57:38 The reason for Espeon’s inclusion on Red’s team was a reference to the manga. Red obtains a special Eevee in the series that can swap between the forms of Jolteon, Vaporeon and Flareon when exposed to the corresponding stones, and then revert back to Eevee after battles. Eevee eventually gives up this ability and evolves into Espeon, locking it in that form permanently.
thats cool but i prefer the lapras because then it connects Red to a possible team he could have had in Yellow. Pikachu, Blastoise, Charizard, Venasaur, Lapras, Snorlax are all obtainable in Yellow Version and I've done a "Red Run" in yellow where I make that specific team just for fun and nice to see most of the team in Crystal. I like that in HGSS they made it a lapras.
@@Livvvid yes but then he would have a Blastoise & a Lapras on the same team… not great for coverage Back then the psychic type was considered the strongest (and the reason Lugia is psychic, not water) so they wanted a psychic type that would also be fitting for a Pokémon protagonist to have, since Eevee is one of the few Pokémon given to all protagonists, Espeon made the most sense
Also add that the games and the manga were a lot more tied together back then, and Lance was very much not a good guy in the manga when he talks about Lance hyper beaming the rocket grunt. He was the leader of a group attempting to wipe out the large majority of the human race
@@octolockg5059 The manga is indeed awesome, and, mimicking the 3rd gen games, it's Hoenn phase is the best storyline in the series, or at least one of
Awesome to see this project come to full fruition; been following along since the early videos. Congrats on not only creating a wicked romhack, but also some of the most innovative Pokémon content in recent days!
You don't understand how amazing this rom is. Gen 2 is the generation I grew up with for the longest time and seeing it be perfected like this brings almost a tear to my eye.
I'm very happy that Karen gets to keep Vileplume. It's based on a parasitic flower that smells like a cadaver, and also has a theme of "night blooming", so I think it fits perfectly in a Dark-type team. Also happy that someone's put so much effort into making a romhack that's NOT a difficulty hack that doesn't care about stuff like flavor and immersion. Very measured and reasonable edits, great job!
True. One of the mistakes I think are made on these rom hacks is they’re made hard for the sake of being miserable. You should make it challenging but also still in the spirit of the game and the world the characters live in.
I've had this issue with x and y rom hacks like I just want a better x and and y main game I don't want all 721 pokemon in the region I don't want every pokemon trainer to have complete coverage on their team and I don't want item prices and exp to be adjusted. I just want the gym leaders and elite four to have more then 4 pokemon
@@mattgibson9337 Yup. Too many romhacks/fangames seem to be made with the mistaken assumption that more is better. Having 700+ pokemon in a single region isn't good, it's cluttered. Forcing the player to grind more because you made the trainers all have much higher leveled pokemon with better movesets but didn't adjust the availability of TMs so the player's only options is grinding isn't challenging, it's tedious.
I've been saying this since SV released, Crystal Clear has this, a gen2 game can have level scaling but a switch game can not? the open world is a lie, sure you can explore the world but you are forced to beat the game in a certain order.
Downloaded it 2 weeks ago and started playing on my phone in my free time, just finished the game and collecting all 251 pokemon today and am now restarting for a nuzlock, dude you and your entire team did an astounding job on this!! I grew up with gold so gen 2 has always had a special place in my heart and I think you just game me my definitive edition! Extremely well done!!
Im on mobile too, do you need to use the lunar IPS part? I don’t know what that is. At first all I did was use macrobledo and put in the og rom file and the patch file
I LOVE the core idea for this romhack. No innovation. No new types. No physical special split. No crazy re-writings of the plot. Just an honest atttempt to create the gen 2 experience fans would have loved to play. Moveset and encounter changes here and there, modified teams, pushing the plot a bit in some portions to maximize its message without completely distorting it... you have walked an extremely fine line with this rom, and overall I think you excelled with it. I will love playing through all of this as if it was my first time in Johto. So much care and thought put into it to avoid cheesy changes. It is the subtle nature of this game what makes me love it. I wish more creators took this approach rather than adding random secondary typings and crazy new Megas at every corner. Well done, sir. Very well done. I guess FR/LG will receive its attention soon with a revised hackrom, right? I am waiting for that...
I'm working on a revision in the exact same vein but updating types to future gen standards basically as if steel dark and fairy and future evolutions were from the beginning with type changes to make more sense and be more interesting and phys special split. I understand what Smith is doing here, and it would make sense to do the same for RBY, but since FRLG are remakes they should have more to offer.
I particularily love what you did with Karen. She was always one of my favorite characters for how little time she has in the spotlight, respecting her 'favorite pokemon' team and trying to make her strong despite it is exactly how it should be.
@@aquartertwo That would be interesting. If nothing else, they could be the inspiration for Lance and Claire's specialization. Lance is the dragon tamer of the skies in reverence to Ho-oh and Claire is the dragon tamer of the seas in reverence to Lugia.
Even better when it's a Pokemon newly introduced for the generation, for example Chuck's ace should have been Hitmontop instead of Kanto mon like Poliwrath or Misdreavus for Morty instead of Gengar.
One suggestion I would have is that Karen's Vileplume should be shiny. It would explain more why this pokemon that always stood out is so liked by Karen as well as showcase the hidden gimmick of gen 2, introducing shiny pokemon.
Technically showcasing the mechanic was what the lake of rage red gyarados is supposed to do, but I get it. Might stand out a little more if at least one more Pokemon has this mechanic.
@@ArtisChroniclesI Believe most people didn't even realize the Red Gyrados was a "shiny" back when this came out. I remember playing the game for years as a kid, and like a week before Ruby came out I seen a shiny and had no idea what was happening
@@brettvandermeer5297 For sure, Gen 2 released right before my 9th birthday so I got it pretty much on release, I knew that Gyarados was unique for some reason but I never saw another shiny, ever. So I had no idea they existed until years later.
@scrub_jay I remember when I found a kelacon in Pokémon omega ruby, and it was a shiny but 10 year old me didn't realize it was one, so I killed it I still think about how dumb i was for that
has there ever been a trainer in any pokemon game where the trainer was intentionally given a shiny? Seems weird that these exist but nobody seems ot ever have one.
Some patches I'm hoping to see in the future: -Making it possible to get all the room decorations. This is a really obscure but cool feature, and if this is the "perfect" ROM hack it should be doable! -Add follow Pokémon! You've already got the individual sprites! :D Love this video. I keep watching it back just to geek out over Gen II. Thanks for all the hard work!
I can see the room decorations being done, but i would be pleasently suprised if following was added. from the sound of other comments, all he is looking to do is make the game better, not modernize it. if i get proven wrong, ill be happy about it, but i dont 100% see it happening.
The follow sprites require at least 2 images in 4 directions per pokemon, on a different resolution than the party-pokemon. so.. it'd be a big ask. I imagine he could yoink them from a different game, but the resolutions probably wouldn't match up, and the colors definitely wouldn't.
Surprised to not see Spikes on Pineco. I know it doesn't naturally learn it until the 40s but it would be an excellent lead for Bugsy, really showing he's knowledgeable and experienced, even so young. Edit: ah, I now see you saved the Spikes gimmick for Jasmine lol
I adore your choice of including Giovanni into the Gen2 Rocket story line, complete with him being there for the conclusion, his speech at the end is also really solid and imo quite believeable for the kind of journey/characterisation he's gotten at the end of Gen1. If I may make a suggestion, I would've preferred him being present earlier in the story, namely at Slowpoke Well. He could maybe be positioned in the Pokemon Center or something, not directly at the scene of action to a) not put too much attention on him and b) further put some intrigue into why there now is a character that wasn't there before(and why that NPC is gone after Rocket is defeated).
@@DanieIsan555 yes, that introduction was pretty much "in your face" and I think one can do better. As stated, in my opinion, it would've been much better if his first appearance was without somebody more or less directly pointing out his existance to the player. Instead it would've been left to the player to stumble upon him, and either attempt to figure out his identity or have the realisation that the mysterious guy in Azalea(?) was Giovanni all along later down the story line.
@@FrontlinerCdVI agree. It would be cool to see him turn up occasionally, kinda like Scott in third gen. Like just have him rock up to points of interest, like the shrine at Ilex Forest, Ruins of Alph, Burned Tower, etc. Have him say a line then walk off screen
I'm actually glad to see someone else think that Giovanni should've appeared as a supporting character in Gen 2, to complete his implied redemption arc at the end of Gen 1. Pokemon Origins especially made his change of heart really heartwarming and compelling. And it's really disheartening to see that GameFreak completely backpedaled on that in both the Celebi Event in Heartgold/Soulsilver and Ultra Sun/Ultra Moon.
Found your channel by accident. This ROM is the single best thing I've played in over 20 years playing pokémon and modded roms. Thanks. I love your work
For the Unown ruins, you could've done something with Entei to parallel with the movie and make it so we don't have to chase after him anymore and give the ruins a more genuine feel after solving both the puzzles, the murals as well as catching Suicune. You could probably do something Raikou in a similar vein with following possibly the anime in which we meet Ethan.
@SuperCaptainFail they said they were doing updates and not only that he said they couldn't figure out how to give the ruins a storyline. Figured I'd offer a chance for one.
The amount of love and care put into this Romhack is amazing. This actually inspired me to work on something of my own! Thank you for all the hard work you guys put in!
Pokemon crystal is my favorite game, I never noticed it's flaws but all the updates you did sounds absolutely incredible. I'm excited to play this. Thank you for all your hard work!
I am super hype to finally play this. I've been following along for months and I feel so much more excited for this to come out than I did SV. I could feel the love and care that you put into it with each video talking about what was broken or incomplete and how you wanted to fix it.
I'm kinda surprised you didn't just add in the Celebi/Giovanni plot line from HGSS. That feels like the true conclusion of the Rocket storyline and also adds the much-needed character backstory for Silver.
Yup, it's more fitting for this to exist in a masterpiece of a hack such as Polished Crystal. The team has especially focused on modernizing, including new moves, the fairy type, and the beloved physical/special split.
For anyone wanting another sweet Romhack my favorite gold silver romgack is Crystal Clear. It lets you pick from a ton of starters and is fully open, no HMS, level scaling of every gym depending on where youre at in the challenge. Super cool
I went straight to Sneasel's moveset and was a little sad to see their moveset still being mostly special moves but then I remembered you also said stat changes and thank you so much for giving them a half-decent spatk
I sometimes wonder if the Pokemon Gyms were finalized before they fully created all the Gen 2 Pokemon (not "Johto" Pokemon, because Kanto and Johto feel so connected they are almost a single region).
I really gotta try this. Heart Gold and Soul Silver are the magnum opus of the classic Pokemon games and no one can change my mind. But that classic pixelation you get with the original Silver/Gold/Crystal is nostalgic.
Fun Fact: It’s interesting you gave Silver Larvitar because in the Manga, Lance gives Silver a Pupitar and Silver uses it until an Event on Whirl Islands with Lugia in the Manga and then gives Lance back the now evolved Tyranitar after not being able to fully control it, so it’s somewhat fitting you gave him that Pokémon in particular.
Been about 2 days since I started playing and man, this is very well made. The difficulty changes in battles are honestly just right, not super difficult but definitely not as easy. Diversity and movesets are definitely what the gym leaders were lacking in so this a nice change of pace. I’m nuzlocking the game & I definitely found myself planning strategies around these important trainer battles. It’s been such a blast so far. I’m definitely coming back to this game after my initial run to do mono type challenges seeing as how pokemon get reliable STAB moves as they level up!
I think my favorite change is the Giovani arc. Brilliant! Also, thank you for fixing bugs as much as possible. Big types are my favorite. Overall it looks brilliant. Can't wait to see it with Kanto totally fleshed out.
You gave Chikorita early Leech Seed like it deserved. In my eyes, it's now definitively the best of the bunch. I've been playing this today and Bayleef eats Withney alive. I love this. Gen2 is my favorite to play (over HGSS even, for a few reasons) and this overhaul so far only adds to the experience.
Omg I was playing this last night and I have to thank you again for this gem. I felt like playing a new region. It was so good. I felt like I was seeing Johto as it was truly meant to be.
This romhack looks amazing, and that thing about expanding Kanto caught me completely off guard.😵 At the end of the video I was left thinking that it's a shame that Giovanni is back but that we can't have a battle with him just before you mentioned that possibility for the future, that would certainly be awesome! Btw, 58:00, justice for my boy Rhydon! He didn't deserve to be shafted like that.😢
@naganut9718 You either missed the point of the rom, or you have a room temperature IQ. Crystal Clear is the only argument to be made, and it's nothing like the original crystal in the way that it feels. Very different games. Crystal kaizo is a difficulty hack, nothing more. That's got to be the funniest part of your comment by far. Wear your helmet today bud.
@@RyanNash20 ok? And what you're saying is the best way to play gen 2, and games like those are better. Tbe game fixes some of the issue but overall its still mostly a difficulty raise romhack albeit less like kaizo and more like drayano styled rom hacks
I like that Jasmine, one of the last leaders you'll fight, will have Scizor. It's a nice bookend counterpart to Bugsy, one of the first leads you'll fight, having Scyther.
Just threw this onto my Retroid and I can’t wait to play it!! I’m also a gen2 fan boy so this is going to be a lot of fun. I’m really excited about the changes and I’m so glad a lot of my favorite Pokemon are now available and viable and what you did with the story and the legendaries was a solid choice in my opinion.
Finally played the romhack today and i gotta say, its such a small detail but i love what you did to the Gen 1 legendary pokemon and giving them a lore for the strongest trainers in the game. Not just Red and Mewtwo but giving the Bird Trio to THOSE specific trainers was genius
I've played some hackroms that promise a more challenging campaign, but instead of offering a good challenge one has to have a competitively viable team that has been EV trained by the third gym, making the ROM busywork, instead of reworking the battle with the tools the player has at that moment like the surrounding Pokémon, items, TMs, etc. I'll give you ROM a try, as it seems promising.
Just spent hours looking at various gen 2 romhacks, and gen 2 remakes in the gen 3 engine, trying to find something complete, faithful to the original games but superior, allows you to get all the Pokémon, fixes some glaring imbalances, and without a shitload of modern stuff I don't really understand because I never properly played beyond gen 3 I have no idea how it took me so long to find this, I'm halfway through the video and I am _EXTREMELY_ impressed, and super hyped to download and play it. I was doubtful about the title claiming the perfect romhack, but fuck me you've basically done it!
This is excellent... I played Gen 1 & 2, but then I had a looooong break and didn't pick Pokemon up again until Gen 8. I didn't even realise that Pineco, Teddiursa, Ursaring and Skarmory were Gen 2, and I've played Gold and Crystal a shit ton. I always thought Gold/Silver/Crystal were perfect, but you've really pointed out all their missed opportunities to showcase their new pokemon and features...
Thank you so much for your dedication to such a key component to my childhood, and many others like myself. I am beyond grateful, and truly thankful for your work of art in a game we all hold so dear to our hearts! I wish you the absolute best in all you future endeavors with health, wealth, love, and happiness friend! Many blessings to everyone💜💜💜
I just started and this is much better already. Instead of just using my starter I've got 4 pokemon the same level. Growlithe, Larvitar, Chikorita (never used this starter may as well try it since you buffed it) and Mareep. EXP share helps a lot. edit: and the gym battles are actually challenging and have me battling wild Pokemon and going ahead to other areas to battle more trainers. Very cool.
I absolutely love your project, I also think that your adjustments for the games balance are just phenomenal. As someone who's played all the games I think this really is the ultimate pokemon rom hack, Well done.
Red having an Espeon could be due to the gift Eevee in gen 1 or could be a reference to the manga where Red had a special Eevee (prior to gen 2) which later became an Espeon (after gen 2 released).
@@NoxLebeau It's also the only evolution that makes sense. Vaporeon, Flareon, or Jolteon would be redundant with Red's Blastoise, Charizard, or Pikachu. Out of Espeon and Umbreon, Umbreon is already used on a boss team with Karen. Espeon makes the most sense.
I just found out about your hacks. I love this so far and one small change you made that I find is amazing. When NPCs offer to train you on something and you say you already know, they don't try doing it anyway wasting your time
i just played through crystal legacy (only have to beat blue, the e4 rematch and mt silver) and oh my goodness, it is SUCH AN IMPROVEMENT! everything about it is so good and well made, and the quality of life is so well done! thank you for making such a fun rom hack, man!
These are the exact types of romhacks I love. Adding challenge, care to the lore while retaining the spirit of the game. If you happen to have done similar ones for other gens I'll for sure check them out.
Hey Smith, I usally never write comments, I just want to share some thoughts about this game and show you my team :) Your rom hack is love. I have a small history with crystal, since it was the first rom I ever played on a computer. Back in Gen 4, competetive Pokemon was my life, but I´ve never played the Johto Games (Was before the HG/SS era). When I found out to emulate Roms, I was blown away. Pokemon Crystal was my first, so that will always have a place in my heart. Just like this rom. Its just pure love how accessible all these Gen 2 Pokemon are. I did a nuzlocke of this game when I started until the 8th badge. I did pretty decent and loved the challenge However, I loved my team so much, that I skipped the challenge and just went with it, got emotionally attached lol. Im currently right before the E4, and this is my team, all are Level 50 :) I think Its a team that no one ever had as a kid when playing Gen 2, I guess most of these are not known to well (how to evolve them etc). Tell me what you think Crobat Fly, Confuse Ray, Bite, Sludge Bomb Crobat is my leader, since Its the Pokemon I had the longest in my nuzzlocke and In my very first crystal Playthrough, I also had one :) Its just amazing how an early flying move and sludge Bomb turned this mon into an amazing early game pokemon. Its a physical sweeper, trying to annoy my opponent with confuse Ray and fly shenanigans. Bite is coverage and sludge bomb is just love. Politoed Surf, Ice Beam, Body Slam, Perish Song As a kid, I never knew how to get this. I played several pokemon games, but never with this one in my team. also, the back sprite is cute haha. Its my "bulky" Water type. Before I had Gyarados and tentacruel, but I lost both of them because of crits. I found the Poliwhirl in the route before the ice path and I immediatly wanted to try this. Surf is strong Stab, Ice Beam as coverage, Body Slam for para hax and to hit other water typed and Perish Song for some cheese strats (to usally beat the last mon in a boss fight or to force a switch out) Umbreon Curse, Confuse Ray, Moonlight, Faint attack I had an espeon in my first crystal playthrough, so I wanted to try something diffrent. Umbreon was just never good enough in the original games. Dark beeing physical changed it. Also, having access to these annoying moves makes it strangely fun to play. Its my "standard Gen 2 competetive mon" with a curse set and a healing move. It has swept Clair when I did my nuzlocke, to bad I got this thing so late (after badge 7, but before radio tower). Gligar EQ, Slash, Sludge Bomb, Wing Attack Gliscor beeing now one of the best pokemon Gen 9, I had to try this. I wasnt to happy when this was my encounter, however the changes made it niche to use. Its my def wall. First I had Onix, then Rhyhorn (Lost it like 1 level before it would evolve). They where both soooo useful, Onix had many resistances early game and Rhyhorn ate all the self destructs that happen in these games. SO Gligar is there to kinda fit this role. The extra speed and def makes it viable. It also has a nice movepool. Im just unhappy that it doesnt learn steel wing and has no good flying move :( Girafarig Agility, Shadow Ball, Thunderbolt, Psychic I would've never thought to use this thing. Ever. But its so fun. I dont really remember why its on my team, I guess its a replacement for Butterfree (it simply cant keep up middle game). Its my Special Sweeper, it has a job to get rid of enemy psychic types with shadow ball. Also, Tbolt comes in clutch so much. I tried baton pass Agility cheese strats early on, but It wasnt for me. Porygon2 Thunderbolt, Ice Beam, Recover, Hyper Beam When I found out you can get Porygon pretty easy, I needed this. Its one of my fave pokemon. It replaced Arcanine and I just leveld this thing up for the E4 lol. I simply wanted to use this. It replaced Arcanine, which wouldve been good too (for all these steel typed in this game) but yeah. I now have a team full of Gen2 Pokemon, which I think is the whole point of this rom hack. I dont really know its role in the team honestly, its a bulky offense pokemon I guess. Porygon2 has the amazing Bolt/Beam coverage, a Recovery and Hyper Beam for massive damage. So, now I will try to beat the E4 with these guys. Which me luck!
Im here after finishing pokemon yellow legacy, great game, totally love it, grateful for being more faster and now, I cant wait to try this game, you and your team are the best
I saw that Red’s Mewtwo moveset. That Submission is so cleverly evil to punish players that even think their special wall is safe, specifically Blissey or Snorlax. Makes sense too since Mewtwo sometimes runs Submission in RBY Ubers just to scramble Chansey
Thank you for this. I grew up playing these games and you fixed it perfectly while still staying true to the original. Happy to say I just completed my first hardcore nuzzlocke. You rock!
This is beautiful. I'm more then impressed. Same with ur yellow legacy. Actually I will go back on that video when this is over to like and comment. Hope to help the algorithm bc you and ur team deserve so much love for this ! Amazing !!I loved this game. When it first came out it was amazing. I remember be so pumped that they moved and made different crys when they popped up. Nice man. Good job. This makes me so happy ❤
I'm excited to see where this goes. Gen 2 has always been my favorite gen (Gold version being my #1 all-time favorite game) and I appreciate a good ROM hack. Crystal Clear is my current favorite, but I'd love to see if this one can surpass it when everything is finished with Kanto and such. I intend on playing it sometime soon either way and look forward to it.
Having Scyther as the ace was great. Not only did it make the trainer want to catch a Scyther but the thrill of attaching a metal coat and trading for a Scisor was priceless.
I spent all these years wondering why in the world Gamefreak never hired someone with this level of planning and plot designing skills. THIS VIDEO AND THIS GAME ARE PERFECT. PERIOD. I'm not sure if anyone said this to you before, but thank you VERY MUCH for taking the time and dedication to make something like this real. I'm going to play this game and recommend it to my old Pokemon days friends. You literally left me with no choice but to do it. Good job. Btw, I loved so much how you assigned legendary Pokemon to the main characters in such a subtle and elegant way that doesn't feel forced at all, on the contrary, it makes perfect sense and adds a way too needed mystery and power aura to their personalities. Moltres being given to Blaine fits perfect with his lore that we know from Gen 1, when we were told that he decided to become a gym leader after having an encounter with the legendary bird at the mountains. I guess I made my point already, but this game is just amazing. Thanks again bro. After watching this I'm eagerly waiting for the Yellow and Emerald remakes. (Just an almost insignificant detail: I'm not sure if you already fixed it or if it's too late to do it, but when you talk to the professor after beating the Elite Four, he has two pokeballs on his table, which is impossible since one of the two remaining Pokemon was stolen by Silver. That's all.)
Polished crystal is my favorite romhack pokemon game, I only played first gen pokemon games when i was a kid, it was good time and I still play it today.
Everyone seems to want to Rom Hack Emerald, but I think Pokémon Yellow is a missed opportunity. It’s the first game where you get a Pokémon to follow you and it’d be so interesting to make a version that has the spirit of it without making it as easy as Let’s Go Pikachu. I’d suggest two things: 1) Open up the map after Misty by keeping Safron open but make the places like Rock Tunnel and Rocket Hideout gauntlets with powerful Pokémon as prizes (like Zapdos in the power plant). 2) Either a hard mode where you have to keep the Pikachu on your team, mechanics so it can evolve yet still follow you, or some kind of way to randomize the starter so you can get the feeling of your favorite Pokémon being with you from the very start.
Only change id suggest is somehow adding moves to make Red’s Pikachu completely broken on purpose and having his team better funnel directly to it to finish the player off. Just as an incredible addition to a final challenge and showing truly why Red was able to canonically beat everyone in Kanto without even having to touch Johto. Edit: I’d also add in Pokémon evolutions from future generations like Magnezone for example but only give them to the Gym Leader/Elite 4 members that use the previous evolutions. Just to further diversify their teams, show that they have traveled much much further in the world than you and ultimately provide you (the player) a full scope of the potential of some of these Pokémon evolution trees. Even if it somewhat breaks the game difficulty wise by including moves you cant learn yourself. Plenty of boss battles in other games have broken moves that you as the player can never even dream of learning. Give the future “baby” Pokémon like Happiny or Bonsly or even a Mime Jr. to Nerd/Collector NPC’s to show THEIR deep love for discovery and collecting while further putting new Pokémon into the game that fit.
It would be interesting to see Silver lose/trade/release Pokémon after each loss, and have 2-3 completely different Pokémon every single fight. To play into the "my Pokémon were weak after all and I have no friends and don't care about them" vibe. But as you beat him, he starts keeping his Pokémon around more, with the final few encounters being the same team but leveled up and evolved. Also, Giovanni plot expansion would be epic.
This is amazing. I've loved Gold/Silver since I was a kid and to this day I still think Pokémon should've kept evolving linking regions in new games to old regions like they did on GS. I'd argue that canonically Ampharos would be a better fit to Lance's dragon team as an Electric pokémon but I wouldn't know what to do with Zapdos. Great work. It's good to see someone so passionate about the games I loved since my childhood innovating and stepping in where Nintendo failed.
I have been looking for a decent Crystal romhack that contains all pokemon for ages now, most that do are either unfinished or make other changes that take away from the original game, this is more in Line with Ultra Violet which is great to see.
I am 23 minutes in and I am so happy you put this together. I’m currently playing Crystal and I hope I can possibly move my save file over to the hack. Maybe not, and that’s fine, but we will see how the rest of the video goes.
huge fan of all the improvements! the only thing i think you missed is bugsy has a metapod and kakuna over leveled because he was doing research to see what happens if they are over leveled. and i love that you reworked my favorite region :)
I was just watching this for fun, and then you really made me want to try the game so, when the Team Rocket segment started, stop, no spoilers, I will discover the reste by playing it ! 😋
My wife’s name is Crystal and she’s never played a mainline Pokémon game, but we play Pokémon Go together so I asked if she wanted to play this and we’re gonna play through it together! Super excited to experience it!
Alright now I'll admit it, even as a stout gen 2 defender who left my good faith in the trash to protect my maiden's dignity, I always secretly dreamed of this. I'm actually very surprised by how it fits my own philosophy of how the game should have been. You didn't turn the game on its head, it's an enhanced version of the vanilla game. I like how you keep gen 1 mons because gen 2 is a sequel to gen 1 and not a one region one dex like modern games. How you kept the theme and balance of the gyms in mind and didn't just make a "competitive" romhack, how you buffed weak pokemon but still kept them weak. (I would have loved an Onix buff not gonna lie, I'm gonna make it myself lol) How you made Cut bug type and not steel type like so many idiots (cut should be super effective against grass and weak against rock (sudowoodo) not the other way around) Really a lot of details that wasn't for nothing, I appreciate it. Amazing work, gonna play. The only thing I'm worried about is when looking at the high level champions and their great movesets, especially the "strategist" trainers. Is the AI capable of using these? Because great moves can end up as a big burden to the AI. They usually do better with fast wallbreakers that don't need no set up and can just start blasting their one move. (I think it was gen 1 or gen 5 that didn't fill their 4 move slots and it was a good thing lol)
Thank you for the time you put into this! I might finally finish a jhoto game yet Sidenote for steam deck/Linux users like me who the patching software provided may not eork for, ROM patcher js worked for my steam deck.
I have never played gen 2, but you removing trade evoloutions made me instantly love this game. So many good pokemon are inaccessible to me because I have no way to trade my pokemon without losing the original pokemon I wanted to evolve.
Can you please do the same with every mainline Pokémon game? I hope X & Y get this exact amazing treatment, especially. Perfect job, now I'm permanently subscribed.
Awesome job! Great video! First time I’m seeing any of your content. One small note: the Slowbro in the Elite 4 you mentioned as having Flamethrower didn’t show Flamethrower its moves list in the little view off to the left and instead it looked like Flamethrower appeared on the Slowking’s move list. Again, great job with all of this and I love that you added a way to get the starters in the wild somewhere, I ALWAYS thought that was something missing from the base games for no legitimate in game reason and was just a ploy to get us to buy more copies or trade with people, etc.
This is not just one of the best ROMhacks ever, but one of the best games ever. Purely from a gameplay standpoint, OG Crystal is unplayable garbage in comparison. Amazing work. Even when I don't *totally* agree with some of the specific balance changes you made, I can still appreciate that they came from a valid vision for how the game should play.
57:38 The reason for Espeon’s inclusion on Red’s team was a reference to the manga. Red obtains a special Eevee in the series that can swap between the forms of Jolteon, Vaporeon and Flareon when exposed to the corresponding stones, and then revert back to Eevee after battles. Eevee eventually gives up this ability and evolves into Espeon, locking it in that form permanently.
That sounds sick. I really need to read the manga.
thats cool but i prefer the lapras because then it connects Red to a possible team he could have had in Yellow. Pikachu, Blastoise, Charizard, Venasaur, Lapras, Snorlax are all obtainable in Yellow Version and I've done a "Red Run" in yellow where I make that specific team just for fun and nice to see most of the team in Crystal. I like that in HGSS they made it a lapras.
@@Livvvid
yes but then he would have a Blastoise & a Lapras on the same team… not great for coverage
Back then the psychic type was considered the strongest (and the reason Lugia is psychic, not water) so they wanted a psychic type that would also be fitting for a Pokémon protagonist to have, since Eevee is one of the few Pokémon given to all protagonists, Espeon made the most sense
Also add that the games and the manga were a lot more tied together back then, and Lance was very much not a good guy in the manga when he talks about Lance hyper beaming the rocket grunt. He was the leader of a group attempting to wipe out the large majority of the human race
@@octolockg5059 The manga is indeed awesome, and, mimicking the 3rd gen games, it's Hoenn phase is the best storyline in the series, or at least one of
Hope you guys enjoy! Smith, it was a blast working with you man! Glad to see this thing finally out for the public to see! ❤
Awesome to see this project come to full fruition; been following along since the early videos. Congrats on not only creating a wicked romhack, but also some of the most innovative Pokémon content in recent days!
NUZLOCK WHEN?!?!?!
My man!
You gotta nuzlocke this dude!!! I’ll be waiting for that day 😌
Thank you so much!! I appreciate the kindness :)
Silph I will patiently await this nuzlocke video you will do
You don't understand how amazing this rom is. Gen 2 is the generation I grew up with for the longest time and seeing it be perfected like this brings almost a tear to my eye.
love how the only clip of Karen’s vileplume was just it getting one shot by houndoom despite it “never dying”
lmfao
Haha I noticed that too
I'm very happy that Karen gets to keep Vileplume. It's based on a parasitic flower that smells like a cadaver, and also has a theme of "night blooming", so I think it fits perfectly in a Dark-type team. Also happy that someone's put so much effort into making a romhack that's NOT a difficulty hack that doesn't care about stuff like flavor and immersion. Very measured and reasonable edits, great job!
True. One of the mistakes I think are made on these rom hacks is they’re made hard for the sake of being miserable. You should make it challenging but also still in the spirit of the game and the world the characters live in.
He turned Karen into a true Karen.
I've had this issue with x and y rom hacks like I just want a better x and and y main game I don't want all 721 pokemon in the region I don't want every pokemon trainer to have complete coverage on their team and I don't want item prices and exp to be adjusted. I just want the gym leaders and elite four to have more then 4 pokemon
@@mattgibson9337 Yup. Too many romhacks/fangames seem to be made with the mistaken assumption that more is better. Having 700+ pokemon in a single region isn't good, it's cluttered. Forcing the player to grind more because you made the trainers all have much higher leveled pokemon with better movesets but didn't adjust the availability of TMs so the player's only options is grinding isn't challenging, it's tedious.
@@Shenaldrac it's worse they nerfed wild pokemon exp rates to such an abysmal level that grinding a pokemon from lvl 33 to lvl 34 took half an hour.
My man added level scaling to Crystal when gamefreak couldn't even add it to SV bro nice job
most underrated comment on this whole video lmao
I've been saying this since SV released, Crystal Clear has this, a gen2 game can have level scaling but a switch game can not?
the open world is a lie, sure you can explore the world but you are forced to beat the game in a certain order.
No level scaling = open world is a lie?
Fuck, I feel old and sad.
I literally thought the same watching this video, thank you!
ShockSlayer did it, like, 4 years ago.
Downloaded it 2 weeks ago and started playing on my phone in my free time, just finished the game and collecting all 251 pokemon today and am now restarting for a nuzlock, dude you and your entire team did an astounding job on this!! I grew up with gold so gen 2 has always had a special place in my heart and I think you just game me my definitive edition! Extremely well done!!
Android is amazing.
Im on mobile too, do you need to use the lunar IPS part? I don’t know what that is. At first all I did was use macrobledo and put in the og rom file and the patch file
How do u get in on your phone lads?
how do u get all the eeveelutions?
How did you get the missing starters?
I LOVE the core idea for this romhack. No innovation. No new types. No physical special split. No crazy re-writings of the plot. Just an honest atttempt to create the gen 2 experience fans would have loved to play. Moveset and encounter changes here and there, modified teams, pushing the plot a bit in some portions to maximize its message without completely distorting it... you have walked an extremely fine line with this rom, and overall I think you excelled with it. I will love playing through all of this as if it was my first time in Johto. So much care and thought put into it to avoid cheesy changes. It is the subtle nature of this game what makes me love it. I wish more creators took this approach rather than adding random secondary typings and crazy new Megas at every corner. Well done, sir. Very well done.
I guess FR/LG will receive its attention soon with a revised hackrom, right? I am waiting for that...
yOu SaId HaCkRoM iNstEaD oF rOmHaCk In ThE lAsT sEnTeNcE 🤓🤓🤓
@@silviocupica2521what’s you’re point….?
I'm working on a revision in the exact same vein but updating types to future gen standards basically as if steel dark and fairy and future evolutions were from the beginning with type changes to make more sense and be more interesting and phys special split. I understand what Smith is doing here, and it would make sense to do the same for RBY, but since FRLG are remakes they should have more to offer.
@@literaryloser4470is that not already done with Radical Red?
@@glumreaper8885If I hear that name one more time I will blow my brains out
I particularily love what you did with Karen. She was always one of my favorite characters for how little time she has in the spotlight, respecting her 'favorite pokemon' team and trying to make her strong despite it is exactly how it should be.
Sorry everyone!!! The IPS link broke but we've found a fix, so it will work now. Happy gaming!!!! (like the video, this is once again not a request)
Can you make it a GBA
@@seahawkboy9775 gba emulators should be able to run gbc games
@@seahawkboy9775 legally speaking i think you have to patch it yourself
Trainer Catherine?
@@stmer3546 🫣
Giving Clair the Lapras is a nice touch. Perhaps she could have rescued it from poachers using her aquatic based dragon-esq team in the past for lore
That would make a cool mini comic tbh
Or you know, not everything has to have lore and can just make sense.
:'(@@xgormo9805
Ho-oh and Lugia actually learn Dragonbreath. I wonder if they can tie their lore to Lance and Clair, respectively.
@@aquartertwo That would be interesting. If nothing else, they could be the inspiration for Lance and Claire's specialization. Lance is the dragon tamer of the skies in reverence to Ho-oh and Claire is the dragon tamer of the seas in reverence to Lugia.
I always liked the idea of Gym leaders’ ace Pokémon being one from the region they are in
Even better when it's a Pokemon newly introduced for the generation, for example Chuck's ace should have been Hitmontop instead of Kanto mon like Poliwrath or Misdreavus for Morty instead of Gengar.
Misdreavus is way worser than Gengar with none of the coolness and fitting Morty less.@@islandboy9381
One suggestion I would have is that Karen's Vileplume should be shiny. It would explain more why this pokemon that always stood out is so liked by Karen as well as showcase the hidden gimmick of gen 2, introducing shiny pokemon.
Technically showcasing the mechanic was what the lake of rage red gyarados is supposed to do, but I get it. Might stand out a little more if at least one more Pokemon has this mechanic.
@@ArtisChroniclesI Believe most people didn't even realize the Red Gyrados was a "shiny" back when this came out. I remember playing the game for years as a kid, and like a week before Ruby came out I seen a shiny and had no idea what was happening
@@brettvandermeer5297 For sure, Gen 2 released right before my 9th birthday so I got it pretty much on release, I knew that Gyarados was unique for some reason but I never saw another shiny, ever. So I had no idea they existed until years later.
@scrub_jay I remember when I found a kelacon in Pokémon omega ruby, and it was a shiny but 10 year old me didn't realize it was one, so I killed it I still think about how dumb i was for that
has there ever been a trainer in any pokemon game where the trainer was intentionally given a shiny? Seems weird that these exist but nobody seems ot ever have one.
Some patches I'm hoping to see in the future:
-Making it possible to get all the room decorations. This is a really obscure but cool feature, and if this is the "perfect" ROM hack it should be doable!
-Add follow Pokémon! You've already got the individual sprites! :D
Love this video. I keep watching it back just to geek out over Gen II. Thanks for all the hard work!
I can see the room decorations being done, but i would be pleasently suprised if following was added. from the sound of other comments, all he is looking to do is make the game better, not modernize it. if i get proven wrong, ill be happy about it, but i dont 100% see it happening.
He has already stated that follow pokes is "never happening stop asking"
The follow sprites require at least 2 images in 4 directions per pokemon, on a different resolution than the party-pokemon. so.. it'd be a big ask. I imagine he could yoink them from a different game, but the resolutions probably wouldn't match up, and the colors definitely wouldn't.
Surprised to not see Spikes on Pineco. I know it doesn't naturally learn it until the 40s but it would be an excellent lead for Bugsy, really showing he's knowledgeable and experienced, even so young.
Edit: ah, I now see you saved the Spikes gimmick for Jasmine lol
I adore your choice of including Giovanni into the Gen2 Rocket story line, complete with him being there for the conclusion, his speech at the end is also really solid and imo quite believeable for the kind of journey/characterisation he's gotten at the end of Gen1.
If I may make a suggestion, I would've preferred him being present earlier in the story, namely at Slowpoke Well. He could maybe be positioned in the Pokemon Center or something, not directly at the scene of action to a) not put too much attention on him and b) further put some intrigue into why there now is a character that wasn't there before(and why that NPC is gone after Rocket is defeated).
He was at the Lake of Rage w/Lance!
@@DanieIsan555 yes, that introduction was pretty much "in your face" and I think one can do better. As stated, in my opinion, it would've been much better if his first appearance was without somebody more or less directly pointing out his existance to the player. Instead it would've been left to the player to stumble upon him, and either attempt to figure out his identity or have the realisation that the mysterious guy in Azalea(?) was Giovanni all along later down the story line.
@@FrontlinerCdVI agree. It would be cool to see him turn up occasionally, kinda like Scott in third gen. Like just have him rock up to points of interest, like the shrine at Ilex Forest, Ruins of Alph, Burned Tower, etc. Have him say a line then walk off screen
I'm actually glad to see someone else think that Giovanni should've appeared as a supporting character in Gen 2, to complete his implied redemption arc at the end of Gen 1.
Pokemon Origins especially made his change of heart really heartwarming and compelling.
And it's really disheartening to see that GameFreak completely backpedaled on that in both the Celebi Event in Heartgold/Soulsilver and Ultra Sun/Ultra Moon.
I completely agree with this idea
Like if you vote for emerald legacy
Platinum Legacy, B2 and W2 legacy, X and Y legacy and so on.
As a Crystal kid, this whole thing warms my heart. Looking forward to seeing where this goes and chances are playing it myself as updates come out.
Congratulations! This was such a passion project and it shows. I can't wait to play it and relive my childhood with a fully realised touch!
Thank you so much for the support! I hope you enjoy 😊
You're welcome. I also couldn't find how to message you so I hope it's okay to ask here for permission to stream playing on twitch?
Found your channel by accident. This ROM is the single best thing I've played in over 20 years playing pokémon and modded roms. Thanks. I love your work
For the Unown ruins, you could've done something with Entei to parallel with the movie and make it so we don't have to chase after him anymore and give the ruins a more genuine feel after solving both the puzzles, the murals as well as catching Suicune. You could probably do something Raikou in a similar vein with following possibly the anime in which we meet Ethan.
I really wish this to be a reality if there is ever an update to this ROM
It'd be cool to have raikou still wild and roaming i think. 2 hard but 1 is doable
If feature creep were a comment. Mod it yourself, friend
@@SuperCaptainFailif being an imbecile were a comment...
@SuperCaptainFail they said they were doing updates and not only that he said they couldn't figure out how to give the ruins a storyline. Figured I'd offer a chance for one.
IT'S HAPPENING BABY LETS FREAKING GO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
The amount of love and care put into this Romhack is amazing. This actually inspired me to work on something of my own!
Thank you for all the hard work you guys put in!
Pokemon crystal is my favorite game, I never noticed it's flaws but all the updates you did sounds absolutely incredible. I'm excited to play this. Thank you for all your hard work!
I am super hype to finally play this. I've been following along for months and I feel so much more excited for this to come out than I did SV. I could feel the love and care that you put into it with each video talking about what was broken or incomplete and how you wanted to fix it.
I'm kinda surprised you didn't just add in the Celebi/Giovanni plot line from HGSS. That feels like the true conclusion of the Rocket storyline and also adds the much-needed character backstory for Silver.
One billion percent! I was just telling a friend of mine how it should be included. Sad that not everyone who played HGSS knows about it.
Nope, HGSS is it's own thing. We're not trying to modernize crystal!
Yup, it's more fitting for this to exist in a masterpiece of a hack such as Polished Crystal. The team has especially focused on modernizing, including new moves, the fairy type, and the beloved physical/special split.
Are all legendary pokemon avaliable in this?
@smithplayspokemon how does adding the silver Giovanni link modernize anything
For anyone wanting another sweet Romhack my favorite gold silver romgack is Crystal Clear. It lets you pick from a ton of starters and is fully open, no HMS, level scaling of every gym depending on where youre at in the challenge. Super cool
The moves changes to B & C tier Pokemon is godlike. So much fun to play with things that are now somewhat viable!! Thank you!
FEAR THINE DUNSPARCE
I went straight to Sneasel's moveset and was a little sad to see their moveset still being mostly special moves
but then I remembered you also said stat changes and thank you so much for giving them a half-decent spatk
I sometimes wonder if the Pokemon Gyms were finalized before they fully created all the Gen 2 Pokemon (not "Johto" Pokemon, because Kanto and Johto feel so connected they are almost a single region).
I really gotta try this. Heart Gold and Soul Silver are the magnum opus of the classic Pokemon games and no one can change my mind. But that classic pixelation you get with the original Silver/Gold/Crystal is nostalgic.
Fun Fact: It’s interesting you gave Silver Larvitar because in the Manga, Lance gives Silver a Pupitar and Silver uses it until an Event on Whirl Islands with Lugia in the Manga and then gives Lance back the now evolved Tyranitar after not being able to fully control it, so it’s somewhat fitting you gave him that Pokémon in particular.
Been about 2 days since I started playing and man, this is very well made. The difficulty changes in battles are honestly just right, not super difficult but definitely not as easy. Diversity and movesets are definitely what the gym leaders were lacking in so this a nice change of pace. I’m nuzlocking the game & I definitely found myself planning strategies around these important trainer battles. It’s been such a blast so far. I’m definitely coming back to this game after my initial run to do mono type challenges seeing as how pokemon get reliable STAB moves as they level up!
Glad you’re enjoying it :)
I think my favorite change is the Giovani arc. Brilliant!
Also, thank you for fixing bugs as much as possible. Big types are my favorite.
Overall it looks brilliant. Can't wait to see it with Kanto totally fleshed out.
LETS GOOO! Been following this for months, so glad it’s finally time to release! Can’t wait to play it
You gave Chikorita early Leech Seed like it deserved. In my eyes, it's now definitively the best of the bunch. I've been playing this today and Bayleef eats Withney alive.
I love this. Gen2 is my favorite to play (over HGSS even, for a few reasons) and this overhaul so far only adds to the experience.
Omg I was playing this last night and I have to thank you again for this gem. I felt like playing a new region. It was so good. I felt like I was seeing Johto as it was truly meant to be.
This romhack looks amazing, and that thing about expanding Kanto caught me completely off guard.😵
At the end of the video I was left thinking that it's a shame that Giovanni is back but that we can't have a battle with him just before you mentioned that possibility for the future, that would certainly be awesome!
Btw, 58:00, justice for my boy Rhydon! He didn't deserve to be shafted like that.😢
This is EASILY the definitive way to experience gen 2. Absolutely masterclass execution.
Nah that would be Polished Crystal
No lmao. Crystal Kaizo, Liquid Crystal, and Crystal Clear are just superior
@naganut9718 You either missed the point of the rom, or you have a room temperature IQ. Crystal Clear is the only argument to be made, and it's nothing like the original crystal in the way that it feels. Very different games. Crystal kaizo is a difficulty hack, nothing more. That's got to be the funniest part of your comment by far. Wear your helmet today bud.
@@RyanNash20 ok? And what you're saying is the best way to play gen 2, and games like those are better. Tbe game fixes some of the issue but overall its still mostly a difficulty raise romhack albeit less like kaizo and more like drayano styled rom hacks
@@naganut9718 You're entitled to your own poor opinion.
I like that Jasmine, one of the last leaders you'll fight, will have Scizor. It's a nice bookend counterpart to Bugsy, one of the first leads you'll fight, having Scyther.
Just threw this onto my Retroid and I can’t wait to play it!! I’m also a gen2 fan boy so this is going to be a lot of fun. I’m really excited about the changes and I’m so glad a lot of my favorite Pokemon are now available and viable and what you did with the story and the legendaries was a solid choice in my opinion.
Silver getting Larvitar is so genius
Finally played the romhack today and i gotta say, its such a small detail but i love what you did to the Gen 1 legendary pokemon and giving them a lore for the strongest trainers in the game. Not just Red and Mewtwo but giving the Bird Trio to THOSE specific trainers was genius
I can now see despite that gen 2 is my most "magigal" childhood nostagia thing, is was pretty bad. You did a great job in fixing it!
I've played some hackroms that promise a more challenging campaign, but instead of offering a good challenge one has to have a competitively viable team that has been EV trained by the third gym, making the ROM busywork, instead of reworking the battle with the tools the player has at that moment like the surrounding Pokémon, items, TMs, etc.
I'll give you ROM a try, as it seems promising.
So excited for this, I can't wait to nuzlocke it!
Just spent hours looking at various gen 2 romhacks, and gen 2 remakes in the gen 3 engine, trying to find something complete, faithful to the original games but superior, allows you to get all the Pokémon, fixes some glaring imbalances, and without a shitload of modern stuff I don't really understand because I never properly played beyond gen 3
I have no idea how it took me so long to find this, I'm halfway through the video and I am _EXTREMELY_ impressed, and super hyped to download and play it. I was doubtful about the title claiming the perfect romhack, but fuck me you've basically done it!
ITS HAPPENING ITS HAPPENING LETS GOOOOOO OMG. Ty Smith and ur whole team for putting together this masterpiece I can’t wait to play this!!!
This is excellent... I played Gen 1 & 2, but then I had a looooong break and didn't pick Pokemon up again until Gen 8. I didn't even realise that Pineco, Teddiursa, Ursaring and Skarmory were Gen 2, and I've played Gold and Crystal a shit ton. I always thought Gold/Silver/Crystal were perfect, but you've really pointed out all their missed opportunities to showcase their new pokemon and features...
You're missing out if you don't play Gen 3 IMO.
this is simply incredible, huge props to everyone involved in this project, y'all are awesome fr
Thank you so much for your dedication to such a key component to my childhood, and many others like myself. I am beyond grateful, and truly thankful for your work of art in a game we all hold so dear to our hearts! I wish you the absolute best in all you future endeavors with health, wealth, love, and happiness friend! Many blessings to everyone💜💜💜
I just started and this is much better already. Instead of just using my starter I've got 4 pokemon the same level. Growlithe, Larvitar, Chikorita (never used this starter may as well try it since you buffed it) and Mareep. EXP share helps a lot. edit: and the gym battles are actually challenging and have me battling wild Pokemon and going ahead to other areas to battle more trainers. Very cool.
I absolutely love your project, I also think that your adjustments for the games balance are just phenomenal.
As someone who's played all the games I think this really is the ultimate pokemon rom hack, Well done.
Red having an Espeon could be due to the gift Eevee in gen 1 or could be a reference to the manga where Red had a special Eevee (prior to gen 2) which later became an Espeon (after gen 2 released).
The manga tie in is exactly the reason
@@NoxLebeau It's also the only evolution that makes sense. Vaporeon, Flareon, or Jolteon would be redundant with Red's Blastoise, Charizard, or Pikachu. Out of Espeon and Umbreon, Umbreon is already used on a boss team with Karen. Espeon makes the most sense.
Thank you so much for this. I just completed my dex on yellow legacy and had a blast. Starting Crystal Legacy tonight!
I just found out about your hacks. I love this so far and one small change you made that I find is amazing. When NPCs offer to train you on something and you say you already know, they don't try doing it anyway wasting your time
i just played through crystal legacy (only have to beat blue, the e4 rematch and mt silver) and oh my goodness, it is SUCH AN IMPROVEMENT! everything about it is so good and well made, and the quality of life is so well done! thank you for making such a fun rom hack, man!
These are the exact types of romhacks I love. Adding challenge, care to the lore while retaining the spirit of the game. If you happen to have done similar ones for other gens I'll for sure check them out.
not the dinosaur type 💀
I’m sorry but was smith serious about having an original crystal copy?
no he wasnt its okay
It's essentially a legal disclaimer
Hey Smith, I usally never write comments, I just want to share some thoughts about this game and show you my team :)
Your rom hack is love. I have a small history with crystal, since it was the first rom I ever played on a computer. Back in Gen 4, competetive Pokemon was my life, but I´ve never played the Johto Games (Was before the HG/SS era). When I found out to emulate Roms, I was blown away. Pokemon Crystal was my first, so that will always have a place in my heart. Just like this rom. Its just pure love how accessible all these Gen 2 Pokemon are.
I did a nuzlocke of this game when I started until the 8th badge. I did pretty decent and loved the challenge However, I loved my team so much, that I skipped the challenge and just went with it, got emotionally attached lol. Im currently right before the E4, and this is my team, all are Level 50 :) I think Its a team that no one ever had as a kid when playing Gen 2, I guess most of these are not known to well (how to evolve them etc). Tell me what you think
Crobat
Fly, Confuse Ray, Bite, Sludge Bomb
Crobat is my leader, since Its the Pokemon I had the longest in my nuzzlocke and In my very first crystal Playthrough, I also had one :) Its just amazing how an early flying move and sludge Bomb turned this mon into an amazing early game pokemon.
Its a physical sweeper, trying to annoy my opponent with confuse Ray and fly shenanigans. Bite is coverage and sludge bomb is just love.
Politoed
Surf, Ice Beam, Body Slam, Perish Song
As a kid, I never knew how to get this. I played several pokemon games, but never with this one in my team. also, the back sprite is cute haha. Its my "bulky" Water type. Before I had Gyarados and tentacruel, but I lost both of them because of crits. I found the Poliwhirl in the route before the ice path and I immediatly wanted to try this.
Surf is strong Stab, Ice Beam as coverage, Body Slam for para hax and to hit other water typed and Perish Song for some cheese strats (to usally beat the last mon in a boss fight or to force a switch out)
Umbreon
Curse, Confuse Ray, Moonlight, Faint attack
I had an espeon in my first crystal playthrough, so I wanted to try something diffrent. Umbreon was just never good enough in the original games. Dark beeing physical changed it. Also, having access to these annoying moves makes it strangely fun to play. Its my "standard Gen 2 competetive mon" with a curse set and a healing move. It has swept Clair when I did my nuzlocke, to bad I got this thing so late (after badge 7, but before radio tower).
Gligar
EQ, Slash, Sludge Bomb, Wing Attack
Gliscor beeing now one of the best pokemon Gen 9, I had to try this. I wasnt to happy when this was my encounter, however the changes made it niche to use. Its my def wall. First I had Onix, then Rhyhorn (Lost it like 1 level before it would evolve). They where both soooo useful, Onix had many resistances early game and Rhyhorn ate all the self destructs that happen in these games. SO Gligar is there to kinda fit this role. The extra speed and def makes it viable. It also has a nice movepool. Im just unhappy that it doesnt learn steel wing and has no good flying move :(
Girafarig
Agility, Shadow Ball, Thunderbolt, Psychic
I would've never thought to use this thing. Ever. But its so fun. I dont really remember why its on my team, I guess its a replacement for Butterfree (it simply cant keep up middle game). Its my Special Sweeper, it has a job to get rid of enemy psychic types with shadow ball. Also, Tbolt comes in clutch so much. I tried baton pass Agility cheese strats early on, but It wasnt for me.
Porygon2
Thunderbolt, Ice Beam, Recover, Hyper Beam
When I found out you can get Porygon pretty easy, I needed this. Its one of my fave pokemon. It replaced Arcanine and I just leveld this thing up for the E4 lol. I simply wanted to use this. It replaced Arcanine, which wouldve been good too (for all these steel typed in this game) but yeah. I now have a team full of Gen2 Pokemon, which I think is the whole point of this rom hack. I dont really know its role in the team honestly, its a bulky offense pokemon I guess.
Porygon2 has the amazing Bolt/Beam coverage, a Recovery and Hyper Beam for massive damage.
So, now I will try to beat the E4 with these guys. Which me luck!
What does whether or not you write comments have to do with anything?
@@mechanomics2649hey :) just mentioning, i think its because i really wanted to appreciate this Game
Absolutely incredible work, good sir! This game plays like how I nostalgically remember Johto being when I played it as a kid.
Im here after finishing pokemon yellow legacy, great game, totally love it, grateful for being more faster and now, I cant wait to try this game, you and your team are the best
I saw that Red’s Mewtwo moveset. That Submission is so cleverly evil to punish players that even think their special wall is safe, specifically Blissey or Snorlax.
Makes sense too since Mewtwo sometimes runs Submission in RBY Ubers just to scramble Chansey
Thank you for this. I grew up playing these games and you fixed it perfectly while still staying true to the original. Happy to say I just completed my first hardcore nuzzlocke. You rock!
There's a mistake in the title. This isn't Crystal Clear
This is beautiful. I'm more then impressed. Same with ur yellow legacy. Actually I will go back on that video when this is over to like and comment. Hope to help the algorithm bc you and ur team deserve so much love for this ! Amazing !!I loved this game. When it first came out it was amazing. I remember be so pumped that they moved and made different crys when they popped up. Nice man. Good job. This makes me so happy ❤
I'm excited to see where this goes. Gen 2 has always been my favorite gen (Gold version being my #1 all-time favorite game) and I appreciate a good ROM hack. Crystal Clear is my current favorite, but I'd love to see if this one can surpass it when everything is finished with Kanto and such. I intend on playing it sometime soon either way and look forward to it.
Having Scyther as the ace was great. Not only did it make the trainer want to catch a Scyther but the thrill of attaching a metal coat and trading for a Scisor was priceless.
I spent all these years wondering why in the world Gamefreak never hired someone with this level of planning and plot designing skills.
THIS VIDEO AND THIS GAME ARE PERFECT. PERIOD.
I'm not sure if anyone said this to you before, but thank you VERY MUCH for taking the time and dedication to make something like this real.
I'm going to play this game and recommend it to my old Pokemon days friends. You literally left me with no choice but to do it. Good job.
Btw, I loved so much how you assigned legendary Pokemon to the main characters in such a subtle and elegant way that doesn't feel forced at all, on the contrary, it makes perfect sense and adds a way too needed mystery and power aura to their personalities. Moltres being given to Blaine fits perfect with his lore that we know from Gen 1, when we were told that he decided to become a gym leader after having an encounter with the legendary bird at the mountains.
I guess I made my point already, but this game is just amazing. Thanks again bro. After watching this I'm eagerly waiting for the Yellow and Emerald remakes.
(Just an almost insignificant detail: I'm not sure if you already fixed it or if it's too late to do it, but when you talk to the professor after beating the Elite Four, he has two pokeballs on his table, which is impossible since one of the two remaining Pokemon was stolen by Silver. That's all.)
I play it right now and love EVERYTHING about it! You didn´t lie, it is indeed the perfekt Crystal Romhack!
Polished crystal is my favorite romhack pokemon game, I only played first gen pokemon games when i was a kid, it was good time and I still play it today.
Everyone seems to want to Rom Hack Emerald, but I think Pokémon Yellow is a missed opportunity. It’s the first game where you get a Pokémon to follow you and it’d be so interesting to make a version that has the spirit of it without making it as easy as Let’s Go Pikachu.
I’d suggest two things: 1) Open up the map after Misty by keeping Safron open but make the places like Rock Tunnel and Rocket Hideout gauntlets with powerful Pokémon as prizes (like Zapdos in the power plant). 2) Either a hard mode where you have to keep the Pikachu on your team, mechanics so it can evolve yet still follow you, or some kind of way to randomize the starter so you can get the feeling of your favorite Pokémon being with you from the very start.
Lance: “Dragon Master of the Sky”
You just made M&JTV shed a tear.
👌🏽😭
Phenomenal Rom hack.
I also love slivers team it’s so good and the inclusions make so much sense
Only change id suggest is somehow adding moves to make Red’s Pikachu completely broken on purpose and having his team better funnel directly to it to finish the player off. Just as an incredible addition to a final challenge and showing truly why Red was able to canonically beat everyone in Kanto without even having to touch Johto.
Edit: I’d also add in Pokémon evolutions from future generations like Magnezone for example but only give them to the Gym Leader/Elite 4 members that use the previous evolutions. Just to further diversify their teams, show that they have traveled much much further in the world than you and ultimately provide you (the player) a full scope of the potential of some of these Pokémon evolution trees. Even if it somewhat breaks the game difficulty wise by including moves you cant learn yourself. Plenty of boss battles in other games have broken moves that you as the player can never even dream of learning. Give the future “baby” Pokémon like Happiny or Bonsly or even a Mime Jr. to Nerd/Collector NPC’s to show THEIR deep love for discovery and collecting while further putting new Pokémon into the game that fit.
My first Pokémon game. The first game I’ve finished. No matter how it came out, thank you for you effort!
Omg not the PokéManiac dissenter 😂
It would be interesting to see Silver lose/trade/release Pokémon after each loss, and have 2-3 completely different Pokémon every single fight. To play into the "my Pokémon were weak after all and I have no friends and don't care about them" vibe. But as you beat him, he starts keeping his Pokémon around more, with the final few encounters being the same team but leveled up and evolved. Also, Giovanni plot expansion would be epic.
This is amazing. I've loved Gold/Silver since I was a kid and to this day I still think Pokémon should've kept evolving linking regions in new games to old regions like they did on GS. I'd argue that canonically Ampharos would be a better fit to Lance's dragon team as an Electric pokémon but I wouldn't know what to do with Zapdos.
Great work. It's good to see someone so passionate about the games I loved since my childhood innovating and stepping in where Nintendo failed.
Huge thank you for this. Having tons of fun playing Crystal Legacy. Just got the badge for Cianwood.
I have been looking for a decent Crystal romhack that contains all pokemon for ages now, most that do are either unfinished or make other changes that take away from the original game,
this is more in Line with Ultra Violet which is great to see.
I am 23 minutes in and I am so happy you put this together. I’m currently playing Crystal and I hope I can possibly move my save file over to the hack. Maybe not, and that’s fine, but we will see how the rest of the video goes.
This looks excellent. Definitely going to check it out.
huge fan of all the improvements! the only thing i think you missed is bugsy has a metapod and kakuna over leveled because he was doing research to see what happens if they are over leveled. and i love that you reworked my favorite region :)
One of the things I love about altered Pokemon game is these small little adjustments that can completely change up the game as a whole.
I was just watching this for fun, and then you really made me want to try the game so, when the Team Rocket segment started, stop, no spoilers, I will discover the reste by playing it ! 😋
My wife’s name is Crystal and she’s never played a mainline Pokémon game, but we play Pokémon Go together so I asked if she wanted to play this and we’re gonna play through it together! Super excited to experience it!
This is amazing definitely keeps the nostalgic feeling but upgrading it's playability.
Alright now I'll admit it, even as a stout gen 2 defender who left my good faith in the trash to protect my maiden's dignity, I always secretly dreamed of this.
I'm actually very surprised by how it fits my own philosophy of how the game should have been. You didn't turn the game on its head, it's an enhanced version of the vanilla game. I like how you keep gen 1 mons because gen 2 is a sequel to gen 1 and not a one region one dex like modern games. How you kept the theme and balance of the gyms in mind and didn't just make a "competitive" romhack, how you buffed weak pokemon but still kept them weak. (I would have loved an Onix buff not gonna lie, I'm gonna make it myself lol) How you made Cut bug type and not steel type like so many idiots (cut should be super effective against grass and weak against rock (sudowoodo) not the other way around)
Really a lot of details that wasn't for nothing, I appreciate it. Amazing work, gonna play.
The only thing I'm worried about is when looking at the high level champions and their great movesets, especially the "strategist" trainers. Is the AI capable of using these? Because great moves can end up as a big burden to the AI. They usually do better with fast wallbreakers that don't need no set up and can just start blasting their one move. (I think it was gen 1 or gen 5 that didn't fill their 4 move slots and it was a good thing lol)
you're a phcking god my dude. this is incredible.I'm dropping a sub and a like and learning my first romhack today, this has to go in my library.
Red's new team gave me the same chills I had as a kid.
Not quite halfway through this and I gotta say: I am really impressed with this.
Thank you for the time you put into this! I might finally finish a jhoto game yet
Sidenote for steam deck/Linux users like me who the patching software provided may not eork for, ROM patcher js worked for my steam deck.
Been playing this on my pocket and my man!!! This rom is so dope!!! I can’t wait for yellow and emerald!!! 😎
I have never played gen 2, but you removing trade evoloutions made me instantly love this game. So many good pokemon are inaccessible to me because I have no way to trade my pokemon without losing the original pokemon I wanted to evolve.
Can you please do the same with every mainline Pokémon game? I hope X & Y get this exact amazing treatment, especially. Perfect job, now I'm permanently subscribed.
**gives Bug types a little boost so they can shine in very specific situations**
**also gives Slowbro Flamethrower so bugs can't beat it**
Awesome job! Great video! First time I’m seeing any of your content. One small note: the Slowbro in the Elite 4 you mentioned as having Flamethrower didn’t show Flamethrower its moves list in the little view off to the left and instead it looked like Flamethrower appeared on the Slowking’s move list.
Again, great job with all of this and I love that you added a way to get the starters in the wild somewhere, I ALWAYS thought that was something missing from the base games for no legitimate in game reason and was just a ploy to get us to buy more copies or trade with people, etc.
This is not just one of the best ROMhacks ever, but one of the best games ever. Purely from a gameplay standpoint, OG Crystal is unplayable garbage in comparison. Amazing work. Even when I don't *totally* agree with some of the specific balance changes you made, I can still appreciate that they came from a valid vision for how the game should play.