Pokémon: Red Version

From the B&W screen of Pokemon Red Version & Blue Version to the TV screen of the N64 for Pokemon Stadium 2, Pokemon has been the best game from Nintendo sinse Super Mario Bros. It has had more sequels in three years than most of the other popular video games have ever had! Two thumbs up!

Pokemon Blue Version is probably my favorite game for the original Gameboy. It is challenging, but certainly not impossible, and it's extremely addictive. It's a sandbox style game where you can walk around to different towns and talk to various people, and as your Pokemon grow in level and learn new moves, you can find new areas and new Pokemon and items.

Your character you play as has just woken up to the first day when they can get a Pokemon. You go to Professor Oak and he gives you the choice of 1 of 3 different starter Pokemon. Your main goal is to collect all 8 badges from the different Gym Leaders and catch new Pokemon to fight them. In the end, you are granted access to a cave containing the genetically engineered Mewtwo, which is a very climactic battle, more so than in any other game up to this point.

This game is just pure fun. The battles are cool to get into and necessary to get money to buy more items for your Pokemon. Some of the sub-plots are really interesting, including trying to get through a ghost tower full of unknown ghosts, and you must first get a scope to see what they are, and the constant attacks from Team Rocket who for some reason just want to bully you. The music in the game actually really impresses me too. It's like a full musical score, with some well thought out tunes, my favorite being the creepy tune from Lavender town, which is a creepy and sad song. After you've beaten the game and collected all the Pokemon there's not much to do, but good look trying to collect them all without cheating. It will take you days. It's just a great game.

Pokemon has been killed with the television program and the trading cards, and even the more complicated newer games. The oldest is the best, and is one of the funnest games I've ever played! My rating: **** out of ****.

PokZmon's draw is not just because of the cute characters, but because it is actually one of the most lovingly made games ever. Taking a full six years to program, Satoshi Tajiri and his team at Game Freak really made this game a labour of love. It is a very customisable game, with literally thousands of possibilities for you and your PokZmon. The Simple, everyman story is great- you can actually make the character you, and your rival either someone you have a friendly rivalry with, or someone you have a bitter hatred of. PokZmon encourages creativity, and the many forms of PokZmon will be out for years

Despite what people said, this games are still pretty damn fun, revolutionary and are very underrated these days. People tend to compare negatively to newer games in the series unfairly, despite a lot of these comparisons are or because of the "look" of the game or the aspects it lacks from newer entries. I couldnt disagree more, but lets start step by step.

This game looks incredible for a black and white portable console in 1996. All of the Pokemon, NPCs and enviroment are varied and incredible detail (and yes, a black and white game can be detailed). 151 playable creatures on an RPG was just too much, when in previous RPGs this wasnt as close. Pokemon was always the Gran Turismo of RPGs, and with this first entry isnt an exception. And how the Pokemon style being different than the anime is a negative point? First of all, the anime was released AFTER the game, and even if this wasnt true, the Pokemon have a very good artstyle compared to newer games in the series, being much more creepy and realistic (probably because first gen was meant to be closer to vanilla RPGs, and this is also reflected on the gameplay side, i would talk about that later). The Pokemon designs in Gen 1 are underrated as hell.

Later the soundtrack, probably the most well made 8 bit soundtrack i ever heard, just listen to some themes like gym leader and you would know what im saying. There are some complex tracks, some simple ones, but overall the music is so catchy and memorable.

And last of all, the gameplay... probably the most controversial aspect of Gen 1 along with the graphics, but like any of my reviews, i have the most unpopular opinions, so feel free to hate me. Gameplay in Gen 1 is very solid, one of the best RPG gameplays of the time. Apart that you have an incredible variety of Pokemon, every one is different and have unique moveset, stats and the stats arent fixed. A different Pokemon from the same species and same level can have different stats, so this feels so fresh and natural even today. The map design, pacing and difficult curve is also great, the game never feels like a chore compared to newer entries and the trade system is a welcome aspect, even if it has some flaws that i would talk about that later.

Pokemon Red And Blue, despite what people said, are so well made games that even today i can have a lot of fun at it (and things like the special stat being basically the intelligence stat on older RPG didnt make any difference to me)... But.... A lot of ambition on a weak console can make you in trouble. And this game has flaws... Not a few serious ones that ruins the game, but is the type of game with lots of minor ones. Like trade being obligatory to complete the Pokedex, a few unbalances here and there, LOTS of hidden glitches, Pokemon box and a big etc.... But that ruins the game? No. The game started it all and still plays well imo, so i cannot blame it for this flaws that mostly are for technical limitations. Pokemon Red And Blue, if you can ignore some annoyances here and there and some lack of quality of life improvements you will encounter with one of the best RPG ever made that still feels good to play, even with all of the new entries in the series thanks to being the most unique of all and the most simple, aka, it doesnt put iff or buts like Gen 2, but that would be for another review.

The cards, the show, the countless numbers of toys. Who could've expected so much to come from one simple Game Boy game? It drew me with its strange theme and my own curiosity, and I must say that never before have I been so taken in by a video game in my life. The premise is very simple: become the greatest pokemon trainer by catching as many as you can. The level of gameplay, on the other hand, is unmatched. There are 15 different elements that the Pokemon base their powers on. Each has a strength and weakness. The key is to teach the Pokemon a good variety of attacks and make good use of various advantages that one ability can have. For a guy that has memorized the first 151 creatures by number, I must warn that this game is dangerously addictive. If you haven't gotten involved by now, there's little chance that you will. Yet, it is definitely worth checking out. The best game for the Game Boy at this time so far. 10/10