CLASSIC GAMING
Pokemon Red/Blue
Developer:  Game Freak
Publisher:  Nintendo
Genre:  RPG
Year:  1996
System:  Gameboy


Every generation and practically every year, there is at least one huge fad that is running amok in the modern era of the human race.  No matter what decade you've lived in, you've always heard even the smallest smidgeon of some new fanatical craze that takes over the minds of children and adults.  One such man-made phenomena that conquered the world due to such a strong cornerstone of originality, was Pokemon.

Story - Pokemon begins with a simple open instruction.  You live in a world that is quite like the real world, except that living within it are many creatures called Pokemon (Pocket Monsters in full title), a bewildering array of various animals, each one with their own abilities and affinities.  You are a young kid of 10 years old ready to fulfil the dream of being a Pokemon trainer.  You obtain one of three starter Pokemon from Professor Oak (the top Pokemon expert of the game) as well as your next door neighbour and rival getting one, both of you meting out against each other throughout the game.

Your goal is to beat all the Pokemon masters of the game and show yourself as a true Pokemon trainer.  There is also the other objective of filling up your Pokedex (a small palmheld computer that indexes and catalogues Pokemon you catch) for the sake of completing the old Professor Oak's lifelong duty.


Gameplay - The gameplay of Pokemon is simple to learn yet hard to master.  In the game's world are 150 Pokemon, broken up into several different elementary classes (such as fire, water and grass).  You begin the game with one starter Pokemon of either fire, water or grass element and you must use your first Pokemon to begin your quest of fighting and capturing other Pokemon.
Pokemon in the wild can be captured by first attacking them until they are sufficiently weak enough, before throwing a Poke Ball at them, a small ball-shaped cage that, if successful, contains the Pokemon to be tamed.  You progress through the game capturing as many Pokemon as possible to not only increase the data on your Pokedex, but also to give a wider choice of allies with differing affinities to use in battles.  You can carry up to 6 Pokemon at a time.

The Pokemon are also used for battling other Pokemon trainers.  When spotted by a trainer, they will attempt to challenge you to a battle, where you must defeat all of their Pokemon using the various abilities of yours.  Each Pokemon can have up to four abilities at one time.  After defeating Pokemon either from a trainer or in the wild, your Pokemon gain experience points and can increase their levels to become more stronger against other Pokemon.  After defeating all the Pokemon a trainer has, you get to take half of their money.  However, if you lose all your Pokemon, half of your money is taken and you end up back at a Pokemon Center.


Pokemon Centers are places in towns and cities that will heal your Pokemon of all health and status changes for free.  There is also a computer where you can either access your computer (where items are stored when you have too much for your own inventory), another PC to store your Pokemon, and Professor Oak's PC where your Pokedex can be rated in its progress.
Another prime thing of the game is the fact that certain elements have more power over others.  A fire Pokemon will be weak against water, but a water Pokemon will be weak against grass.  Trial and error will come into play when you're further on in the game fighting more and more mixed elemental Pokemon, which will in turn test your skills as a Pokemon trainer.

Not only that but there also came the fact that several Pokemon are exclusive to only one version.  So one who was serious on obtaining ALL the pokemon had to find other people (yes, in the real world) and link the gameboys up via a link cable to exchange Pokemon, if only briefly, to update the Pokedex.  This linking capability also gave gamers the chance to battle each other across gameboy connections.  The beginnings of online gaming here, ladies and gentlemen.

Graphics - Being an old Gameboy game, the graphics are quite outdated and do not age well.  A very simple from-above view of the world similar to the old Zelda games.  The Pokemon themselves are not as defined as the more smooth-lined iconic forms as we all know them to be, but rather rough-looking prototypes.  Nevertheless the graphics are what you expect from Gameboy, nothing impressive but nothing too bad to look at either.


Music/Sound - The music by Junichi Masuda (who is also a chief programmer of the game) brings out some of the most classic themes ever on the Gameboy.  The ever-famous Pokemon theme, the homely twinkling of Pallet Town, the gloomier dungeon music and of course the more up-tempo desperate sounding battle music.  The music of the battles are great for getting your adrenaline going as you decide which Pokemon to pull out next to face off against your opponent's next choice, feeling your fingers already seep sweat into the buttons.  Even now you can feel a little jolt more by its rhythmic association to the battle's adrenal urge than on its own.
Sound is nothing too special though.  The Pokemon all have their distinctive cries, some of which are cute and some are odd while others are even slightly frightening.  Attacks have sounds ranging from BOOF to WHOOSH to KAAAWHUUUUMM, always adding to the feel of the battle itself, whether it be a battle against a novice bug catcher, or a powerful gym leader.

Pokemon, like any other famous thing, must always remember its roots.  Despite the likes of Pokemon Stadium, and the newer better-looking sequels of Sapphire/Ruby, Gold/Silver and Diamond/Pearl, the original Pokemon Red/Blue is the greatest for some of the fans.  In fact, it was such a brilliant game that it was blessed in 2004 with one of the best selling remakes ever made, Pokemon Fire Red/Leaf Green, with the same quality as Pokemon Ruby/Sapphire but for the original game.
Whether you gotta catch them all or not, you sure can't beat them all.  Few things can ever beat the original.

Final's Final Rating - 8/10

Yea so i bought this game for my cousin for xmas and she wouldn't stop playing it for like a day straight so i sneaked off with it and got hooked myself. so much so that i had my folks go down to wal-mart and get me a copy. It was the first time i stayed up well past midnight to play a video game. The addiction ebbed almost as quickly as it came but wow was i hooked there for a while. I think i quit playing cuz i couldn't figure out what to do next. great game tho.

ditto

I got to like 147. then something stupid happened like my little sister wiped my game or something. i can't remember exactly what happened but i sure was pissed. 

never played the cards games i love the games they have out now

Pokemon Mystery Dungeon is actually very good I can tell you that.  Kinda Zelda imitation but if you love Pokemon, it's not a bad buy.