POKEMON BLUE

Pokemon is one of the few franchises that it my eyes will always be something special. Like many kids I was captivated by Pokemon’s simplistic, while potentially deep mechanics. The leveling of each Pokemon that showed the amount of growth I put into each individual is without a doubt what kicked off my love for RPGs. It’s easy to learn type system was fun and I always wanted to make a team consisting of a different type each. There are so many fantastic things about Pokemon that make it great. So after 14 years I finally decided to pick up the original Pokemon Blue again.

With Pokemon Blue’s release on the Nintendo 3DS eShop the game has become easier to pick up and play again. When the time finally came to play it though, I found myself slightly disappointed. Newer Pokemon games have begun to spoil us. With the large variety of Pokemon you’d never find yourself not finding a team of 6 to pick. As everyone knows though, there is only 150 different Pokemon in Pokemon Blue. After playing some many of the new ones I found it difficult to pick out a team of 6 simply due to the lack of choices there were. While this isn’t the game’s fault by any stretch of the imagination it’s difficult to get past after playing so many other great Pokemon games.

There were also little things that kept urking me as the game continued on. They were all so little tiny things, but it was those small things that I think made Pokemon just that much better of experience. One is the ability to run. I found myself pressing the B button often in attempts to get my trainer to move faster. Which in turn made the game feel a tad sluggish. The fact that two Pokemon I attempted to train (Electrode and Aerodactyl) learned no moves related to their types through leveling up. Which while isn’t a total issue was just a minor annoyance that made little sense to me. Psychic type Pokemon felt like gods with their only weakness being Bug. It felt like anytime I was against a psychic type Pokemon I was in an unfair match. As you can see they are just minor annoyances. That made replaying Pokemon Blue a lesser experience than when I was younger.

Despite all these minor annoyances I still managed to find the game I played years ago. I was still able to get joy that I always get while playing Pokemon. It’s easy to follow story that feels like you can always view it in a different way to give an entirely different spin on the game. Like viewing Giovanni as a man trying to save Kanto region by stopping Mewtwo. Rather than a criminal mastermind who’s only purpose is to steal everyone’s Pokemon. The mechanics that I love are still there. Making sure you toss out the right Pokemon in order to best your opponent. Being able to use a team of Pokemon that I feel like no one ever uses as their actual team. It’s all these other things that make Pokemon so great.

OPINION

Pokemon Blue at this point should only be played for a nostalgic purpose. An unpopular opinion most likely, but I feel like the Pokemon experience is probably best captured through the newer games. The little things that they fixed throughout the years make the newer ones just an all around better game to play. The stories in Pokemon is always similar enough for someone to just pick up the newest Pokemon game. You’ll get the same experience from it that I would have gotten 14 years ago. So if you’re new to Pokemon or from a younger generation go for the newest one. If you’re like me though and grew up with Pokemon Red and Blue. Have a go at it again.

- Medic