We Learn More About Satoru Iwata’s Pokémon Gold and Silver Work

You may be familiar with Nintendo’s beloved President, Satoru Iwata, who died in 2015. The rumor about his role in 1999’s Pokémon Gold and Silver is likely familiar.

Iwata reportedly created a compression code that reduced game size, allowing Game Freak to include both Kanto and Johto.

This story was nearly confirmed by old interviews and in-game dialogue from later entries. New details from DidYouKnowGaming on YouTube show that Iwata’s contribution to Gold and Silver was speed, not size.

The video above explains that the algorithm found in the games’ data (a tweaked version of EarthBound and other HAL Laboratory games) increases game speed. The start of a battle, the opposing Pokémon’s appearance, and other minor events usually take fractions of a second. It all makes for a smoother experience than previous builds.

Thus, developers added Kanto despite Iwata’s algorithm, which reduced storage by a few percent. Iwata’s work probably wasn’t as revolutionary as we thought, but it saved players from long load times.