I think pic related could've derailed its hype a little bit had it (and, necessarily, also Star Version) come out in 1999 in the USA. That was Pokemon's peak year in the biggest market, and since there was no Pokemon clone out there then, the two Robopon versions would have sold boatloads since they are instantly recognizable as a "Pokemon" game for kids wanting more after playing Red and Blue (or even if it had come out after Yellow's US release). But since it came out in late 2000, Robopon seemed like nothing more than an ancient, shitty, tedious clone rather than like its 1998 release in Japan: a Pokemon clone with a bunch of new ideas and features that pre-dated GS, including (as I just found today) "nighttime" and other time-based events.

That's not an attack against Gold and Silver, which remain two of the best games of all time for a reason. It's an attack against Hudson and possibly Atlus for not diving into Pokemania when they had the opportunity. Gold and Silver marked the end of Pokemania and with it the end for any potential Pokeclones to be successful. I should know, as I blind-bought Sun Version one December evening in 2000, and though it was really interesting to me in a conceptual sense and a very decent game in its own right (even despite its absurd load times), it just wasn't executed fun after playing through Silver months before.