Pokemon Silver Game Review

Where it all started...

There's really nothing quite like it when you relive a game that was forever in your interests as a child. While there were numerous games that me and my older brothers played countless amounts of times, games such as FIFA, Timesplitters, Mario Kart 64/Super Mario 64 and many others, the game that not only peaked everyone's interest at the time but served to be the 1st genuine game that I had properly played through, was Pokemon Silver. Despite these first Pokemon Blue/Red belonging to my older brothers, leaving me and the other brother of mine helplessly watching along, at the time it was just as addicting watching people play the game since it was a GameBoy head-title that had so much mystery, secrets and replay-ability within it. This would prove to be the same when I first played Pokemon Silver where not only were there more secrets and trinkets that kept me glued to catching more of these creatures and obtaining more badges, but was a vast improvement from what the original had to offer in so many ways. Truly, this was, and still is, the Pokemon game that I hold as one of the best games that I've ever played.

Similar to how things were set in the original games of Blue, Red and Yellow, Pokemon Silver (and Gold) is set in the Johto region where you play as a new trainer, trying to capture old and new Pokemon whilst obtaining badges to challenge the Elite 4 and become Champion. Along the journey, you'll not only encounter the evil, yet annoying, Team Rocket who once again try to cause havoc in the game, but also confront another set of Legendary Pokemon; ranging from the 3 legendary dogs to the Pokemon that you see on the covers of both Silver and Gold. 

While it's understandable, looking at the crazy amounts of these games there are now, for anyone to pick any Pokemon game and say that "X&Y is the best in the series" or "the original Red and Blue remain to be the best" and so on, Pokemon Silver remains to be the 'go-to' friendly RPG game since it modified and included features that the previous games in the series didn't exhibit. Indeed, for every Pokemon game there has been, either significant or subtle add-on's are always implemented to present the gameplay in a different light; this is certainly true with the Pokemon games of X&Y with the addition of a completely 3-D experience. In terms of the 2nd generation of Pokemon games however, there were numerous of gameplay features that made the gameplay seem more fun and enjoyable than the first outings. The most noticeable addition to notice of Pokemon Silver, is the inclusion of colour and the day-and-night mechanic which affects not only the evolution of a few Pokemon, but influences which Pokemon you can encounter in the wild. Remembering back to the time when I played Silver, this was indeed different and fun at the same time. It may not seem like a big deal now, considering all Pokemon games now have the time mechanic, but it was interesting at the time to notice how much the gameplay slightly changed whenever you played the game during the middle of the day, or at night-time. It essentially glues you to play more of the game, a smart gimmick if I do say so myself. Of course, with this game centralising in the Johto region, not in the Kanto region this time (although you do get to explore the 1st generations game-world again which will be discussed in a little bit), there are new monsters to find, battle and catch that do seamlessly fit with the rather familiar Pokemon that were first seen in Red, Blue and Yellow. The starter Pokemon of Totodile, Chikorita and Cyndaquil definitely help you bridge-the-gap from the first games to Silver (and Gold) and do contend with the popularity status that Charmander, Squirtle and Bulbasaur so rightly received. Although, if there's one starter to surely avoid, it's Chikorita, the grass-type. You're just asking for a rough ride if you start with this Pokemon since you have to contend with flying and bug-type gyms that will annihilate you. Trust me, I learnt the hard-way!! 😂😓. As subtle as this addition may seem to anyone who has played Pokemon before, one thing that makes the playing experience even better are the menu's which have different tabs for the different items you pick up along your journey. As much as Pokemon Blue, Red and Yellow was detailed in providing a variety of different items that your character and Pokemon can easily use, the menu's were, let's be honest, rather bland and annoying to scroll through since every Item was on a ever-lasting list. With Silver however, you don't have to suffer in boredom navigating through your own bag since all the items you collect are stored in their separate tabs, which makes life way easier. Even though it's a little neat-feature in the game, one of the things that can be fun to use, at first, is the phone and how nearly every-trainer you fight against/meet will drop you their number so they can offer you random fights. Although, the constant ringing of the phone can be annoying at times, especially when you have a high-level team and a trainer rings you about their Lv. 5 Pidgey over and over again, you just think to yourself, "Do I even care!?" 😂. The only other cool feature to give a nod to, is the subtle addition of tracking the 3 legendary dogs of Suicune, Entei and Raikou on your mini-map. As many may know, you first encounter these legendaries at the burned tower in Ecruteak City where each one of them scatter into the wild. This in turn, presents an opportunity for you to randomly capture these Pokemon anywhere within the game, but it isn't easy. Remembering back from when I played Silver when it first came out, I only ever managed to encounter 1 of the 3 legendaries and it ran off as soon as I made my first move!!... Ah well, at least there's Lugia you can capture (which is still a pain, but a worthwhile member of your journey!! 😁).

If there's one quality that stands out for Pokemon Silver that makes it one of the best games in such a lauded series, it's the longevity of the journey that you undertake. While in any other ordinary Pokemon game you would simply tackle a new region, battle trainers, catch new Pokemon, defeat the Elite 4 and become champion, Silver expands on this with the addition of going back to the Kanto region, fighting against more Gym's and a chance to face-off against the character you played as in the first generation of games... Trainer Red!! 🔴. In some way's, the game feels like you're playing two journeys; two separate path's that are challenging right up-to the end. Understandably, for an RPG (Role-Playing-Game) like Pokemon where you have to moderately grind and level-up your team to beat the game, everyone won't necessarily like to play more of a game that requires more badges in order to properly beat the game. The constructs of either training or gaining experience through a needless amounts of battles within grassy-areas is something that the Eastern Video-Game audience revel in. As for us, the Western audience, we're more accustomed to games that are generally fast-paced and don't negate in doing the same repetitive thing. Having said this, despite Pokemon Silver having such an elongated playing experience, the game itself never truly gets boring. This is down to two simple assets. The 1st being that the 'elongated' segment is extended to a location in the game that was the main area that you explored in Red, Blue and Yellow, which brings this sense of familiarity and desire to beat the final challenge of the game, and the 2nd being that the gameplay never truly stagnates. As you play this game more and more, there is tendency to see your journey up until the very end, and that goes for every Pokemon there has been. What serves as the metaphorical icing on the cake for Pokemon Silver, is the true ending of going on top of Mt. Silver and Poke-battling against  Trainer Red. Everything about the fight, including the background music and the intensity of defeating the old player with his high-level Pokemon, is a finale that is deserving of a game that consistently peaks your interest.

How my Pokemon Silver team always went...

While it's hard to nail-down which Pokemon game serves to be the best of the bunch, the game of Silver definitely has to be up there as one of the best due to it's way of managing to simplify features of the game that enhance the playing experience. With the game implementing new Pokemon additions, colouring, the time mechanic, breeding and other features that eradicates the recognition that Red, Blue and Yellow received, Pokemon Silver triumphs in providing an RPG experience that is accessible to all ages and doesn't disappoint in providing an expanded journey that puts other Pokemon games to shame. So, if you're looking to play any Pokemon game to put your time into, look no further than Pokemon Silver... and perhaps Gold!! 😂😂

And with that, it's time for me to end. As always everyone, thank you for reading my 2nd ever Game Review of Pokemon Silver and I hope you've enjoyed the read. I know I haven't much in terms of video games, but I hope you enjoyed this nice one-off retrospective of a game that provided a lot of good memories growing up, Hopefully, sometime in the near future, I can do more game reviews like this one. Anywho, if anyone has an opinion on either the review or on the game itself, please feel free to drop a comment down below. Next week, I will be returning to my nice of film reviewing by talking about David Yates' film of Fantastic Beasts and Where To Find Them. Until then, thank you once again to everyone for reading my 2nd ever game review!! I'll see you all next week!! Have a nice day/weekend!! Adieu!! ✌😁👍

4.5/5 - Alex Rabbitte.