Pokémon Gold Version and Pokémon Silver Version are role-playing video games created in 1999 by Game Freak and published by Nintendo for the Game Boy Color. These games were the first in the second generation of the Pokémon video game series. They were released in Japan in 1999, in Australia and North America in 2000, and in Europe in 2001.

The games added 100 new types of Pokémon and followed the player’s journey to learn how to battle with Pokémon. Both games have the same story but can be played separately. However, players must trade between these games and earlier Pokémon games to complete each game’s Pokédex fully. The Johto Saga in the Pokémon anime is based on the new region introduced in these games. A third game in the same generation, Pokémon Crystal, was released in 2000.

Pokémon Gold and Silver received high praise from critics when they were released. Some people consider them the best games in the entire series and among the most important games of the fifth generation of video game consoles. These games continued the success of earlier Pokémon games, such as Pokémon Red and Blue, which helped make Pokémon a very successful business. The games sold nearly as many copies as Red and Blue, and by 2010, they had sold over 23 million copies. This made them the best-selling games for the Game Boy Color and the third-best-selling games for the Game Boy family of systems.

In 2009, to celebrate the 10th anniversary of Gold and Silver, remakes called Pokémon HeartGold and SoulSilver were released for the Nintendo DS.

Gameplay

Pokémon Gold and Silver are played from a view above the action, showing the player’s character and the world around them. Players move the character through different areas, such as grassy fields, forests, caves, and seas, where various Pokémon live. When a Pokémon is randomly found, the game switches to a turn-based battle scene where players and Pokémon take turns fighting.

The main goals in the game are to complete the main story by defeating the Elite Four and Pokémon Master Lance to become the Champion, and to finish the Pokédex by catching, evolving, and trading to collect all 251 Pokémon. Players improve their Pokémon by battling others found in the wild or owned by other Trainers. Experience points (EXP) earned from battles help Pokémon grow stronger, affecting their abilities and moves.

Pokémon Gold and Silver keep the basic rules from earlier games, such as catching, battling, and evolving Pokémon, but add new features. A real-time clock tracks the time and day, affecting events like Pokémon appearances. New items, such as berries that heal health or boost battle performance, and specialized Poké Balls that make catching easier, were added. The Pokégear, a tool that acts as a watch, map, radio, and phone, allows players to contact others for help or information.

New legendary Pokémon, Raikou, Entei, and Suicune, roam Johto and move frequently. They can be tracked using the Pokédex’s habitat feature and will try to escape but lose health during battles. Shiny Pokémon, which have different colors, are very rare, appearing about once in every 8,192 games. Two new types were added: Steel-type Pokémon resist Poison moves and have strong defenses, while Dark-type Pokémon resist Psychic moves and are strong against them. New moves were introduced, but Pokémon with these moves cannot be traded to older games. A move deleter was added to erase moves. The "Special" stat was split into "Special Attack" and "Special Defense," adding more strategy.

Pokémon breeding allows male and female Pokémon in the same breeding group to produce eggs at a Daycare. The baby inherits the mother’s species and the father’s moves. However, legendary and mythical Pokémon cannot breed. Ditto can breed with most Pokémon except those in the No Eggs Discovered Group, even if the other Pokémon is male.

Plot

Pokémon Gold and Silver take place in the Johto region, which is located to the west of the Kanto region from the earlier Red and Blue games. The Johto region is three years after the events of the previous games. The design of Johto was based on Japan's Kansai and Tōkai regions, with many temples and traditional Japanese styles appearing in the region.

Like the earlier games, the player character receives their first Pokémon from Professor Elm, a local Pokémon scientist. The player can choose between Chikorita, Cyndaquil, or Totodile. The journey involves earning eight Gym Badges in Johto, then challenging the Elite Four and the Johto League Champion to become a Pokémon Master. The player faces a mysterious rival who took one of Professor Elm's other Pokémon and regularly challenges the player. The player also encounters Team Rocket, who have reunited to find their former leader, Giovanni, and restore their group's power. Eventually, the player stops Team Rocket and defeats the Elite Four and the Johto League Champion on Indigo Plateau.

After completing Johto, the player can travel to the Kanto region from the earlier games and challenge the Kanto Gym Leaders. The player notices changes in Kanto since the events of Red and Blue. For example, Cinnabar Island has been almost completely covered by a volcano; only a Pokémon Center remains. After defeating the Kanto Gym Leaders, the player can enter Mt. Silver, a dangerous area with powerful Pokémon. Deep inside Mt. Silver's caves is Red, the main character from the Red, Green, Blue, and Yellow games, and the Indigo League Champion. The player can challenge Red in the game's most difficult final battle.

Development

Gold and Silver were first shown to the public at the November 1997 Nintendo Space World Expo in Japan, where they became the most popular exhibit at the event. Unlike the earlier game in the series, Pokémon Yellow, the new titles were not simply an upgrade to Pokémon Red and Blue. Instead, they introduced a new story, a new world, and new Pokémon species. Gold and Silver were created for the Game Boy Color, which allowed the games to use full color and more detailed images. Other features shown included Pokémon breeding, held items, a device called the PokéGear, a real-time clock, and the ability to play previous games in the series.

During an ABC News interview, Tsunekazu Ishihara, president of Creatures Inc., explained how new Pokémon species were developed. He said the ideas came from the childhood experiences of Game Freak’s software developers, including stories from manga, scary memories, and activities like catching insects. Similar to Pokémon Mew in Red and Blue, the exclusive Pokémon Celebi was included in Gold and Silver but could only be obtained after attending a Nintendo promotional event. The first official event offering Celebi was Nintendo Space World 2000 in Japan, where 100,000 attendees received the rare Pokémon. To qualify, players had to send in a postcard to enter a lottery for one of 100,000 certificates that allowed them to claim Celebi at the event.

Ishihara stated that development of Gold and Silver began immediately after the release of Pokémon Red and Green in Japan. The original plan was to release the game in 1998, aligning with the end of the anime’s first season. However, delays occurred due to Game Freak’s focus on Pokémon Stadium and localizing the first generation of games. These issues caused the release date to shift, with Pokémon Yellow taking over the original timeline. Programmer Shigeki Morimoto noted that development took three and a half years partly because the team had only four programmers. Satoru Iwata, then president of HAL Laboratory and later Nintendo’s CEO, helped by creating tools to compress Pokémon graphic code.

Junichi Masuda composed the game’s music on an Amiga computer, converted it to MIDI data, and then adapted it for the Game Boy Color.

In 2018, ROM images of early Japanese-language demo versions of Gold and Silver, shown during the 1997 Nintendo Space World presentation, were discovered. These included two debug versions and two versions modified to work on standard Game Boy hardware and most emulators. The ROMs were anonymously posted on the "Pokémon Reverse Engineering Tools" (PRET) Discord server in May 2018 and quickly shared with The Cutting Room Floor website. The ROMs were analyzed, translated, and used to create a spreadsheet with details such as Pokémon species, moves, items, non-playable characters, maps, and music. The demo was first shared anonymously on 4chan’s /vp/ board in May, with an official release from The Cutting Room Floor later that day. The demo’s world map was larger than the final game’s (based on Japan’s Kansai region, unlike the final version’s map, which covers the entire Japanese archipelago) and included about 100 unused or changed Pokémon designs.

In May 2018, Pokémon artist Atsuko Nishida revealed that Pikachu was originally planned to have a third evolution named "Gorochu." Additionally, Pokémon creator Satoshi Tajiri shared four unused designs that were not included in the original games.

While cut content is common in video games, the amount of removed material in the Gold and Silver demo has been described as "overwhelming." Matthew Byrd, writing for Den of Geek, noted that significant effort was put into the Pokémon that were removed, suggesting they may have been excluded during testing due to balance issues.

Release

In September 1999, the games were announced for release in Japan on November 21, 1999, and a North American release date was estimated for September 2000. Nintendo announced the release of the Pocket Pikachu Color, a full-color portable digital pet similar to the one released the year before. The unit works with Gold and Silver, allowing the transfer of in-game currency known as "watt points." Pocket Pikachu Color was planned for release in Japan on November 21, 1999, the same day as Gold and Silver. Additionally, an officially licensed Pikachu-themed Game Link Cable developed by Kemco was set for release in Japan on November 18, 1999. The product functions like a normal Game Link Cable and includes a yellow cable with a Pikachu figure on one end and a Poké Ball on the other.

Nintendo expected high sales and initially planned to send three million copies of the games to Japan, predicting that more than eight million copies would be sold in the country. However, they later reduced the first shipment to one and a half million copies after an earthquake in Taiwan, which Nintendo said had damaged their cartridge manufacturing facilities. Some people suggested that Nintendo might have used the earthquake as a reason to limit shipments and keep demand high.

To prepare for the North American release, Gold and Silver were shown to audiences at the 2000 American International Toy Fair in New York City. Nintendo also modified five Chrysler PT Cruisers to look like Pokémon Lugia and drove them across the United States. The vehicles had fins and tails, were painted with Pokémon logos, and had a television connected to game consoles that allowed people to play Pokémon Puzzle League, Hey You, Pikachu!, and Pokémon Gold and Silver. A television show called Pokémon GS, based on the games, was announced for the fall lineup on Kids' WB. The show follows the same main character, Ash Ketchum, in a new region with different Pokémon species from the games. Nintendo kept the English names of the 100 new Pokémon secret, releasing them gradually. The domain names 'pokemongold.com' and 'pokemonsilver.com' were registered for this purpose, and names like Chikorita, Lugia, Ho-Oh, Togepi, Hoothoot, and Marill were shared.

In September 1999, Nintendo announced that Gold and Silver would be released in North America in September 2000. In May 2000, the official North American release date was changed to October 16, 2000, and later to October 15, 2000. In North America, Nintendo began accepting pre-orders for the games in August. A CD-ROM was offered as a pre-order bonus, containing clips and music from Pokémon the Movie 2000, screenshots from Gold and Silver, a Pokémon-themed desktop wallpaper, an offer for a Nintendo Power Player's Guide, and Pokémon-related trivia. The games had very high pre-order sales, with about 600,000 copies ordered in two months, compared to 150,000 copies for Pokémon Yellow. As the release date approached, some retailers, such as Electronics Boutique, sold the games immediately upon receiving shipments, first fulfilling pre-orders and then selling remaining copies to customers. The games were available as early as October 11.

The games were released in Australia on October 13, 2000, and in Europe on April 6, 2001. Nintendo spent between $12 million and $14 million to market the games in the United States.

Pokémon Crystal Version is a third version of the games, developed by Game Freak and published by Nintendo for the Game Boy Color. It was released in Japan on December 14, 2000, North America on July 30, 2001, and Europe on November 2, 2001. The story and gameplay of Crystal are similar to Gold and Silver, but it includes several new features.

Pokémon Crystal was well received by critics, although many noted that it did not have enough new additions to clearly differ from Gold and Silver. The game has sold nearly 6.4 million copies worldwide.

In June 2017, The Pokémon Company announced through a Pokémon Direct broadcast that the games would be re-released worldwide via the Nintendo 3DS Virtual Console on September 22, 2017.

Reception

Pokémon Gold and Silver received high praise from critics, who noted that the longer gameplay and new features made the games as enjoyable as the original Pokémon Red and Blue. Craig Harris of IGN gave the games a perfect score of 10 out of 10, saying: "Although the original Pokémon game was great, Gold and Silver improve it with better gameplay, more features, and added content. There are so many small improvements that it is hard to list them all." The games were especially praised for their new time-based feature. Frank Povo of GameSpot said: "A major new feature in Gold and Silver is the inclusion of a time element. While it might seem like a small change, the time feature adds more variety to the game." Povo gave the games an 8.8 rating, calling them "great." Nintendo Power ranked Gold and Silver as the sixth best Game Boy and Game Boy Color games, highlighting the new Pokémon, improved features, and full-color graphics.

Overall, Gold and Silver were described as strong additions to the gaming world that would appeal to many players. Harris said: "After playing the game for many hours, I cannot find any negative aspects of Pokémon Gold and Silver. Nintendo and Game Freak made changes to the original game and created a sequel that is long, challenging, and very fun to play. This is why Pokémon is so popular, and Gold and Silver will help the series grow even more in the 21st century."

Gold and Silver continued the success of Pokémon Red and Blue, helping to build Pokémon into a multi-billion-dollar franchise. On the first day of release in Japan, the games sold 1,425,768 copies. By April 2000, about 6.5 million copies had been sold in Japan. Silver was slightly more popular than Gold, selling about 100,000 more copies.

In the United States, the games sold 1 million copies before their release. During the first week of release, they sold 1.4 million copies combined, surpassing the previous record set by Pokémon Yellow. This success was expected, as Peter Main, an executive at Nintendo, said: "Kids love to play Pokémon. In 2000, the best-selling game for home consoles was Pokémon Stadium, and the best-selling handheld game was Pokémon Yellow. However, Gold and Silver will sell even more than those. We expect to sell 10 million copies of these games in less than six months." Within a few weeks, the games sold 2.9 million copies in the U.S.

In Germany, Gold and Silver received two Double Platinum awards for selling more than 800,000 copies by 2002. In the United Kingdom, the games received two Platinum awards for selling more than 600,000 copies. By 2010, Gold and Silver had sold 23 million copies worldwide.

Legacy

Pokémon HeartGold Version and Pokémon SoulSilver Version are improved versions of Pokémon Gold and Silver. These games were created by Game Freak and released by The Pokémon Company and Nintendo for the Nintendo DS. They were first available in Japan on September 12, 2009, and later released in North America, Australia, and Europe in March 2010.

The game director, Shigeki Morimoto, wanted to honor the experiences of players who enjoyed the earlier games while making the new versions feel fresh for those who had recently joined the series. The games received good reviews and were among the top-rated Nintendo DS games on Metacritic. They are also among the most successful Nintendo DS games, with total sales reaching 10 million copies by July 2010.