Johto Legends
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Spring Edition
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Main
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Top Affliates
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Gold and Silver
If you've played Pokemon, you pretty much know how things are going to go. Once again you'll jump into the shorts of a plucky young would-be Pokemon Master. Once again you'll help a Pokemon researcher catalog all of the world's Pokemon. And once again you'll have a rival attempting to thwart you at every turn. While the story is the same, Game Freak has added a number of cool and innovative features to the gameplay to make Pokemon Gold and Silver more than more of the same.
Everyone wants to know about the new Pokemon, so let's getnew characters out of the way first. Pokemon Gold and Silver add 100 new Pokemon to the ever-growing, ever-cutening menagerie. Having already established itself, Creatures Inc. decided to take even more creative license with the monster designs. Some of the new Pokemon are downright weird, but most of them are pretty darned cool. At the beginning of the game, you're presented with a trio of Pokemon to choose from. The choice is pretty much the same as it was before: Hinoarashi is an adorable aardvark with a flaming posterior, Waninoko is a sprightly blue gator, and Chicorita is a bizarre quadruped with an enormous leaf growing from its head. Like the Nidoran duo of Red and Blue, all Pokemon now come in male and female flavors. As one would deduce from this, you can now breed Pokemon by putting a male and female Pokemon together for a period of time, resulting in an egg. A few of the new Pokemon are actually earlier forms of Pokemon Red and Blue, such as Pikachu's adorable, evolutionary precursor, Pichu, and can only be gotten by hatching an egg. In addition to the previous 15 types of Pokemon, Gold and Silver add two new types to the mix - Dark and Steel. The primary purpose of Dark and Steel-type Pokemon is to make up for a few weaknesses in the previous games' lineup. For example, Dark-type Pokemon are strong against the previously unassailable Psychic-type Pokemon. Additionally, you can import your favorite Pokemon from previous versions of the game through the Time Capsule, which is found in every Pokemon Center.
The biggest change is the addition of time to the Pokemon experience. Unlike most games with time cycles, Pokemon's is not scaled down - time passes in real time. When you start the game, you're asked to set the cartridge's internal clock. Assuming you set it for your real time, the game will represent the current real-world time in the game. For the most part, this changes which Pokemon are out roaming in the wild. At night, you can expect a completely different mix of Pokemon than you can expect in the morning or midday. Additionally, certain events take time to happen - the Pokeballs master, Gantetsu, needs a full real-world day to forge new Pokeballs for our hero, for example.
Pokemon Gold and Silver also introduce the Pokegear, an expandable computer wristwatch. Built into the Pokegear is a cell phone and phone directory. Certain trainers will offer their phone number after being defeated. Occasionally trainers will call you for a rematch, a cool feature that really helps the game feel more alive. The hero's mother will also call to give you money or items as you progress through the game. Later in the game you can get map and radio expansion cards, which will make the Pokegear even more useful.
Beyond these two major differences, Pokemon Gold and Silver provide you with a number of small improvements. The inventory interface has been turned into a handy backpack that auto-sorts items into four different pockets based on what the items are. The Pokemon storage boxes on the PC are now easier to navigate and manage, as well. Players equipped with Game Boy Colors can now exchange and battle Pokemon, trade items, and even receive mysterious parcels from the Pikachu Color virtual pet.
Pokemon Gold and Silver will work on any Game Boy but were obviously made to show off the Game Boy Color. The world of Pokemon looks fantastic in true color, and Pokemon Gold and Silver are probably the best-looking color-native games the system has to offer. The music is catchy and peppy, featuring many remixed tunes from Pokemon Red and Blue.
While it may be hard to believe, Pokemon Gold and Silver are every bit as exciting as the original games were at first, despite the various similarities between the titles. The abundant new features, gameplay options, interface improvements, and, of course, new Pokemon make Pokemon Gold and Silver easily the best Pokemon games yet. So good are they, in fact, that going back to the old games is surprisingly difficult.
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Pokémon Games
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Middle Affliates
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Pokémon Cheats
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Topsites
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TCG
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Lower Affliates
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Movies
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Walkthroughs
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Other
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Webmasters
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