Pokémon Gold and Silver/Version Differences

This is a sub-page of Pokémon Gold and Silver.

Revisional Differences

Introduction Cutscene

The screen which precedes the opening cutscene had its copyright dates updated, with the company names readjusted appropriately.

Japan	International	Korea

Title Screen

The title screen had its logo changed to the international equivalent, with the Korean versions instead using a logo which is much closer to the original Japanese one. The copyright dates were updated accordingly for all three main releases.

Japan	International	Korea

Super Game Boy Borders

The SGB borders unsurprisingly had their title changed from "POCKET MONSTERS" to "POKéMON", and the "M" tile was widened by one pixel. The Korean versions lack an SGB border, due to them only being playable in GBC mode. However, if modified to run in SGB mode, it is revealed that they simply reuse the International border.

Japan	International

Name Entry Screen

Every one of these versions has a peculiar difference compared to the other versions:

• The Japanese version writes the name one tile higher and one tile more to the right.
• The international versions allow up to seven characters to be entered.
• The Korean version does not have an option to change the character set, unlike the Japanese and international versions, due to the fact that Korea uses a single set of characters for its writing system, Hangul, whereas written Japanese uses two (well, three, but Pokemon games didn't have Kanji until much later in the series) character sets and English uses two variations of one alphabet.

Japan	International	Korea

Daylight Saving Time

The international versions of the Generation II games implement a Daylight Saving Time system, which can be toggled on and off by talking to the player character's mom in New Bark Town. This wasn't necessary in the Japanese version, as the country does not observe DST.

This resulted in an oversight exclusive to international versions; if the current time is not 11:00 (DST off)/12:00 (DST on), then repeatedly toggling DST on and off will result in unusually frequent calls from the trainers in the player's PokéGear contact list.

Pokédex

As per the layout of the dex entries themselves, the International versions added the "Page" option, which lets you view both half of the entries, something which was added due to three lines of text not being enough for the localized entries. The Pokémon's stats are also displayed using the imperial system, as opposed to the Japanese and Korean versions' metric system. As for the Korean versions, the "Print" option was simply removed, otherwise being identical to the Japanese versions.

Japan	International	Korea

Region Map

The international versions tweaked the region's map slightly by actually making the gray border go all the way around it in both the Town Map and Pokégear, which also caused the header text to be shifted upwards. This was done as to leave more space for the longer localized area names. A similar layout change was also done to the Pokédex area screen.

Japanese/Korean	International

Battle Interface

The changes done to the battle screen are the same ones from Generation I, most notably the "PACK" and "PKMN" options having switched place.

Japanese/Korean	International

Menu Options

Once again, the options which can be accessed in the overworld were changed, just like in Gen I. New here is the Bag interface, where the banner on top is twice as thin in the International versions, with the window on the left side of the screen also taking up less space.

Japanese/Korean	International

Summary Screen

In the Japanese and Korean versions, the summary screens are aligned vertically, but in the international releases they were reverted to the horizontally aligned screens of Gen I.

Japan	International	Korea

Trainer Card

In the Japanese and Korean versions, each Gym Leader portrait features the name of the corresponding character above it. Moreover, atop the badge case is a header title, which literally translates to "League Badge". The international version, meanwhile, removed the names above the portraits due to a lack of space, and the atop the badge case is a much simpler "BADGES", using a custom font.

Japanese/Korean	International

Trading Sequence

In the Japanese versions and Korean, the Pokémon trading screen is vertically aligned. Meanwhile, in the international releases, due to the lack of space, it is horizontally aligned. During the actual trade animation, the initial window was made wider, as to allow for the longer Pokémon/Player names.

Japan	International	Korea

PC Boxes

The amount of PC boxes in the Pokémon Storage System was changed from 9 to 14 in the localizations (including the Korean one, which is based on the localized ROM) due to the maximum number of Pokémon per box being decreased from 30 to 20. The Japanese text box frames here are also positioned one pixel higher than those in the other versions.

Japan	International	Korea

Storage System Layout

In the Japanese and Korean versions, the Pokémon in the Pokémon Storage System's layout is enclosed in a text box frame and the Pokémon list appears in the background. In the other localizations, there is no frame surrounding the Pokémon, but the Pokémon list appears in a text box frame.

Japan	International	Korea

Overworld Tileset

In the Japanese and Korean versions, the Pokémon Centers signs in Johto have a Poké Ball drawing with the letters "PC" next to it. In the localizations, the sign was changed back to the one used in the Generation I games, due to "PC" being more commonly used in the west as an abbreviation of "personal computer".

Japanese/Korean	English	French/Spanish	German/Italian

The Gym sign was also changed between localization, with the Italian version having it changed to "Gim" (lifted from the Italian Generation I games), and the French and German versions being changed to "Arn." (with this one actually being redrawn from the respective localized Gen I games).

Japanese/Korean English	French/German	Spanish/Italian

Trainer Sprites

Graphical changes were made to a small handful of Trainer sprite due to Nintendo's censorship policies. In a leaked file (POCKET MONSTER CRYSTAL\poke_graphics.zip), there's a table detailing these changes and the reason for each one. None of these changes apply to the Korean versions.

Trainer Class	Japan/Korea	International	Notes	Notes from Game Freak
Beauty			Beauties have longer skirts, and no longer wink.	肌が露出し過ぎ ウインクが問題 (Too much skin exposed; winking is a problem)
Sage			Sages now cross their arms, rather than praying.	合掌の宗教的意味合いが強い (His praying hands have a strong religious meaning)
Medium			Mediums no longer carry beads.	手に持っている数珠の宗教的意味合いが強い (Holding prayer beads has a strong religious meaning)
Swimmer♀			Female Swimmers no longer wink.	ウインクが問題 (Winking is a problem)
Fisher			Fishers no longer smoke.	くわえタバコに問題あり (The cigarette in his mouth is a problem)

Pokémon Sprites

Most of the sprite changes listed below (e.g. Lanturn, Slowpoke, Feraligatr) were done to make the Pokémon's sprite more accurate to its official artwork; others were just minor touch-ups (Pichu, Sneasel, Girafarig). All these changes were taken into account for the Japanese and Western Crystal as well, although with new sprites in most cases.

Jynx's skin color was changed from black to purple outside of Japan as a result of public backlash following the publication of an article by African-American scholar Carol Boston Weatherford that drew comparisons between Jynx's appearance and blackface. Due to consequent palette issues, the change in hue of Jynx's skin also necessitated the bleaching of her hair and the changing of her dress from magenta and gold to magenta and white. From Generation III onwards, all games, both in and outside Japan, would depict Jynx with purple skin and blonde hair.

In the Japanese Virtual Console releases, Jynx's sprites were updated to match the localizations.

	Gold (Old front)	Gold (New front)	Silver (Old front)	Silver (New front)	Back sprite (Old)	Back sprite (New)
Lanturn
Pichu
Sneasel
Jynx
Feraligatr					/	/
Aipom					/	/
Stantler					/	/
Slowpoke	/	/			/	/
Teddiursa	/	/			/	/
Donphan	/	/			/	/
Blissey	/	/			/	/
Pinsir	/	/	/	/
Flaaffy	/	/	/	/
Sunkern	/	/	/	/
Wooper	/	/	/	/
Girafarig	/	/	/	/
Qwilfish	/	/	/	/
Slugma	/	/	/	/
Politoed	/	/	/	/
Pupitar	/	/	/	/

(Source: IIMarckus)

(Source: Glitch City Laboratories Forums, Serebii (Virtual Console differences))

Portraitmail

In the localizations, the line above where the player's name goes in the Portraitmail was expanded.

Japanese/Korean	International

Nidoran Gender Symbol

In the localizations, the gender symbol for the Nidoran is shown twice during battles due to the gender symbol being placed next to the level indicator, instead of next to the Pokémon's name as in the Japanese and Korean versions.

Japanese/Korean	International

SonicBoom Animation

In the Japanese and Korean versions, SonicBoom's animation is a shock wave hitting the opponent. For unknown reasons, it was changed to use Gust's animation.

Japan/Korea	International

Bike Shop

Localization-wise, the bike shop's name, "Miracle Cycle", was removed outside Japan in both Johto and Kanto. It was only retained in the French versions, retaining its new localized name from Generation I, where the bike shop was known as "Cycles à Gogo".

Kings

Pokéfan Alex, a trainer found on Route 13, has a team made of Pokémon whose names end in "king" (キング). However, due to Magikarp not sharing this trait in the English versions (its Japanese name is "Koiking", コイキング), it was replaced by Seaking in order to stay true to the theme. Unlike Magikarp, which is at the absurdly high level 58, this Seaking is level 29, just like the rest of his team. In the Korean versions, meanwhile, Alex's team wasn't changed, given how Magikarp has the word "king" (킹) in its Korean name.

Oddly enough, this change was not replicated in HeartGold and SoulSilver, where Alex still has a Magikarp in the localized versions. Not only that, but it was even buffed some more, now being at the even more absurdly high level 65, something all the more shocking for a meager Magikarp.

Exclusive Pokémon

In the Japanese and Korean versions, the Phanpy line is only found in the wild in Gold, whereas the Teddiursa line is only found in Silver. In the rest of the world, these were switched, likely due to the general color schemes of the two better fitting their versions of choice (indeed, Phanpy and Donphan are blue and gray, which are cool colors like silver, all the while Teddiursa and Ursaring are orange and brown, which are warm colors like gold).

Interestingly, this localization change was once again not taken into account for the international versions of HeartGold and SoulSilver, where Phanpy and Donphan are found in HeartGold, and Teddiursa and Ursaring are found in SoulSilver, regardless of region.

Clock Reset

The button sequences to reset the clock on the title screen were only introduced in the Western and Korean versions. However, there is an unreleased Rev 2 of the Japanese versions from one of the Nintendo data leaks which introduced the same clock reset sequence as the Western versions. The menu to reset the clock still exists in the Japanese versions, but only appears if the time is invalid or corrupted (i.e. from a naturally occurring physical related fault with the save battery/RTC or a freeze/reset glitch which corrupted it). The sequences differ between the Western and Korean versions, and the button sequences for Korean Gold and Silver are the same ones as Western Crystal.

(Source: Bulbapedia article: Time#Resetting the clock, Korean/Crystal details may have been found by the pret team, SatoMew (unreleased Rev 2 details))

Bugs

Dude Lengthened Tutorial

In the original Japanese versions of Gold and Silver and Crystal, the Dude's catching tutorial has unusual delays which give the false impression of the game hanging. This was completely fixed in the localizations. In the Japanese Virtual Console releases, the patch files include the following partial fix:

[teaching movie]
Mode = 1
Address = 0x23a9f
Fixcode = a32:FF 00 E0 01 00 00 FF 00 FF 10 00 00 FF 01 00 00 0A 10 00 00 0A 01 00 FF FF 00 FF 00 FF 00 FF 00

This simply removes the delay for the final part of the demonstration by requiring the player to manually press the A button to exit it.

(Source: Háčky and SatoMew)

Disobedience Glitch

In the Japanese versions, if a Pokémon that is locked into a move by Encore refuses to attack due to disobedience, the game crashes. This was fixed in the overseas releases, as well as the unreleased Rev 2 of the Japanese versions from one of the Nintendo data leaks. This glitch was actually discovered by analyzing the changes introduced by Rev 2.

(Source: pret/Torchickens (Evie) and SatoMew via Discord; see also: this video)

Contest Data Copy Glitch

In the Japanese versions, using Fly or Teleport to leave the National Park during a Bug-Catching Contest will generate glitchy and unstable Pokémon data.

(Source: ChickasaurusGL)

Arbitrary Coin Execution

Due to an error in the North American localizations, the message printed when using the Coin Case is improperly terminated in the English version, as a 57 character is used instead of a 50 (the original value in the Japanese versions of Gold/Silver), causing the game to jump to a section of memory used for storing sound effects. This section of memory is usually empty, unless you listened to a Pokémon's cry right before, in which case the game interprets the Pokémon's cry as code. This has some interesting effects on the games:

• The game can enter an alternative colored style due to being tricked into thinking it's in GB Mode. This namely allows one to see Ho-Oh's hidden title screen sprite details, using the player's palette.
• If the player knows how to, they can execute unused data via Arbitrary Code Execution, like the unused memory game, or even run a custom setup.

(Source: Sanky and Wack0)

Korean Versions

Compatibility Changes

이 카트리지는 게임보이 컬러 전용입니다. 게임보이 컬러에서 사용을 부탁드리겠습니다.
(This cartridge is designed for the Game Boy Color. Please run it with a Game Boy Color.)

The Korean versions of Gold and Silver are unique in that they are only compatible with the Game Boy Color. This is due to the fact that these localized builds use the Game Boy Color's second VRAM bank for printing its text, rendering them incompatible with the regular Game Boy. Namely, this is the reason why they displays random tiles in lieu of text when force-booted into running in GB mode. During normal gameplay, if the player attempts to run the game on an original Game Boy, they will receive a message stating that the game is only compatible with the Game Boy Color. This message, when compared to the one found in Crystal, is rather bland, not even loading any borders. Interestingly enough however, the localized borders do actually still exist in the games's data, but they go completely unused.

Error Screen (GB)	Error Screen (Gold SGB)	Error Screen (Silver SGB)

Miscellaneous Changes

• The end credits have been updated accordingly, replacing the English translation staff with the Korean one, and adding an extra message right before the copyright dates.
• When receiving the Togepi Egg from the aide in Violet City, no "received gift" jingle will play. This is clearly a mistake, as in any other version, the jingle is actually heard.
• Game Boy Printer support has been removed, as the accessory was not released in South Korea. Similar changes were later made to the main Virtual Console re-releases.

International Linking

The international versions of Gold and Silver can be connected to each other, regardless of language. However, letters with diacritics, such as acutes and umlauts (except é, as it even exists in the English versions to print "Pokémon"), may result in mojibake in languages which lack these characters. As for the Japanese versions, they can only connect to Japanese Gen I and II games, as attempting to connect to any other version will result in a crash, given how the positions of data structures and codes differs.

Korean Gold and Silver, meanwhile, can be connected not just to itself, but also to international versions, including the Gen I games and Crystal directly without serious problems. This is due to the Korean versions of Gold and Silver actually being based on the international ones, even though they look superficially similar to the Japanese originals. The Latin alphabet is also present here, as it is used in the credits, and in a few other places. Even the Time Capsule works correctly, even though the Gen I games were never released in South Korea, which means the Pokédex can be fully completed, barring the event-exclusive Mew and Celebi (without using glitches of course). Note for the South Korean Nintendo 3DS Virtual Console releases of Gold and Silver, the Pokédex cannot be fully completed without glitches (even excluding Mew and Celebi) because Red/Green/Blue/Yellow were never released and Nintendo 3DS consoles are region-locked; preventing South Korean Nintendo 3DS consoles from trading with another region console which purchased a Virtual Console Gen I game.

However, connecting Korean and international versions has several issues: In the Korean games, names longer than 5 characters appear shortened or overflow in places. Moreover, characters with diacritics may cause mojibake in the Korean games, and vice-versa, with the Korean names becoming gibberish (non-Korean games were incapable of displaying them until Black and White). Another side-effect is causing the link to fail, which is due to certain Hangul characters being misinterpreted as control codes.

• 
• 
• 
• 

(Source: Hanzza2)

Stadium 2 Linking

The Korean games are recognized as valid Pokémon games by the Western versions of Stadium 2, but the game is unable to load the save data for it. On the other hand, the Japanese version of Stadium 2 doesn't even recognize the Korean GS games as valid. Transferring Korean Pokémon into Western GSC games allows them to be used in Stadium 2 without issues, aside from them having messed-up names.

Virtual Console Changes

Game Boy Printer

The original game supports the Game Boy Printer. The 3DS doesn't, so the following features needed to be disabled in the Virtual Console release:

• The "PRNT" option in the Pokédex entry screen, which originally printed the entry on-screen, now does nothing.
• The photographer in Cianwood City who printed out a Pokémon's "photo" is still there, but it's now impossible to pick "YES" to print the photo.
• Pokémon storage box lists and mail can no longer be printed from the PC.
• The Diploma you get for completing the Pokédex can no longer be printed.

Miscellaneous Changes

• As with other Pokémon games re-released on the Virtual Console, trading is included via the use of a modified emulator that spoofs the Link Cable without affecting the ROM.
• Using the Poké Transporter, Pokémon can be sent from the Gen II core series games to Pokémon Bank, and then can then be moved to Gen VII core series games.
• The Mystery Gift can be performed with other VC copies of Gold and Silver, using the 3DS system's own infrared port.
• During a move animation, the HUD on the user's side is no longer hidden. This behavior matches the Space World '99 demo, and was later reverted in the VC release of Crystal.
• As the games are locked in Game Boy Color mode, the Super Game Boy borders are thus completely inaccessible.
• Silver's title screen ends several seconds earlier for some odd reason, which also ends up cutting off parts of the music. This issue is not present in Gold.
• In the Japanese versions, the bug which caused the Pokémon catching tutorial to be abnormally delayed was fixed.
• In the Japanese versions, Jynx's design was altered in order to match the updated one from the international versions.

(Source: Prof.9)