Pokémon Red Version and Pokémon Blue Version are role-playing video games (RPGs) created in 1996 by Game Freak and published by Nintendo for the Game Boy. These games are the first in the Pokémon video game series. They were first released in Japan as Pocket Monsters Red and Pocket Monsters Green, followed later that year by a special edition called Pocket Monsters Blue. The games were released internationally in 1998 and 1999 as Pokémon Red and Pokémon Blue. A special version, Pokémon Yellow Version: Special Pikachu Edition, was released in Japan in 1998 and in other regions in 1999 and 2000.
In the games, players control a main character and explore the fictional region of Kanto. The goal is to become the Pokémon League Champion by defeating eight Gym Leaders and the Elite Four, who are the strongest trainers in Kanto. Another goal is to complete the Pokédex, a game encyclopedia that lists all 151 Pokémon. Players use the Game Link Cable to connect two Game Boy systems, allowing them to trade or battle Pokémon between games. Both versions share the same story, and while they can be played alone, trading between the games is needed to collect all 151 original Pokémon.
Pokémon Red and Blue were praised by critics for their multiplayer features, especially the trading system. They received an average score of 89% on GameRankings and are often listed among the greatest games ever made, appearing on top game lists such as IGN’s "Top 100 Games of All Time" for at least four years. The games started a very successful franchise that sold over 400 million copies worldwide. They were remade for the Game Boy Advance as FireRed and LeafGreen (2004), and Yellow was remade for the Nintendo Switch as Let’s Go, Pikachu! and Let’s Go, Eevee! (2018). The original versions were re-released on the Virtual Console for the Nintendo 3DS in 2016 to celebrate their 20th anniversary.
Gameplay
Pokémon Red and Blue are played from a side view, looking down at the game world. The game has three main screens: the overworld, where players move around the map; the battle screen, which shows two Pokémon fighting side by side; and the menu, where players can manage their Pokémon, items, and settings.
Players use their Pokémon to fight other Pokémon. When a wild Pokémon appears or a trainer challenges the player, the game switches to a turn-based battle screen. During battles, players can choose to use one of four moves, use an item, switch their active Pokémon, or try to run away. However, running away is not allowed in battles against trainers. Each Pokémon has health points (HP). If a Pokémon’s HP drops to zero, it faints and cannot fight until it is healed. When an enemy Pokémon faints, the player’s Pokémon earn experience points (EXP). After earning enough EXP, a Pokémon levels up. A Pokémon’s level determines its abilities, such as strength and speed, and the moves it can learn. Some Pokémon also evolve at certain levels. Evolution changes their abilities and the moves they learn. Pokémon that have evolved later may gain more abilities when they level up but might learn new moves later than those in earlier forms.
Catching Pokémon is an important part of the game. During a battle with a wild Pokémon, players can throw a Poké Ball to try to catch it. If successful, the Pokémon joins the player’s team. The chance of catching a Pokémon depends on its HP, whether it has a status effect (like being poisoned), and the type of Poké Ball used. Lower HP, stronger status effects, and better Poké Balls increase the chance of catching a Pokémon. The main goal is to complete the Pokédex, a guide that lists all 151 Pokémon, by catching, evolving, and trading for every creature.
Players can trade Pokémon between two cartridges using a Game Link Cable. This is needed to complete the Pokédex because some Pokémon only evolve after being traded, and each game has unique Pokémon. The Link Cable also allows players to battle against each other’s teams. On Game Boy Advance or SP systems, the standard cable does not work; players must use the Nintendo Universal Game Link Cable instead. English and Japanese versions of the game are not compatible, and trading between them can damage save files because the games use different languages and character sets.
Pokémon Red and Blue can trade Pokémon with Pokémon Yellow and the second generation games (Gold, Silver, and Crystal). However, players cannot link if their team includes Pokémon or moves from the second generation. Using the Transfer Pak for the Nintendo 64, players can transfer Pokémon and items from Red and Blue into Pokémon Stadium and Pokémon Stadium 2. Red and Blue are not compatible with later games in the "Advanced Generation" series for Game Boy Advance and GameCube.
Pokémon Red and Blue are known for having many glitches, possibly because the game was complex for the developers at the time. One famous glitch involves encountering a Pokémon called MissingNo, which appears in different forms when certain errors are made. Other glitches allow players to catch the rare Mythical Pokémon Mew. Another glitch, called the "EXP underflow glitch," lets players change numbers in the game’s code to make Pokémon reach the highest level possible.
Plot
The player starts in their hometown, Pallet Town, located in the Kanto Region (based on, but not the same as, the real-life Kantō region of Japan). After exploring the tall grass alone, the player is stopped by Professor Samuel Oak, a well-known Pokémon researcher. Professor Oak explains that wild Pokémon live in the area and that exploring alone can be dangerous. He takes the player to his laboratory, where they meet Oak’s grandson, a rival who wants to become a Pokémon Trainer. Both the player and the rival are asked to choose a starter Pokémon from Bulbasaur, Squirtle, or Charmander. Oak’s grandson always selects a Pokémon that is strong against the player’s choice. He then challenges the player to a battle with their new Pokémon and continues to battle them at key moments.
As the player visits cities in the region, they will find special buildings called Gyms. Inside these Gyms are Gym Leaders, who must be defeated in Pokémon battles to earn eight Gym Badges. After collecting all the badges, the player is allowed to enter the Pokémon League at the Indigo Plateau, a place where the best Pokémon Trainers in Kanto compete. There, the player battles the Elite Four and finally faces their rival in a final match. Throughout the game, the player also fights Team Rocket, a group that uses Pokémon to commit crimes, such as stealing rare Pokémon.
The games Pokémon Red and Blue take place in the Kanto Region, which is modeled after the real-life Kantō region of Japan. This region is unique because it has different environments, such as forests, mountains, and oceans, where the 151 known Pokémon species live. Human-populated towns and cities are connected by Routes. Some areas can only be accessed after the player learns a special ability or obtains a specific item. Kanto includes many settlements, such as Pallet Town, Viridian City, Pewter City, Cerulean City, Vermillion City, Lavender Town, Celadon City, Fuchsia City, Saffron City, Cinnabar Island, and the Indigo Plateau. Except for Pallet Town, Lavender Town, and the Indigo Plateau, each of these locations has a Gym with a leader who acts as a boss. The battles against the Elite Four and the final match against the rival take place at the Indigo Plateau. Pokémon can be caught in various areas, such as caves (like Mt. Moon, Rock Tunnel, Seafoam Islands, and Cerulean Cave) and the sea. For example, Tentacool can only be caught while fishing or in water, and Zubat can only be caught in caves.
Development
In 1990, Satoshi Tajiri shared his idea for Pokémon with Nintendo's workers. Many were unsure if the idea would work, believing it was too big and hard to understand. However, Shigeru Miyamoto saw value in the idea and helped Nintendo move forward with the project.
The idea for Pokémon came from Tajiri’s childhood hobby of collecting insects. As he grew up, he noticed fewer insects in his town due to more buildings and less open space. He also saw children spending more time indoors. This inspired him to create a video game with creatures similar to insects. Tajiri believed players could name and control these creatures to express emotions like fear or anger, helping them manage stress. Unlike other games, Pokémon could not bleed or die in battle—they only fainted. Tajiri wanted to avoid adding unnecessary violence to games.
The idea to trade Pokémon came from a problem Tajiri faced while playing Dragon Quest II: Luminaries of the Legendary Line. He struggled to get a rare item, while a friend, Ken Sugimori, had extra copies. Tajiri realized trading items between games was not possible on the Famicom. When the Game Boy was released, he saw its link cable as a way to let players trade Pokémon. This was a new idea for the video game industry, as cables were usually used only for competition. Tajiri said, “I imagined a chunk of information being transferred by connecting two Game Boys with special cables, and I went wow, that's really going to be something!” Shigeru Miyamoto suggested creating multiple cartridges with different Pokémon to support trading. Tajiri was also influenced by The Final Fantasy Legend, a Game Boy game that showed the potential for more than action games.
The main character, Satoshi, was named after Tajiri himself. He said, “Basically, he's me as a kid.” The rival character, Shigeru, was named after Shigeru Miyamoto, who inspired Tajiri. Ken Sugimori, a friend and artist, led the design of Pokémon with a small team of fewer than ten people. Atsuko Nishida created designs for Pikachu, Bulbasaur, Charmander, Squirtle, and others. Sugimori finalized each design, drawing Pokémon from different angles to help the graphics team.
The game was originally called Capsule Monsters, but legal issues with names led to changes, including CapuMon and KapuMon. Eventually, it became Pocket Monsters. Tajiri feared Nintendo would reject the game, as they did not understand it at first. However, the game became a success, especially as the Game Boy was losing popularity.
The Poké Ball idea was inspired by Ultraseven’s Capsule Monsters from a 1960s TV show. Nintendo spent $13 million marketing Pokémon Red and Blue in the United States.
The music for the game was created by Junichi Masuda. He used the Game Boy’s four sound channels to make melodies, sound effects, and Pokémon “cries.” He wrote the opening theme, using white noise to mimic marching music and a snare drum. Masuda composed the music on a Commodore Amiga computer and converted it to the Game Boy using a program he wrote.
Release
In Japan, the first versions of the games, called Pocket Monsters Red and Green, were released. Development was completed by October 1995, and the games were originally planned to be released on December 21, 1995. However, the release was delayed until February 27, 1996, because related products were not ready for sale. After a slow start, the games sold well. Later, in October 1996, Pocket Monsters Blue was released in Japan as a special edition for subscribers of CoroCoro Comic magazine. It was later sold in stores on October 10, 1999. This version had updated artwork and new dialogue. The game used Blastoise as its mascot, and its code, script, and artwork were used for the international releases of Red and Green, which were renamed to Red and Blue.
To generate interest, the game’s creator, Tajiri, included a hidden Pokémon called Mew in the games. He believed this created rumors and kept people curious about the game. Mew was originally added as a joke by another developer and was not meant for players. Later, Nintendo decided to share Mew through a promotional event. However, in 2003, a glitch was discovered that allowed players to find Mew without official events.
When the games were localized for North America, a small team led by Hiro Nakamura renamed the Pokémon based on their appearance and traits, with approval from Nintendo. Nintendo also trademarked the names of the 151 Pokémon to keep them unique to the franchise. Translating the games proved difficult because the original code was too fragile. As a result, the games were reprogrammed from scratch using the updated Japanese version of Blue. The Pokémon distribution remained the same as in the original Japanese Red and Green games.
As the games were prepared for release in North America, Nintendo spent over 50 million dollars on promotion, worried the series might not appeal to American children. The localization team suggested redesigning the Pokémon to make them more appealing, but Nintendo’s president, Hiroshi Yamauchi, refused and saw the challenge as an opportunity. Despite these challenges, the original versions of Red and Blue were released in North America on September 28, 1998, over two and a half years after their Japanese debut. The games were well-received, and Pokémon became a successful franchise in America. Later, the same versions were released in Australia in 1998 and in Europe on October 5, 1999, becoming the second-to-last Game Boy game released in Europe before Pokémon Yellow.
In Portugal, Pokémon Red and Blue were officially released on October 15, 1999, in Monte Real, Leiria District. Nintendo’s local distributor, Concentra, partnered with the local government to rename the town “Pokémonte Real” for the day. The launch event, organized by Bago, included about 50 children and cost 5,000 contos. Concentra’s marketing director, Ricardo Feist, chose Monte Real because of the similarity between the town’s name and the game’s title, and to give children outside major cities a chance to participate. At the time, the Pokémon animated series was already airing on SIC television. Concentra aimed to sell 50,000 units by the end of the year and planned merchandising with a 35,000 contos budget to create a “Pokémania” in Portugal.
Two years after Red and Green, Nintendo released Pokémon Yellow, an improved version of Red and Blue, in Japan in 1998 and in North America and Europe in 1999 and 2000. This game was designed to match the Pokémon anime series, with Pikachu as the player’s starter Pokémon and Eevee as the rival’s starter. Some characters, like Team Rocket’s Jessie and James, resemble those in the anime.
Pokémon Yellow improved several features of the original games. Pikachu is the only starter Pokémon and has a voice and personality. It follows the player and can grow to love or hate them based on actions. This feature later appeared in Pokémon HeartGold and SoulSilver, and in Pokémon: Let's Go, Pikachu! and Let's Go, Eevee!. Yellow includes a minigame called “Pikachu’s Beach,” accessible through a Nintendo contest or a challenge in Pokémon Stadium using the Transfer Pak. The game also has better graphics and can print Pokédex entries onto stickers with the Game Boy Printer.
Pokémon Yellow was developed by Game Freak after completing the Japanese version of Blue. Nintendo may have considered a “Pokémon Pink” version, based on leaked source code. Yellow’s release coincided with the movie Pokémon: The First Movie and was first called Pocket Monsters Yellow in Japan. It was released in Japan on September 12, 1998, in Australia on September 3, 1999, in North America on October 19, 1999, and in Europe on June 16, 2000. A Pikachu-themed Game Boy Color bundle was released in North America in 1999. Volkswagen and Nintendo created a yellow Volkswagen New Beetle inspired by Pikachu to promote the game.
In 2016, to mark the 20th anniversary of the original games, Nintendo re-released Red, Blue, and Yellow on the Nintendo 3DS Virtual Console. These versions included simulated Link Cable functionality for trading and battling. Green remained exclusive to Japan. Players could transfer Pokémon from these games to Pokémon Sun and Moon using the Pokémon Bank application.
A special Nintendo 2DS bundle was released in Japan, Europe, and Australia on February 27, 2016, with each console matching the color of the game version. North America received a New Nintendo 3DS bundle with cover plates styled after Red and Blue’s box art. By March 31, 2016, combined sales of the re-releases reached 1.5 million copies, with more than half sold in North America.
Reception
The games received mostly positive reviews, with an average score of 88% from GameRankings. Critics especially praised the multiplayer features, which allowed players to trade and battle Pokémon with each other. Craig Harris of IGN gave the games a "masterful" score of 10 out of 10, saying: "Even if you finish the main story, you might still miss some Pokémon. The challenge of catching all of them is the game's biggest attraction." He also noted the games' popularity, calling it a "craze" among children. GameSpot's Peter Bartholow gave the games a "great" score of 8.8 out of 10. He mentioned the graphics and audio were somewhat basic but said these were the only drawbacks. He praised the games' replay value because of their customization and variety, and he described them as having "universal appeal." He said: "Under its cute exterior, Pokémon is a serious and unique RPG with lots of depth and excellent multiplayer features. It is easy enough for new players to enjoy, but it also appeals to experienced fans. It is one of the best Game Boy games ever made."
The success of these games is due to their innovative gameplay rather than advanced audio or visual effects. Studies from Columbia Business School published before 1999 showed that both American and Japanese children preferred the actual gameplay of a game over special audio or visual effects. In Pokémon games, the lack of these effects helped encourage children's imagination and creativity. The Guardian wrote: "With all the talk of game engines and texture mapping, it is refreshing to see gameplay that makes you ignore the simple 8-bit graphics."
At the Academy of Interactive Arts & Sciences' 2nd Annual Interactive Achievement Awards, Pokémon Red and Blue won the award for "Outstanding Achievement in Character or Story Development." They also received nominations for "Console Game of the Year," "Console Role-Playing Game of the Year," and "Outstanding Achievement in Interactive Design."
Pokémon Yellow was also well received by critics, with an average score of 85% from GameRankings, making it the fifth highest-rated Game Boy game of all time. The Sarasota Herald-Tribune recommended Yellow as a good game for children. RPGFan called it "so addictive that players have no choice but to 'catch 'em all.'" They also said the additions in Yellow were limited compared to Red and Blue. IGN's Craig Harris gave Yellow a perfect score, praising its mechanics and calling it the best game to start with among the three.
GameSpot's Cameron Davis called Yellow a "stopgap" to keep players interested until the release of Gold and Silver. He said: "The new challenges are enough to fill the gap—but only just." GameDaily's Chris Buffa listed Yellow as one of the best Pokémon games, saying it was a rehash but had enough new content to be worth playing. Allgame's Brad Cook said Yellow was good for players who had not played Red and Blue but advised others to wait for Gold and Silver. The Daily Telegraph's Steve Boxer said the gameplay was strong but the game lacked features. He described Nintendo's actions as greedy, saying Yellow "marks the point where Pokémon becomes more of a marketing effort than a game."
Pokémon Yellow received two nominations: "Game of the Year" and "Console Game of the Year" at the 3rd Annual Interactive Achievement Awards.
Pokémon Red and Blue started a franchise that became a multibillion-dollar success. In Japan, Red, Green, and Blue sold 1.04 million units combined in 1996 and 3.65 million in 1997. This made Pokémon the best-selling game in Japan that year, surpassing Final Fantasy VII. By 1997, about 7 million units had been sold in Japan. In 1998, Red, Green, and Blue sold 1,739,391 units in Japan. By 1998, 10 million units had been sold in Japan. Overall, Pokémon Red, Green, and Blue sold 10.23 million copies in Japan, and until November 2022, it was the best-selling video game in the country. The video games were supported by the Pokémon Trading Card Game, and together, they earned over $4 billion in sales in Japan by 2000.
In the United States, the games became the fastest-selling Game Boy games, selling 200,000 copies in two weeks and 4 million units by the end of 1998. They became the best-selling video game of 1999 in the United States, with 6.1 million copies sold that year. By 2007, total sales in the United States reached 9.85 million copies. In Europe, the games earned €60,388,924 or $64,362,515 (equivalent to $124,000,000 in 2025) in 1999. In France, over 2.5 million copies were sold in a year. In Germany, the games became the first video games to receive two Special Prize awards from the Verband der Unterhaltungssoftware Deutschland (VUD) for selling more than 2 million copies by early 2001. In the United Kingdom, Red and Blue received two Platinum awards for selling more than 600,000 copies.
Worldwide sales reached over 31 million copies. In 2004, Joseph Tobin called it "the most successful computer game of all time." In 2009, IGN referred to Pokémon Red and Blue as the "Best-selling RPG on the Game Boy" and "Best-selling RPG of all time." In 2017, Guinness World Records declared the games the "Best-selling Videogame (excluding bundle sales)."
In Japan, the game sold 1,549,000 units in 1998, making it the third-best-selling video game of that year in Japan.
Before its release in North America, Nintendo expected it to earn $75 million during the 1999 holiday season. The Pokémon Yellow Game Boy Color bundle was predicted to be the second-most popular toy of the holiday season. In North America, the game received about 150,000 pre-orders. The bundle debuted at #2 in video game sales and reached #1 a week later. The standard cartridge sold over 600,000 units in its first week and 1 million copies within ten days, becoming the fastest-selling handheld game of all time. Pokémon: The First Movie, released around the same time as Yellow, was expected to boost sales. A Nintendo spokesperson said the high demand for the Game Boy Color during the 1999 Christmas season was due to
Legacy
The video game website 1UP.com created a list called the "Top 5 'Late to the Party' Games," which highlighted games that showed the potential of gaming platforms and were among the last games released for their consoles. Pokémon Red and Blue were ranked first on the list and called Nintendo's "secret weapon" when they were released for the Game Boy in the late 1990s. Their success helped make the Game Boy popular again during that time. Nintendo Power listed the Red and Blue versions as the third best Game Boy games, noting that players enjoyed catching every Pokémon. Game Informer’s Ben Reeves ranked them (along with Pokémon Yellow, Gold, Silver, and Crystal) as the second best Game Boy games, saying they had more depth than they seemed. Official Nintendo Magazine named them one of the best Nintendo games of all time, placing them 52nd on a list of the top 100 games. Red and Blue ranked 72nd on IGN’s "Top 100 Games of All Time" in 2003, where reviewers said the games "started a revolution" and praised their complex design and trading features. Two years later, they rose to 70th on an updated list, with reviewers noting their lasting influence on sequels, movies, TV shows, and merchandise. In 2019, PC Magazine included the games on their "The 10 Best Game Boy Games" list. In 2023, Time Extension added them to their "Best JRPGs of All Time" list. In 2007, Red and Blue were ranked 37th on a list, and reviewers noted their long-term impact.
The games are widely credited with starting the Pokémon series, which has sold over 300 million games. Five years after their release, Nintendo celebrated its "Pokémonniversary." George Harrison, a Nintendo executive, said that the original games "have evolved into Ruby and Sapphire," and new Pokémon games were planned.
In 2014, an anonymous Australian programmer started a project called Twitch Plays Pokémon on the streaming site Twitch. The project let users type commands in a chat to play a modified version of Pokémon Red. At times, 50,000 people watched the game together. The game took 390 hours to complete.
In 2017, The Strong National Museum of Play added Pokémon Red and Green to its World Video Game Hall of Fame. In 2021, the Japan Sumo Association partnered with The Pokémon Company to celebrate the 25th anniversary of the games, with sumo referees wearing Poké Ball-themed outfits.
Pokémon FireRed Version and LeafGreen Version are remakes of Pokémon Red and Blue. They were made for the Game Boy Advance and use a wireless adapter. However, they are not compatible with older versions outside the third generation of Pokémon. FireRed and LeafGreen were released in Japan in 2004 and later in North America and Europe. Nintendo later re-marketed them as Player’s Choice games.
The games received high praise, with an 81% score on Metacritic. Critics liked the new features but had mixed opinions about the graphics and audio. FireRed and LeafGreen sold about 12 million copies worldwide.
Pokémon: Let’s Go, Pikachu! and Let’s Go, Eevee! are remakes of Pokémon Yellow. They were released in 2018 for the Nintendo Switch and aimed at new players. They include mechanics from Pokémon Go and let players catch all 151 original Pokémon. These games sold over 13 million copies globally.
A Nintendo 64 game called Pocket Monsters Stadium was released in 1998 in Japan. It used a 3D turn-based battle system with 40 Pokémon from the first generation. A sequel in 1999 included all 151 Pokémon.