Pokémon Gold Version

The Good
I say this not only because I'm a major "Poke-Fan", but because this game is a puzzle-filled, exciting, surprising, and very very ~~cute~~ game. For the game boy color, the graphics are very colorful and nice, and the game is very innovative!

The Bad
A bit less enjoyable than the Yellow Version, but still very good and flawless!

The Bottom Line
A very nice and neat game by the masterminds at Nintendo, play this one and every single Poke-Game!

The Good
Much improved front and back sprites of Pokémon. This generation introduced the Dark and Steel types, which make Psychic-Type Pokémon much less overpowered. In addition, the bug was fixed so that they are no longer immune to Ghost-Type moves. Tons of new moves were introduced that are more varied like an actual useful Ghost-Type move Shadow Ball and the Dragon-Type move Outrage. 100 new Pokémon introduced including new evolutions and baby Pokémon from the previous generation. The battle animations are more varied and look much nicer.

Item management is much better in this game. You no longer have to worry about filling up your inventory if you find an item in the overworld and on top of that, items are also categorized. Introduces breeding and egg moves. Great soundtrack. Experience points are now shown as a blue line that lets you know how much closer you are to gaining a new level instead of pausing the game frequently and checking the status of a Pokémon.

The game not only takes place in the Johto region, but after you complete the Pokémon League, you can explore the Kanto region from the first game, which features most of the original gym leaders to battle to collect an additional 8 badges totaling 16 in all from the first 8 badges from the gym leaders from Johto. You also battle Red, the protagonist from Red, Blue, and Yellow as a superboss! These features haven't been done since with the exception of the remake from generation IV.

You no longer have to pause to use most HM moves in the overworld. You go to a tree, water, whirlpool, boulder, or waterfall and press A and you use the move. The special stat from gen I is now divided to special attack and special defense, which means that Amnesia is less broken in which it raises special defense by 2 stages. The game is less glitchy overall.

Pokémon can now hold items which add more strategy in battles. There is also a new weather mechanic that affect certain moves and types. The game also keeps track of the time and day that affects what Pokémon you find in the wild and what event is being held and even when certain Pokémon evolve. It's still funny to name your rival something like asshole or retard.

The Bad
Some Pokémon still have limited moves that make them less useful. Out of the 100 new Pokémon introduced, there's only 1 new Ghost-Type Pokémon and 1 new Dragon-Type Pokémon. Some Pokémon introduced in this generation for some reason can only be found in Kanto, which makes no since they weren't in Red, Blue, and Yellow.

There are 2 new HM moves to use in the overworld which are required to proceed the game. And the worst part is the 2 new moves are both Water-Type moves which means you probably need a Pokémon in your party that has all HM moves in their moveset. Keep in mind that you can't replace an HM move if a Pokémon is trying to learn a new move. Only three gym leaders from Johto use a Pokémon from generation II, as if Game Freak was afraid that players wouldn't like the new Pokémon and had most of the gym leaders use the old ones to comfort them.

Like before, there are Pokémon who evolve by trading with a different player and there are also Pokémon that will evolve by trading while holding an item. Good luck finding someone to trade with in this day and age. Not many trainers use Pokémon that hold items except for the major trainers and even then it's usually only one Pokémon.

While not nearly as bad as the previous games, there is a glitch that makes some of the new Poké balls introduced not work as intended. For example, the Moon ball is supposed to make it easier to catch a Pokémon that can evolve with a Moon Stone. However, instead it works as a normal Poké ball.

The Bottom Line
This game is mind-blowing. You had to be there when it first came out to know how great it was to play the sequel to the generation I games. In my opinion, Game Freak has not topped Gold and Silver when it comes to new game mechanics and evolving previous mechanics in future Pokémon games. And remember, this is a Game Boy Color game! Hell, both versions have different front sprites for each Pokémon. They didn't need to make 2 different sprites for both versions, but they did.

The Good
In the first three Pokemon cartridges, you engaged in a long and enjoyable journey involving catching and training Pokemon in order to defeat hundreds of other trainers as well as gym leaders. That, added to the thrill of trying to catch 'em all, proved to be a great recipe for some awesome gaming. In Gold, that fun is multiplied exponentially. In addition to your world from Red/Blue/Yellow, you now have access to a whole new world, with twice the battles, twice the gym leaders and twice the life span of the game. This is one of the best role-playing game titles on the pocket market, and don't be fooled by those who accuse the series of being too juvenile, because it really isn't.

The Bad
Essentially, your primary focus is battling, and that can get tedious after a while, since most of the trainers are incredibly easy to defeat. Also, the graphics and sound could use some tweaking -- while they're acceptable for the GBC, they could be improved upon. But this game has few negatives.

The Bottom Line
Pokemon Gold is the sequel to the hit games Pokemon Red and Blue (and also Yellow), where you take the role of a budding Pokemon trainer in realizing his dream by traveling through a whole world of cities, seas, caves and the like and catching, raising and battling your "Pokemon" (little creatures that bear similarities to real-life animals.) You train these Pokemon to defeat rival trainers in one-on-one combat with your creatures, including master trainers called gym leaders. One of the main aspects of these older games' enjoyment is the attempt to try to catch all 151 pocket monsters, and now 100 more have been added to your list to try and track down. As your Pokemon grow stronger, the battles get more challenging, and an absorbing story and effective, long-lasting gameplay make this a fantastic role-playing-game.