that this is on the same system as Super Mario Land is like a magic trick. made obsolete by every subsequent installment in the series, but still fun. it also taught me to read as a child, at least partially. the cartridge I still have will always be one of my most precious possessions.

The nostalgia for this game clouds what is ultimately a shitty game. The UI is total shit and often makes basic tasks a cumbersome knowledge test. The way stats work is astoundingly retarded - no Sp.Df makes psychic moves way overpowered, speed gives you crit chance, etc not to mention a lot of bugs that make play inconsistent. Even then, you likely wouldn't know all of this because both the ai and encounter design is braindead. The plot and setpieces are iconic but basic and boring.

Missing No. took over the school yard. Hushed tones etc. Related: I watched a full out brawl unfold over someone ripping a foil Chairzard card in half at recess. Everything Pokemon was BANNED so fast.

Era-defining.

/completed

A good game that stands alone. This is more so to catch all the pokemon and battle your friends vs theirs in pokemon stadium.

A great gameplay experience that is hampered by constant bugs and a handful of uninteresting Pokemon design. However, it feels like a grand adventure of the highest scale and rewards people who do like to do everything.

I remember back in the day being surprised at how good of an RPG this was.

This game is everything. It is history, it was the game of the playground, it started it all. You caught them all and nothing more sweet than beating your 9 year old brother when you're 3 years his junior.

Warts and all this was the beginning. Special was only one stat. Hypno was a powerhouse as was Alakazam. The journey to craft your own team and become Pokemon Master started here. It would get better in later renditions- but still could be even better in even those renditions. Enjoy your two-tone pokemon!

No one could have predicted the impact these games would have. But even looking past all that. The world to explore is astounding when considering the GameBoys processing abilities. It has massive replay value and there is even a sense of humor thrown into some of the dialogue.

They're still the best ones yeah I said it. Fuck all this training and breeding and thousands of samey-looking boring creatures bullshit, just give me the first 150 and a bunch of cool towns.

It hasn't aged very well, and I couldn't recommend it over Fire Red/Leaf Green unless you are just nostalgia hungry or a super fan that really wants to experience it. It was the start of a phenomenon though and I was just as obsessed as anyone.

I like Pokemon but this (and Blue) is probably the one time I was ever truly OBSESSED with the series. One of the few Game Boy games that I popped into the Super Game Boy and just played on my TV like a main console game for dozens upon dozens upon dozens of hours. My parents probably thought I was crazy pouring over stats and numbers for so long. Only not graded higher because future games made its mechanics a bit obsolete. My Starmie (Blizzard, Psychic, Thunderbolt, Recover) was the tits son.

In 1996 I was 6. I had Pokemon Red (1 only had about 4 games total so having a brand new one was a pretty big deal) and I played this game for 8 hours straight. I was all in baby. Turns out, triple A batteries don't have an infinite life span and I got to learn a very hard lesson about the importance of saving your game. Literally 8 straight hours of progress lost. First time I put a gun in my mouth so I could taste the steel and consider my options.

probably the most excited i've ever been about anything ever tbh