Game Review #3
After playing several Hoenn Pokemon ROM hacks, I decided to try one where the creator placed all of Johto and the Pokemon Crystal version of Kanto into a generation 3 game. Shiny Gold Sigma was made with the addition of new areas and every Pokemon from Generation 1 to 7 with Mega Evolution as well. Extra trainers appear in these new areas that branch off of existing Johto routes, along with NPCs that give free Hoenn starters and the appearance of rivals from other regions. It was exciting to see Zinnia on one of the beginning routes acting as a second rival with her dragon-type Pokemon and an 8-bit version of her regular theme. The Gen 3 renditions of classic Johto music felt extremely nostalgic and it was nice to see what Johto may have looked like had it been remade for Generation 3 as well.
The gym leaders also have new Pokemon added to their teams, with Whitney sporting at least two new pokemon and becoming a fairy and normal type gym leader. The changes were certainly fun to play around with, however, I could see anyone looking for a faithful experience with Pokemon Crystal becoming frustrated easily with the game. It’s almost impossible not to notice all that is new given routes full of different pokemon and new rival battles, but I personally enjoyed this take on one of my favorite games. It is also much more faithful to Crystal than it is to Heart Gold and Soul Silver given the new music in Ecruteak city is not present, and the Kimono Girls are fought much earlier as well.
The game is not without its flaws, being extremely buggy and at one point requiring me to download a walk-through walls glitch in order to escape two gyms and the Burned Tower. After defeating the Elite 4 in Johto, the player receives access to wonder trade, but you send in your pokemon for a random one instead of with another player, causing bad eggs to appear in both your box and as the pokemon you get traded if you’re unlucky. The latter half of the game is also very unfinished with the Alola islands and Hoenn areas being incomplete, difficult to find and get to, or entirely broken with NPCs that have no dialogue.
