Johto City Review

In which I review the layout of the Johto city. Johto is one of my favorite regions, even in its janky Gen II incarnation. Is it just nostalgia or is there actually something to this region?

From the Gameboy Advance on, towns in Pokemon games have been able to have expanded and unique tilesets which lets each town have its own distinct look. The Gen II games were working with some important restrictions - limited tilesets, no ‘transparent’ tiles (you are either on top of a tile or not, but you cannot be behind a tile), and smaller color palettes. This means the designers had to come up with a way to make each area of the game unique using a relatively small set of reusable assets as well as a handful of unique ones. Placement of tiles is thus very important, as well as the ratio of tiles (paved road to grass to big trees to small trees).

With that in mind, let’s look at the Johto towns.

New Bark Town

Most starting towns are small and have little going on in them and New Bark is no different. However, it still has some charm. The buildings are not arranged on a grid, which gives it a more organic feeling, as if this were a town that developed naturally without city planning. The small patches of grass that you can walk on break up the paved area, and the swaying flowers provide a nice nook to hide in. There is also the tantalizing promise of the water to the East. If this is your first Pokemon game, you may not be aware that you can even surf on that water! This gives you an incentive to come back later on when you've learned Surf. Overall, a cute small town.

Cherrygrove City

I like the pink roofs. The staggered placement of the houses is also welcome, as are the patches of grass and flowers. The outcropping you can surf to is another plus, as most players will probably have forgotten about Cherrygrove entirely later in the game. For the most part, though, this town is quite forgettable. I like the Old Man who shows you what a Pokemon center and a Mart are, but besides that, nothing really happens here.

Violet City

We're now beginning to get into the more elaborate designs. Most of the houses are not on a grid, though there appears to be a main street that the gym, school, and mart are placed on. Many of the houses are nuzzled into a corner, surrounded by smaller trees, which suggests a real life version of this place would have a lot of landscaping and smaller pines. We have surf secrets here, both to the northeast and northwest. There is also a cuttable tree.

We start having our big landmarks here. Sprout tower is one of the most memorable parts of the game for me, introducing what I view as the unapologetically Japanese tone of this game. The exterior looks like a pagoda, while the interior is constantly swaying. We also begin getting folklore in this town, with it being said that the Sprout tower was built around a 100 foot tall Bellsprout.

Overall, a good city, with a natural layout that incentivizes exploration and unique landmarks.

Azalea Town

A smaller town on the level of Cherrygrove. I like the grass as well as the outcroppings of rock that appear in the unreachable regions. There's also a berry tree next to Kurt's house, which introduces you to berries.

Saving this town from monotony is the Slowpoke well, which has a story attached to it about Slowpokes getting their tails cut off to be sold by Team Rocket. An old man was also pushed down the well (!) when you first come in. This also has a bit of folklore attached to it, as it is said that rain comes when the Slowpoke yawn.

The brown color palette is pleasant and matches the rocks quite well. Azalea town is cozy, though by itself (that is, not taking into account the interior of the Slowpoke dungeon or the routes surrounding it), its layout is quite boring.

Goldenrod City

This is easily the most urban settlement in Johto, with not a scratch of grass to be seen except for by the gardener's house. In addition, there is not just the common white paving, but actual red brick marking the common paths.

There are multiple landmarks in this city. The radio tower, the underground, the bullet train, and even the department store.

While you cannot surf from Goldenrod City, I think you can surf to it. Notice on the Western side there is one little patch of land with no gate surrounding it.

Ecruteak City

Ecruteak City is perfectly aligned on a grid. Goldenrod City is also on a grid, but the houses are placed haphazardly, giving the impression of heterogeneity. Ecruteak, in contrast, is almost perfectly homogenous. The smaller houses have trees placed behind them to be the same height as the Pokemon center and gym. The only house that doesn't fit in is the small one in the West, and even that one has symmetry with the bare patch of land immediately next to it with the sign describing the city.

This grid pattern is likely a tribute to the city of inspiration for Ecruteak, Kyoto. Kyoto, like many Japanese cities with traditional city structures, has long streets lined by long buildings. It seems that the designers tried to mimic this with the assets they had available in the game, without limiting freedom of movement for the player in such a small map. It doesn't quite read "Kyoto" to me, though. Perhaps this one is a victim of the technical limitations.

There is a small pond in the upper right, but other than that, nothing in the way of natural features. Combined with the dreary burned tower in Crystal, the impression the city gives is somber and constrained.

Olivine City

Olivine city is another highly urbanized city, though there are grass patches surrounding the gym. Major landmarks include the lighthouse. You can surf a lot around this city, which makes sense as it is a port. The major decoration appears to be fences. For some reason, there are fences between a house and its adjacent Pokemon center. Why? Wanting to force the player through a certain route? There is heterogeneity in this city, but it is mostly boring. There is little of visual interest. The lighthouse mostly looks like a regular house that happens to be tall (indeed, the bottom tiles and just the tiles for the regular house.)

Cianwood City

Probably the worst town, layout wise. I love the jagged placement of the houses, and it is interesting that they are all the small variants, with only official buildings having the taller houses. But there is literally nothing of interest here. There is a small ledge to the north that was placed solely for Suicune to jump off. There are rocks blocking in the northern part of the town in Crystal as well, to not spoil the Suicine surprise, but it also blocks off part of the sea for no reason.

There is only one type of paving, which makes sense as this is a 'city' built on an island that appears to be extremely rocky. But this leads to monotony in oclor choices. All parts of Cianwood look the same. The jagged shape of the mountain at least gives the city a unique shape.

Mahogany Town

The town is very cozy, with the general space of the town being quite small and cramped - the entire space is basically a square. The buildings are very close to the borders. Despite this, I like this town. The paving suggests that there are small but definite streets throughout the town. There is a good ratio of greenery to paving, which suggests the town is not uber-rustic but still in touch with its environment.

Blackthorn City

The final town. This settlement appears to have been built on a mountainside, with the ledges implying differing levels of elevation. There are rocks throughout the town, which suggests that the area was not totally cleared before settling. This lends an austere, rugged feel to the town. There are, however, still areas of greenery near the entrance to the Ice Cave and near the gym. There is a lake behind the Gym, though by this point you will have surf and there is nothing to explore.