2nd Gen What do YOU think made GSC so great?

[.Wolfie-kun.]

For me it was the chance to go to Kanto to see how much it changed over the years and the new Pokemon that were introduced were actually ORIGINAL back then.

Plus the rival for that gen is my favourite of them all.

 

[Munch Dog]

To put it simply... EVERYTHING!

 

[Limey-chan]

Day & night: I honestly thought having time of day and how it affected which wild Pokémon you battled was one of the best features of any Pokémon game.

Female main character: Ok, I never owned Crystal but it made a nice change from having male only characters to pick from.

Apricorns: A feature admittedly I didn't use much, but one that came in very handy.

Breeding: It started in Gen II and set the benchmark for the following games. Excellent addition with a lot of neat features.

Shiny Pokémon: I've only ever caught a paltry 3 or so, but this was the beginning for them and let's face it, if you'd completed the already massive game and completed the normal Pokédex, there was nothing to stop you trying to complete a shinydex.

Pokérus: Godsend to EV trainers everywhere.

The inclusion of Kanto: Not one, but TWO huge worlds to explore plus with a few exclusions (I'm guessing due to size limitations) the Gen II Kanto was more or less completely faithful to the original.

New evolutions: Gen II gave us some kick-ass evolutions (Espeon & Umbreon, anyone?) and also some new ways to evolve your Pokémon, including new stones and items.

Berries & item holding: Arguably one of the best features that came with Gen II, holding berries & items not only effected evolution etc but added a whole new dimension to battling.

Phone calls: Okay, i'm not as big a fan of this one as with the exception of Swarm-watchers I found the constant calls about Hikers battling "tough Starmies" incredibly annoying, but that said it came in handy if ever you needed to level up some lower-level beasts. And along with the SS Aqua, it meant you could rebattle a reasonable selection of trainers over and over.

Steel & Dark Pokémon: Yes.

Icy floors!: Okay, a bit childish but I adored sliding around in Ice Cave XD

Better music: Just my humble opinion, but I thought some of the battle themes (Especially for Champ Lance & your rival) were amazing, and a vast improvement over the Gen I games. Some of the music for the cities was class as well.

Happiness: Might just be me, but I enjoyed making my Pokémon happier by grooming/haircuts etc. Even if it was an expensive task.

Trainer names: A small detail, but it gave your opponents a sense of personality instead of just being some generic grunt or Cooltrainer.

Better gyms & leaders: Again, just my opinion but I prefer the Gen II gyms & leaders to the ones in Gen I for the most part.

Mystery Gift: Stuff for free! Plus I liked the way you got to battle the person you last Mystery Gifted in Viridian's Trainer House.

There are probably other things but for now that's all I can think of. Some of the things that didn't make GSC so great were Baby Pokémon (un-necessary and a cheap way to bump the Pokémon tally to 251 imo), the TMs available (Some of them sucked and made me wonder why they didn't just keep a few of the Gen I TMs instead) and the overall lack of challenge (Leaders & Leet Four's Pokémon could have done with another few levels added on imo). But the positives vastly outweight the negatives, and that's why Gen II is my fave generation ^^

 

[XxDawnfanxX]

Day & night: I honestly thought having time of day and how it affected which wild Pokémon you battled was one of the best features of any Pokémon game.

Female main character: Ok, I never owned Crystal but it made a nice change from having male only characters to pick from.

Apricorns: A feature admittedly I didn't use much, but one that came in very handy.

Breeding: It started in Gen II and set the benchmark for the following games. Excellent addition with a lot of neat features.

Shiny Pokémon: I've only ever caught a paltry 3 or so, but this was the beginning for them and let's face it, if you'd completed the already massive game and completed the normal Pokédex, there was nothing to stop you trying to complete a shinydex.

Pokérus: Godsend to EV trainers everywhere.

The inclusion of Kanto: Not one, but TWO huge worlds to explore plus with a few exclusions (I'm guessing due to size limitations) the Gen II Kanto was more or less completely faithful to the original.

New evolutions: Gen II gave us some kick-ass evolutions (Espeon & Umbreon, anyone?) and also some new ways to evolve your Pokémon, including new stones and items.

Berries & item holding: Arguably one of the best features that came with Gen II, holding berries & items not only effected evolution etc but added a whole new dimension to battling.

Phone calls: Okay, i'm not as big a fan of this one as with the exception of Swarm-watchers I found the constant calls about Hikers battling "tough Starmies" incredibly annoying, but that said it came in handy if ever you needed to level up some lower-level beasts. And along with the SS Aqua, it meant you could rebattle a reasonable selection of trainers over and over.

Steel & Dark Pokémon: Yes.

Icy floors!: Okay, a bit childish but I adored sliding around in Ice Cave XD

Better music: Just my humble opinion, but I thought some of the battle themes (Especially for Champ Lance & your rival) were amazing, and a vast improvement over the Gen I games. Some of the music for the cities was class as well.

Happiness: Might just be me, but I enjoyed making my Pokémon happier by grooming/haircuts etc. Even if it was an expensive task.

Trainer names: A small detail, but it gave your opponents a sense of personality instead of just being some generic grunt or Cooltrainer.

Better gyms & leaders: Again, just my opinion but I prefer the Gen II gyms & leaders to the ones in Gen I for the most part.

Mystery Gift: Stuff for free! Plus I liked the way you got to battle the person you last Mystery Gifted in Viridian's Trainer House.

There are probably other things but for now that's all I can think of. Some of the things that didn't make GSC so great were Baby Pokémon (un-necessary and a cheap way to bump the Pokémon tally to 251 imo), the TMs available (Some of them sucked and made me wonder why they didn't just keep a few of the Gen I TMs instead) and the overall lack of challenge (Leaders & Leet Four's Pokémon could have done with another few levels added on imo). But the positives vastly outweight the negatives, and that's why Gen II is my fave generation ^^

Nailed most of it, excellent detail provided here. All the new features and such that made the game so exciting. It generated a great atmosphere which is why so many adored these games and thought of it as "the best set" i was one of these people. I was just so excited about a whole new adventure for the first time because before that it was just Kanto (which I loved and still do) in B/R/Y, Johto introduced into GBC was great.

 

[Haunted]

Mother saving money and buying items
Exp bar under your pokemon
pokeball symbol on pokemon you've already caught

 

[Echoing Song]

Everything stated on the first post plus the exp bar... but minus the Evo Stones issue

 

[n11]

Traveling to two regions and obtaining sixteen badges was really awesome. Not to mention the memorable music. ^_^

 

[레트로]

(not to mention the final challenge against Red)

Ditto man. I almost screamed when I found out we could battle him. o.o;

 

[Munch Dog]

I actually didn't believe it at first, until I actually went there and saw for myself. I was quite thrilled.

 

[Dirtyjerry]

i loved the "johto experience". just the way things looked and felt in johto were great. and the fact that you could retravel back to kanto was pretty awesome too.

 

[gary_productions]

i like jotho
pokemon silver&gold are thebest pkmn games ever.

 

[~*!*~Tatsujin Gosuto~*!*~]

To me, its just the longest storyline and also the time (hopefully they will have 4 types of time this time)


:t354:TG

 

[Satoshi Yamazaki]

I liked having two different regions to go to, as well as having Morning/Day/Night. Being able to save your cash with mom was cool too, and helped when it came time to fight the Elite 4.

 

[Sweet Smoochum]

-You had a rival who isn't your friend. He was some guy out of the blue becomes your rival, insults you, and you feel good about yourself for beating him. He had cool Pokemon: Sneasel, Magneton, Gengar, Alakazam, Crobat and the starter he stole that's superior to yours. No other rivals were like that.
-Mom saved your money.
-Healing your Pokemon in Elm's lab.
-You could get a total of 16 badges unlike any other Pokemon game.
-Team Rocket. They invaded Slowpoke well, Mahogany town/Lake of Rage, and Goldenrod City (radio tower and underground).
-Some of the Gym leaders (Whitney, Clair) didn't give you your badge right away. I thought that was interesting and it made them stand out.
-A non-Rock type gym leader is the first one. Falkner. I liked battling him.
-Only Dragon type gym leader, Clair. She had cool Pokemon and she was tough to beat. Not to mention, she's related to Lance, and she forced to go to Dragon's Den. (You could get a Dratini there.)
-Slowpoke well was cool because it gave you access to a Psychic/Water type Pokemon. It was also a good training place before battling Bugsy.
-Dragon's den allowed you to get a Dratini.
-Bug catching contests. Gave you a Sun stone if you won. You could catch Scyther, Butterfree, Beedrill, Venonat, Pinsir, etc, in National Park during the contest.
-Magnet train. Favorite form of transportation and allowed me to return to Kanto. -(Gary)Blue was the very last gym leader. Better than Giovanni.
-Getting to battle Red in a cave with his Pikachu. It was like I was versing Ash from the anime. (I didn't know about RBY until after I beat Gold.)
-Characters who gave you a specific item on a certain day of the week (ie. Monica of Monday)
-Professor Elm was my favorite Professor. He gave me a Master ball.
-Mr. Pokemon. Gave me the Mystery egg.
-Pokegear was my favorite gadget because it was the only one with both a radio and a cell phone. I liked listening to the radio, as well as getting a phone call from a trainer about either a swarm, rematch or an evolution stone.
-These games gave me my first shiny, (Gyarados)
-I also liked the Day and Night feature and how I was able to see a different Pokemon depending on time of day.
-Giving Pokemon haircuts to make them more happy to evolve.
-Getting to talk to your Pokemon in the daycare. No other daycare allows that. Pokemon had genders and you can breed them.
-Seeing old Kanto leaders with new looks. (Erika has shorter hair, Misty had her hair down) As well as having two new Kanto gym leaders Janine and Blue(Gary).
-Playing as a girl for the first time (in crystal).
-Catching a Delibird or Jynx in Ice Path.
-Catching Ditto early on. (Great for breeding purposes.)
-Apricorns-you got a free Pokeball.
-Miltank farm. I enjoyed curing Miltank and then getting MooMoo Milk.
-Favorite legendaries: Ho-oh and Lugia, and fave trio: *Suicune,* Raikou and Entei.
-Favorite starters.
-Great music.
-Best surfing theme.
-Epic Lance/Red vs. theme.
I may add more later.

 

[jonek06]

I loved going to 2 regions and I just loved Cyndaquil!

 

[Exiled~Shadow]

I'c actualy replaying it now because i was that young when i first played it i cant even remember what its about :) But id have to say cinderquill made the game for me cos he is the coolest pokemon eva!!

 

[Synaesthesia]

It's a bit hard for me to point out exactly why I loved these games so much. It's definitely not because everyone else loves them, but I think, as a child, I had the most fun playing this generation. The day/night system was great, I really loved the realism that gave to it (as a child, all I wanted was for Pokemon to be real), the new Pokemon they came up with were great, thus giving us a collection of 251 great Pokemon. The two new types they came out with were a start to something good, the fact that they implemented shiny Pokemon, etc.. I think it may be a combination of minor improvements in comparison to RBY that made up for a huge difference, and a great generation.

It's just a great generation. XD;

 

[Unknown Entity]

Eh that's a hard one, I would have to say the story and the pokemon, G/S/C is my favorite generation of Pokemon.
The pokemon just seem much more original and cooler then the ones in R/S/E or D/P/P, not that those games were any less fun.
I'm actually playing Crystal on my good ol GBA as I type this. :D

~Ryu

 

[Ephraim]

Silver/Gold and Crystal, were the only Pokemon games on where the Pokemon designs actually GOT BETTER.


~ S/G/C also pulled of nostalgia splendidly. The soundtrack was also refined, especially on: The battle with Red. It was actually a surprise to me. I never expected it to happen. Just strolled around Mt.Silver and when I reached that ONE path, OMG It's RED! In Crystal though it stated his name was ASH.

 

[Pink Twilight]

i loved the pokemon. lets just say, they seem more like pokemon to me.