With the release of the second generation of Pokemon titles (Gold/Silver) Nintendo proved that it wasn’t just a one off or fad. These titles were just as popular as the previous ones forever cementing this Pokemon (Pocket Monsters in Japan) as a legitimate franchise that was going to be sticking around for a good long while. They had a perfect marketing plan releasing the original games with two different versions, and surprised the world with what seemed like a quick cash-in with Pokemon Yellow which came a few years later. It had new features, but was a far cry from a new game. Fans wondered if Nintendo (or Game Freak more specifically) would follow a similar marketing strategy when Gold/Silver were released. Well, they sure did. Pokemon Crystal was released a year later but there were a few complaints I remember fans being quite public about. First off, it’s basically the same game as Gold/Silver with a few new features. Secondly, it’s a Game Boy Color exclusive release. The latter is a bold move on Nintendo’s part, and I initially passed on the release. I’ve since acquired a cart and set out to catch them all over again and you know what? Pokemon Crystal is probably the best 8-bit game in the franchise and that’s saying a lot.
The plot, scenario and setting have been unchanged from the Gold and Silver versions. For those of you who haven’t played those I’ll go over it a bit. The premise is simple; you play as a young boy (or girl as you’re given a choice in this version) who is given their first Pokemon as the game starts. For those who don’t know Pokemon take the place of animals in this world. All fish, insects, mammals, birds etc are all Pokemon. Either way the setting here is the land of Johto and it’s your goal to travel across the land battling these magical creatures against those both in the wild and in the hands of rival trainers as you challenge Gyms to collect badges. When you have all eight of these in your possession you can challenge the strongest Pokemon trainers in the world; the Elite Four and upon doing so will become a master. Of course, we all know that isn’t true and I don’t think I’m spoiling much by mentioning the fact that after you’ve beat the elite 4 of Johto you travel to Kanto (the region from the original titles) and challenge all of those Gym leaders (and even the former protagonist) as well. All the while you’ll be fending off the re-emerging Team Rocket who is still bent on enslaving all Pokemon for their corrupt needs. This is a crazy large game for the Game Boy and will take somewhere in the ballpack of thirty to forty hours to complete if you run straight through it. That’s quite sizable considering the limitations of the Game Boy cartridges.
Pokemon is a turn based role playing game with an emphasis on catching and collecting creatures to use in battle. A big part of gameplay is exploration which you do from an overhead perspective as you walk from town to town and through ‘dungeon’ areas such as caves and forests. Battles occur randomly, but in many cases you can avoid them. Wild Pokemon will engage you in battle when you’re walking through tall grass (or in the aforementioned caves) but you can also be challenged by an enemy trainer if you walk into their line of sight. When a battle occurs you’re whisked away to a separate screen wherein the enemy Pokemon appears and the top one in your roster is sent to do battle. From here you select commands from the menu which include using one of your Pokemon’s special moves against the foe (each can have up to four at a time), you can switch to another Pokemon in your party (at the cost of the current turn), use an item, or run. Your goal is to reduce your enemy’s life bar to zero. While it’s calculated in typical fashion by a numeric HP value the bar which drains with each hit is pretty satisfying and helpful. Victory grants all Pokemon used in the battle experience points which can cause them to level up, learn new moves, and eventually evolve into more powerful forms. Each Pokemon belongs to a specific type (or types) and each of their four moves as well. To call it a ‘rock paper scissors’ system is an insane oversimplification. There are 251 different critters in Pokemon Crystal that can be captured or traded in this adventure which is quite tremendous.
What I really liked about this generation of Pokemon titles is just how much they added to the formula. The game runs on an internal battery clock which changes the time of day (and even day of the week) in realtime. This allows for a more interactive experience; some Pokemon only appear in the wild at specific times of the day and different dates feature separate events. It’s really cool, and that made the cut here. The second generation also introduces two new types of Pokemon (steel and dark) which is awesome. Well that’s all fine and dandy, but what exactly does this new version bring to the table? Well for starters you can now choose between playing as a boy or a girl trainer at the start. That may sound like a small addition but I’m sure female gamers worldwide greatly appreciated this enhancement. Aside from that the various Pokemon now feature introductory animations when sent out in battle which is kind of cool. Pokemon appearance frequencies change, but you’ll still need to connect with at least one other version of the game in order to collect them all. New events have been added to the story but I didn’t really care much for them. You also have a Battle Tower which increases longevity but it offers pretty much only Pokemon Stadium-esque battles. There aren’t really many features introduced here but there are some fairly solid inclusions.
The graphics in Pokemon Crystal represent some of the very best you’ll see on the Game Boy. With that said this isn’t a huge upgrade over the Gold and Silver editions of this game. This release is a Game Boy Color exclusive release and because of this the Pokemon are actually correctly colored. This was a big step and it definitely helps when trying to determine what type your foe is when you’re not familiar with the Johto lineup of Pokemon. The overworld graphics are terrible and bland. By this point I would expect more but they didn’t put in a whole lot of effort in this regard. What’s more is that some of the coloration for the scenery just looks wrong; it’s pretty obvious the developers were trying to make everything distinct from each other but it’s just plain bad. The animations are the big new improvement in Crystal and though they’re limited to just a few frames. Still, it goes a long ways and is a welcome new feature. The music is pretty good, but to be honest it pales in comparison to that of the original generation. The new themes just aren’t as memorable or catchy, and while I do appreciate the Fall motif the composers seem to have went for here this isn’t a soundtrack I feel compelled to own, but I do like that it still fits the original style almost to a tee.
