Last year, Nintendo and Game Freak finally re-released Pokémon Gold and Pokémon Silver, two incredibly nostalgic and well-remembered games for many, on the Nintendo 3DS Virtual Console. After playing Pokémon Silver again on 3DS, I determined that the Generation II games still hold up after all these years, so I was glad when it was announced that Pokémon Crystal would be coming to 3DS last month.
The date that was given at the time of this re-release’s announcement, January 26, is finally here. To celebrate Pokémon Crystal hitting the 3DS’ Virtual Console, a launch trailer has been released by the game’s developers.
For those curious about why you should pick up Pokémon Crystal if you have already played Pokémon Gold and Silver, there are quite a few tweaks and improvements this Generation II Pokémon game brings to the table. This would be the start of the third “definitive version” of Pokémon games that we would see repeated several times in the series’ future.
Pokémon Crstyal includes new things like small animations to Pokémon sprites and a playable female character for the first time. The title also features new story featuring some new characters like Eusine, who is tracking down this game’s main legendary Pokémon: Suicune.
As for 3DS specific improvements, this version of Pokémon Crystal is compatible with Pokémon Bank, meaning you can transfer Pokémon from all 29 mainline entries to Pokémon Ultra Sun and Ultra Moon in some way. Celebi is also available in the post-game now without the need for a special event, which is a first for western audiences.
You can check out the 3DS Virtual Console launch trailer below. Pokémon Crystal is now available for both Game Boy Color and Nintendo 3DS.