When it comes to Pokémon, I am no stranger. I have enjoyed every generation since the beginning, but none have quite matched the effect that generation 2 had on me. I remember opening Pokémon Silver one Christmas morning and being completely excited. I had a blast with Pokémon Red but Silver just blew my mind.
Even with the modern games on Switch, I am still amazed by Pokémon’s second generation. The leap from GameBoy to GameBoy Color was breathtaking and every new feature they introduced to the game, I fell in love with. I desperately miss the Pokémon sprites of the older generations. Even though I do like the 3D Pokémon we see today, retro pixel art just has a certain beauty to it that never ages. The same can be said about the soundtrack. The classic 8-bit chip tunes just cannot be rivaled. They brought so much life and character to each location.
Generation 2 brought so much to the series, things that are still in the series to this day. One of the biggest things they added was breeding, which I still enjoy. In Red and Blue, the daycare was simply used to level up Pokémon while you went about your adventure. However in Gold and Silver, you could leave two compatible Pokémon at the daycare and a few steps later you’d be given an egg. Walk with this egg in your party and eventually it will hatch. This feature is even implemented in the mobile game Pokémon Go. Pokémon Go uses your location data on your phone to track how far you walk. Eventually eggs will hatch for you if you have them in incubators.
As a kid, that was magical. I tried so many combinations back when I couldn’t just look things up on the internet and man, it was exciting. Every game after has included breeding, and now it’s widely used to hunt for shiny Pokémon, or breed competitive Pokémon. The strategy behind breeding for egg moves, or correct natures and abilities is really exciting these days. None of that would be possible if Pokémon Gold and Silver hadn’t paved the way for breeding.
Speaking of shiny Pokémon, this was the first generation to introduce them as well. Since the original games were in black and white, shiny Pokémon were not yet a thing. With the GameBoy Color though, came shiny Pokémon. The very first shiny Pokémon many people would have encountered was the red Gyarados from the Lake of Rage. This particular shiny Pokémon is part of the story, and is guaranteed to always be shiny when you approach it. So, save your game before battling!
Exploring the new region of Johto also sparked excitement. Still to this day, it is my favorite region in the franchise. Inspired heavily by Japan, Johto sits right to the west of the first region of Kanto. In fact, they are even on the same land mass, and this allows you to explore Kanto once more. Aside from the HeartGold and SoulSilver remakes, this is the only generation to allow travel to two different regions. It was a wonderful experience to see Kanto in color for the first time.
This also made completing your Pokédex that much easier, being able to revisit the previous region. That and of course, not having as many Pokémon to catch as present day. Pokémon Gold and Silver added 100 new Pokémon, which was a pretty good size. Seeing the new Pokémon appear for the first time in the wild was amazing and made for a much more interesting team building experience.
Another great feature that was added was the time of day feature. Like in the real world, some Pokémon are more active at night. Now, unfortunately the GameBoy Color didn’t have an internal clock, so this night/day system drained the cartridge battery having to keep the time. However, this was another stepping stone to the franchise we now see today. I had a blast hunting routes during different times to see which Pokémon would appear.
Every fan of the franchise has their favorite entry, and for me it is Pokémon Gold and Silver. My favorite legendary Pokémon is Lugia and Johto is my favorite region. I can’t quite explain the magic that Gold and Silver brought to the franchise. Perhaps a lot of my love for this generation is tied to nostalgia. Whatever the case though, Gold and Silver will probably always be my all time favorite Pokémon entry.
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