Pokémon Gold and Silver (Japanese: ポケットモンスター 金・銀 Pocket Monsters Gold and Silver) were the first Generation II games to be released — November 21, 1999 in Japan and October 11, 2000 in the US. However, they had been in development for at least 2 years before then.

1997: First Mention of Pocket Monsters 2 Gold & Silver

In 1997, Nintendo put the first details and screenshots of their next Pocket Monsters game online. It was initially named "Pocket Monsters 2 Gold & Silver", and was developed for Game Boy and Super Game Boy and was planned for release at the end of the same year.

One of the main points posted was the addition of a skateboard as a secondary transportation method besides the bicycle from the previous games. It was said that the skateboard would allow the player to go to unusual places. Also mentioned in the releases were the integrated RTC (Real Time Clock), additional evolutions for Red/Green/Blue Pokémon, breeding and Pokémon eggs, 100 new Pokémon boosting the total amount to 251, new technical and hidden machines, new attacks, and better in-battle graphics. The game's communication abilities were also improved, adding trading and fighting between each version and backwards compatibility with R/G/B.

First Media Release Pictures

The initial logo of Pokémon 2, differing significantly from the final design.

Four early release Pokémon. From left to right: Donfan (Donphan), Denryuu (Ampharos), Yadoking (Slowking) and Houou (Ho-oh).

These images were possibly released a little later after the game changed format to the Game Boy Color due to the presence of colour on the sprites shown on this image.

New Pokemon unveiling in the anime

The anime also provided early looks at the new Pokemon. Ho-oh had already appeared in the first episode in the anime as an unidentified creature. Later, during the first Kanto season. Togepi was the first Gold and Silver and Baby Pokemon to be revealed. The first movie and the Orange Islands season also introduced Marill and Snubble.

First Screenshots

The color scheme was not as varied as the one provided by the Game Boy Color; this town was also ultimately either changed into Azalea Town (Perhaps with the Bellsprout Tower at left) or removed altogether.

This screenshot displays an area which, with little modification, made it into the game's final cut. Replace the water with trees and fences and open a path to the right, and a simplified version of Route 35 and the National Park's southern entrance materialize.

What is probably an early design for the Radio Tower is in the right-hand side of the screen.

Early game screenshots of Pokemon Gold and Silver generally didnt look all that much different from Red, Blue and Green at this point. The pictures clearly show the games engine being in a developed but early stage still. The lack of battle images would seem to indicate that a battle system had not been implemented yet.

1998: Pokémon Gold & Silver Announced

Pocket Monsters 2 was not released in the end of 1997 as originally stated. The expected release date was removed. The title was changed to Pocket Monsters Gold & Silver, dropping the 2.

1999 - New information

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Following nearly a year without press releases, the Nintendo site was updated with new information on Pokémon Gold and Silver. It gave information on the revised release date (June 1999) and stated that it was to be compatable with the as-yet-unreleased Game Boy Color.

Artwork for Yadoking (Slowking), Marill, Kireihana (Bellossom) and Hoho (Hoothoot) were released.

• 1999 art yado1.gif
• 1999 art cara 1.gif
• 1999 art cara 2.gif
• 1999 art cara 3.gif

The first screenshots of the Pokémon G/S battle system, most prominently featuring several Pokémon in their new full color GBC graphics, were also released.

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  Lv.18 Buruu (Snubbull) vs. Lv.16 Marill

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  Lv.42 Butterfree vs. Lv.38 Fushigibana (Venusaur)

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  Player vs. Girl Scout Kanami

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  Lv.37 Lizardon (Charizard) vs. Lv.40 Donfan (Donphan)

The battle screens are very similar to the final ones; however, the absence of gender notation is apparent. Pokémon gender was a previously announced feature, and the display of gender was likely added later as a convenience to players. The attack stats window, which in the final version tells you the remaining and total PP of each attack and its type was not fully completed at this point in development.

Ah! A wild Togepi appeared!

A screen cap from a video of Gold and Silvers battle mode has the player battling a wild Togepi. Something that was impossible to do in the final without cheating. Though it could be a possiblity that Togepi was enabled as a wild character just for show in the video.

The new Pokédex is still missing a few features from the final edition; the Pokémon's number is not displayed beneath its picture and the footprint in the top right corner is missing, as are the three options near the bottom of the screen - location, cry and print.

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• 1999-unk ign2.jpg

Images of game looking closer to the final. The locations dont seem to be that of the final map though is close. The colours seem more washed out than they do in the final.

Present Day: Beta Leftovers and Early Characters

Since Pokemon Gold and Silver was released, other things have been uncovered that reveal interesting details about the games development. The final games have full beta maps of every single Jhoto town remaining in it's ROM. All of which are significantly different from their final counterparts. One peticular beta map found in the ROM seems to be detailing that of the Safari Zone, which didnt make it into the final game itself.

Images have also since been found of various early ideas for the new Pokemon. Including early prototypes of Quilfish, Chikarita and Marill.

References

• Pokémon GS Pre-Release Images
• IGN Pocket
• Pkmn.co.uk Pokémon GS Beta Information
• Pkmn.co.uk Lost Pokémon!
• Pkmn.co.uk GS Beta Maps
• Pokefor.tk Pokémon GS Pre-Release (Wayback)
• Different archived versions of Nintendo of Japan's and IGN's GameBoy website.