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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