Pokemon! You know Pokemon! The series with that yellow rodent thing, right? Pokemon has exploded into the media and into our hearts as one of the most popular and beloved franchises ever. As an RPG franchise, it’s probably the biggest one, even bigger than the likes of Final Fantasy and Elder Scrolls. Where did it all start? Pokemon Red and Blue.
These old Game Boy games are either considered nostalgic or archaic. Let’s see how I think of them! What better time to do so with the announcement of the Pokemon Let's Go games!
Story:
You are a new Pokemon Trainer! Fresh from Pallet Town, your goal is to not only become the best Pokemon trainer by becoming the champion, but to complete the Pokedex by catching all 151 (that’s right, I said it) Pokemon! Along the way, you will have to stop Team Rocket from committing their evil deeds. Time to explore Kanto!
Story is pretty basic, so basic it makes the current Pokemon games look like Kingdom Hearts by comparison. It’s definitely not the strong point of Red and Blue, but it’s enough to keep you going.
Gameplay:
This is Red and Blue’s best aspect.
In case you haven’t played a Pokemon game before, allow me to explain. Pokemon is a turn based RPG. Battles are between creatures you most likely know as Pokemon. Gameplay consists mainly of battling and catching Pokemon to create the best Pokemon team possible! Move around in grass to find wild Pokemon to battle and catch.
Let me explain battles. Battles are turn based, and the Pokemon with the highest speed moves first. Defeat all the opposing Pokemon to win! Against wild Pokemon, to catch them, lower their HP to increase your odds of catching it. Against a opposing Pokemon trainer it is not much different, just that the Pokemon trainer may have multiple Pokemon, and you are unable to catch a trainer’s Pokemon. Battling is more than just picking attacks and throwing any Pokemon out to battle. It’s about knowing which type of Pokemon to send out, what moves to use for maximum effectiveness, building your team to support each other… Pokemon DOES have strategy. However, the strategy is a bit undermined by the fact that Psychic type Pokemon reign supreme, and it’s completely possible to go all Psychic pokemon and win, removing some of the previously mentioned strategy. This is not a problem in later Pokemon games.
Overall, Red and Blue may have the weakest gameplay out of all the core Generation Pokemon games, but it’s nowhere near bad, and is still relatively enjoyable to this day.
There are also a bunch of glitches in the game that ruin it a bit.
Graphics and Sound:
Definitely the weakest part of Red and Blue is overall the graphics. They aren’t terrible; they look good for the Gameboy, they just look incredibly aged today. The Pokemon look good, though the Kanto region looks average at best. Without color, graphics look a bit lifeless, but besides that the game looks good enough!
Speaking of Pokemon, the Pokemon in Red and Blue are classic, some of them being timeless! They are all pretty cool and varied in design.
Can't beat the classics sometimes.
While the sounds and music are dated as well, they aren’t as bad as the graphics! Even for an 8-bit portable console attack sounds are quite spot on! Fire sounds like fire! Thunder sounds like Thunder! Water sounds like water! The Music in Red and Blue is filled with memorable tunes like Route 1 and the Champion music. The rest of the music is quite serviceable.
Conclusion:
Pokemon Red and Blue are aged, but not bad! The gameplay despite a few quirks is still Pokemon quality. Music and sounds are decent, and overall the game is still fun! I’d honestly recommend it to mostly hardcore Pokemon fans who either want a taste of nostalgia or haven’t tried the games yet. Despite the age, I can see why Pokemon became the hit it became in the 90’s.
Score: 7.25/10
Back in the day this was one of the best portable games! It's aged a bit, but I'd argue that there are plenty of other games that have aged worse (Mario 64).
Hehe, I see. I think Mario 64 has aged beautifully because of how well it controls and plays even to this day.