Pokémon Gold, Silver, and Crystal facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
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North American box art for Gold, Silver, and Crystal, depicting the legendary Pokémon Ho-Oh, Lugia, and Suicune, respectively
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| Developer(s) | Game Freak |
| Publisher(s) | Nintendo |
| Director(s) | Satoshi Tajiri |
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| Designer(s) |
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| Programmer(s) | Shigeki Morimoto |
| Artist(s) | Ken Sugimori |
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| Series | Pokémon |
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| Release date(s) |
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| Genre(s) | Role-playing |
| Mode(s) | Single-player, multiplayer |
Pokémon Gold Version and Pokémon Silver Version are exciting role-playing video games made by Game Freak and published by Nintendo. They were released for the Game Boy Color in 1999 and 2000. These games are the first ones in the second group, or "generation," of the Pokémon video game series.
Pokémon Crystal, a special third version, came out a year later. In 2009, to celebrate 10 years of Gold and Silver, new versions called Pokémon HeartGold and SoulSilver were released for the Nintendo DS.
These games added 100 new kinds of Pokémon to discover! Players go on an adventure to become the best Pokémon battler. While Gold and Silver are similar, you need to trade Pokémon between them (and older games) to catch all 251 creatures for your Pokédex. The Pokémon TV show also created a new story based on the Johto region from these games.
Pokémon Gold and Silver were very popular when they came out. Many people think they are some of the best games in the whole series. They continued the huge success of Pokémon Red and Blue. These games helped Pokémon become a massive, multi-billion dollar franchise. They sold over 23 million copies, making them the best-selling games for the Game Boy Color.
Contents
How to Play the Game
Just like the earlier Pokémon games, Pokémon Gold and Silver are played from a top-down view. You control your character as they explore a world filled with Pokémon. You can talk to people and interact with objects. As you travel through different places like forests, caves, and seas, you will find different Pokémon. When you meet a wild Pokémon, the game switches to a battle screen where your Pokémon fight.
You have two main goals in the games. First, you follow the main story to defeat the Elite Four and become the new Pokémon Champion. Second, you try to complete your Pokédex. To do this, you must catch, evolve, and trade to get all 251 Pokémon. A big part of the game is training your Pokémon by battling others. This helps them gain experience points (EXP) and level up. Leveling up makes your Pokémon stronger and helps them learn new moves.
Cool New Features
Pokémon Gold and Silver kept the fun parts of catching, battling, and evolving Pokémon from Pokémon Red and Blue. But they also added many new and exciting things!
- Time System: The game now has a real-time clock that tracks the time of day and week. This means some Pokémon only appear at certain times, or events happen on specific days.
- Held Items: Pokémon can now hold items! For example, berries can heal your Pokémon during a battle. Other items can make your Pokémon stronger.
- New Poké Balls: Special Poké Balls were added to make catching Pokémon easier in certain situations.
- Pokégear: This cool new gadget works like a watch, map, radio, and phone. You can call other characters who might give you tips or ask for a rematch!
- Roaming Legendary Pokémon: You can find Raikou, Entei, and Suicune wandering around the Johto region. They move often and try to run away, but they keep any damage you deal to them.
- Shiny Pokémon: Get ready for a rare surprise! Sometimes, you might find a shiny Pokémon. These Pokémon have a different color than normal ones of their kind. They are very hard to find!
- New Pokémon Types: Two new Pokémon types were added: Steel-type and Dark-type.
* Steel-type Pokémon are very strong in defense and resist many other types. * Dark-type Pokémon are immune to Psychic-type moves and are strong against Psychic-type Pokémon. This gave players new ways to fight Psychic Pokémon.
- Special Stats Split: The "Special" stat was split into "Special Attack" and "Special Defense." This made battles more strategic.
- Pokémon Breeding: You can now breed two Pokémon at a Daycare. If they are compatible, they might produce an egg! This egg will hatch into a baby Pokémon that inherits its mother's species and some moves from its father. However, not all Pokémon, like legendary ones, can breed.
Game Story
Where the Story Happens
Pokémon Gold and Silver take place in the Johto region. This region is west of the Kanto region, where the previous Red and Blue games happened. The story in Johto takes place three years after the first games. The design of Johto was inspired by real places in Japan, like the Kansai and Tōkai regions. You can see many temples and traditional Japanese styles in Johto.
Some of the cities and towns you visit in Johto include New Bark Town, Cherrygrove City, Goldenrod City, and Ecruteak City. Most cities have a Gym Leader, who is a strong trainer you must defeat.
The Adventure Begins
Just like in the first games, your adventure starts when you get your first Pokémon. You can choose between Chikorita, Cyndaquil, or Totodile from Professor Elm, the local Pokémon scientist. Your goal is to win eight Gym Badges in Johto. After that, you challenge the Elite Four and the Champion to become the new Pokémon Master of the region.
Along the way, you meet a mysterious rival. This boy stole one of the other Pokémon from Professor Elm. He often challenges you to battles to test his strength. You also run into the bad guys, Team Rocket. They have reunited and are trying to find their old leader, Giovanni, to become powerful again.
Eventually, you stop Team Rocket for good. You then defeat the Elite Four and the Champion at the Pokémon League. But your adventure isn't over! You can then travel to the Kanto region from the first games. There, you can challenge the Gym Leaders and see how much has changed in three years. For example, Cinnabar Island was almost destroyed by a volcano!
After beating the Kanto Gym Leaders, you can go to the dangerous Mt. Silver area. This place has very strong Pokémon. Deep inside Mt. Silver's caves, you can find Red, the main character from Red and Blue. You can challenge him to the hardest battle in the game!
How the Games Were Made
Gold and Silver were first shown to the public in Japan in November 1997. They were very popular! Unlike Pokémon Yellow, these new games were much more than a small update. They had a brand new story, a new world, and many new Pokémon.
Gold and Silver were made for the Game Boy Color. This meant they could use full color and have more detailed Pokémon pictures (called sprites). Other new things shown were Pokémon breeding, held items, the PokéGear, and a real-time clock. The games could also connect with the older Pokémon games.
Tsunekazu Ishihara, who worked on the games, explained how they came up with new Pokémon. He said the ideas came from the imaginations of the developers at Game Freak. They got ideas from their childhood, like reading manga (Japanese comic books), scary experiences, or catching insects.
The special Pokémon Celebi was included in Gold and Silver. However, you could only get Celebi by attending a special Nintendo event.
The games were supposed to come out in 1998. But the team faced some challenges and also worked on other games like Pokémon Stadium. This caused the release to be delayed. The programmer Shigeki Morimoto said it took three and a half years to make the games because only four programmers were on the team.
Release of the Games
In September 1999, Nintendo announced that Gold and Silver would be released in Japan on November 21, 1999. The North American release was planned for September 2000. Nintendo also released a full-color portable digital pet called the Pocket Pikachu Color. This device could connect with Gold and Silver to transfer in-game points.
To promote the games in North America, Nintendo changed five cars to look like the new Pokémon Lugia. These cars had fins and tails and were painted with Pokémon pictures. They also had TVs inside where people could play Pokémon Gold and Silver.
Pokémon Gold and Silver were released in North America on October 15, 2000. They had record sales, with about 600,000 copies pre-ordered in just two months! The games were released in Australia on October 13, 2000, and in Europe on April 6, 2001.
Pokémon Crystal
Pokémon Crystal Version is a third version of the game, released after Pokémon Gold and Silver. It came out in Japan on December 14, 2000, and in North America on July 29, 2001. Crystal was later re-released for the Nintendo 3DS Virtual Console in January 2018.
The gameplay and story of Crystal are mostly the same as Gold and Silver, but it added some cool new things:
- Choose Your Character: It was the first Pokémon game where you could choose if your character was a boy or a girl!
- Animated Pokémon: Pokémon now had small animations when they entered a battle. For example, when a Cyndaquil appeared, the flames on its back flickered.
- New Subplots: There were new mini-stories, one about the legendary Pokémon Suicune (who is on the game's cover) and another about the Unown.
- Battle Tower: This new building let players take part in special battles, similar to the Pokémon Stadium games.
What Came Next
Newer Versions of the Games
Pokémon HeartGold Version and Pokémon SoulSilver Version are updated versions of Pokémon Gold and Silver. They were made for the Nintendo DS and released in 2009 and 2010.
The director, Shigeki Morimoto, wanted these remakes to feel new while still respecting the original games. People loved these new versions, and they are some of the highest-rated DS games ever. They also sold very well, with over 10 million copies sold!
See also
In Spanish: Pokémon oro y Pokémon plata para niños
