I’m a crazy Nuzlocke addict. Ever since my very first Nuzlocke run on Pokémon Gold, I just can’t play Pokémon normally anymore. It’s a test of your skill, and your trust in your virtual companions. Losing battles will punish you hard, and your loss will be unforgettable. When I got word of a Nuzlocke hack being in the Vizzed Retro Game Room, I naturally had to take a look.

The Graphics

The visuals are exactly the same, don’t expect any differences here. A very bright colour palette, clear sprites, and very fluid attack animations. It is obvious that Pokémon Gold, Silver and Crystal where some of the best-looking games on the Game Boy Color. Anyway, seeing as how this game looks exactly the same as the original Pokémon Silver, I won’t go into details on the graphics.

The Sound

Same story, the sound hasn’t been changed. It’s still got the same nice catchy tunes as in the original. I’ve always disliked that some town themes are re-used from other towns, but bashing this hack for something like that would be unfair. There are no bugs in the sound effects, the sound is just good.

The Addictiveness

Okay, so here’s where the criticism takes off. This is not a legitimate Nuzlocke hack. I feel this fits better in the Depth paragraph, so I’ll go into detail on it there. Even though I love the second generation Pokémon games, I would just as easily do a Nuzlocke run on my Gold cartridge, seeing as this is just an… an incomplete Nuzlocke hack because there are just standard rules missing. That got me a little bit out of the immersion of the whole challenge.

The Story

The story is the same. You became 12 (trainer Gold is 12, true story) and you set out on a journey. You face the Gym Leaders, and beat the Elite Four and its champion. Meanwhile, you also disband an evil gang of criminals who are out to control Pokémon for their own dastardly deeds. The only difference in this hack is (and this might have a big influence on your playthrough) your Pokémon can die. And it’s gone forever. This isn’t exactly tied to the story, but it still makes the events so much more interesting than in any Pokémon game. Once you lose a strong Pokémon who had saved you so many times, you feel the consequences. Never will you be able to use it in battle again. This is what makes Nuzlockes so great.

The Depth

Okay. Off from where we stopped in the Addictiveness paragraph. Even though this hack has your Pokémon ‘dying’ meaning they disappear from the party as soon as your Pokémon faint, this is really the only Nuzlocke rule the creator of this hack implemented into the hack. Any Nuzlocker would notice that there are just things missing. One of the standard rules of Nuzlocke is that you may only attempt to catch the first Pokémon on each Route. This is a rule to encourage a sense of ‘fate’. In Nuzlocke, you don’t choose your partners. The game chooses it for you. Although in this hack, you could still easily catch as many Pokémon as you’d like. I would’ve liked somehow being stopped from attempting to catch the second Pokémon in each area. The final standard rule is that you should nickname your Pokémon. It’s the less-important-though-still-mandatory basic rule. This is meant to give you a sense of emotional bonding to your partner. It would’ve been nice to be forced to give your Pokémon a nickname. These may not sound like important things to add to the hack, as you could simply just do these things yourself, but why only implementing the most important rule, and not keeping attention to the two other rules?

The Difficulty

As is normal with Nuzlockes, the challenge has been taken up a notch. But there are obviously things… ‘wrong’ with it. I’m not sure if that is the right way to put it, the creator of this hack seems perfectly aware of these things. At the start of the game, you’ll be approached by a scientist, telling you about the oddities in this hack. For example, if an HM user in your party dies, and you haven’t got any other partner with you that could learn that HM, you might get stuck. Game Over. This may sound frustrating, but it has happened to me. And I gotta say, I love it! It challenges you in a way a Nuzlocke should. It’s risky, but that’s the way it’s supposed to be. A Pokémon faints, ‘it dies’. When all six of your partners ‘die’, it’s Game Over for you. You will get punished for not having prepared enough for that one Gym Leader, you might even feel heartbroken. It is difficult, but in a good, unique way in which no other game challenges you.

Pokémon Silver - Active Battle Edition is an interesting hack, although it feels really unfinished. The creator has only implemented one of the three rules, which makes you question why he couldn’t just add the two other rules. Still, the most important rule is there, which still makes the challenge as interesting as it is, making for a Pokémon experience unlike any other.

Pros:

-          the bear of a loss feels heavy, adding to the immersion

-          all the pros of the original Pokémon Gold/Silver/Crystal

Cons:

-          there are some rules missing