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What was it like playing Pokémon Red and Green when they first can out in early 1996?

WaterTypeStarter

Well-Known Member
What did other people think of you playing them? Did you ever imagine the franchise would be as big as it is 26 years later today?
 

Nutter t.KK

can Mega Evolve!
I was playing in early 99, when Pokémon hit Europe and the UK. Back in 90s', Europe often got console games several month to years after US or Japanese release date, and this was the case until during the DS/Wii era. (This was somewhat down to PAL/NTSC for console games.) I also found out about emulators and Roms as well, but then it was before the UK release date. By this time, we could tell there would be tidal wave of Merch and Promotional material heading to us. We also got alot of stuff quite quickly, while the US got the First Movie during Xmas 99, we got it the Following April, which was just over a year since the Show hit the UK. (The show appeared before the games.)

At the time, I wasn't sure if it was going to be a "Flash in the Pan" thing or kept going like Mario or Sonic had done. Well, I'd already worked out back then Mario was going to stay around, in some form. Digimon kinda fizzled in Europe, but then we got the first 3 seasons of the TV show and random games in hap-hazard way.

By 06 , it really got clear Pokémon was going to be staying for long while.
 

Lucrei

New Member
What did other people think of you playing them? Did you ever imagine the franchise would be as big as it is 26 years later today?
A bit of a thread bump, but I'm qualified to answer this so hopefully I'm forgiven.
I was quite young when the games came out. I received my blue GameBoy Pocket and a copy of Red Version from my parents one Christmas at about 7 or 8 years old.

I remember that when I started it was so amazing being given a choice of a creature to be my companion. It raised so many questions and possibilities. Shortly thereafter when I discovered you could catch more of the critters, my little mind was blown.

I was absolutely enamoured. Pokemon was basically the coolest thing I'd experienced in my life.
I'd take that GameBoy everywhere, and I even lost it on a building site with Red in it one day. I was distraught but Mum helped me find it thankfully, and save for a little dust, dirt and scratches everything was in working order. I still have it to this day.

The anime was the perfect companion, and I learned much about Pokemon and life following the adventures of Ash, Pikachu, Misty & Brock.
I also had "The Pokemon Handbook" which was essentially a real life Pokedex of sorts, and when I wasn't playing the game or watching the show I was reading that book and memorising everything I could.

It always felt bigger than it was. It's a very simple and basic looking game, but I felt like I'd been transported to a different world that felt as alive as the one we find ourselves living in. To that extent I knew it had the potential to be something big, but I honestly I was just overjoyed when the second generation came out. I didn't have any notion of it becoming this absolute juggernaut of a franchise even though I knew it was quality.

Pokemon was such a huge thing in the 90s that no one really 'thought' anything about someone else being into it. It was a cultural phenomenon in the same way something like the Marvel Cinematic Universe is today. I think it was around high-school (Ruby & Sapphire) when Pokemon started to become "uncool", but that was just kids being awful and judgmental I believe.
 

Yardas

Well-Known Member
Pokémon Red and Blue were released in Europe during 1999. I wouldn't have any idea about 1996 but I can spread a few words of what was it like playing in early 2000, when I started with the Blue version. I played the latter through the original Game Boy, the one in black and white, and I'd say it was a fantastic experience - I attended elementary school back then and many of my classmates were into these video games as well. The thing pretty much kept going on until 2004 - around or after that year unfortunately the Pokédust settled down, but I do still have very good memories about that "era".
 

TwilightBlade

Well-Known Member
I don't think anyone here played Red & Green in 1996 so probably nobody can tell you. From what I heard even in Japan it took the games a few months to become popular.
 

Leonhart

Imagineer
Red and Green weren't an instant success in Japan, but it seems that Red and Green gradually developed a major following during their first year of release because of CoroCoro magazine promoting them heavily, which was the same magazine that published the first Pokemon manga if I remember correctly. Then the card game was released, and then Blue version came out before the anime did, although it was first only available through a limited mail-in offer before being available in stores.
 

Copley Hill Gym

Well-Known Member
I had Pokemon Green, after my dad saw it on eBay in 1999 after buying me Red in the UK for Christmas. For many years I was convinced it was a fake - because it had a grey cartridge (little did I know, this was how it was packaged in Japan!) It still played well though - what was amazing was that recently, rediscovering the cartridge, it turns out it's definitely the real deal, still with box, instruction booklet and leaflet. Like a time warp!
 

Captain Jigglypuff

Leader of Jigglypuff Army
I kept seeing kids play the games and I kept seeing what I thought was a duck but was actually the player character’s back during and after battles. From a distance on the tiny GB screen he does look like a weird little duck and the hat made it look like a duck’s bill. So I asked a kid one day why he was playing as a duck in this new game that everyone was playing and he looked at me and said, “That’s not a duck! It’s a person!”

Now take a look at this from a distance and squint and tell me that you can’t see the “duck”:

db55k37-6f816c78-448d-4b49-a7bb-e33f32a8604c.png
 

Nutter t.KK

can Mega Evolve!
I kept seeing kids play the games and I kept seeing what I thought was a duck but was actually the player character’s back during and after battles. From a distance on the tiny GB screen he does look like a weird little duck and the hat made it look like a duck’s bill. So I asked a kid one day why he was playing as a duck in this new game that everyone was playing and he looked at me and said, “That’s not a duck! It’s a person!”

Now take a look at this from a distance and squint and tell me that you can’t see the “duck”:

db55k37-6f816c78-448d-4b49-a7bb-e33f32a8604c.png
That's a remade version of the sprite, not one used in the games.
 

Copley Hill Gym

Well-Known Member
Which reminds me…

I recently went on a small eBay hunt for some original Japanese cartridges. I now have the complete set of Red, Green, Blue and Yellow, all boxed and working. I have done battery changes on two out of four so far.

The big thing for me is that I’ve been playing Pokemon Red now for two weeks. And it still holds up. It’s not nostalgia goggles though, it’s because I am an older gamer and I am now playing very differently to how I used to. Badge boost glitch? I am taking advantage at every opportunity. Using Dodrio instead of Pidgeot or Fearow? Easy win, until I get aerodacytl. Buying the magikarp early doors to take advantage of gyrados throughout? Yes. Mew glitch to have at least one Mew before Misty? Absolutely.

I’m also making sure I catch everything in every area. Before I would have returned to each area, this time I am trying to be a completionist. Articuno and Zapdos both caught as early as possible. No longer using ultra balls but using great balls and only 2/3rds health down with paralysis.

Noticing the different tile sets used throughout the game, including grass and sea tiles and “shop” instead of “mart”. Wondering why some of Pokemon Red and Green’s good sprites - see Blastoise - were replaced in favour of truly awful ones later on. Realising Mew really does have fetal qualities in its very first form, as does Mewtwo (see Earthbound’s final boss Giygas which was the inspiration).

The games in their very original Japanese form might have a lot of glitches (which are not noticeable, actually, you really have to know your stuff to find them or take advantage of them - see mew glitch) but the thing that really shines out for me is the polish on making the over world feel real. It’s a tiny game really and yet they squeezed so much in. 151 monsters when there could have been up to 190 (see Helix Chamber for details) doesn’t detract from the overall quality of the game.

I now realise on playing through the game in my 30s, long after my teens, that the appeal of Pokemon was never the battling either. It’s the creatures themselves. They feel more real and more like old friends than any of the Dragon Quest monsters, for example. The design of the battle screens, status screens and Pokédex entries all add to this. The creatures are dots on a screen, but you feel emotionally attached to them.

This was carefully designed, lovingly thought out, and on reflection of the various leaks that have shown us beta Kanto and cut Pokemon and art, I do feel strongly that the design team got the balance right in Pokemon Red and Green. The games are masterpieces from a playability and aesthetic level.

I don’t think this was flash in a pan either, I have played every generation and they do always get the monsters right, even if other parts of the games might be less than stellar (see graphics/sky battles/etc).

I feel though they need to do something special for the upcoming 30th anniversary. Crazy how close it is now! We need a fresh take on the original games, on switch. Something nostalgic but also blowing everything else out of the water.

Oh and FYI the first Pokemon I caught this time around? No.25. I walked into Viridian forest, and there was Pikachu. Who wouldn’t immediately catch it, despite having to fight Brock shortly? It was useful for Misty…!!!
 

bme™

"Could it be... the legend...?"
While I didn't play Red or Blue when they first came out, I first played Yellow in 1999. I thought the game was amazing. It was fun to play a game like that where you could be so creative with your team and go on a journey. I didn't think it would ever be this huge. It was just a fun looking game when I saw a preview for it in Nintendo Power before it hit America.
 
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