Pokémon Red Version and Pokémon Blue Version are role-playing games (RPGs) created by Game Freak and released by Nintendo for the Game Boy in 1996. 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 by Pocket Monsters Blue later that year. The games were released internationally in 1998 and 1999 as Pokémon Red and Pokémon Blue. An improved version, Pokémon Yellow Version: Special Pikachu Edition, was released in Japan in 1998 and in other regions in 1999 and 2000.
In the game, the player controls the main character from a top-down view and explores the fictional region of Kanto. The goal is to become a Pokémon League Champion by defeating eight Gym Leaders and the Elite Four, 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 and trade or battle Pokémon between games. Both versions share the same story, and while they can be played separately, trading between the games is needed to collect all 151 original Pokémon.
Pokémon Red and Blue received good reviews, with critics praising the ability to trade Pokémon with friends. They scored 89% on GameRankings and are considered among the greatest games ever made. They have been ranked on top game lists, including IGN’s "Top 100 Games of All Time," for at least four years. The games started a very successful franchise that has sold over 400 million copies worldwide. Later versions of Red and Blue were remade for the Game Boy Advance as FireRed and LeafGreen (2004), while Yellow was remade for the Nintendo Switch as Let's Go, Pikachu! and Let's Go, Eevee! (2018). The original games were also 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 and a top-down perspective. The game has three main screens: an overworld map where the player moves the main character, a side-view battle screen, and a menu where the player can manage their Pokémon, items, or game settings.
During the game, players can use their Pokémon to fight other Pokémon. If a wild Pokémon appears or a trainer challenges the player, the screen changes to a turn-based battle. In battles, the player can choose to use one of up to four moves, use an item, switch to a different Pokémon, or try to run away. However, running away is not allowed in battles against trainers. Each Pokémon has hit points (HP), and when a Pokémon’s HP reaches zero, it faints and cannot fight until it is healed. When an enemy Pokémon faints, the player’s Pokémon that fought receive experience points (EXP). Once a Pokémon earns enough EXP, it levels up. A Pokémon’s level affects its strength, the moves it knows, and its battle stats. Some Pokémon also evolve at certain levels, which changes their stats and the moves they learn. Pokémon that have evolved gain more stats when they level up, but they may learn new moves later than Pokémon in earlier stages of evolution.
Catching Pokémon is an important part of the game. During a battle with a wild Pokémon, the player can throw a Poké Ball to try to capture it. If successful, the Pokémon joins the player’s team. The chance of catching a Pokémon depends on its HP, any status effects it has (like being poisoned or paralyzed), and the type of Poké Ball used. Lower HP, stronger status effects, and better Poké Balls increase the chance of capture. The main goal is to complete the Pokédex, a complete book about 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 necessary to complete the Pokédex because some Pokémon only evolve after being traded, and each game has Pokémon that only appear in that version. The Link Cable also lets players battle against another player’s team. When using the Game Boy Advance or SP, the standard cable does not work; players must use the Nintendo Universal Game Link Cable instead. English versions of the game cannot trade with Japanese versions because the games use different languages and character sets, which can damage save files.
Pokémon Red and Blue can trade Pokémon with Pokémon Yellow and the second generation games (Pokémon Gold, Silver, and Crystal). However, trading is not possible if a player’s 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 the Nintendo 64 games Pokémon Stadium and Pokémon Stadium 2. However, Red and Blue cannot be used with later games like those in the "Advanced Generation" for the Game Boy Advance and GameCube.
Pokémon Red and Blue are known for having many glitches, possibly because the game was very large compared to the development team’s experience at the time. One famous glitch involves encountering MissingNo., a glitch Pokémon with multiple forms that appears when certain errors occur. Other glitches allow players to catch rare Pokémon like Mew, which is not normally available. Another glitch, called the "EXP underflow glitch," lets players change numbers in the game’s code to make Pokémon reach their maximum level faster.
Plot
The game begins in Pallet Town, a town in the Kanto Region. This region is based on but different from the real-life Kantō region in Japan. The player starts alone and walks into tall grass, where they meet Professor Samuel Oak, a well-known Pokémon researcher. Professor Oak warns the player 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 picks a Pokémon that is strong against the player’s choice. He then challenges the player to a battle with their chosen Pokémon and continues to fight them at key points in the game.
As the player visits cities in the region, they will find special places called Gyms. Inside these buildings are Gym Leaders, who must be defeated in battles to earn eight Gym Badges. After collecting all the badges, the player is allowed to enter the Pokémon League at the Indigo Plateau. This is where the best trainers in the Kanto Region compete. The player battles the Elite Four and then faces their rival, who is the Pokémon League Champion. Throughout the game, the player also fights Team Rocket, a group that uses Pokémon to commit crimes. Team Rocket tries to steal rare Pokémon, and the player must stop them.
The game Pokémon Red and Blue takes place in the Kanto Region, which is based on the real-life Kantō region in Japan. This region is unique because it has different areas, such as forests, mountains, and oceans, where the 151 known Pokémon species live. Human towns and cities are connected by paths called Routes. Some places can only be reached after the player learns a special ability or finds 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 cities has a Gym with a leader who is a boss to defeat. Battles with the Elite Four and the final match against the rival happen at the Indigo Plateau. Pokémon can be caught in different areas, such as caves (like Mt. Moon, Rock Tunnel, Seafoam Islands, and Cerulean Cave) and the sea. For example, Tentacool can only be caught by fishing in water areas, and Zubat can only be found in caves.
Development
In 1990, a game developer named Satoshi Tajiri presented the idea of Pokémon to Nintendo's staff. Many employees were unsure about the idea, believing it was too difficult to make and hard to understand. However, a Nintendo leader named Shigeru Miyamoto saw the idea's potential and helped the company move forward with the project.
The Pokémon concept was inspired by Tajiri's childhood hobby of collecting insects. As he grew up, he noticed fewer insects in his town due to more buildings being built. He also saw children spending more time indoors instead of playing outside. Tajiri wanted to create a video game with creatures similar to insects, which players could name and control to express emotions like fear or anger. This was meant to help children manage stress. In the game, Pokémon do not bleed or die in battles; instead, they faint. Tajiri avoided showing violence in the game to prevent adding more violent content to video games.
The idea of trading Pokémon came from a challenge Tajiri faced while playing Dragon Quest II: Luminaries of the Legendary Line. He struggled to obtain a rare item, while another player, Ken Sugimori, had two of them. Tajiri tried to find a way to trade items between games but discovered it was not possible on the Famicom. When the Game Boy was released, Tajiri believed its link cable would allow players to trade Pokémon. This was a new idea in the video game industry, as cables were usually used for competitions. Tajiri described the idea of transferring information between Game Boys as exciting. 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 possibility of creating games beyond action genres.
The main character, named Satoshi, was inspired by Tajiri himself. He said, "He's me as a kid." The rival character, named Shigeru, was inspired by Shigeru Miyamoto, who Tajiri respected as a mentor. Ken Sugimori, an artist and friend of Tajiri, 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 create accurate images.
The game was originally called Capsule Monsters but changed names several times due to trademark issues, becoming CapuMon and KapuMon before settling on Pocket Monsters. Tajiri believed Nintendo might reject the game, as they did not understand the concept at first. However, the games became a success, surprising both Tajiri and Nintendo, especially since the Game Boy was losing popularity.
The idea of the Poké Ball came from Ultraseven's Capsule Monsters, a superhero show. Nintendo spent $13 million marketing Pokémon Red and Blue in the United States.
The game's music was created by Junichi Masuda, who used the Game Boy's four sound channels to make melodies, sound effects, and Pokémon "cries." He composed the opening theme, using white noise to mimic marching music and a snare drum. Masuda wrote the music on a Commodore Amiga computer, which only played PCM samples, and converted the music to the Game Boy using a program he developed.
Release
In Japan, the first versions of the games were called Pocket Monsters Red and Green. Development was completed in October 1995, and the original release date was December 21, 1995. However, the release was delayed until February 27, 1996, because other products related to the games were not ready for sale. After a slow start, the games sold well. Later, Pocket Monsters Blue was released in Japan as a special edition for subscribers of CoroCoro Comic on October 15, 1996. It was later available to the general public on October 10, 1999. This version included updated artwork and new dialogue. The game used Blastoise as its mascot, and its code, script, and artwork were used for the international versions of Red and Green, which were renamed Red and Blue.
To increase interest, Tajiri included a secret Pokémon called Mew in the games. He believed this created many stories and kept people curious about the game. Mew was originally added as a joke by Shigeki Morimoto and was not meant for players. Later, Nintendo distributed Mew through a promotional event. However, in 2003, a glitch allowed players to obtain Mew without official events.
During the North American localization of Pokémon, a team led by Hiro Nakamura renamed the Pokémon based on their appearance and traits, with Nintendo’s approval. Nintendo also trademarked the names of all 151 Pokémon to ensure they were unique to the franchise. Translating the games required reprogramming them from scratch because their original code was too fragile. The games were based on the Japanese version of Blue, using its programming and artwork but keeping the same Pokémon distribution as the original Red and Green.
As the Red and Blue versions were prepared for release, Nintendo spent over 50 million dollars on promotion, worried the games 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. He saw the challenge of introducing the games to America. Despite these challenges, the original designs were released in North America on September 28, 1998, more than two and a half years after the Japanese release. The games were well-received, and Pokémon became a successful franchise in the United States. The same versions were later 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. Ricardo Feist, Concentra’s marketing director, chose Monte Real because its name resembled the game’s title and to give children outside major cities a chance to participate. He noted that the Pokémon animated series was already airing on SIC. Concentra aimed to sell 50,000 units by year’s end and planned merchandising with a 35,000 contos marketing 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. The game was designed to match the Pokémon anime, with Pikachu as the starter Pokémon and the rival starting with Eevee. Some characters, like Jessie and James from Team Rocket, resemble those in the anime.
Pokémon Yellow changed several aspects 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 their actions. This feature was later used in Pokémon HeartGold and SoulSilver, as well as in Pokémon: Let's Go, Pikachu! and Let's Go, Eevee!. Yellow includes a minigame called “Pikachu’s Beach” accessible through contests or data exchanges using the Transfer Pak. The game has better graphics and can print Pokédex entries onto stickers using the Game Boy Printer.
Pokémon Yellow was developed by Game Freak after the completion of the Japanese version of Blue. Nintendo may have considered a “Pokémon Pink” version based on leaked code. Yellow’s release coincided with the first Pokémon movie and was initially 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 October 1999. Volkswagen and Nintendo created a yellow Volkswagen New Beetle inspired by Pikachu to promote the game.
In February 2016, to celebrate the 20th anniversary of the first Pokémon games in Japan, Nintendo re-released
Reception
The games received mostly positive reviews, with an average score of 88% on GameRankings. Many reviewers praised the multiplayer features, such as trading and battling Pokémon with others. Craig Harris of IGN gave the games a perfect score of 10 out of 10, saying the challenge of catching all the Pokémon is the game’s biggest attraction. He also noted that the games became very popular, especially among children, calling it a "craze." Peter Bartholow of GameSpot gave the games an 8.8 out of 10, saying the graphics and sound were simple but not major drawbacks. He praised the games for being fun to play again because of their variety and customization. He also said the games are both easy for new players and enjoyable for experienced gamers, calling them one of the best Game Boy games ever made.
The success of these games is due to their creative gameplay rather than advanced graphics or sound. Studies from Columbia Business School before 1999 showed that children in America and Japan prefer fun gameplay over fancy visual or audio effects. In Pokémon games, the simple graphics actually helped encourage children’s imagination. The Guardian wrote that the simple gameplay made the games enjoyable, even with the basic 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 received positive reviews, with an average score of 85% on 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 said the game is very addictive and called it "insulting" for not adding enough new features compared to Red and Blue. IGN’s Craig Harris gave Yellow a perfect score, saying it was the best game to start with.
GameSpot’s Cameron Davis called Yellow a temporary solution to keep players interested until the release of Gold and Silver. He said the new challenges were enough but not much more. GameDaily’s Chris Buffa said Yellow was a repeat of earlier games but still worth playing because of some new additions. 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 game had good mechanics but lacked features, calling Nintendo’s actions greedy and saying Yellow marked the point where Pokémon became 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 huge success, selling over 31 million copies worldwide. In Japan, Red, Green, and Blue sold 1.04 million copies in 1996 and 3.65 million in 1997, making them the best-selling games of the year. By 1997, 7 million copies had been sold in Japan, and by 1998, 10 million copies had been sold. The games were also supported by the Pokémon Trading Card Game, which together 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 by the end of 1998. Pokémon Blue entered the top 20 best-selling games in December 1998, and Pokémon Red followed in January. The games stayed in the top 20 for most of 1999, selling 6.1 million copies and becoming the best-selling game of 1999 in the U.S. By 2007, the games had sold 9.85 million copies in the U.S. In Europe, the games earned over €60 million in sales by 1999. In France, over 2.5 million copies were sold in one year, and in Germany, they received two awards for selling over 2 million copies. In the United Kingdom, the games received two Platinum awards for selling over 600,000 copies.
Globally, the games sold over 31 million copies. In 2004, Joseph Tobin called them "the most successful computer game of all time." In 2009, IGN said they were the "Best-selling RPG on the Game Boy" and "Best-selling RPG of all time." In 2017, Guinness World Records named them the "Best-selling Videogame (excluding bundle sales)."
In Japan, the games sold 1.549 million copies in 1998, making them the third-best-selling game of that year. Before their release in North America, Nintendo expected to make $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 season. The game sold 150,000 pre-orders and became the fastest-selling handheld game ever, selling over 1 million copies in ten days. A movie, Pokémon: The First Movie, was released around the same time, which Nintendo said helped increase sales.
In North America, the game was compared to popular toys like Furby and Tickle Me Elmo. It helped increase Game Boy sales from 3.5 million in 1998 to 8 million in 1999. Yellow was the third-best-selling game in North America in 1999. Stores ran out of Yellow, and Target apologized for not meeting demand. A spokesperson for FuncoLand said shortages of the Game Boy Color and Yellow caused a drop in sales.
For its European launch, 2 million units were shipped across the continent in June.
Legacy
The video game website 1UP.com made a list of the "Top 5 'Late to the Party' Games," showing selected games that "prove a gaming platform's untapped potential" and were among the last games released for their respective consoles. Red and Blue were ranked first and called Nintendo's "secret weapon" when they were released for the Game Boy in the late 1990s. Their success helped bring back popularity to the Game Boy in the late 1990s. Nintendo Power listed the Red and Blue versions together as the third best video game for the Game Boy and Game Boy Color, stating that players kept playing until they caught every Pokémon. Game Informer's Ben Reeves called them (along with Pokémon Yellow, Gold, Silver, and Crystal) the second best Game Boy games and said they had more depth than they appeared. Official Nintendo Magazine named them one of the best Nintendo games of all time, placing them 52nd on their list of the top 100 games. Red and Blue made number 72 on IGN's "Top 100 Games of All Time" in 2003, where reviewers noted that the pair of games "started a revolution" and praised the deep game design and complex strategy, as well as the option to trade between other games. Two years later, it climbed to number 70 in the updated list, with the games' legacy again noted to have inspired multiple video game sequels, movies, television shows, and other merchandise, strongly rooting it in popular culture. In 2019, PC Magazine included the games on their "The 10 Best Game Boy Games" list. In 2023, Time Extension included the game on their "Best JRPGs of All Time" list. In 2007, Red and Blue were ranked at number 37 on the list, and the reviewers remarked on their longevity:
For everything that has come in the decade since, it all started right here with Pokémon Red/Blue. Its unique blend of exploration, training, battling, and trading created a game that was far more in-depth than it first appeared and one that actually forced the player to socialize with others in order to truly experience all that it had to offer. The game is long, engrossing, and sparkles with that intangible addictiveness that only the best titles are able to capture. Say what you will about the game, but few gaming franchises can claim to be this popular ten years after they first hit store shelves.
The games are widely credited with starting and helping pave the way for the successful multi-billion-dollar series. Five years after Red and Blue's initial release, Nintendo celebrated its "Pokémon anniversary." George Harrison, the senior vice president of marketing and corporate communications of Nintendo of America, stated that "those precious gems [Pokémon Red and Blue] have evolved into Ruby and Sapphire. The release of Pokémon Pinball kicks off a line of great new Pokémon adventures that will be introduced in the coming months." The series has since sold over 300 million games, all accredited to the enormous success of the original Red and Blue versions.
On February 12, 2014, an anonymous Australian programmer launched Twitch Plays Pokémon, a "social experiment" on the video streaming website Twitch. The project was a crowdsourced attempt to play a modified version of Pokémon Red by typing commands into the channel's chat log, with an average of 50,000 viewers participating at the same time. The result was compared to "watching a car crash in slow motion." The game was completed on March 1, 2014, boasting 390 hours of multi-user controlled non-stop gameplay.
In 2017, The Strong National Museum of Play inducted Pokémon Red and Green into its World Video Game Hall of Fame. In October 2021, the Japan Sumo Association formed a partnership with The Pokémon Company to celebrate the 25th anniversary of Pokémon Red and Blue, and gyōji (professional sumo referee) were seen wearing Poké Ball-themed kimono during the January 2022 tournament.
Pokémon FireRed Version and Pokémon LeafGreen Version are enhanced remakes of Pokémon Red and Blue. The new games were developed by Game Freak and published by Nintendo for the Game Boy Advance and have compatibility with the Game Boy Advance Wireless Adapter, which originally came bundled with the games. However, due to the new variables added to FireRed and LeafGreen (such as changing the single, "Special" stat into two separate "Special Attack" and "Special Defense" stats), these games are not compatible with older versions outside of the third generation of Pokémon. FireRed and LeafGreen were first released in Japan on January 29, 2004, and released in North America and Europe on September 9 and October 1, 2004, respectively. Nearly two years after their original release, Nintendo re-marketed them as Player's Choice games.
The games received critical acclaim, obtaining an aggregate score of 81 percent on Metacritic. Most critics praised the fact that they introduced new features while still maintaining the traditional gameplay of the series. Reception of the graphics and audio was more mixed, with some reviewers complaining that they were too simplistic and not much of an improvement over the previous games, Pokémon Ruby and Sapphire. FireRed and LeafGreen were commercial successes, selling a total of around 12 million copies worldwide.
Pokémon: Let's Go, Pikachu! and Pokémon: Let's Go, Eevee! are enhanced remakes of Pokémon Yellow Version, released in November 2018 for the Nintendo Switch. They were aimed at newcomers to the Pokémon series and incorporate mechanics from Pokémon Go. The games take place in the Kanto region and include only the original 151 Pokémon from