Pokémon Red/Blue Version: The First Generation of Pokemon.
Unless you’ve been living under a Geodude for the last 25 years, it’s safe to say just about everyone who’s a fan of video games knows about Pokémon. Heck there’s likely plenty of non-video game people that know about Pokémon. Pikachu itself most people see and go “Oh yeah Pokémon”. Pokémon has reached world wide status and is one of the biggest IPs in video game history.
I want to turn the clock back to when it all started, at least here in the US. Recently, the US release of the first two games of the series in Pokémon Red version and Pokémon Blue version celebrated it’s 25th year anniversary. So what better time to go back to the game’s roots?
My first memory of Pokémon was hearing that Nintendo for the GameBoy was going to do an RPG like game. At the time, I thought “Nintendo tapping into the RPG world? This is going to be awesome.” Of course I was not aware of other attempts of Nintendo trying an RPG with games like Super Mario RPG or EarthBound. This felt different. Like I knew this Pokémon thing was going to be HUGE.
I also remember getting up on Saturday Mornings and having the Pokémon cartoon/anime on the TV. Seeing all the cool Pokémon made me and my brother have to get this game. There was even talks at school about what version of Pokémon people wanted. Then on Christmas eve of that year, we at long last got our hands on Pokémon for the GameBoy. I had Blue Version, my brother had Red Version. This was a huge moment for me as it was one of the first video games I could call my own. No one else could play it or I needed to share a file. This game was mine and mine alone.
As you see with Pokémon, there are two versions that come out. Since this was around the time of the GameBoy, they could not fit all 150 Pokémon into the game. So how do you “catch em all?” That’s where trading comes in my friend. With a link cable, you can battle and trade Pokémon with a friend. In some cases this was the only way to get certain Pokémon in your game. Have Red version but want that Blue version only cool Pokémon? Better find a friend with Blue Version and trade up. It could also be possible to have all Pokémon in one game but not doing so encourages trading with your friends. This was a cool appeal that no other game had. Pokémon for most is about collecting and is a dream for the kind of gamers that go for 100% completion. The game’s tagline of “Gotta Catch ’em All” also put plenty of incentive to getting all the Pokémon, back when it was only 150 (151 if you count Mew, but we’ll get to that) and catching them all was a possible task. Now there are thousands of them in today’s Pokémon.
So what exactly is the objective of the game besides collecting and trading, after all there’s got to be a reason to PLAY the game. The game starts with you putting in your name, but then you have to put in your rivals name. In the entire game you have a rival that will challenge you to a Pokémon battle, at times can be a roadblock into progressing the game. Also your rival can be a jerk and self-centered, giving you more of a motivation to put him in his place in a Pokémon battle.
You start out in your home town of Pallet Town, a very small town with humble roots. You try to venture out into the world but Professor Oak stops you as it’s dangerous out in the tall grass. He then gives you and your rival a task. That is to complete the Pokedex, a collection book of sorts with the goal to catch as many Pokémon as possible. You then have a choice of 3 Pokémon to pick from. Bulbasaur, the grass Pokémon, Charmander, the Fire Pokémon, and Squirtle, the water Pokémon. Each of these three Pokémon have an advantage and disadvantage to the others. For example, Charmander the fire Pokémon will be good taking on grass type Pokémon since well… grass burns. However, Charmander will struggle verses Squirtle as water has an advantage against fire. I always looked at the 3 starting Pokémon as a game of Rock Paper Scissors.
There’s kind of a sense of elements that you have to factor into these things and for the most part they make sense. Electric Pokémon will be good VS Water types because as we all know, water is a conductor to electracy (Electricity and water don’t mix kids!). There are also many types of Pokémon. Finding out what types have an advantage or disadvantage is part of the adventure. Trial and error, discovering, and learning what Pokémon have moves that are super effective could be the difference in a Pokémon battle.
So you have your starting Pokémon and are ready to go out into the vast world UNTIL your rival wants to battle you to see how cool the Pokémon we got are. This is where you get the feel of how the game plays. Pokémon kind of plays like a simple RPG with your Pokémon being your part members, you have health and both people can use attacks to take away health. There’s also different kinds of moves, and status elements that can happen too, such as being paralyzed, poisoned, or put to sleep. What works best for what? Again, that’s part of the adventure. Finding out and learning what works and what won’t.
After your battle with your rival, you can now at long last go into the world. When you enter the first town, someone will stop you to show you how towns work in the game. You have a Pokémon center, that can be used to heal your Pokémon, a mart where you can buy items, and other areas that are worth exploring. Some towns will have Gyms that have a series of Pokémon battles leading up to a Gym leader. Look at these gym leaders as kind of the bosses of the game. Beating a leader will earn you a badge where higher level Pokémon will obey you. Thought you could over level your Pokémon early or trade to get a super powerful Pokémon early game to blaze past the game? Think again. If a Pokémon gets too high leveled, they won’t obey you. Earning badges makes the cap higher until you get the 8th and final badge where all levels will listen to you. Collecting all 8 badges will get you into the Pokémon League, where the best trainers are known as the elite 4. Defeat the Elite 4 and become the Pokémon champion. So in a sense there’s two main quests here, catching all the Pokémon and being well… the very best like no one ever was.
In this town, someone will stop you and show you how to catch Pokémon. This involves using an item called a Pokeball and throwing it. There’s then a chance the Pokémon is captured and becomes yours, thus where the collecting them all part comes in. Pokémon become easier to capture when they are low on health but will “faint” (that’s the kid friendly way of saying blacking out) and you can’t capture it, so you have to do a balancing act that could be very tense. Getting that one Pokémon you are trying to catch to just low enough health for an easy catch is a great feeling. If things get intense, you can always run away from wild Pokémon battles if successful. However Pokémon battles with other trainers there’s no running from.
So the goal of the game is in front of you, go to the gyms, beat the gym leaders, go to the Pokémon league, become the champion. However it’s not all that simple. The first gym leader is Brock, who specializes in rock type Pokémon and his final Pokémon in Onyx is what I call the first gear check of the game. This is the point where you might have to do some grinding. If you picked Squirtle the water Pokémon, he has a type advantage to rock type, so he’ll have an easier time. However that water Pokémon will struggle in the third gym that uses electric Pokémon. So when picking that starter Pokémon, there’s a pre-game of “Do I get an advantage early game, or do I save that for later in my adventure?” One of the main keys to Pokémon is building that 6 Pokémon team that can take all challengers.
You can try to go to the next town early if you want, however you are met with a tree blocking the way. You have to help people out in the story and some will give you a special move that you can use outside of battle. Cut (what you need here) can cut some trees blocking the way. Other kinds of these moves is Flash, that lightens up dark caves, and Surf that makes you as you may guess, swim in the water. So the game is mostly there’s a conflict in town, solve the conflict, beat the gyms, and go on. Of course there’s your rival that will want to fight you on your adventure, who is also getting stronger along with you powering up your Pokémon. I always saw this as a “let’s check your progress” with a test.
Your rival is not the only annoying thing that will be blocking your way. There is an evil organization known as Team Rocket, who want to use and abuse the power of Pokémon to you guessed it, try to take over the world. Team Rocket will start with small things but later in the game their antics become much more sinister and evil. All lead by their leader Geovanni, who spoiler ends up being the final gym leader. Once you beat him for the final badge, Team Rocket is no more and he disappears, leading up to a pretty interesting plot point in the next game in Pokémon Gold and Silver, but that’s for another day.
What makes Pokémon stand out the most is well…. the Pokémon. Each Pokémon has something different to them and some can even evolve into a better form once they reach a high enough level. All the starters have 3 forms, their starting form and 2 high level versions of themselves. It’s really cool seeing how your Pokémon evolve to even cooler designs and looks. Some Pokémon can only evolve in certain ways as well. For example, the fighting Pokémon Machamp can only get to that stage if they are traded to another player. Again, adding incentive to trading with friends. Catching certain Pokémon is not always simple. For example, the psychic type Pokémon Abra can teleport and run away from you, ending the encounter. There are also “legendary” Pokémon that are super strong but you only get one shot at them, if you run or they faint, that’s your only shot. (You can always save scum before the battle, that’s recommended if you are going for 100% in this game). Another Pokémon known as Ditto can transform into whatever Pokémon it’s battling and gaining their move set, that could lead to a very challenging battle or catch. And How can I forget the Eevee line of Pokémon. There are items known as thunder, water, and firestones. Giving Eevee one of these stones evolves it into the type the stone is, so a thunderstone turns Eevee until Jolteon, a electric Pokémon. Finding how how to get each Pokemon is part of the fun and learning cool ways to evolve your pokemon to find your most loved ones, the coolest looking, or the strongest ones, however you want to play it.
All the kids at school I remember doing battles and trading with one another, of course this sparks rumors. I remember hearing rumors of a 151st Pokémon known as Mew. Not much was known about Mew or it’s clone in Mewtwo who is #150 and is known is the most powerful of Pokémon. There was also rumors of a blue Pikachu you can get called “Pikablue” but this however became just a rumor.
Mew however was in the game and accessible via a Gameshark/Gamegenie device or doing a ton of exploits and glitches in the game. Speaking of glitches, how can I not forget about one of the most legendary glitch Pokémon of all in “Missing No.” There’s a trick to get a unlimited number of an item by doing a weird series of tasks and swimming in a specific spot. If you’re lucky, you’ll run into a glitched out Pokémon known as Missing No. Catching this no shocker, will glitch out your game. Defeating it gives you some great experience too. Clearly this was not the intent but I felt like I can’t do a Pokémon review and not cover the legend of Missing No.
So at long last, you have all eight badges and it’s time to take on the Elite 4. The Elite 4 is a gauntlet of the 4 hardest trainers, no Pokémon centers between. Can you survive the ultimate test of endurance? Each of these 4 leaders have Pokémon with very weird types. some of these being Ice, Fighting, Ghost, and Dragon types. Once you have beaten all of the Elite 4 you are the Pokémon cha… but wait! Someone has beaten you to the punch to becoming Pokémon champion, and can you believe it, it is your rival. You then have one more final battle with the rival you’ve been beating time and time again up to this point and is your final roadblock to being a Pokémon master. This is such an awesome fight as you get hyped for this final battle, and it’s not an easy fight either. A great way to do a final boss fight.
Pokémon Red/Blue Version soon would get a special yellow edition that was made for GameBoy Color, so the Pokémon game you love but now in full color! Keep in mind the Red and Blue versions of the game kind of had color but it was more shaded colors and nothing else. Yellow was the game using full color pallets and graphics. Pokémon Yellow however makes you start with Pikachu as it will follow you around as you explore the world. There was a love for Pikachu as that was the main Pokémon in the cartoon/anime, as Pikachu would then become the series’ most recognizable Pokémon.
Overall it’s very easy to see how Pokémon became such a worldwide phenomenon. The addicting fun of collecting and trading with friends, the easy to understand battle system, the desire to be the best like no one ever was, the game as it may be held together by bubblegum and tape looking back in retrospective, but it’s easy to understand why this game became such a huge hit. Some say their favorite game of the series is still the original, either that’s nostalgia talking or what, most gamers have a positive memory of this game series and players always have a favorite Generation of Pokémon. My personal favorite will always be Generation 2 in Pokémon Gold and Silver, but that’s for another day. Until next time Pokémon trainers…
