10 replies to this topic

[Fig]

Hey everyone, I'm a longtime Nintendo gamer, I've owned all Nintendo home consoles, beaten every home console Mario, Zelda, yadda yadda yadda. The only handheld I ever owned was the original GameBoy, and the only games I had were Darkwing Duck and Battletoads.

I have a few questions about the Pokemon series. They always release games in two's, i.e. Gold/Silver, Ruby/Sapphire, Black/White, and now X/Y. What is the difference in the two variations of the "same" games? Do you have to buy both to completely beat the game? If the games are similar, is it worth paying full retail price for both versions of the game? From an outsider's point of view, completely ignorant of Pokemon, it seems like charging full retail for both versions of similar games is borderline as bad as DLC all ready on disc, or not finishing a game and then releasing paid DLC to finish the game.

I'm not going to get into Pokemon, I was just curious, as a Nintendo fan. Pokemon is their biggest handheld game. Thanks.

[Jelloman]

normaly it would be (in the case of sapphire an ruby) the: story would be diffrent as in who you would be fighting a different cause(the enemy), pokemon you would find, each game has a different legendary pokemon.

[Insanity_Boi]

Each version has different pokemon in the wild. So in order to get em all you must either trade with someone who has the different version than yours or you could just get both versions.

[BnB]

Usually each version has minor differences, the biggest one would probably be what the others have said...which is different pokemon to catch. In some cases there might be like minor twists in the stories depending on which game you've bought but in the end they're the same. You don't have to play both versions to understand whats going on or to complete the story. I usually only buy one version though, then later buy the third installment...(like yellow, crystal, emerald, platinum...)

Edited by NewEra KiiD, 11 January 2013 - 09:40 AM.

[Blake]

Basically what everyone said above me, but I will assume that X/Y will make the differences greater.

[Lebon14]

normaly it would be (in the case of sapphire an ruby) the: story would be diffrent as in who you would be fighting a different cause(the enemy), pokemon you would find, each game has a different legendary pokemon.

The story... I wouldn't say "different" to describe it between versions. I would describe it more like "similar". Also, to note, Red & blue and gold, silver and crystal had the same story in their generation. Yellow reflected more the anime. Afterward, starting for Gen III, all stories were similar.

Beside the changes are aesthetic and pokemon-wise. Seriously. The third version usually adds in more features and alter more pokemon and usually more legendaries are available.

Imo, get one version and get the 3rd game except for gen5 where there are only two versions of the two games. In other words...
Get red or blue/green and yellow.
Get gold or silver and crystal (I have Gold and my bro has crystal)
Get ruby or sapphire and emerald
Get diamond or pearl and platinum (I personally have both Diamond and Platinum)
Get white or black and white2 or black2.
When they are out, if interessed, get X or Y and, if it gets out (probably), Z.

However, for old games, if you want a full pokedex in the 6th gen games, with no use of Internet for trading, you will need :
Two gameboys color and a transfer cable
Two GBAs and wireless adaptor
One DSlite
One 3DS
A cheating device for GBC.
A cheating device for GBA.
A cheating device for DS.
All pokemon games, I mean every version.

For normal pokemon, you can simply trade through another version. For Mew, you can do the glitch in red/blue (be sure to plan ahead!) or use a GBA cheating device in Emerald to get to the Faraway Island. To get Celebi, you need a cheating device to make a legit capture. In 3rd Gen, use a cheating device to get Jirachi and Dioxys. For the fourth gen, you'll need a DS cheating device to get Arceus, Darkrai and Shaymin. For the fifth gen, you'll also need the DS cheating device to get Victini, Keldeo, Meleotta and Genesect. All the pokemon that I named that needs a cheating device is because they were only given through events (i.e. Going to a pokemon event irl or item distributed through Mystery gift that gave access to said legendary). Starting Gen III, you need items. Otherwise, it'll be caught in a non-legitimate way and the pokemon won't obey you. Otherwise all other pokemon are available for capture and evolution through normal playthrough. You may need multiple playthrough in order to get them all since some are in settings like "Choose me or the other" (ex.: Starters, Latias/Latios, etc)

OK, I rambled enough. I'm writing a walkthrough here.

P.S I won't tell you how to obtain or name such cheating device because some of them will be against forum rules.

[WisdomPowerCourage]

Minor Story difference such as a different gym leader, Evil team chasing a different Pokemon, Legendary pokemons location
Each version has a few exclusive Pokemon like 20 maybe, not a massive amount
Different Legendary Pokemon
A second version isn't needed to experience the game unless you want to get all the Pokemon or experience the minor changes listed above

[Fig]

Awesome, thanks everyone. I was curious, and now I have a pretty good idea. Sounds pretty cool.

[SoldMyWiiUAndLeftTheForums]

Do what I do, buy 1 at full RRP complete it by the time you finish it the other one will probably be less than half price

[Ixchel]

Yeah, basically what everyone above said. Biggest difference is the pokemon available, everything else is secondary. This stems from the beginning of the series when they wanted to emphasize multiplayer interaction as a sort of gimmick. You're required to trade to own everything, but in the first gen the legendaries were the same for both so it didn't matter too much if you couldn't find someone else IRL. This is what sparked the whole Pokemon craze during the 90's. Suddenly you had a multiplayer game that benefited from being portable more than just for competing.

They don't force you to buy two games since you're expected to find someone to trade with. (Not a problem at all nowadays with online) Well, unless you count the third game with minor upgrades forcing more purchases lol. For this I guess you can say is DLC at full price if you choose to purchase it, but there's nothing important enough to warrant it. Easier access to other pokemon, maybe a little more post game content. In the case of Crystal it included female gender and animated sprites. Nothing game changing.

I'd say the "best" value is just waiting for the third instalment if you don't mind waiting, but with B/W there was none. Hope I wasn't too redundant with trying to bring up other info.

[Betoski19]

pokemon stadium 1 & 2 are the best jaja