Monday, October 2, 2017

Reliving Pokemon Gold on Nintendo 3DS

Hey everybody, I have a quick update to give you guys, this isn’t another schedule change and there will be an actual blog today. No this is regarding the knitting yarn giveaway I had running for a whole month now. I’ve decided for now to cancel the giveaway.

I know I had four of you comment and I greatly appreciate it but the plan was to have at least 10 or more comment and the comments were supposed to be leaving feedback on the blog about what you would like me to talk about or change in the future. Well while I love the four comments I received I really wanted a bigger number of comments and a majority you really don’t seem interested so I’m canceling the giveaway. I may retool this giveaway in some shape or form in the future, I mean this blog is a huge learning experience so I guess I didn’t advertise correctly or perhaps didn’t make it interesting enough.

I’m not even sure if the blog itself is really interesting enough for you guys because of the lack of comments I get on every post but you seem to tune back in every blog so I guess I’m doing something right. Anyway I’ll keep writing blogs, I mean I have been for a whole year now and I still enjoy it so might as well continue. I believe I’ll be keeping the blog to once a week for now on even when my external project has ceased, maybe that’ll make things more interesting for you guys and less monotonous.

So with that all said and done let’s move on to the actual blog.

I feel like a kid again, no lie this past week I’ve been hyper beamed back to a time where seeing the game screen was almost impossible unless you had a light directly on it. As of last week, September 22nd to be exact Pokemon Gold and Silver rereleased on the Nintendo 3DS eShop. 


Of course I couldn’t resist, could I? I never purchased Pokemon Red, Blue and Yellow when they released on the eShop last year I won’t get into my reasons behind that because I may still purchase them in the future but I really couldn’t resist the urge to have Pokemon Gold on my Nintendo 3DS.


For those who don’t know Pokemon Gold and Silver were my very first Pokemon games. I was introduced to Pokemon through Ash’s original Kanto adventures and Pokemon Stadium but my actual first trek into the grasses of the Pokemon World was in the region of Johto in Pokemon Gold. I still own my original games and I even replaced the battery but I found as I got older it became more and more difficult to play the games on the smaller machines. I’m pretty sure my eyes have gotten worse over the years because of this. With my 3DS always at my side I figured having my first and favorite Pokemon game on the go with me at all times once again was worth it and boy was I right.

For old GameBoy color games this game hasn’t aged a bit. Yes with Sun and Moon taking the game to new 3D heights and Heart Gold and Soul Silver serving as more advance remakes of Gold and Silver you’ll probably say I got nostalgia glasses on and maybe I do but there’s just something about these original games that the remakes can’t replace.

Now Pokemon Gold and Silver are rereleased for new players to experience as well as people like me who are diving back into their childhood and trust me for new players I highly recommend these games, especially considering how hard it is to find Heart Gold and Soul Silver.


Pokemon Gold and Silver originally released on November 21s, 1999 in Japan and later on October 15th, 2000 in America. Surprisingly Europe had to wait until April 6th 2001 to play these games which is pretty crazy you guys must have really been sitting at the edge of your seats waiting for this game. These games sparked the Generation 2 of Pokemon during the peak of what most call PokeMania. I mean Pokemon was EVERYWHERE at this point so a sequel to the world’s newest Video Game phenomenon was eminent.  With this sequel Game Freak added a whole new story, a brand new region called Johto which took a more traditional Japanese tone, 100 new Pokemon with new types called Dark and Steel, the ability to breed Pokemon and receive Eggs, Baby Versions of Gen 1 Pokemon and a load of new features to enhance the original formula and become staples in the series till this date. (Oh yeah and a load of glitches were fixed too, we’ll miss you MissingNO.)

Pokemon Gold and Silver introduced a new set of starter Pokemon by the names of Cyndaquil, Totodile and Chikorita. 


One of these starters would go on to be possibly my favorite Pokemon of all time and it all falls down to the fact that he was my first Pokemon I ever had, Cyndaquil.


You can’t look at this guy and not love that adorable, sleepy face of his and this guy packs a huge punch too. No he can’t fly like Charizard (Actually Charizard couldn’t learn Fly in Red and Blue, go figure) and he isn’t a giant wrestling Cat like Incineroar. Cyndaquil and his evolutions Quilava and Typhloasion are a single type fire type Pokemon unlike his fellow fire starters

As these were my first Pokemon games and considering how young I was I actually had help playing these games from my Mum, yes I’m not afraid to admit that but it does kind of make Mum just as much of a Pokemon lover as myself, I think she knows these games inside and out more than I do. To be honest as a kid and as this was my first Pokemon games I never quite realized how significant of a advancement this game was for the series until later on in my life when I got to experience the region of Kanto through Pokemon Yellow Version.

These games underwent a two year development period and boy was there a lot of changes made during that period. I mean according to original trailers and screenshots the games looked completely different with the towns and cities of Johto having a completely different design with graphics more on par with Pokemon Yellow then the final games. I actually found some videos showcasing this alpha version years ago but in my attempt to find them again for this blog I was unsuccessful so check out these screenshots below. Thanks to Bulbapedia for still having these after all these years.





Crazy huh? Yeah this was Gold and Silver once upon a time. Things sure do change in a games development life. One thing didn’t change however and that was a certain mascot Pokemon of Pokemon Gold known as HO-OH, the Rainbow Pheonix Pokemon. This guy is pretty much why I put Gold above Silver despite my love for ever growing love for Lugia (Thanks Pokemon the Movie 2000). What’s even crazier is the fact that this guy appeared in the Pokemon Anime TWO YEARS before Gold and Silver released! Yeah remember the first episode of Ash’s adventures? That majestic bird that flew towards a Rainbow at the end of the Episode? No one knew at the time who he was but with Gold and Silver we would soon have our answers. Actually HO-OH wasn’t the only Generation 2 Pokemon teased in Generation 1. Misty, the Cerulean Gym Leader and one of Ash’s original travel companions actually had a generation 2 Pokemon with her throughout the second half of the Indigo League series, Togepi.

Once again I wasn’t actually aware that Togepi wasn’t an original Pokemon because well I never played the original games until Pokemon Yellow which was way after Pokemon Crystal. Two more Pokemon would be teased in both Pokemon The First Movie and Pokemon The Orange Islands season, Snubble and Marill (Tracey had a Marill). Apparently there was a rumor about Marill being Blue Pikachu aka Pikablu, anyone remember that? I had no internet access at that time and no one at school ever mentioned this rumor.


Anyway these games have a lot of history to them and the result is an expansive and nostalgic Pokemon journey that has stood the test of time for me and many others. If you want to experience these games for yourself you can for $9.99 on the Nintendo 3DS eShop. Not sure why they didn’t release Pokemon Crystal which is the third version of these two games and adds a slightly different story and quest to the mix but maybe this version will come later. If you guys are interested in a blog diving more into the development of these games let me know in the comments below! (Or you know, don’t, I’m not exactly forcing you to.) Trust me I got notebooks of details from my previous experience as a game beta enthusiast.

Oh yes when you purchase these games you actually get two extra gifts. One is a special Celebi that you can unlock in Pokemon Sun and Moon and the other is an awesome Nintendo 3DS theme that matches the version you purchase. Both of these codes are included in your receipt which comes up after purchasing so make a note of them. Otherwise you can view your receipts by going to the Nintendo 3DS eShop and clicking Menu on your touch screen. From there head to the bottom and tap “Setings/Other”. Under the history section you’ll see “Account Activity” tap on that then look for your Pokemon Gold/Silver receipt to find your download codes!

Over the past week I’ve been playing this game on my New Nintendo 3DS XL in my free time and I can say I really appreciate being able to actually see these games now, I actually see them in a new light for some reason. I’m seeing things in this game that I do not remember, like the fact that Nightmare is an actual move in this game, I swear this was introduced in Generation 4 but what would you know this move is actually from this game. Anyway I’ve gotten myself through to Goldenrod City and you know what that means, Whitney and her Miltank. 


Yes these two have given me countless hours of frustration and trouble over the years but you know what? I actually beat her on my first try this time round. What gives Whitney? Has age gotten to you? Maybe my team (With Cyndaquil in tow) is more well rounded this time round or perhaps I really have gotten better at Pokemon because I seriously remember these two being near impossible and while I was having troubles on this battle I still made it out without too many of my Pokemon fainting. Oh yeah and Miltank kept missing Rollout so that always helps as well, thanks RNG!

My Team currently consists of these guys right here.


Cynda the Quilava, I always name my male Cyndaquils Cynda, it’s the name of my original Cynda so it felt only natural to name this new Cyndaquil after the original Cynda who sadly fell victim to the dreaded GB battery dying on me years ago. I actually didn’t evolve Cyndaquil until he was level 18 so he got Quick Attack a bit earlier than usual.


Brock the Geodude… Yeah I don’t know I thought it fit. My nicknames aren’t the best but hey this dude has been a huge help since he’s been on my team. Did you know you can get Geodude right after you get your first lot of Pokeballs? Yeah I won’t tell you where exactly they are but they’re pretty close to New Bark Town, somewhere. Geodude can be a huge help against Falkner who uses Flying types and a dumb Pidgeotto who likes to spam gust and Mud Slap.


Oddy the Oddish, I’M SORRY MY NICKNAMES ARE SO SILLY but this little guy I found after discovering that Oddish is actually a night time Pokemon. (Yeah there’s a lot of time restricted Pokemon in this game similar to Sun and Moon) I kind of wanted a Bellossom but I’m wondering whether to make this guy a Vileplume, we’ll see.


Toge the Togepi, this guy hatches from an egg given to you at a certain point in the early game and while he doesn’t have any attack moves at first he gains Metronome at level 10 which is probably one of my favorite moves, simply for the fact that Metronome allows the user to use a randomly selected move out of EVERY move in the game. This Togepi has used Hyper Beam, Sacred Fire, Blizzard, Horn Drill (That missed), Fissure (That also missed) and many other strong attacks in his life time. Toge is a scary dude but he’s pretty darn cute.


Snippers the Pinsir. I got this gal during the Bug Catching contest that happens every Saturday, Tuesday and Thursday at the National Park just above Goldenrod. She’s a freaking powerhouse and while I only got third place in the contest for catching her she’s number one to me.


Finally Lana the Wooper. For some reason Lana from Sun and Moon reminds me of a Wooper thus the naming of this particular female Wooper. Lana isn’t the strongest Pokemon on my team but has helped a lot against Fire, Ground and Rock types that otherwise plague my team.

I switch my Pokemon around a bit during my playthroughs so these guys will come and go back and forth as I progress. I actually have my eyes on a few local Pokemon that I want to get and have attempted at getting with some really rotten luck. Yeah my Pokemon Catching luck has seemingly run out. Using the move Headbutt you’re able to hit the little trees plotted all over Johto and while doing so I ran into a Pineco that blew himself up before I captured him and an Exeggcute that made me run out of Great Balls. So I’m actually broke as of right now so I can’t buy any more Pokeballs, that sucks. I’m also looking for a certain Aipom and I know from memory these guys appear in these trees. I refuse to look it up online because that ruins the whole experience so I guess I’ll just keep looking through all the exploding Pinecos and super strong Exeggcute.


So that’s pretty much my progress, how far are you right now? Did you know if you have your Red and Blue virtual console versions on a separate console that you can actually transfer them to Gold and Silver using the Time Capsule machine? Yeah they actually made the feature work in these virtual console versions, that’s pretty sweet.

Oh yes one last thing before I leave! You can actually play this game in the original resolution of the GameBoy Color and not just that it adds a cool Gameboy Color Border around your game. You have to hold Start and Select as you open the game from your 3DS Menu so it can be a bit tricky to activate.

You can turn this off by saving your game and resetting the game.

So until next time this was ZAK Entertainment.

See you next week!

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