When you ask someone what their favorite Pokémon game is, they always give you such radically varied answers.

The reign of Johto

Some will stand behind Black and White and risk their lives to defend them, while some can look past Red and Blue’s evident flaws and applaud the series’ history.

Really, there is no correct response; it all depends on personal preference. Despite this, I will contend that the second Pokémon generation was the most ambitious ever, with Pokémon Crystal in particular continuing to be hailed as a true masterpiece.

People are still pleading for a similar game 22 years after it was released. That conveys a lot.

The pinnacle of Johto was—and still is—Pokémon Crystal. You’d think that Game Freak would be at a loss for how to enhance the experience further after creating two arguably ideal sequels to Red, Blue, and Yellow (those being Gold and Silver), but this wasn’t the case at all.

It’s simple to forget that this was the first game in the series to introduce animated sprites for Pokémon as they engaged in combat. While this might seem like a simple addition (and one that’s been upgraded significantly since), these animations added so much extra character to the region’s species.

Suicune, the best Water-type legendary Pokémon we’ve ever had, played a considerably larger role in the plot than it did in Gold and Silver, and the Ruins of Alph were also expanded to contain additional Unown puzzles and juicy, juicy backstory. These changes are evident in the box cover for the game.

Despite this, the opportunity to select a female character to play as may have been the biggest shift of all, and it happened immediately at the start of the game.

Prior to that, there were only male characters available for players to choose from, and while Red and Ethan were both cool, it was extremely restrictive for all the female Pokémon enthusiasts who were forced to play as men on what was supposed to be their very own adventure.

It was game changing

Some will stand behind Black and White and risk their lives to defend them, while some can look past Red and Blue’s evident flaws and applaud the series’ history.

Really, there is no correct response; it all depends on personal preference. Despite this, I will contend that the second Pokémon generation was the most ambitious ever, with Pokémon Crystal in particular continuing to be hailed as a true masterpiece.

People are still pleading for a similar game 22 years after it was released. That conveys a lot.

The pinnacle of Johto was—and still is—Pokémon Crystal. You’d think that Game Freak would be at a loss for how to enhance the experience further after creating two arguably ideal sequels to Red, Blue, and Yellow (those being Gold and Silver), but this wasn’t the case at all.

It’s simple to forget that this was the first game in the series to introduce animated sprites for Pokémon as they engaged in combat. While this might seem like a simple addition (and one that’s been upgraded significantly since), these animations added so much extra character to the region’s species.

Suicune, the best Water-type legendary Pokémon we’ve ever had, played a considerably larger role in the plot than it did in Gold and Silver, and the Ruins of Alph were also expanded to contain additional Unown puzzles and juicy, juicy backstory. These changes are evident in the box cover for the game.

Despite this, the opportunity to select a female character to play as may have been the biggest shift of all, and it happened immediately at the start of the game.

Prior to that, there were only male characters available for players to choose from, and while Red and Ethan were both cool, it was extremely restrictive for all the female Pokémon enthusiasts who were forced to play as men on what was supposed to be their very own adventure.