Pokémon Blue Version

The Good
What Pokemon ultimately was back in 1996 was a game completely unlike anything the medium had seen up to that point. Here was a game that used its multiplayer component not solely as a way for people to prove how much better they were than each other, but designed so that players could work together for that 100% completion goal that's been hanging over games since the invention of saving. Truly it was a moment of genius deciding to release two versions of the game, with no single copy allowing access to the complete package.

And the game is certainly constructed well enough to hold up that significance. This was the point when Sugimori and co had just enough ideas to give us a variety of colourful creatures to catalogue but not so many that it unbalances the game. An admirable feature is the restriction of each pokemon to 4 attacks which (in theory, anyway) should give the player plenty to consider when putting their team together. Of course, the limited resolution of the Game Boy screen meant that Tajiri-san needed to design an interface for the battle screen that was straight-forward and had no real learning curve, freeing up the player's time to mull over their attack plan while Junichi Masuda underscored the tension.

The Bad
The ultimate problem with this game, and the series as a whole, is that it just doesn't know what to focus on. There's this plot about an organised criminal gang running around abducting other people's pokemon, but the team of four writers considered that to be a diversion. The end credits only roll when you win a tournament up on a mountain. Throughout the game, it feels like actually interesting events are happening when you're not around. It is entirely possible for a game like this to have a clear and present narrative and still be a good time sink, so it feels like a missed opportunity.

The Bottom Line
You can't help but admire what this first set of games ultimately were. A uniquely socially-oriented phenomenon that, while somewhat lacking in overall direction, is spot-on in terms of design and complex enough to make for an engaging experience.

The Good
The ups about this game is you actually get to be a trainer! Catching the pokemon and using an assortment of poke balls. The plot was good and so was the story line too.

The Bad
The downs are you don't get to pick if you're a girl, also it got quite easy to beat everone at the end. The graphics also looked non-colored in my Game Boy Color.

The Bottom Line
I think this game overall is a good one to have.

The Good
It's really fun to play this unique RPG, it's so cool that you can train Pokemon, the puzzles are mostly to get things to give to people, the best part is defeating team rocket, you'll find them in different cities, and you'll have to defeat their leader twice (he has very strong Pokemon) in order to succeed in the game, I have now finished the Pokemon league 18 times,sounds easy huh?You're downright wrong, it's terribly tough the first 3 times, after that your Pokemon will become very strong. Currently my strongest Pokemon is Blastoise, level 100 (the last level). The puzzles are not very difficult, so it's not really a puzzle-solving game, although (thank god) does not have a lot of action like Zelda games, it's not really an up-down game either, it's mostly an adventurous RPG, with a touch of action.

The Bad
The animations of the attacks didn't match the magical animations of the animated series.

The Bottom Line
I give Nintendo a 5 out of 5 for this delightful mix of RPG/ Adventure/ Mild Action!