Discussion GVG: The Pokémon Sequel Stuck in Japan

[Chaotic Neutral]

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Yesterday, Good Vibes Gaming posted this very fun video on/review of Pokémon Card GB2: Here Comes Team GR! that unfortunately never released outside of Japan. Highly recommend giving it a look, especially if you never played the first one or knew about the second one.

As a kid, I played the first game on my GBC a lot and have very fond memories of it. I remember dreaming of a sequel to it for the longest time once more of the cards that I was playing with IRL had come out. I feel like I read a magazine at a friends' house one time where there was a sneak peek at the game which was then in development and remember being very excited, but I can't say that I remember it very clearly, so maybe it was a dream? In any case, I really wish this had come out in Europe at some point, even after the GBA had released since I played a lot of my old GB(C) games on that still. I remember holding out hope for a very, very long time.

Now, Nintendo, if you are still planning on releasing a GB(C) emulator on NSO, I would just like to remind you that this game exists and a lot of 90s kids would like to play it. Even if its not translated.

Pretty please? ​

 

[Robin64]

Fantastic sequel, and a bit of a crime that it never came out outside of Japan.

One blessing is that fans translated it! https://www.romhacking.net/translations/1736/

 

[MetalLord]

theres a lot of japan only pokemon games

 

[9-Volt]

Lik Sang had a deep discount on it and I imported one. It actually was pretty easy to finish it, through trying and failing. I already knew all cards from sets featured in the game (up to Team Rocket expansion), only ones I didn't know was the tons of Japanese promo cards that never released in the west. Coincidentally they were the reason why this game never left Japan, Wizards of the Coast rejected the idea of a game having cards that are not in their portfolio.

Eventually, Nintendo ditched Wizards after the low sales of E series and took the card making duty themselves.

theres a lot of japan only pokemon games

Interestingly, there isn't.

We got almost everything, even all of the Pokémon Mini console games. And that typing game they made for DS. Only thing missing was this, TCG 2, Pokémon Stadium 1 (many things this had incorporated to PS2) and instead of Red's clone Blue, they got Pokémon Green, a vastly different game, where it was possible to find trade only pokémon in the wild.

 

[MondoMega]

Interestingly, there isn't.

We got almost everything, even all of the Pokémon Mini console games. And that typing game they made for DS. Only thing missing was this, TCG 2, Pokémon Stadium 2 (many things this had incorporated to PS Gold & Silver) and instead of Red's clone Blue, they got Pokémon Green, a vastly different game, where it was possible to find trade only pokémon in the wild.

Almost all of this post is wrong, lol.

More than half of the Pokémon Mini’s library is Japan exclusive (only four games released worldwide, out of ten).

Japan’s Pokémon Stadium 2 is the international Pokémon Stadium. Japan’s first Pocket Monsters Stadium is the region exclusive game, because the sequel was a straight improvement, most notably adding the remaining Pokémon absent from the first. They were originally going to release it in the form of a DD expansion (Mario Party 2 as well while i’m throwing out the fun facts) but it should be obvious why that didn’t pan out.

The international Red and Blue have the same region exclusives as Japan’s original Red and Green, with QoL and updated sprites from Japan’s Blue version (which has its own alternate set of exclusives not released in any form outside of Japan). You cannot catch trade evolutions in the wild, that’s a playground rumor at best.

And there’s plenty of other Japan exclusive Pokémon games beyond these and TGC2. There’s the series of Mystery Dungeon games on WiiWare, the long line of Tretta arcade games (and a companion game on 3DS), the original first episode of Detective Pikachu, a TGC game for DS (not an RPG unfortunately, just a how to play tutorial essentially), and plenty more obscure games like that PokePark Fishing game only made available by DS Download Play, or some edutainment games for Sega Pico.

 

[Deleted member 2]

MondoMega with the truth

 

[9-Volt]

Almost all of this post is wrong, lol.

More than half of the Pokémon Mini’s library is Japan exclusive (only four games released worldwide, out of ten).

Japan’s Pokémon Stadium 2 is the international Pokémon Stadium. Japan’s first Pocket Monsters Stadium is the region exclusive game, because the sequel was a straight improvement, most notably adding the remaining Pokémon absent from the first. They were originally going to release it in the form of a DD expansion (Mario Party 2 as well while i’m throwing out the fun facts) but it should be obvious why that didn’t pan out.

The international Red and Blue have the same region exclusives as Japan’s original Red and Green, with QoL and updated sprites from Japan’s Blue version (which has its own alternate set of exclusives not released in any form outside of Japan). You cannot catch trade evolutions in the wild, that’s a playground rumor at best.

And there’s plenty of other Japan exclusive Pokémon games beyond these and TGC2. There’s the series of Mystery Dungeon games on WiiWare, the long line of Tretta arcade games (and a companion game on 3DS), the original first episode of Detective Pikachu, a TGC game for DS (not an RPG unfortunately, just a how to play tutorial essentially), and plenty more obscure games like that PokePark Fishing game only made available by DS Download Play, or some edutainment games for Sega Pico.

Ten??? I thought there were five. I only got the tetris one.

I didn't know about the Stadium one. I always knew the PS2 is just a sequel to the first one.

For green you got me wrong. In Red and Blue western version some Pokémon are only obtainable via trade, like Farfetch'd, Mr Mime and Jynx. In the Japanese Blue game those pokémon are available in the wild. Not trade evolutions like Machamp. But yes, Green was first Blue second, that's where I got wrong.

As for the rest, I kinda meant retail releases. None of those are retail games, including that promotional DS game, which was a part of a card starter pack iirc. Full retail game wise, Pokémon Stadium 1, Blue.jp and TCG 2 are the only exclusives.

But holy shit @ you memory. Nice remembering everything including those Pokémon Mini games, which I'm looking to find out what the others are right now.

 

[Krvavi Abadas]

And that typing game they made for DS.

that was only localized in PAL regions, oddly enough. No NA release.
it's particularly unique in that to make the wireless keyboard work, they threw a bluetooth receiver inside the cartridge itself.

Pokemon Black/White similarly had an infared receiver inside the cart, but that was unsurprisingly a worldwide release.

 

[MetalLord]

theres also

 

[Tye]

theres also

As a huge fan of StreetPass, I was always disappointed that we never got this outside of Japan. =(

Same with the Japan-exclusive WiiWare Pokémon Mystery Dungeon games, since I liked the My Pokémon Ranch/Pokémon Rumble low-poly style that those games also used.

 

[Michie]

This video felt appropriate

 

[King_Dodongo]

Dark Pokémon were a revelation

 

[Varista]

Love the first game. Had some great music. Never knew about a sequel. I'll have to check it out sometime.