>>37052443I honestly don't remember noticing it as much when I played it as a kid. I didn't notice a lot of things then anyway.
What's weird is that even in what distribution there is, it's so easy to miss several new mons. Part of it was probably to drive home the day/night system.
1% Dunsparce without a swarm
1% Yanma without a swarm
Snubbull certain times of the day with a relatively low encounter rate
Several evolution items tied to wild encounters/post game freebies
Pineco/Heracross can take forever to find headbutting
Natu/Smeargle in that one super missable exit of Union Cave
Then drop a handful of exclusives for the version you don't have
All that said, I do remember being ecstatic when I finally found them, and even when I saw a gym leader with a coveted mon I couldn't catch yet. And there was a ton of neat shit in Johto to discover compared to Kanto - all of the Ruins of Alph, daily events(e.g. Friday Lapras), those 3 girls south of Goldenrod, etc. Not too many new team members to choose from, but you have to remember many of the available Kanto mons weren't as available in their debut game; it was much easier to snag stuff like Scyther than it was in R/B for one. Game had a lot of other good ambience going for it.
