Pokémon Gold and Silver Spaceworld '97 demo

Pokémon Gold demo;
	; Title screen of the Pokémon Gold demo
Pokémon Silver demo;
	; Title screen of the Pokémon Silver demo
Basic info
Platform:	Game Boy (enhanced for the Super Game Boy)
Category:	RPG demo
Players:	1 player
Connectivity:	None
Developer:	Game Freak
Publisher:	Nintendo/The Pokémon Company
Part of:	Generation II
Ratings
CERO:	N/A
ESRB:	N/A
ACB:	N/A
OFLC:	N/A
PEGI:	N/A
GRAC:	N/A
GSRR:	N/A
Release dates
Japan:	November 21, 1997
North America:	N/A
Australia:	N/A
Europe:	N/A
South Korea:	N/A
Hong Kong:	N/A
Taiwan:	N/A
Websites
Japanese:	Space World
English:	N/A

The Pokémon Gold and Silver Spaceworld '97 demo is an early build of the games Pokémon Gold and Silver that was shown at Nintendo Space World '97 from November 21 to 23, 1997. At the time, the final game was estimated to be about 80% complete and was set to be released for the original Game Boy—the Game Boy Color would not be announced until late March of the following year.^[1]^[2] However, due to a variety of delays, including a complete overhaul to the game, it would not be released until late 1999.

During the two years after it was first shown at Nintendo Space World '97 until its final release in November 21, 1999, the game changed extensively from this early demo. As with the final games, the demo used the Japanese Pokémon Blue as its basis for development.

Up until 2018, little information was known about this demo, due to the majority of the game being locked off from players. Only a few photographs were taken, and most of the information known comes from testimony of attendees. On May 26, 2018, however, ROM files of both the Gold and Silver demos were anonymously posted online, including versions with debug menus, allowing players to explore data that was blocked off at Space World.

Beyond what was intended to be played appears unfinished: many Pokémon have unfinished and placeholder base stats; scripts, NPCs, and warp data is largely absent; collision data is missing; and some areas are completely missing. Nevertheless, a large amount of information can be gathered from what is present, including many redesigned or scrapped Pokémon designs, minigame easter eggs, and a completely different region.

Gameplay

The demo begins with a monologue from Professor Oak, similar to the final game. However, there is no option to give the player a gender or a name, who is instead automatically a boy named Satoshi (サトシ). Afterwards, the player begins in his room in a town called Silent Hills (サイレントヒルズ). The player will already have 3000$ and eight Badges, although the Gym Leaders are blacked out. One of three starter Pokémon, randomly chosen, is already placed in the player's party.

Type:
Grass	Unknown

Held item:

None

ハッパ Lv.8

	--
	--

Type:
Fire	Unknown

Held item:

None

ホノオグマ Lv.8

	--
	--

	--
	--

Type:
Water	Unknown

Held item:

None

クルス Lv.8

	--
	--

Silent Hills has exits to the west, north, and east; however, the northern and eastern exits are blocked to prevent the player from accessing unfinished areas. A Pokémon Center which the player can enter is present in the town, but all of its functions are unavailable. Silent Hills also has a laboratory, but it cannot be entered.

The player will then move west to Route 1, a typical route with a dungeon called Silent Hill (しずかなおか) in the middle. (Although the English translations for both サイレントヒルズ and しずかなおか are the same, they are written differently in Japanese: the town is a transliteration of the English term "Silent Hills" in katakana, and the dungeon area in Route 1 is the Japanese native translation for "Silent Hill," written in hiragana.) Silent Hill has the first Trainers to encounter in the game. After going through Silent Hill, the player reemerges on the other side of Route 1, where they will encounter another trainer. At the end of Route 1, the rival, automatically named Shigeru (シゲル), stops the player, and the demo ends. The demo will also end if the player blacks out.

Differences from the final game

The demo and the final versions of the Generation II games had numerous differences.

Morning
Day
Night

The demo was meant to be played on Game Boy hardware and was not designed to take advantage of the colors available on a Game Boy Color; as such, the colors available through the Super Game Boy were less detailed. The day and night system is present, but due to running on a Game Boy color scheme, the change in colors for the time of the day are just shades of blue. Playing the final games on a Super Game Boy yields a similar effect.

The intro lacks music, and instead of showing the Generation II starters at the end of the intro, Venusaur and Blastoise are shown instead; Charizard, which was present in the final game's intro, has a slightly less detailed design.

Generation I Pokédex entries were carried over as placeholders for Pokémon until new Pokédex entries were able to be written for them. All Pokédex entries for Generation II Pokémon use the same placeholder text:「はっけんされた　ばかりの　ポケモン　げんざい　ちょうさちゅう。」 In an odd occurrence, it was also possible to battle wild Pokémon twice in a row without moving from a grass panel; why this was an implemented feature at the time is unknown.

Kanto Route 1 music plays for all Routes. The music of Viridian City, Saffron City, and Pewter City plays for all cities and towns present. Trainer and wild Pokémon battles both use Pokémon Red and Green Gym Leader music. More tracks from Pokémon Red and Green are present for events that are not normally possible in this build.

Type chart

Several type match ups differed from the final version of the game. Notably, Normal and Dark would be super effective against Dark types, while Normal types would only take resisted damage from Dark-type moves, Water and Electric would have been super effective against Steel, and Poison would be resisted by the Steel-type instead of Poison-type moves doing no damage.

In the below type chart, a different shade of the color means that the type matchup is different than in the final version.

×	Defending type
×
A t t a c k i n g t y p e	1×	1×	1×	1×	1×	½×	1×	0×	1×	1×	1×	1×	1×	1×	1×	1×	2×
	2×	1×	½×	½×	1×	2×	½×	0×	½×	1×	1×	1×	1×	½×	2×	1×	1×
	1×	2×	1×	1×	1×	½×	2×	1×	1×	1×	1×	2×	½×	1×	1×	1×	1×
	1×	1×	1×	½×	½×	½×	2×	½×	½×	1×	1×	2×	1×	1×	1×	1×	1×
	1×	1×	0×	2×	1×	2×	½×	1×	1×	2×	1×	½×	2×	1×	1×	1×	1×
	1×	½×	2×	1×	½×	1×	2×	1×	½×	2×	1×	1×	1×	1×	2×	1×	1×
	1×	½×	½×	2×	1×	1×	1×	½×	1×	½×	1×	2×	1×	2×	1×	1×	2×
	0×	1×	1×	1×	1×	1×	1×	1×	1×	1×	1×	1×	1×	2×	1×	1×	½×
	1×	1×	1×	1×	1×	2×	1×	1×	0×	1×	½×	1×	½×	1×	1×	1×	1×
	1×	1×	1×	1×	1×	½×	2×	1×	1×	½×	½×	2×	1×	1×	2×	½×	1×
	1×	1×	1×	1×	2×	2×	1×	1×	2×	2×	½×	½×	½×	1×	1×	½×	1×
	1×	1×	½×	½×	2×	2×	½×	1×	1×	½×	2×	½×	1×	1×	1×	½×	1×
	1×	1×	2×	1×	0×	1×	1×	1×	2×	1×	2×	½×	½×	1×	1×	½×	1×
	1×	2×	1×	2×	1×	1×	1×	1×	1×	1×	1×	1×	1×	½×	1×	1×	½×
	1×	1×	2×	1×	2×	1×	1×	1×	1×	½×	½×	2×	1×	1×	½×	2×	1×
	1×	1×	1×	1×	1×	1×	1×	1×	1×	1×	1×	1×	1×	1×	1×	2×	1×
	½×	1×	1×	1×	1×	1×	1×	2×	1×	1×	1×	1×	1×	2×	1×	1×	2×
These matchups are suitable for the Gold and Silver Spaceworld '97 demo.

Demo restrictions

As this game was meant to be publicly played at Space World '97, there were several restrictions put in place to make sure the game could not lock up or be set up to not work for other players. The only options available at the start screen are "ポケモンをあそぶ" (Play Pokémon) and "せっていをかえる" (Change Settings). There is no Continue option as the player is not able to save in the demo build. The player is given a random level 8 starter Pokémon.

The player only has Potions as Pokémon Centers are not accessible in the demo. PCs are also not able to be used. Trying to visit a Pokémon Center or use a PC gives the text of "under repair" or "being adjusted." This is likely to prevent a single attendee from hogging the demo by repeatedly healing to avoid blacking out.

The player and rival's names are random pre-selected names. Starter Pokémon and wild Pokémon that appear in the demo are not able to evolve. When an NPC loses, they do not have any losing dialog, presumably to make the demo faster to play. The player can only visit Silent Hill and early routes up to the forest area. When all the player's Pokémon faint (i.e. the player blacks out), the game returns to the title screen, ready for the next person to play.

Pokémon

Main article: Pokémon Gold and Silver Spaceworld '97 demo/Pokémon

Although only a few new Pokémon can be seen in the demo through normal gameplay, 100 new Pokémon had been designed at the time. Some of these Pokémon were kept into the final release largely unchanged; some had major modifications; others went completely unused. 16 of the unused Pokémon were related to the original 151 Generation I Pokémon, and two of the unused Pokémon were related to Generation II Pokémon which made it into the final release.

Many of the 151 Generation I Pokémon still used their sprites from Pokémon Blue as placeholder sprites during this time. Several Pokémon would have also gained either an evolution or a pre-evolution. Certain scrapped Pokémon correspond to, and may have inspired, later-generation Pokémon such as Leafeon or Lickilicky.

List of new Pokémon

This section is incomplete.
Please feel free to edit this section to add missing information and complete it.
Reason: Missing sprites

Ndex	Pokémon	Type
#152	Happa	Grass
#153	Hanamogura	Grass
#154	Hanaryū	Grass
#155	Honōguma	Fire
#156	Borubeā	Fire
#157	Dainabea	Fire
#158	Kurusu	Water
#159	Akua	Water
#160	Akueria	Water
#161	Hōhō	Flying
#162	Bōbō	Flying
#163	Pachimē	Electric
#164	Mokoko	Electric
#165	Denryū	Electric
#166	Mikon	Water
#167	Monja	Grass
#168	Jaranra	Grass
#169	Hanēi	Water	Flying
#170	Pukū	Water
#171	Shibirefugu	Water
#172	Pichū	Electric
#173	Py	Normal
#174	Pupurin	Normal
#175	Mizūo	Water
#176	Neiti	Flying	Psychic
#177	Neitio	Flying	Psychic
#178	Gyopin	Water
#179	Mariru	Water
#180	Manbō1	Water
#181	Ikari	Water	Steel
#182	Gurotesu	Water	Steel
#183	Ekushingu	Poison	Flying
#184	Para	Bug
#185	Kokumo	Bug	Poison
#186	Tsūheddo	Bug	Poison
#187	Yoroidori	Flying	Steel
#188	Animon	Normal
#189	Hināzu	Normal	Flying
#190	Sanī	Grass	Psychic
#191	Paon	Ground
#192	Donfan	Ground
#193	Tsuinzu	Dark	Normal
#194	Kirinriki	Dark	Normal
#195	Peintā	Normal
#196	Kōnya	Normal
#197	Rinrin	Dark
#198	Berurun	Dark
#199	Nyorotono	Water
#200	Yadokingu	Water	Psychic
#201	Annōn	Normal
#202	Rediba	Bug	Flying
#203	Mitsuboshi	Bug	Flying
#204	Puchikōn	Normal
#205	Ēfi	Psychic
#206	Burakkī	Poison
#207	Tāban	Water
#208	Betobebī	Poison
#209	Teppouo	Water
#210	Okutan	Water
#211	Gongu	Fighting
#212	Kapoerā	Fighting
#213	Pudi	Fire
#214	Haneko	Grass	Flying
#215	Poponeko	Grass	Flying
#216	Wataneko	Grass	Flying
#217	Baririna	Fighting
#218	Rippu	Ice
#219	Erebebī	Electric
#220	Bubyi	Fire
#221	Kireihana	Grass	Poison
#222	Tsubomitto	Grass	Poison
#223	Mirutanku	Normal
#224	Bomushikā	Water	Fire
#225	Gifuto	Water	Ice
#226	Kotora	Electric
#227	Raitora	Electric
#228	Madāmu	Normal	Flying
#229	Norowara	Ghost
#230	Kyonpan	Ghost
#231	Yamikarasu	Dark	Flying
#232	Happī	Normal
#233	Shizāsu	Bug	Flying
#234	Purakkusu	Bug
#235	Debiru	Fire
#236	Herugā	Fire
#237	Urufuman	Ice
#238	Wāurufu	Ice
#239	Porigon2	Normal
#240	Namēru	Normal
#241	Haganēru	Steel	Ground
#242	Kingudora	Dragon	Water
#243	Rai	Electric
#244	En	Fire
#245	Sui	Water
#246	Nyūra	Dark
#247	Houou	Flying
#248	Togepī	Normal
#249	Bulu	Psychic
#250	Teiru	Normal
#251	Rīfi	Grass

Maps

Demo map of Johto

Main article: Pokémon Gold and Silver Spaceworld '97 demo/Locations

Although only Silent Hill and the route and forest leading from it to Old City are accessible in the demo, many other locations are programmed into the game. However, the inaccessible locations lack collision and warp data.

The final map of Johto shares little resemblance to the region present in the demo, which was based on the entirety of Japan, with Kanto included as a large city within it. Apart from Kanto and a prototype of the Ruins of Alph, none of the areas from the final game appear in the demo; however, some maps bear similarities.

Mini-games

This build of the game contained far more mini-games, with a total of 5.

Title screen

Alternate title screen

A hidden mini-game involving Pikachu can be played if the game is left idle at the title screen for an extended period of time. The player tries to avoid obstacles and collect musical notes while catching up to Jigglypuff. The game ends once Pikachu catches up to Jigglypuff and returns to the title screen. After playing, the title screen will have musical notes flying across the screen, rather than fire.

Picross

A picross mini-game featuring Pokémon was present.

Some Pokémon picross puzzles would later appear in Picross NP Vol. 1. Pokémon Picross would also be announced for the Game Boy Color; however, it was ultimately cancelled. A Pokémon picross game would not be released until Pokémon Picross in December 2015.

Poker

The poker mini-game was based on the real-life game of poker but with various Pokémon on the cards instead of clubs, diamonds, hearts, and spades. It would be replaced with card flip in the final version of the game.

Memory game

A memory game is a game where the player attempts to match five pairs of cards in five turns. However, no coins are actually rewarded for any matches. This game remains unused in the final game.

Slide puzzle

The last mini-game is a 15-tile slide puzzle game where the player has to try rearranging the tiles to reveal who the Pokémon is.

Gallery

Title screen mini-game
Picross
Poker
Memory game
Slide puzzle

Items

Main article: Pokémon Gold and Silver Spaceworld '97 demo/Items

With the introduction of held items, many new items and Key Items were added that would be cut, have slight changes in how they worked, or be scrapped altogether.

References

↑ [1]
↑ [2]

Beta versions of Pokémon games

Generation I
Red and Green • Yellow

Generation II
Gold and Silver (Spaceworld '97 demo) • Crystal

Generation III
Ruby and Sapphire • FireRed and LeafGreen • Emerald • Colosseum • XD

Generation IV
Diamond and Pearl • Platinum • HeartGold and SoulSilver

Generation V
Black and White • Black 2 and White 2

Generation VI
X and Y • Omega Ruby and Alpha Sapphire

Generation VII
Sun and Moon • Ultra Sun and Ultra Moon

Generation VIII
Sword and Shield

Unreleased
Pokémon Picross

Pokémon Demos

Tech demos:

Pikachu: DS Tech Demo

Generation II:

Pokémon Gold and Silver Spaceworld '97 demo • Pokémon Gold and Silver Spaceworld '99 demo

Generation III:

Pokémon Ruby and Sapphire demo • Pokémon XD: Gale of Darkness demo

Generation IV:

Pokémon Diamond and Pearl demo • Pokémon Mystery Dungeon: Gold Rescue Team

Generation V:

Pokémon Black and White demo

Generation VI:

Pokémon X and Y demo • Pokémon Omega Ruby and Pokémon Alpha Sapphire Special Demo Version

Generation VII:

Pokémon Sun and Pokémon Moon Special Demo Version • Pokémon: Let's Go, Pikachu! and Pokémon: Let's Go, Eevee! Demo Version

Generation VIII:

Pokémon Sword and Shield demo

Pokémon game templates

Core series • Side series • Spin-off series • Pokémon mini • Individual spin-offs • Betas • Demos

This game-related article is part of Project Games, a Bulbapedia project that aims to write comprehensive articles on the Pokémon games.

[1] [1]

[2] [2]

[1]

[2]

Pokémon Gold demo
Title screen of the Pokémon Gold demo
Pokémon Silver demo
Title screen of the Pokémon Silver demo
Basic info
Platform:	Game Boy (enhanced for the Super Game Boy)
Category:	RPG demo
Players:	1 player
Connectivity:	None
Developer:	Game Freak
Publisher:	Nintendo/The Pokémon Company
Part of:	Generation II
Ratings
CERO:	N/A
ESRB:	N/A
ACB:	N/A
OFLC:	N/A
PEGI:	N/A
GRAC:	N/A
GSRR:	N/A
Release dates
Japan:	November 21, 1997
North America:	N/A
Australia:	N/A
Europe:	N/A
South Korea:	N/A
Hong Kong:	N/A
Taiwan:	N/A
Websites
Japanese:	Space World
English:	N/A