Kanto: Where It All Started
Exploring the region that set us off on our first Pokémon journey
I’m nearly as old as the Pokémon franchise itself; the games, world, and its many journeys following me as I grew up. With Pokémon Legends: Arceus and Diamond and Pearl remakes on the horizon, I found myself looking back on each and every generation, specifically the regions where these many adventures took place. Each new generation of games always provided us at least one new region to explore.
I found myself reflecting on the first region where the Pokémon franchise started, the Kanto region, and what makes it special.
Kantonian Games Include:
- Pokemon Red and Green (Japan Only — February 27, 1996)
- Pokemon Red and Blue (September 29, 1998)
- Pokemon Yellow (October 19, 1999)
- Pokemon FireRed and LeafGreen (September 7, 2004)
- Pokemon Let’s Go, Pikachu! and Let’s Go, Eevee! (November 16, 2018)
Welcome to Kanto
Kanto. The place where it all started. I think that alone deserves credit. Red and Blue were the games that hooked an entire generation on a booming craze that was set upon its initial release.
Kanto as a region played an important role in introducing the franchise to millions. The structure of the game’s world lends itself well for a playthrough. So much so that creators continue to keep on revisiting. Although fans tend to roll their eyes at GameFreak's constant love towards the region, I believe Kanto is just fun to play in and oozes nostalgia whenever GameFreak brings us back to it.
The fact you can do Gyms out of order towards the mid-game is wonderful. Some minor freedoms are always nice to have. It’s a non-linear path that’s wonderful for beginners. To this day, I still recommend FireRed as a starting off point for anyone trying to get into the series because of this. Kanto being beginner-friendly definitely lends to how enrapturing Red and Blue were at the time for people.
Something I think that flies under the radar for many people with Kanto is the air of mystery it has.
In future generations, the mysteries within the games are a little more on the nose, while in Kanto there are some themes that make the world feel more interesting and left up to interpretation. Locations such as Lavender Tower, or the scientific theme on Cinnabar Island, or the abandoned mansion where we learn of the origins of Mew, along with Mewtwo.
While the series has strayed away from these scientific themes in later generations, I still love the air of mystery they brought to the game at the time, especially for us who played the games when we were young.
FireRed and LeafGreen do not get enough credit for the experience they provide as you navigate the Kanto region, in my opinion.
These games are excellent remakes While they lack modern mechanics in many areas, they’re still the best way to experience the Kanto region. They’re faithful remakes that updated the graphics into a visually pleasing art style for the Game Boy Advance. On top of that, they are highly replayable games. Hacks of FireRed are still very popular today, including Radical Red, a fan favorite that updates the mechanics to Generation 8, while also being absurdly difficult.
FireRed has an underrated post-game as well. The Sevii Islands weren’t part of the original games, but they were added into FireRed to make its post-game a little more lively. They succeeded at that since these seven islands are wonderful to explore. They feel like their own mini-region in a way. The Sevii Islands are an example of something we want from GameFreak: completely unrequested post-game content that’s entirely optional, but genuinely fun to experience. I’ll explore other examples of this in later regions.
Where Kanto Falls Short
Many criticize GameFreak for focusing excessively on Kanto. It’s quite obvious that they do favor Kanto more than they likely should.
For example, we saw the three Kanto starters be given away for free during X and Y’s storyline, complete with their own Mega Evolutions. All three of Kanto’s starters also received Gigantamax forms in Sword and Shield. Charizard, specifically, received two Mega Evolutions, one of only two Pokémon total to receive multiple Mega Evolutions. Charizard was also featured prominently in Sword and Shield as Champion Leon’s signature Pokémon.
So it’s understandable to see people get annoyed with GameFreak treating Kanto like their precious child. However, I draw a line when people take jabs at Kanto specifically because of that. I don’t see how GameFreak overdoing Kanto equates to the region or Charizard being bad. I think that’s a flawed way of viewing the region and its qualities that have touched other games.
That said, Kanto isn’t without flaws. It is the first region, after all. The first one that GameFreak ever attempted to make.
I usually recommend FireRed and LeafGreen for a reason: it provides the best Kantonian experience. The original games, sadly, have not aged well.
While FireRed and LeafGreen have some minor outdated mechanics (such as the lack of the Physical/Special move split), Red and Blue are incredibly outdated. It’s missing three of the current 18 typings, has no Physical/Special split, too many moves fall under Normal type, and many moves have outdated accuracy and/or power. Not to mention how buggy those games can be as well. Although it is possible to play Red and Blue in 2021 and experience that nostalgia-filled fun, there are better ways to experience Kanto nowadays.
Part of that outdatedness comes from Kanto’s poor Type distribution. In later generations, GameFreak has gotten somewhat better at making sure Typings are dispersed evenly by increasing the size of regional dexes, or by adding viable options for each typing.
Generation 1 introduced the Dragon and Ghost types, which immediately became rare at the time due to only having one fully-evolved Pokémon of each type available at the time. This is a curious decision, considering that Agatha and Lance of the Elite Four were Ghost and Dragon experts, respectively. On the flip side, there is an abundance of Poison-types, many of which Agatha uses herself to make up for the lack of Ghost types. With her lineup, she’s more of a Poison expert than Ghost.
They could have rectified this problem in FireRed and LeafGreen, but that did not happen. By that time, several Kantonian Pokémon had received new evolutions during Generation 2. However, it is impossible to obtain any of them in FireRed and LeafGreen until the post-game. If I wanted a Crobat in FireRed, for example, I’d have to complete the entire game first before having the opportunity to evolve it (not to mention the tedious Happiness evolution mechanic).
Although FireRed and LeafGreen strived to be largely faithful remakes, it feels like a missed opportunity to add some more variance into Kanto.
It disappointed me they didn’t change this in Let’s Go either, but I suppose that game differed vastly from the standard Pokémon game. HeartGold and SoulSilver handled this issue the best by adding the new evolutions into the regional Dex to allow the player access to them during the main story.
Something that’s noticeable in Kanto compared to recent generations is how basic the routes are. Kanto’s simplicity has some charm, but compared to the more dynamic and interesting routes in Hoenn, Sinnoh, Unova, and even Kalos… Well, Kanto could do for some more flavor. Even a little rain or snow in some sections would’ve gone a long way in the remakes in elevating the visuals.
Personally, Kanto isn’t one of my favorite regions, but I still respect it and like playing through its games. It’s about the middle of the pack for me.
What holds Kanto back from its modern-day counterparts is the lack of a decent way to experience it in 2021, along with its lack of modern standards that GameFreak has neglected to experiment with adding in the remakes. Let’s Go is a fun little side game in my eyes, but I wouldn’t consider it a main game, or a genuine Pokémon experience. Comparing FireRed and LeafGreen’s simplicity to the tropical, varied environments of Ruby and Sapphire (from the same generation at that) just makes it feel barren in comparison.
To end on a positive note, I think Kanto gets a little too much flak in 2021 from the Pokémon fanbase. We shouldn’t put Kanto on this high pedestal, I agree — but we also should not undermine what Kanto established for the franchise. It’s a familiar and lovable region. Kanto feels like home whenever I return to the region, and I think that feeling alone is worthy of respect.
