It’s Past Time A Game Steals Pokémon Gold And Silver’s Best Gimmick

Remember that bit at the end of Pokemon Gold and Silver where, after beating Johto’s Elite Four, you could travel back to Kanto, and experience a remade version of Red and Blue? As a kid, I thought this was really cool. As an adult, I thought it might have been a dream I once had. When I began to understand a bit more about game development, I thought, “That wasn’t real, right? They couldn't possibly have pulled that off on a Game Boy cartridge, right?”

It was, they (specifically Game Freak with a major layup from future Nintendo president Satoru Iwata) did, and it remains one of the coolest things I’ve ever seen in a game. It makes me wonder: why doesn’t this happen more often?

The Switch 2's Most Exciting Announcement Was A GameCube Game

Nintendo has knocked it out of the park with the Switch 2 Direct. But maybe not in the way it thought it would.

Why Didn't More Games Follow Gold And Silver's Lead?

Of course, I know why. Incorporating the map from a previous game into a new one is a ton of work, takes up a lot of space, and is basically never worth the hassle for most game developers given that, you know, the first game is right there. In Pokémon’s case, you could even play it on the same system.

Then there’s the narrative problem. Why would the old world be accessible from the new game? There might be an answer, as in the case of Red Dead Redemption 2, which takes place in the same country as the original game and includes its territory as part of the contiguous land.

But in many cases, those narrative answers don't come so easily. The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess was the follow-up to Wind Waker, released on the same console, but it wouldn't have made much sense for it to include Wind Waker's world because they’re two mythic variations on the same land.

Beyond that, what do you do with the space if you do include it? All the same quest content, unchanged? That seems kinda boring for fans of the first game. All new missions, then, which effectively means developing a second game? That seems like way too much work for a fun bonus feature.

But SOME Games Should

No, Pokemon Gold and Silver’s gimmick isn’t something that should be in every game, it wouldn’t work for most. But I would love to see more games attempt it.

There’s something special about a game letting you revisit a place you've been to before, but under different circumstances. When you go to Kanto in Gold and Silver, you’re a different trainer than you were in Red and Blue. You aren’t facing off against Brock without a water type or against Misty without an electric type. You have all of the monsters you caught in Johto at your disposal, potentially at max level, which fundamentally alters the dynamic.

It's like going to your high school reunion after becoming extremely successful. Everyone who looked down on you when you were a kid now has to admit that, yeah, you do have a sweet job and a nice car and your kids are hella accomplished. In this case, your sweet job is being the very best like no one ever was, your nice car is a sick bike, and your hella accomplished kids are a Feraligatr and a Lugia.

I thought about this earlier this year when players deduced that Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 3 + 4 wouldn't be bringing forward 4's unusual campaign in favor of more streamlined objectives. It highlighted that games are more than just their environments. The story, objectives, characters, and more come together to make a memorable level.

By allowing you to go back to Kanto, Pokemon Gold and Silver provided a fascinating moment of recontextualization. It isn't something that every game can deliver, and most shouldn't. But I wish that more would.

Pokemon Should Be Embarrassed

Pokemon's failure to meaningfully evolve or push boundaries makes it look out of place amongst the elite of the Switch 2.