Pokémon Crystal on the Game Boy Color is still one of the best ways to experience Johto. The sprites actually animate now—nothing crazy, just little idle movements, but it makes the world feel way more alive than Gold and Silver. You start off in New Bark Town, pick your starter (Cyndaquil all the way), and immediately get sucked into that classic Pokémon loop of grinding, exploring, and accidentally walking into a trainer battle when you’re just trying to heal at the Pokémon Center.

There’s something about the pacing here—it’s slower than modern Pokémon games, but in a good way. You actually have to figure out where to go next instead of being handheld the whole time. And that moment when you first reach Goldenrod City and realize how massive the world is? Still hits.

Plus, this is the version that introduced the whole Suicune storyline, so if you’ve only played Gold/Silver, it’s worth revisiting just for that. The music’s great, the rival’s actually kind of a jerk, and the post-game is stupidly long in the best possible way. It holds up.