Because, simply put, I loved this game! So, whether you want to hear about it or not (which you obviously do, seeing as you’re the one who’s clicked the hyperlink in the first place), here it is.
Story:
Well, let’s see. You are Red, a ten-year-old kid from Pallet Town (What, his name is Ash, you say? Don’t listen to that TV show! Lies, all lies!). So, naturally, now that you’re old enough you plan on doing what every other kid in the world wants to do. And what could that be? Why, embark on an incredible adventure, capturing wild beasts with supernatural powers by stuffing them into tiny spherical contraptions, thereby rendering these savage animals inexplicably tame, and then forcing them to fight each other until they beat themselves senseless, leaving you to collect the profits, of course! Uh, in plain, non-sarcastic prose, that would be: you leave home with a few Pokéballs in hopes of catching and training the best Pokémon you can find in order to become the greatest Pokémon Master of all time!
Sounds simple enough, right? Well, as you start out, you’ll soon realize that it’s anything but. Though the learning curve isn’t actually all that steep, it’ll take some getting used to. Fortunately, you’ll have some help, such as a nice old man who’ll give you a free lesson on how to catch Pokémon. There’s also your rival, a pushy, over-confident kid your age who’s gone out of his way to make sure you know that he’s better than you. He’s no pushover though, and you’ll have to train pretty hard if you want to have your Pokémon at a higher level than his for when you meet up with him, which you will at several points in the game.
Your ultimate goal is to capture every single Pokémon there is in order to complete your Pokédex, a sort of digital catalogue that is filled in with info on every Pokémon as you catch it. But before you start to get too excited, get this: there are 151 of the things. Yup, and that’s 151 if you count Mew, which is really unfair because the only way to get it anymore is through a GameShark or something similar (there was a promotional Mew giveaway for a short time, but that was long ago). So, that said, what you’re probably going to focus on the most is getting through the game itself by beating a line-up of eight Gym Leaders, spread out over the map, as well as the Elite Four. So, you’d better get moving if you’re going to do it!
Okay, the actual Review starts here. Everything will be scored on a 1 - 10 scale, as always.
Story: 6
Given, with all the detail (depending on your definition of the word, of course) put in to the explanation of the story above, you might think I’d have given it a higher score in this category. In actuality, the plot of the game is a fairly weak one; most of the score was attributed to originality. There are some really nice new concepts in this game, one that’s been copied a few times over (*coughDigimoncough*), in fact.
However, there are some interesting story developments, such as Team Rocket’s tie-in with your adventure. The haunting in Lavender Town’s tower is also worth noting, even though it’s a fairly small part.
Controls: 7
Well, there isn’t a whole lot to say here. The controls were great, and only became frustrating when you had to get on or off your bike or use a TM manually. The bike especially was annoying this way. But for the most part, everything is very straightforward and easy to get the hang of.
Visuals: 5
Well, they’re certainly not the greatest, but you’ll have to cut it a little slack. It’s only a Game Boy game, after all. During battle your Pokémon looks awfully pixelated in comparison to your opponent’s, and the most you’ll see is about ten colors because the Game Boy Color was fairly new at the point of this game’s release. The graphics for field mode are mediocre at best, but they do their job. Everything looks more or less how it’s supposed to, especially in battle. Sure, if you’ve played Pokémon Gold or Silver or even Yellow you’d think they were horrible, but I think that, for the point in time that the game was released (1998, if I remember correctly), its graphics weren’t half bad. Besides, it’s the gameplay you should really be worried about in any case… right?
Sound: 8
Not bad, actually. Simple at times, and yet you’ll probably catch yourself humming along to the battle theme after a while, or the Surfing theme, or any other of the tunes that you happen to particularly like. Most of them are pretty catchy, and don’t usually get tiresome to listen to. If I had to pick a favorite it’d probably be the theme for the final battle with your rival, but it’s been a while since I played, so I can’t remember all of the music.
Characters: 10
Of course, I guess you were expecting that. With 151 Pocket Monsters and a myriad of Youngsters, Bikers, Cooltrainers, Hikers, Mediums, Rockets, and other assorted persons, you’ve got one heck of a cast. And those are only the minors (No, not the Pokémon! The people!). As for main characters, you’ll see everything from Prof. Oak to Bill to all eight Gym Leaders. And don’t forget your rival, <insert name here>. Of course, his given name is Blue, but you probably wouldn’t know that unless you’d read the manual.
The Pokémon themselves made most of this mark, obviously. It was what made the game so likable. At least, I think so. Who can’t resist the prospect of over a hundred, wide-ranging monsters, each with the possibility of catching, to train and command at will to pummel your challengers with? If you’re anything like I was, you’d probably have fallen in love with the game shortly after purchasing it for this reason chiefly, though obviously not only that aspect.
Strategy: 9
Yup. Once you get past the many characters, somewhat linear plot, and multitude of monsters it’s what this game is really all about. Sure, it’s not like you’re suddenly going to forget about the Pokémon entirely, but after a while you’ll have to admit that beneath all the other stuff lies a complex strategic structure. And what’s more, it’s fun!
Each Pokémon has a specific type, be it fire, water, grass, or a multitude of other elements as well, sometimes more than one. In turn, each type has a weakness. Usually it’s pretty straightforward. For example, water type has the advantage over fire type, but fire has the advantage over grass, but grass has the advantage over water. This creates a bit of a triangle right there. Easy, right? Not quite. See, there are a whole bunch of types in all, and most types have more than one weakness, and more than one strength. Take Ekans, for example: being a poison type, it’s very vulnerable to both psychic and ground type attacks. But, it’s got a resistance to both bug and grass types.
By the same token, the attack you use will have more power if a Pokémon of the same type uses it. So if a Squirtle uses Water Gun, it will do more damage than if a Rattata uses it. Some attack types are at such a disadvantage that they will have absolutely no effect on another, such as a ground type attack to a Pokémon of the flying type.
How and when to use your items is also a big part of the strategy, though not nearly as big as the actual attacks. So, say you have a Potion, and your Charmander is nearly KOed. While it would probably be a wise decision to use the Potion on your next available turn, if you already know that one of your opponent’s attacks could KO your Charmander whether the Potion was used or not, you might want to skip it and see if you can get in one last hit.
TMs and HMs are certainly worth mentioning as well. A TM is a one-use item that will teach one Pokémon a certain move. This would be how a water/psychic type Pokémon like Starmie could learn an electric attack, such as Thunder, thereby giving it an edge when fighting a flying type, since it would normally have no distinct advantage. An HM is basically the same, but has unlimited uses.
Yeah, it seems complex. And it is. You can write it down if need be as you go along, but after a while you’ll find that you’re having too much fun to really care. Either way, once you’ve played long enough, Pokémon type advantages, disadvantages, items, and TMs will all become second nature. You won’t even realize that it’s slightly educational. Of course, if you’ve actually read this entire section, boring as it would seem, I’m quite impressed.
Difficulty: 7
Once you’ve mastered everything, this game isn’t that hard. However, if it’s your first time playing, it’ll take quite a while before you’ve memorized everything, if you ever do. Since it’s a puzzle game as well as an RPG, that’s another factor of the difficulty. While this definitely isn’t the hardest game around, it sure isn’t the easiest, either.
Fun Factor!: 8
I don’t really know what to say here, save for the fact that it is extremely fun, what with training, actual battles, and even puzzles. While it’s not exactly a fast-paced game, it’s packed with enough strategy to keep almost anyone busy for a good while. Unless you happen to play 24/7, of course. If you’re into RPGs, then you’ll probably like this game.
Replay Value: 6
You might think that the gameplay comes to a dead stop once you’ve finished battling the Elite Four, but the game doesn’t end there. Sure, you can’t battle any more Gym Leaders, but now’s the time to go back and amuse yourself with anything you’ve missed, such as the optional dungeon, the Power Plant. You can always retrace your adventure steps to find overlooked trainers who still want to battle, or challenge the Elite Four once again. If you’re looking for a challenge that’s more at your level, however, you’ll probably be interested in the Unknown Dungeon, since you can only reach it after you’ve beaten the Elite Four.
However, after you’ve finished all of this… the only other thing left to do is either start your game over or battle your friends via link cable. So, say none of your friends have the game? Not my problem.
Recommendation: 9
This game introduced me to the RPG genre, and right from the second the intro bit started, I knew I loved the game. I had fun playing the game, learning how it worked, and analyzing any given situation. Though my enthusiasm for Pokémon in general has died down since then, I still regret selling it. Even with the newer, more improved versions that are out now, I wouldn’t hesitate to recommend this game to anyone who’s new to the RPG genre, or anyone who just likes RPGs on the whole.
If you have the money and don’t mind taking the chance on a game that’s teetering on the edge of being outdated, I’d say that this is definitely worth it. If not, the other versions only get slightly better from here on, so maybe you’d want a somewhat newer version.
Pokémon Red is a great game,
as is Blue. I can really see why Nintendo’s trying to milk the franchise
for all it’s worth, and though I rather dislike all of those toys, TV show,
cards, and whatnot, I’d almost go as far as to say that this game’s a real
classic.