Pokémon Crystal

Overview

Pokémon Gold Version and Pokémon Silver Version are 1999 role-playing video games developed by Game Freak and published by Nintendo for the Game Boy Color. They are the first installments in the second generation of the Pokémon video game series. They were released in Japan on November 21st, 1999, Australia and North America on October 15th, 2000, and Europe on April 6th, 2001.

The games introduce 100 new species of Pokémon and follow the progress of the player character in their quest to master Pokémon battling. Both games are independent of each other but feature largely the same plot and, while both can be played separately, it is necessary to trade between these games and their predecessors in order to fully complete each game's Pokédex. The Johto Saga of the Pokémon anime is based on the new region introduced in the games.

Pokémon Gold and Silver were both critical and commercial successes; the games sold over 23 million units, making them the best-selling games for the Game Boy Color and the third-best-selling for the Game Boy family of systems. In retrospect, they are both cited as some of the most significant titles of the fifth generation of video games, two of the best entries in the series, if not the best, and both are touted as being amongst the greatest video games of all time. The two releases are also noted to have continued the success of the Pokémon series as it began to form into a billion-dollar franchise.

Official trailer

Trailer. Watch on YouTube

Gameplay

Game Boy Color Longplay [089] Pokemon Crystal, World-of-Longplays. Watch on YouTube

Screenshots

Game details

Genres

Role-playing (RPG), Adventure

Developer

Game Freak

Publisher

Nintendo

Series

Pokémon

Platforms

Game Boy Color, Nintendo 3DS

Age rating

ESRB E

Modes

Single player

Yes

Local multiplayer

Yes

Online multiplayer

No

Co op

No

Age ratings

ESRB

E

CERO

A

USK

0

PEGI

12

Release dates

Editions

Check out the store

Space and patches

Update patchNo patch

DLC

No DLC. Game Boy Color games had no downloadable content.

Playable today

Playable offline todayYes

No online features outside Japan; every mode works today on a Game Boy Color or Game Boy Advance. Trading and battles need a second system and a link cable.

Online

Plays offlineYes

Reception

Aggregates

Outlet	Platform	Score	Scale
GameRankings	Game Boy Color	80	100

Critics

Outlet	Score	Scale
IGN	9	10
GameSpot	8.4	10
Famitsu	34	40
Nintendo Life	9	10
Nintendo Power	4	5

Staff and cast

Staff

Role	Name
Developer	Game Freak
Publisher	Nintendo
Directors	Satoshi Tajiri, Junichi Masuda
Producers	Satoru Iwata, Satoshi Yamamoto, Shigeru Miyamoto, Tsunekazu Ishihara
Designers	Junichi Masuda, Koji Nishino, Toshinobu Matsumiya
Programmers	Shigeki Morimoto, Tetsuya Watanabe, Takenori Ohta
Artist	Ken Sugimori
Composers	Go Ichinose, Junichi Masuda, Morikazu Aoki

Notes for collectors

• The first Pokémon game where you can play as a girl, and the first with animated Pokémon in battle.
• The first Pokémon game that will not run on the original Game Boy.
• In Japan it worked with the Mobile Adapter GB for trading and battling over mobile phones; that service has closed.
• Sold 6.3 million copies, against 23.7 million for Gold and Silver.

Credits

Publisher

Nintendo

Developer

Game Freak

Director

Satoshi Tajiri, Junichi Masuda

Released

2001-07-30

Age rating

ESRB E

Region

US

Time to beat

about 29.5 hours