Pokémon Gold and Silver beta

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File:1997 pkm2-logo.gif

The original logo of Pocket Monsters 2.

Pokémon Gold and Silver, released in 1999 in Japan and 2000 elsewhere, were in development for a long time beforehand. Several aspects from their prototype versions were released to the public during their development, many including aspects that did not make it to the final games.

First mention of Pocket Monsters 2

File:1997 newpkmn.gif

Four "new" Pokémon that would be included in Pocket Monsters 2: Donphan, Ampharos, Slowking, and Ho-Oh. Due to the color used in the sprites, these were likely released after the games' development was focused on release on the Game Boy Color.

In 1997, Nintendo announced the first details of the next generation of Pocket Monsters games, to be titled Pocket Monsters 2: Gold and Silver. The games were intended to be released at the end of the year for both Game Boy and Super Game Boy.

One of the many additions promised, notably, was a skateboard that could be used in addition to the Bicycle of the previous games and would allow users to travel to "unusual places". Though this never made the final cut, other things announced, such as the real-time clock, 100 new Pokémon, including new evolutions of old Pokémon, new TMs and HMs containing new moves were included. The trading and communication abilities of the games were also to be improved, and backward compatibility with the Generation I games was also announced.

New Pokémon in the anime

The anime also provided early looks at the new Pokémon. Ho-Oh, the eventual version mascot of Pokémon Gold, had already appeared in the first episode as an unidentified creature. Later, Togepi hatched from an egg Ash himself found, and Misty became the first main character to own a Generation II Pokémon. Snubbull and Marill made their first appearances in Pikachu's Vacation, and Donphan appeared at the start of Mewtwo Strikes Back. During the second season, Ash and Misty also encountered Tracey, who owned a Marill, and the focus of the second movie was Lugia, the version mascot of Pokémon Silver. Bellossom, Ledyba, Hoothoot, and Elekid also made an appearance in Pikachu's Rescue Adventure.

First screenshots

File:1997 GS 01.gif

The color scheme in these screenshots was not as varied as the one provided by the Game Boy Color; this town was also ultimately either changed into Violet City (perhaps with Sprout Tower at right) or removed altogether.

File:1997 GS 04.gif

File:Route35GS.png

Route 35 as it appears in the final version

This screenshot displays an area which made it into the game's final cut with little alteration. It depicts a simplified version of Route 35 and the National Park's southern entrance, except with water instead of trees and fences and no open path to the right.

File:1997 GS 05.gif.jpg

A possible early design for the Johto Radio Tower can be seen on the right-hand side of this screenshot.

At this time, the early game screenshots released generally didn't look all that much different from Generation I. The pictures clearly show the games' engine being in a more developed but still early stage. The lack of battle images would seem to indicate that a redone battle system had not been implemented yet.

• 1997 GS 03.gif

  Coming out of a building

• 1997 GS 02.gif

  Near a lake and building

Pokémon Gold and Silver Versions announced

File:1998 pkmgs-logo.gif

Pocket Monsters Gold and Silver

The end of 1997 passed without a release for Pocket Monsters 2. The potential release date was removed, and things generally stayed quiet until early 1998.

It was at this time that Pocket Monsters 2 was re-announced as Pokémon Gold and Silver. Though the "2" was dropped, the games remained essentially a sequel to Generation I. Much of the year was quiet with regard to information about the games, as Pokémon Yellow was on its way out in Japan, and Pokémon Red and Blue and the Pokémon anime were on their way to the United States.

New information emerges

File:1999 gold-logo.gif

File:1999 silver-logo.gif

Following nearly a year without press releases, the Nintendo site was finally updated with new information on Pokémon Gold and Silver. A revised release date of June, 1999 was given and it was announced the games would be compatible with the then soon-to-be-released Game Boy Color.

Ken Sugimori's artwork for Slowking, Marill, Bellossom, and Hoothoot was also released, as were several screens of the new battle system featuring full-color sprites.

The battle screens are very similar to the final ones; however, the absence of gender notation is apparent. Pokémon gender was a previously announced feature, and the display of gender during battle was likely added later as a convenience to players.

The attack stats window, which in the final version tells players the remaining and total PP of each move, as well as its type, was apparently not fully completed at this point in development.

The battle system, nearly complete, was demonstrated, including wild Pokémon encounters. The new Pokédex, while close to completion, was still missing several features, such as the footprint and National Dex number of the Pokémon. The "location", "cry", and "print" functions were also missing.

On-field images of game looking closer to the final. The locations don't seem to be that of the final map, though are close. The colors seem more washed out than they do in the final version, though this may be due to the fact that they are pictures of a Game Boy Color screen.

• 1999 art yado1.gif
• 1999 art cara 1.gif
• 1999 art cara 2.gif
• 1999 art cara 3.gif
• 1999 shot p1.gif

  Snubbull vs. Marill

• 1999 shot p2.gif

  Butterfree vs. Venusaur

• 1999 shot p3.gif

  Player vs. Picnicker Kanami

• 1999 shot p4.gif

  Charizard vs. Donphan

• 1999-GS beta title screen.jpg

  The prototype title screen of Pokémon Gold, reminiscent of those of Red, Green, and Blue.

• 

  A near final title screen for Gold.

• 

  Ah! A wild Togepi appeared!

• 1999 shot yado2.gif

  Now investigating this newly discovered Pokémon.

After the release

File:Betazone.png

The prototype Safari Zone, which uses the Generation II evolution music as the background track.

Since Pokémon Gold and Silver were released, other things have been uncovered that reveal interesting details about the games' development. The final games have a large number of incomplete maps that detail what most Johto towns looked like during development. One of the most complete prototype maps found in the ROM is a rough version of the Safari Zone. Although no wild Pokémon appear inside, it has many other attributes undefined in other prototype maps, such as music, and connections to Fuchsia City. ^[1] The Safari Zone also appears in the internal list of Pokégear map locations, along with Viridian Forest, Cerulean Cave, and Pokémon Mansion. Another complete map is a house in Olivine City, where a woman refers to a pharmacy in Ecruteak City instead of Cianwood City. It is unknown if this is a typo made by the game designers or if this means the Cianwood Pharmacy was originally meant to appear in Ecruteak.

Full maps (minus events) exist for the Cinnabar Island Lab, indicating Cinnabar Island was originally to make an appearance without the erupted volcano, or at least that the lab was going to remain.

File:Betarage.png

A prototype Lake of Rage?

Apart from maps, other prototype discoveries include a mine cart image in the cave tileset, and a second card-flipping Game Corner game.^[2] There is also an unused event script, complete with text, which would allow a different event for a level 40 Entei, analogous to the birds in Generation I.

Images have also since been found of various early ideas for the new Pokémon, including early prototypes of Qwilfish, Chikorita, and Marill.

In addition, the games include large amounts of unreferenced text. For example, one block of text references the fact that Sweet Honey, which made its debut in Generation IV, was planned as early as Generation II.

Code and text remain for yet another forgotten feature, the ability to name the player's mother. Space is reserved in RAM for two other names as well, which default to RED and GREEN — the player character and rival from Red and Blue.

The Template:Type2 from Generation I remains in Generation II. This is presumed to be a carry-over from the Generation I game engine, as Gold and Silver are based on it. Also returning from leftover Generation I code are Town Map and Pokéflute items. Both are named "Teru-Sama" and are unusable, but if hacked to have a use option, the Pokéflute will still function, and the Town Map will attempt to. However, given that the map data is no longer compressed and stored in different location, the Town Map item does not function properly.

External links

• Pokémon GS Pre-Release Images
• IGN Pocket
• Pkmn.co.uk Pokémon GS prototype Information
• Pkmn.co.uk Lost Pokémon!
• Pkmn.co.uk GS prototype Maps (Requires registration)
• Tohjo Falls Crystal Text Dump
• Pokémon Depot Lost Stuff
• Pokefor.tk Pokémon GS Pre-Release (Wayback)
• Pocket Monsters 2 Alpha Release Information

Beta versions of Pokémon games

Generation I Red and Green • Yellow Generation II Gold and Silver (Spaceworld '97 demo) • Crystal Generation III Ruby and Sapphire • FireRed and LeafGreen • Emerald • Colosseum • XD Generation IV Diamond and Pearl • Platinum • HeartGold and SoulSilver Generation V Black and White • Black 2 and White 2 Generation VI X and Y • Omega Ruby and Alpha Sapphire Generation VII Sun and Moon • Ultra Sun and Ultra Moon Generation VIII Sword and Shield Unreleased Pokémon Picross

This game-related article is part of Project Games, a Bulbapedia project that aims to write comprehensive articles on the Pokémon games.