Great games - hands down, buy it!

Okay, I admit it. I like Pokemon. Not because it's the flavor of the day, not because there's some cute yellow rodent shouting "Pika Pika", but because it was based on a great, great game.

The idea is simple, travel around the Pokemon-world and capture as many Pokemon you can. Battle trainers, and go to local gyms in each town, and collect badges. Pokemon Gold has 2 worlds and 251 Pokemon to catch.

There was no reason for me not to buy the game, I pre-ordered Pokemon Gold well before it was released. There has been many "knock-offs" in the Gameboy world, many RPGs (Role Playing Games) have been based on the Pokemon idea. But Pokemon is the original. Pokemon Gold is an amazing sequel, unlike many very popular video game titles that spawned horrible sequels that lacked the originality and the same fun that came with the original titles.

Being biased and all, I can't really think of anything that's wrong with the game, the sound is very good for a gameboy, the lasting appeal of the game is very, very long, halfway through the game took 40 whole hours to complete. The great thing about it is, it doesn't need to take 40 hours to complete half of the game, it is designed to have "optional" mini-quests, or things to do. You can still play and the main idea is kept, battle trainers and catch as many Pokemon as you can. It's also has a great two player feature, but you need a link cable. It's required to trade in this game, to fully complete your Pokedex. And it's always fun to challenge your friend to a battle. It's a real-time game, which means when it's 3:00 in the afternoon, it's 3:00 in your gameboy. Some Pokemon can only be caught at night and others vice versa, and other Pokemon evolve into a different Pokemon if evolved during daytime and a totally different Pokemon if evolved during nighttime. If you like those virtual pets on a keychain, Pokemon Gold interacts with the Pokemon Pikachu 2. It's a neat little toy, a color Pikachu plays with you, and it's nice to know it isn't a stand-alone device. If you have a Gameboy printer, it's really fun to see picture printed out of your Pokedex. It will soon interact with Pokemon Stadium 2, the sequel to the very popular Nintendo64 title.

However, unlike Pokemon Red and Blue, it's earlier ancestors, it does not keep the same "kid-friendly" level. Most kids under 10 probably won't finish the game, it require good reading skills, those of a forth or fifth grader and takes time, which was challenging enough for younger children playing Pokemon Red and Blue, most children's attention's spans aren't long enough to complete the game. That's pretty much the only flaw I can think of when reviewing Pokemon Gold. While Pokemon is still viewed as a fading fad, those nay-sayers obviously never really played Pokemon Gold, or they just don't get it. <grin>