• Hi all. We have had reports of member's signatures being edited to include malicious content. You can rest assured this wasn't done by staff and we can find no indication that the forums themselves have been compromised.

    However, remember to keep your passwords secure. If you use similar logins on multiple sites, people and even bots may be able to access your account.

    We always recommend using unique passwords and enable two-factor authentication if possible. Make sure you are secure.
  • Be sure to join the discussion on our discord at: Discord.gg/serebii
  • If you're still waiting for the e-mail, be sure to check your junk/spam e-mail folders

The Faults of GenII

Seven of Arcanine

RK9 Unit Trainer
Huh. I'm actually surprised that there's an issue with Gen II's level curve. I honestly don't like random Pokemon battles. Unless I'm trying to capture something, I just avoid, run or repel the entire way through. I only ever level up from fighting trainers and gyms.

And I remember feeling overpowered in Gen II over Gen I specifically because of how underpowered everything else was. With 16 gyms and an Elite Four sitting halfway instead of at the end, the only moments in which I wasn't multiple levels ahead was against the first two or three. This happened in Gen I too, in fact it happens in almost all the games before and since. But in Gen II, the gap was the widest.

Maybe it has something to do with my playstyle. I usually pick my team before I've started playing, and will only field that team. A lot of times, some won't be caught until well into the game, meaning the experience was funneling into fewer Pokemon and they leveled faster than those of you who continuously swap out teams of six.
 

Leonhart

Imagineer
A lot of people are bringing up the level curve issue, but I find that fighting all of the wild Pokemon you encounter tends to alleviate it, although by just a little.

I suppose that that method might work, which I'm currently testing out in Gold version. The thing is, it's extremely time consuming. I have the patience to at least stick to tall grass areas and train for hours on end in-between Gyms, but not many players had that patience when they played Gold, Silver, or Crystal as kids a decade and a half ago.
 

Captain Jigglypuff

Leader of Jigglypuff Army
I never really had trouble with the so called level jump. I once beat Red using only Pokémon level 60 and under.
 

Dragalge

"Orange" Magical Girl
A lot of people are bringing up the level curve issue, but I find that fighting all of the wild Pokemon you encounter tends to alleviate it, although by just a little. That, or making a team of five and having an HM slave.

-I know this is an issue for other games as well, but the amount of moves you need out of battle can be a lot to handle. 8 HM's, plus rock smash, and headbutt if you want to encounter Pokemon from trees.
-The unavailability of several evolution stones until Route 25 in the postgame hasn't been mentioned yet. If I want to use Arcanine in-game in Gold, I'll have to trade Growlithe back to RBY and buy a stone from Celadon city.
-The complaint about Johto gym leaders using Kanto Pokemon is probably manifests itself the most in Morty's Gym, where the only Pokemon used at all are Gastly/Haunter/Gengar. Why not have Morty use Misdreavus, and furthermore make Misdreavus available in the Burned Tower? I think an NPC talks about kids going missing there. It would make sense for Misdreavus to be available in the Burned Tower to give it more atmosphere, or even just earlier in the game, as opposed to Mt. Silver.

Even then the wild Pokémon are stupidly underleveled for any good grinding to be done.

Like why is there level 17 Flaafy near Pryce’s gym?
 

Nidogod

Well-Known Member
Even then the wild Pokémon are stupidly underleveled for any good grinding to be done.

Like why is there level 17 Flaafy near Pryce’s gym?

Yes, the last time I played I gave up before the E4 because I wanted to level up a Mamoswine for my team and there was just no feasible way to do it other than spend hours and hours knocking out level 23 Geodudes and Gravelers that always have a chance of self-destructing on you. Eventually I got bored and moved on.
 

Cellfaction

Well-Known Member
You need a lot of patience to level up Pokémon, mines were raised up to level 65 by battling wild pokemon in the grass of the PKMN Center in MT Silver, now they are at level 80, but raised thanks to the cloning glitch and rare candies.
 

Leonhart

Imagineer
I never really had trouble with the so called level jump. I once beat Red using only Pokémon level 60 and under.

I'm sure that with enough strategy, anyone could defeat Red even with a weaker team than his. However, I'm willing to bet that many kids who played G/S/C wouldn't have had that kind of aptitude, which is why many players found the task difficult.
 

Steven of Venus

From Another Planet
Generation 2 is more beautiful, more meaningfully appealing than the day Ash saw Ho-Oh, but beyond the Rainbow Master Nietzsche, who's the best real-world template for Ho-Oh with his many desires and affections to forcefully immerse into the jungle of chaos, Nietzsche lives dangerously, could also be Charizard as a the real Clair, kind of like Karen could be Ho-Oh as Murkrow.

Generation 3 is the best though - it's so puzzling and challenging, so enigmatic and hard!
 

Leonhart

Imagineer
My biggest problem was not having Ice Beam and Thunderbolt as TMs anymore. It's a big reason why I want Crystal to be released.

I had completely forgotten about that. It was a vexing situation in Gold and Silver since Thunderbolt and Ice Beam are almost considered to be staple attacks, but I wasn't too pleased that the Crystal version Move Teacher charged 4000 coins for each move. That was too expensive.
 

Daizy

I call you honey
Do Gen 2's glitches count? Because the Celebi egg glitch made the event Celebi's from G/S/C worthless and the save file glitch when the games' battery dies sucks.
 

Leonhart

Imagineer
Do Gen 2's glitches count? Because the Celebi egg glitch made the event Celebi's from G/S/C worthless and the save file glitch when the games' battery dies sucks.

The internal battery problem was a huge hindrance unless you could replace it yourself, and I wish that Nintendo or Game Freak had issued an apology for what is essentially a software defect.
 

gentwoer

Well-Known Member
The faults include

The awful awful level grinding and distribution. In Pokemon Red/Blue by the time you go to the 7th badge there was wild Pokemon up to level 40 in the area. In the Gold/Silver games by the time you get to the 7th badge the wild Pokemon are at level 18


2 of the 3 Johto gym girls are whiny sore losers.

Going back to Kanto was cool but you can basically breeze through that post-game (it's more thought out in the remakes) with the only real thing to do besides fight the Kanto gym leaders is the stupid power plant thing.
 

abby_ella

Member
I agree about the level curve problems. After some pre-Elite Four grinding and transferring my Blue version team to Gold, I totally swept the League and Kanto. It just wasn't the same sense of accomplishment as it was in other Gens.
 

WishIhadaManafi5

To Boldly Go Where No One Has Gone Before.
Staff member
Moderator
I had completely forgotten about that. It was a vexing situation in Gold and Silver since Thunderbolt and Ice Beam are almost considered to be staple attacks, but I wasn't too pleased that the Crystal version Move Teacher charged 4000 coins for each move. That was too expensive.
Word. Hated that. It's way too much money for them. I'm glad that they made TM's reusable in later Gens.

The RNG. It's not in the players favor. A lot of time the enemy gets more time to be able to attack or hit with status attacks. The level curve only bugs me a bit due to the amount of training that needs to be done later on in game.
 

abby_ella

Member
The internal battery problem was a huge hindrance unless you could replace it yourself, and I wish that Nintendo or Game Freak had issued an apology for what is essentially a software defect.

I mean, not to nitpick, but it's really a hardware defect. But it's one that should have been easy enough to see coming. I don't know that they really intended the games to last that long. And given the sales of Heart Gold and Soul Silver, they clearly had incentive NOT to fix it.
 

Mega Altaria

☆~Shiny hunter▢~
The level curve only bugs me a bit due to the amount of training that needs to be done later on in game.
Yeah especially around the end of the Victory Road where my Pokémon only gain a couple hundred EXP there and outside of the right exit of Mt. Mortar where you're close to Mahogany Town and the Pokémon there are around Lv 18. Even if you get to the Lake of Rage, the Pokémon's levels there aren't too much higher despite the shiny Gyarados that lives at the Lake of Rage is Lv 30.
 

WishIhadaManafi5

To Boldly Go Where No One Has Gone Before.
Staff member
Moderator
Yeah especially around the end of the Victory Road where my Pokémon only gain a couple hundred EXP there and outside of the right exit of Mt. Mortar where you're close to Mahogany Town and the Pokémon there are around Lv 18. Even if you get to the Lake of Rage, the Pokémon's levels there aren't too much higher despite the shiny Gyarados that lives at the Lake of Rage is Lv 30.
Definitely. It's a pain in the butt when trying to train for the Elite 4. Ends up taking forever.
 
Top