Pokemon Red
The Legacy that Was Pokémon Red
For as long as one can remember, the television animation series Pokémon has become a part of the lives of millions of children worldwide. Who would not remember Ash Ketchum and his gang of cute little Pocket Monsters, Pikachu, Squirtle, Bulbasaur, and Charmander? We saw the trend: from watching the series every night, to the release of the Trading Card Game. Children attend meets to “fight” their Pokémon, trading some with the monsters that they do not have in their deck. Some of the children even find it a good hobby to memorize all 151 first-generation Pocket Monsters.
What brought about this worldwide trend was the release of the Gameboy Game: Pokémon Red. This version came alongside the Blue version, and both are role-playing games (or RPGs) developed by GameFreak and published by Nintendo. Japan, being the birthplace of the Pokémon series, was the first country where it was released, followed shortly by the major continents: North America, Australia and Europe.
The setting of the gameplay takes place in the fictional Pallet Town in the region of Kanto. IN the beginning, you will be greeted by Professor Oak, who’s going to give you a little backgrounder in to the details of Pokémon. Then he’s going to ask for your name; using the controls, you’ll input the desired name you want for your character. He’ll then introduce you to his grandson, saying that he was your rival since you were little tykes; Professor Oak ridiculously forgets the name of his own grandson.
After introductions are made, you will find yourself in the house of your character, you’ll be meeting your mom, who’ll tell you that Professor Oak from next door is looking for you. However, after visiting asking random people and visiting his laboratory, Professor Oak is nowhere to be found. In this light, you must look for him across the town. Just as you are leaving town, though, he’ll call out to you and take you back to his laboratory.
In the laboratory, he’ll let you choose from among the Pokémon that he has left. His grandson-your rival-will also take one Pokémon after you choose yours. There are three Pokémon types you can choose from: Fire-type Charmander, Water-Type Squirtle, and Seed-type Bulbasaur. Whatever you choose, your rival will choose the one that will most likely defeat yours: if you choose Squirtle, he’ll select the Seed-type; if you choose Bulbasaur, he’ll pick the fire-type; and if you choose Charmander, he’ll take the Water-type. Before you leave the laboratory, you’ll have to fight with your rival to test your Pokémon.
With your very first battle, you can see the fight interface where you can first choose if you want to: 1) Fight; 2) Run; and 3) look into your Bag. If you run, then you lose the fight by default. If you fight, then you can choose from among the available skills that your Pokémon has.
After the game, you can go around and fight other trainers and gym leaders to become the best Pokémon trainer in the world.
Pokémon Red and Blue were re-created as FireRed and LeafGreen for the latest version of the famed gaming platform, Gameboy Advance.
Tags: pokemon gameboy games, pokemon red