Gen 2 Pokémon is Bad, So I'm Fixing It

The 7 MASSIVE issues with Generation 2 of Pokémon!

[smithplayspokemon]

Watch to the end or this video won't make full sense.

[TheEmpireDabsBack]

I always laugh at that 1% Dunsparce rate because my most recent replay of Crystal, the first pokemon I found in Dark Cave was a Dunsparce 🤣

[JudeofAwesometon]

Allow me to share my memory of Gen 2. I was super excited about Houndoom and to have it on my team. I would play with my gameboy under the cover at night to try and find one. I eventually beat Johto and begged my parents to get me the guide to find out where it was. Needless to say my little heart was crushed and confused when I found out it was not only not in Johto but the most random route in Kanto...I still grinded that shit to fight Red though.

[tabbender]

They didn't have the same philosophy for new pokemons back then. New mons were supposed to be kind of secret and you were supposed to either get lucky or go out of your way to find them. Unlike gens 3+ where new mons are the main focus (because they're not supposed to be sequels like gen 2 was)

[kelly_times]

The worst part is that most of these problems weren't fixed in HGSS, which is such a shame as HGSS is fantastic otherwise.

[sceptile]

But you can't deny how good hgss look despite of the flaws

[kasaibouF]

You forgot to mention that the original Gen 2 GBC cartridge's battery runs dry quicker than Gen 1's because of the clock, and when that battery runs dry, your save file is gone.

[holzman]

In regards to GSC not showing off the Johto Pokemon enough, I legit didnt realize that Skarmory was a Gen 2 Pokemon until much later into my fandom. I assumed that it was a Gen 3 Pokemon since those games showed it off so much more. I feel like GSC gets a pass from most because of its nostalgic value, but it really left a lot to be desired.

[patricgmuer]

In your rom hack, make sure you fix the issues like some of the poke balls not working like they are supposed to, and also other glitches that were there.

[luckybob]

As someone who loves gen 2 and was ready to defend it… yeah, you’re right. I will say I loved the games at the time because they expanded the world of Pokémon beyond. (Wait, there’s more than just Kanto and these 151 Pokémon?) Each town in Johto was unique and had its own lore, and that world building to me was so interesting. Johto was a mysterious place in a way that Kanto never was, although it was neat to see how Kanto had changed in the three years since the last game.

The day/night cycle with nocturnal and diurnal Pokémon, shiny Pokémon, eggs with inherited movesets, getting confused about seeing my Pokemon infected with something called “PokeRus, ” roaming legendaries, great new designs that were a departure from the original Pokémon, new evolutions for existing lines, etc. While future games would build off of the first two gens, at the time, it really did seem as though G/S/C had taken a major leap forward.

[itsbmeGaming]

One of the things I think would be great for you to fix is the move incompatibility for all of the Pokemon. For example, in GSC Venusaur cannot learn Sludge Bomb but in later gens it does. I think taking moves that existed in Gens 1 and 2 which Pokemon could learn in later gens should be made available. It would make some movesets so much better and give more Pokemon more niches.

Like Aerodactyl with Rock Slide would be pretty scary if it just flinches you to death. Venusaur with Sludge Bomb/Earthquake can be a decent mixed sweeper. It would open up some creativity.

I also think making ghost type special and dark type physical would make sense. Gengar with special Shadow Ball is cool and even Espeon packing Shadow Ball is neat.

[loon]

Gen 2 specifically did the best at creating a living world of mystery and adventure, especially when considering the hardware limitations that get exasperated by the fact gold and silver were original gameboy games unlike crystal which got opened up due to it being a gameboy color only game. I love that the games for completionist are great 30-45 min bite sized daily play with new events every single day to keep tasks varried just enough to keep it interesting. With all that said, this video is spot on about the faults of this generation

[christopherballero]

While HG/SS did help a lot with the: physical/special, new moves, new Pokemon, the ability to get evolution stones a lot sooner, & various evolutions the level issues & some bad options was still a problem. Also trade evolutions especially with specific held items was still a massive pain

[TheGodKingOfMusic]

I always thought that Gen 2 felt like DLC for Gen 1. That level curve is atrocious.

[sillentgamer]

I agree with a lot of your points about Gen 2's flaws, but I have to nitpick some things:

1. Ampharos is available in Gold and Silver, you can dunk on Crystal for excluding it all you want but this isn't a valid point against all of Gen 2.

2. You get an Eevee in Goldenrod and can speed up the friendship gains with haircuts. If you do it right you should have Umbreon or Espeon around the 6th gym, whichever one you do first.

3. Crobat can be obtained around the 4th or 5th gym, easily. You can get Zubat as early as Dark Cave just before the first gym and as long as you use it often enough throughout the early game for its friendship to grow it will evolve into Crobat almost immediately after you evolve it into Golbat.

4. You're also ignoring all the good Gen 1 Pokemon that are available to you, like Lapras, Fearow, Tauros and Tentacruel. The weird limitation of using exclusively latest-gen Pokemon is a fan-made one that the devs did not intend for, and when they did intentionally do it for Gen 5 a ton of people hated it.

Also, you unironically praised one of the worst features to come from Gen 2, the roaming legendaries. The challenge of capturing all 3 beasts in G/S was impossibly hard. Praying to RNGesus that you'll encounter them in the wild along with the chance of them fleeing/roaring away on top of legendary-tier catch rates? No thank you. Crystal slightly improves this by making Suicune a static encounter, but having to seek out 2 roaming legendarys is still terrible (which sadly Gen 4 did not learn from after Gen 3 started going in the right direction by limiting it to only one).

That said, I'm looking forward to your ROM hack to fix Gen 2's pacing and narrative issues.

[jamst]

Zubat is available before the 1st gym, and by the time you get to Whitney it'll evolve into Golbat and possibly straight to Crobat.

[Noir_Baa]

He ain't lying. Take off the rose-tinted nostalgia glasses.

[Freefrost]

I discovered that Skarmory was a 2nd gen pokemon 2 days ago, in my 30's. So yeah, gen 2 pokemon availability sucks mad dick

[dripmonkey]

I recently ran through Crystal a week ago and basically did everything in my power to make it challenging. Level Capping, Researching Routes with the lowest level trainers, etc. I've been delving into RomHacks and trying to decide which one to play and I think I'm gonna save myself until your's drops! Looking forward to watching it evolve. ✌

[skotiaHO]

another thing i never liked about Gen 2 is that Ho-Oh was so clearly meant to be the only cover Legendary. Suicune for example was literally just created by Ho-Oh. Lugia was only meant to appear in its movie and was added at the last second (not speculating here, this was confirmed), and that is clearly shown in the games. While you get Ho-Oh's lore and history explicitly mentioned in every playthrough when passing through Ecruteak, Lugia is just vaguely mentioned and relegated to a completely optional area, and aside from its Pokédex description you get NO information on what it can do or how it ties in with the region. Heck, the duality with Ho-Oh is practically non-existant. Ho-Oh is tied to rebirth and rainbows, Lugia is a poorly portrayed stormbringer (not even a Water type, and this will never make sense) who gets outclassed by Kyogre in the literal next generation. Pokémon Gold should've been the only Gen 2 game, with the Legendary beasts quest being expanded on for all three instead of just Suicune and Lugia being an optional postgame level 70 boss as a cool anime reference.