Pokemon Gold, Silver, and Crystal
Generation	II
Platform	Gameboy Color
Initial Release	US 2000 JP 1999
Category	Main Series
Scores
Fun	3/5
Formula	4/5
Function	4/5
Flair	4/5
Overall	4/5
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this entry in the series is so notable for a number of reasons. there's two regions (thank you satoru iwata!), actual colors, shiny pokemon, genders, berries, 100 new pokemon, new pokeballs, a day and night cycle, apricorns, friendship, hold items... wowza!

that's not to mention two new types (the only two new types to be added up until generation 6, with its fairy type introduction), baby pokemon, special attack/defense split (which used to just be one stat - 'special'), bag pockets, and the ability to play as a girl trainer.

i would recommend this one over generation 1 if you want to play one of the 'old ones'. so much quality of life here that isn't present in gen 1, plus a very large region to progress through.

it still has that early gen clunk to it, of course. the battle system is more or less the same, ui-wise, in that there's no background scenes yet, and the ai is still relatively primitive.

all in all, though, a decent entry in the game's history. it's like if gen 1 was better, and that, i think, is the most important part of the whole thing. a marked improvement. and it has such beautiful music. please give it a listen sometime.