People have long anticipated the release of Pokémon Gold/Silver, both
in Japanese and English. Unfortunately for us English speaking people,
we have to wait about 9 more months more than the Japanese do to get
this incredible game. Luckily, there are always imports=) I bought
one not long after it came out (that sure put a dent in my wallet),
and have now gone through the entire game. Even though I hcan barely
read anything in the game and probably missed most of the storyline, I
am confident that this is going to be the best Gameboy game of all
time. Ok, enough talk, let's get into the game...
First off, the graphics. This game is just amazing. There are 2
amazing pictures(front and back) of ALL 251 POKéMON!!! That would have
taken up the entire cartridge on an older game. The backgrounds are
also a nice touch. Remember in Red/Blue/Yellow how you would walk into
a town and everything around you would spontaneously change colors?
Not anymore! The backgrounds in this game are in full color, and only
create a little flicker when changing towns. The attacks are also
vastly different. Gone are the days of watching attacks so poorly
animated they make your eyes hurt. The attacks are actually
entertaining to watch now! It gives the game a better feel, also. You
sometimes may want the bust out laughing and you see you almighty Lugia
fire an AeroBlast at an unsuspecting victim, and the screen starts to
shake. You watch their life slowly go down, from green to yellow to
red...and to nothing. Makes you feel so good, doesn't it?
Overall Graphics rating: 9.5 (hey, it's on a Gameboy. I can't give
it perfect, can I?)
Next is sound. Unfortunately, there isn't much you can do on a Gameboy
involving sound. It has more annoying music, which gets stuck in your
head just as easily as the music from the other games. As always, the
annoying Pokémon "cries" are totally useless. If you want to stay
sane, keep the sound off.
Overall Sound rating: 3
Third, gameplay. This is where the game truly shines. There all all
151 Pokémon from the old game, plus 100 more. Some are pre-evolutions
of old Pokémon, some evolve from old Pokémon, and some are just off
doing their own thing. Also, the old Pokémon aren't the only things
returning in G/S. There is also Ash, Gary, Prof. Oak, many old Gym
leaders and Elite 4 members, and (drum-roll please)...the ENTIRE world
from the original game. It has been changed in some places, but you
will still enjoy travelling through all of your old favorite places.
There are the same old Gyms in the old cities, even though most of them
have been changed. That makes a total of 16 badges in the whole game.
After collecting ever badge, you unlock a secret arena called Shirogane
Mountain, the new equivalent to the Unknown Dungeon. At the end of the
maze, you won't find a super-powered Pokémon, but an other suprise...
ASH! You can fight him as many times as you want, adding even more to
the initial gameplay.
Overall Gameplay rating: 10
Ah, replayability, what has kept Pokémon fans coming back for more time
and time again. This game has the same replayability as the original
games, except with more added to it. You still have to trade with
friends to get all of the new Pokémon, and have to trade even more to
get all of the original 151. And, just like R/B/Y, there is a
supposedly un-catchable Pokémon: Serebii. This Pokémon just going to
be just like Mew; nobody can catch it, many are going to hack it with
a Gameshark, and it may be given away at Nintendo sponsored events.
Overall Replayability rating: 10
Total rating(not an average): 10 (Hey, I couldn't let the pathetic
sound rating drag it down. This game wouldn't work out very well on
any system other than Gameboy, so I don't think G/S should have to
pay for the Gameboy's flaws.
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