Pokemon Liquid Crystal

Before HeartGold and SoulSilver existed, fans already wanted a modern Johto. Pokemon Liquid Crystal is one of the longest-running attempts at that: a remake of Pokemon Crystal built on FireRed, with Game Boy Advance graphics, remastered music and the whole Gold/Silver/Crystal journey rebuilt from the ground up.

The project was started by linkandzelda, and Synyster_Zeikku later became co-owner with a focus on graphics. Its official forum thread is labelled a "Live Beta", and that is an honest description: the hack has been updated in public builds for years, and the most widely used version, 3.3.00512, dates from September 2016.

You get the familiar Crystal route — Johto's eight gyms, the Elite Four, then Kanto — with the same trainers and leaders, now drawn in a richer GBA style. Liquid Crystal adds a day and night cycle, weather that changes with the seasons, new and hidden areas, and the Orange Islands from the anime as an extra region.

Because it is unfinished, you should go in with the right expectations. Players report that the real-time clock does not always behave correctly and that the Orange Islands section feels incomplete. As a way to see Crystal reimagined on the GBA it is still charming, but it does not have the polish of a complete hack.

• Full remake of Pokemon Crystal's story on a FireRed base
• Johto and Kanto with updated maps and GBA-style graphics
• Orange Islands as an extra region
• Remastered music
• Day and night cycle
• Weather that changes with the seasons
• New and hidden areas to explore
• Same trainers and gyms as the original, redrawn for GBA

Liquid Crystal keeps roughly the difficulty of the original Crystal. It is not a challenge hack, so it works well for a relaxed nostalgia run or for someone who never played Gen 2.

If you want a finished Johto with modern mechanics, the DS remakes or Drayano's Sacred Gold and Storm Silver are more complete options. Liquid Crystal is for players curious to see Crystal in GBA style.

• Patch the latest beta, 3.3.00512, onto a clean FireRed ROM.
• Enable the real-time clock in your emulator (mGBA has an RTC option); if time-based events act oddly, that is a known issue.
• Save in more than one slot — this is a beta, and bugs are possible.
• Treat the Orange Islands as a bonus, not a finished region.
• Do not mix saves from much older betas with the newest patch.

The 3.3 Live Beta is the build most players use. Walkthroughs written as late as 2023 still describe the game as incomplete, and there is no announced date for a final release. Expect a long, playable journey with some rough spots rather than a polished final product.

Liquid Crystal sits in an interesting spot. Crystal Clear and Polished Crystal stay on the Game Boy Color and focus on new mechanics or an open world, while Sacred Gold and Storm Silver build on the DS remakes. Liquid Crystal is the only one of these that reimagines Johto with GBA art, seasonal weather and the Orange Islands.

That makes it the most interesting choice if you care about atmosphere and visuals, and the weakest if you need a finished, bug-free game. Many players try it for the presentation and then finish their Johto run in one of the complete hacks.