Pokémon Gold 2 is a bootleg platforming game based on the Pokémon franchise for the Game Boy Color developed by Makon Soft. It was originally released in the year 2000 in English and Chinese, the former being published by Ka Sheng. This game appears to be built off of the platforming engine used in the Game Boy games Sonic 3D Blast 5 and Sonic Adventure 7. It is more well-known as Pokémon Adventure, a pirate hack of the game that does not appear to be affiliated with Makon Soft.
Gameplay[]
A screenshot of Level 1.
Pokémon Gold 2 is a 2-D platformer that plays similar to Sonic Adventure 7. Unlike its original hack, you play as a poorly drawn Pikachu, jumping over enemies and collecting Pokéballs, which have replaced rings but still share the same role. Pikachu controls and attacks much like Sonic does, both characters being able to spin dash, jump into a ball, and sprint. Most of Pikachu's sprites were ripped from Sonic's sprites, although heavily edited (with unused sprites more resembling Sonic's being hidden in the ROM), while most of the graphics are ripped from other Game Boy titles, including previous Makon games.
There is a total of five levels in the game, all of which are ripped from the Game Boy game Bonk's Revenge with slight changes made to the level design and new layouts made after the original layout "ends" (similar to how Thunder Blast Man's stages are based on the NES version's with similar changes made):
- Level 1 takes place in 3-1 of Bonk's Revenge, featuring the shrimps baddies from said game and the small grey droplet-like enemies from Antz. It is supposed to take place on the moon's surface but looks more like a field with slight technological aspects.
- Level 2 is based on level 4-2 minus the cannons. Yambows from Rockman 8 and a squid enemy from Bonk's Revenge appear in this stage, though unlike in Bonk's Revenge the squids don't transform into smaller squids or a robot upon defeat.
- Level 3 is based on level 6-2 with noticeable layout changes made. Koopa Troopas from Super Mario 3 Special and Metools from Rockman 8 appear in this level.
- Level 4 is based on level 1-2 sans the cave openings that shows the outside. Crabmeats and Skorps from Sonic 3D Blast 5 appear here.
- Level 5 is the final level in the game. It is based on level 1-3. Finishing this level will bring the player to an ending screen featuring Professor Oak with text simply saying "The End".
Differences[]
In the original English version of the game, the intro is comprised of generation one Pokémon, with their Pokédex number and name beneath them. No copyright date is shown on the title screen. The undumped Chinese version features a different title screen, which is animated and mimics the title screen from Pokémon Gold. The title screen in this version also features a copyright year of 2000. It is unknown if the intro in the Chinese version differs from any other known versions.
The intro in the Pokémon Adventure hack features screenshots of specific Pokémon entries from Pokémon Gold's Japanese Pokédex, complete with the actual Japanese descriptions for each. The borders change with each entry as each screen is a four-color background image instead of being comprised of various sprites and backgrounds like in the official Pokédex from Pokémon Gold, Pokémon Silver, and Pokémon Crystal. The title screen is also changed in this hack and mimics one of the intro cutscenes from Pokémon Yellow where Pikachu is floating in the sky with balloons. It was also discovered that the hack loads an alternate title screen (seen in the gallery below) into VRAM just after the intro ends. The hack is otherwise unchanged from the original versions.
Emulation[]
As of writing, only the original English version of Pokémon Gold 2 and the Pokémon Adventure hack have been dumped. The former is copy protected and can only be emulated in select emulators (i.e., on hhugboy), while the latter can run in most Game Boy emulators.
Gallery[]
Screenshots[]
Box arts and Cartridges[]
.jpg "Image (41).jpg (465 KB)")
Trivia[]
- Pokémon Gold 2 was most likely released first as it lacks Gen 2 Pokémon and the ROM header for Pokémon Adventure uses the name "POKEMONGOLD2".
- Interestingly, Pokémon Gold 2's intro uses the pre-release English names for the Pokémon showcased instead of using their official Western names.
External links[]
| Games by Makon Soft |
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