. I guess this would teach children how to care for their pets and not just learn how to catch animals. Pardon me if I am wrong, but my Onix did change from a male to a female and vice versa! I did not know Pokemon engaged in gender bending, but it was hilarious…for a while anyway. It is now possible to equip Pokemon with certain items such as berries for use in battle. Now your Pokemon will utilize the item in an emergency and you do not have to waste a turn to use it. This is a very nifty feature I suggest you take advantage of.

Lastly, the newest addition to the game is the presence of a real time clock. You would have to set the time for Daylight Savings if you rarely play the game though, but this means that there is night and day in this game. The change of graphics is interesting, with people turning on the lights in their cozy homes at dusk, but more importantly, different types of Pokemon appear at night and are never seen during day time. This essentially allows you to see more things, with the likeness of being in a safari.

The price to pay: It’s time to bust that wallet again!

As with everything that is good, this game comes at a price. You will require deep pockets to obtain this game in the first place. On sale for a high price in Australia now, Pokemon Gold is not for the average gamer. Though the improvement in graphics and sound is a plus, it does carry a death warrant for your batteries. Compared to Pokemon Yellow, this new game takes up a lot more battery power. Presumably requiring a high current to run, this cartridge will not start up on 1.2V rechargeable batteries, but it will run on ordinary 1.5V ones. I will keep the technical stuff out of the picture, but I think you get my point.

Miscellaneous: my two cents…

In my opinion, Pokemon Gold is a fantastic game for people on the move and especially suited for bored jetsetters. Though the concepts of this game are very much like the first three, it does contain a lot more complicated stuff that may not be grasped by a beginner. My advice is to start off with one of the older games and familiarize yourself before commencing on this new adventure. Other than that and the bit about the batteries, I would highly recommend this game to anyone, whether they are interested in Pokemon or not. The nature of the game is not important here since it is an excellent RPG in itself. There are many other points to be made about this game, but I will never be able to cover them all. Hopefully, you’ll have fun uncovering the tougher ones yourself. Enjoy!

By: Andrew Lim
Revised 2-1-01