{"id":11360,"date":"2018-01-26T13:15:00","date_gmt":"2018-01-26T13:15:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.nintendolife.com\/reviews\/3ds-eshop\/pokemon_crystal_version"},"modified":"2018-01-26T13:15:00","modified_gmt":"2018-01-26T13:15:00","slug":"review-pokemon-crystal-version-3ds-eshop","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sickgaming.net\/blog\/2018\/01\/26\/review-pokemon-crystal-version-3ds-eshop\/","title":{"rendered":"Review: Pok\u00e9mon Crystal Version (3DS eShop)"},"content":{"rendered":"<div id=\"\">\n<aside class=\"picture embed right\"><a title=\"Screenshot 1 of 4\" href=\"http:\/\/images.nintendolife.com\/screenshots\/87489\/large.jpg\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/images.nintendolife.com\/screenshots\/87489\/300x.jpg\" alt=\"3 DSVC Pokemon Crystal Version Youngster Joey Call En\" \/><\/a><\/aside>\n<p>Akin to\u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/www.nintendolife.com\/games\/gbc\/pokemon_yellow_version_special_pikachu_edition\"><strong>Pok\u00e9mon Yellow<\/strong><\/a>&#8216;s\u00a0existence to\u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/www.nintendolife.com\/games\/gameboy\/pokemon_red_and_blue\"><strong>Pok\u00e9mon Red and Blue<\/strong><\/a>,\u00a0<strong><a href=\"http:\/\/www.nintendolife.com\/games\/gbc\/pokemon_crystal\">Pok\u00e9mon Crystal<\/a><\/strong>\u00a0is the next critter-catching adventure to round-off a generation of main series, handheld Pok\u00e9mon games \u2013 that being\u00a0<strong><a href=\"http:\/\/www.nintendolife.com\/games\/gbc\/pokemon_gold_and_silver\">Pok\u00e9mon Gold and Silver<\/a><\/strong>. But what could Crystal do to top what Yellow did so magnificently to stand out from a preceding duo of titles? Well, thanks to it following suit to its predecessors, Pok\u00e9mon Crystal is now available to both explore and rediscover on Nintendo 3DS family of systems via the Virtual Console. Before we get started, those unfamiliar with what Gold and Silver brought to the table initially can read our review of them\u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/www.nintendolife.com\/reviews\/3ds-eshop\/pokemon_gold_and_silver_gbc\">here<\/a>, as naturally, this review will focus on how Crystal evolved its current generation of Pok\u00e9mon games that much further.<\/p>\n<aside class=\"picture embed left\"><a title=\"Screenshot 2 of 4\" href=\"http:\/\/images.nintendolife.com\/screenshots\/87485\/large.jpg\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/images.nintendolife.com\/screenshots\/87485\/300x.jpg\" alt=\"3 DSVC Pokemon Crystal Version Day Care En\" \/><\/a><\/aside>\n<p>Right off the bat, Crystal presents those familiar with Gold and Silver with a variety of new tweaks and features. For starters, you can choose whether they wish to be a male or female Pok\u00e9mon Trainer for your journey \u2013 a first for the franchise back then. Also, every time you enter a town, city, or area of significance, a wooden board is presented at the bottom of the screen containing its name. It\u2019s nothing to scream and shout about, but certainly an appreciated tweak from a UI standpoint compared to the title\u2019s prequels. It\u2019s easy to get lost in the large world that this generation of games has to offer.<\/p>\n<p>Additionally \u2013 and arguably one of the best things Crystal has going for it \u2013 each Pok\u00e9mon sprite possesses its own animation when encountered. This alone really makes filling up the Pok\u00e9dex worthwhile, for witnessing the detail and character the developers have poured into each monster\u2019s animation is a joyous payoff. Many Pok\u00e9mon overworld sprites have been updated too, instead of the typical generic pixelated entity that categorises each Pok\u00e9mon in groups (for example bipedal, bird, and fish). Retrospectively, features such as these may not seem so impressive due to what we\u2019re used to now with modern Pok\u00e9mon outings, but for an 8-bit adventure, these were certainly welcome additions to the respective era and still hold well today on Nintendo&#8217;s latest family of handheld systems.<\/p>\n<aside class=\"picture embed right\"><a title=\"Screenshot 3 of 4\" href=\"http:\/\/images.nintendolife.com\/screenshots\/87491\/large.jpg\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/images.nintendolife.com\/screenshots\/87491\/300x.jpg\" alt=\"3 DSVC Pokemon Crystal Version vs Rival1 En\" \/><\/a><\/aside>\n<p>As for the game\u2019s poster boy, Legendary Pok\u00e9mon Suicune is the main star of the show with its own unique story. No, it doesn\u2019t follow you around in the way that Pikachu does in Pok\u00e9mon Yellow, but actually quite the opposite \u2013 you follow\u00a0<em>it<\/em>\u00a0(or accidentally finds it) throughout your adventure in various locations. Without getting into spoiler territory, once the three Legendary beasts have been encountered for the first time, Suicune doesn\u2019t play ball with its four-legged brethren, Entei and Raikou, in roaming the world of Johto \u2013 a stark difference to Gold and Silver.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Instead, it takes its own path, and along the events of this story, you will meet with newcomer Eusine \u2013 an enthusiastic researcher and expert in the field of the Legendary beasts \u2013 who claims to have been chasing Suicune for 10 years. The story is an excellent contribution to what Pok\u00e9mon Gold, Silver, and Crystal do so well; creating awe and wonder about the world of Pok\u00e9mon and around the intriguing creatures that inhabit said world. Speaking of story, the Ruins Of Alph \u2013 a mysterious area that concerns itself with the Pok\u00e9mon known as Unown \u2013 has a new subplot to that of Gold and Silver, enabling you to find out more about the alphabetically-shaped Pok\u00e9mon&#8217;s background. The area also contains more puzzles than it did in Gold and Silver.\u00a0<\/p>\n<aside class=\"picture embed left\"><a title=\"Screenshot 4 of 4\" href=\"http:\/\/images.nintendolife.com\/screenshots\/87488\/large.jpg\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/images.nintendolife.com\/screenshots\/87488\/300x.jpg\" alt=\"3 DSVC Pokemon Crystal Version Slowpoke Well\" \/><\/a><\/aside>\n<p>Pok\u00e9mon Crystal also contains a few neat changes that may go unnoticed, for example certain Legendary Pok\u00e9mon only becoming available after specific criteria are met, more than one of each Elemental Stone being obtainable, updated Pok\u00e9mon movesets via breeding and levelling up, new in-game trades, and Trainers who call your phone after battling now have distinct personalities. More notably, however, are the debuts of the Move Tutor and the Battle Tower\u00a0\u2013 both of which have become staples of modern Pok\u00e9mon games. The former is an invaluable asset when it comes to team building, and the latter is an excellent intra and postgame challenge.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>When it comes to major platform differences, Pok\u00e9mon Crystal benefits in the same way its Red, Blue, Yellow, Gold, and Silver 3DS Virtual Console counterparts do, with access to wireless communication features that allow for trading and battling, as well as compatibility with Pok\u00e9mon Bank. You can also trade certain Pok\u00e9mon between Generations I and II using the game\u2019s Time Capsule function, available at Pok\u00e9mon Centers. Moving on, those familiar with Gold, Silver, and Crystal will know that Mythical Pok\u00e9mon Celebi (Generation II\u2019s answer to Generation I\u2019s Mew) was next to impossible to add to your Pok\u00e9dex, for back then it could only be obtained using a special accessory or at a special event nowhere near your home. Thankfully, this re-release grants you the opportunity to catch your very own Celebi in an event after completing the main quest.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<div id=\"conclusion\">\n<h2 class=\"heading\">Conclusion<\/h2>\n<p>All in all, Pok\u00e9mon Crystal is the perfect swan song to what many fans consider the\u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/www.nintendolife.com\/news\/2015\/11\/feature_why_were_still_playing_pokemon_gold_silver_crystal\">best\u00a0generation of Pok\u00e9mon games<\/a>. Nostalgia hat aside, the 3DS Virtual Console re-release is the perfect opportunity to\u00a0<em>both<\/em>\u00a0those who have yet to experience its timeless, era-defining magic, and those who are looking for an excuse to replay arguably one of the best Pok\u00e9mon entries in the series\u2019 illustrious history. With a plethora of welcomed new features, more things to do, improved graphics and UI, a slight notch in the challenge department, and the implementation of the 3DS&#8217; new capabilities that generally make Pok\u00e9mon games <em>that<\/em> much more accessible and enjoyable, Pok\u00e9mon Crystal takes what Pok\u00e9mon Gold and Silver did so marvellously and proves that Johto is worth exploring once more \u2013 and Kanto for the umpteenth time for that matter! It truly proves that nostalgia is far from the sole factor that makes this game so great to pick up again on the Nintendo 3DS family of systems.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Akin to\u00a0Pok\u00e9mon Yellow&#8216;s\u00a0existence to\u00a0Pok\u00e9mon Red and Blue,\u00a0Pok\u00e9mon Crystal\u00a0is the next critter-catching adventure to round-off a generation of main series, handheld Pok\u00e9mon games \u2013 that being\u00a0Pok\u00e9mon Gold and Silver. But what could Crystal do to top what Yellow did so magnificently to stand out from a preceding duo of titles? Well, thanks to it following suit [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[27],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-11360","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-nintendo-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/sickgaming.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11360","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/sickgaming.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/sickgaming.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sickgaming.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sickgaming.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=11360"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/sickgaming.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11360\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sickgaming.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=11360"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sickgaming.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=11360"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sickgaming.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=11360"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}