pokemon - red version

Rating:
Date: 2008-06-05
Nostalgia overload!
Man, this brings back memories! Even though the remakes, Fire Red and Leaf Green are better graphically speaking, you still can't go past where it all began. The red-tinted monochrome screen, the brief flashes of green, the fact that it took me over an hour to find a Pikachu!!! If your a fan, you should own this. If not, try it. Join us!

Rating:
Date: 2008-04-06
The game that started it all!
Many consider this series to be nothing but kiddy games, and at first glance they'd be right. However, once you start playing this game you will start to realize that it will soon be your secret alternative life. I'm serious, once you start this game, you can't stop until you've beaten it at least four times over. Ya its got bad graphics but its a Gameboy game, who cares? This has to be the most addicting game I've ever played and is surprisingly deep at times, although never as deep as Final Fantasy or anything. Definitely pick this game up if you already haven't.

Rating:
Date: 2008-03-07
Another Pokemon Review by me..
This game was a good start for the Pokemon franchise but to strictly say. Very straight forward game and not very difficult. In my opinon this is the kinda game you would play in your free time or for old times sake. The controls are identical to Blue and Yellow and gameplay is simple.

Rating:
Date: 2007-12-01
Can't beat the original
For us old pokemon fans, we fell in love with red and blue. I personally was a charzard fan in third grade, and this happened to be my first rpg. Everyone seemed to have some version of pokemon. You could even trade them with other people, providing you had the correct linking device. After pokemon fell out of fashion, no one seemed to want those really new games (except for the new third graders of course). The original set of pokemon were the greatest, even the strange ones like jynx. I hated the pokemon show after about a year of watching it everyday and owning all the pokemon merchandise. But I still buy the games and play them, because you can't beat the game play. It's quite simply amazing.

I'm sad to say my red version was stolen from me a few years ago, but I hope to purchase it once again at a used video game store.

Don't be expecting good graphics. This game has terrible graphics but it's still a wonderful game. Many old rpgs are :]

Rating:
Date: 2007-05-02
This is Where It All Began
The year was 1998. I was twelve years old, in middle school, and the Pokemon games debuted in the United States for the very first time. A game so simple and yet at the very same time: So complex. Nothing was more addictive, nothing was more fun than playing Pokemon. If you remember the craze (the REAL craze, presently it isn't nearly as strong as it was back then), then you remember what it was like to go to school back in those days. Suddenly EVERYONE had a Gameboy. Suddenly even those who didn't normally play games or even know what the hell a Gameboy was, had it. And you'd go up to your friends and you'd trade Pokemon, you'd taunt each other about who was the better champion when you battled. You got in arguments over who the best starter was. Then you learned of those glitches to get all your Pokemon to level 100 by duplicating the Rare Candies. You caught Missingno and M-Block and caught Safari Zone Pokemon by exploiting what may very well be one of the most widely known glitches in video game history. And of course, you went to catch them all, and you probably had that ONE friend who you deemed your rival and you had to catch 'em all before he did. If you remember all this, you're a true Pokemon fan. This isn't a myth, this game debuted, sold gazillions of copies and started a craze that--while it isn't as strong--still exists today. This was one of the heights of gaming period.

The Red and Blue versions may have seen stateside release in 1998, but the game was actually made in 1995. Before the television show came around. When the TV series took off in America, the games came next and as I said, they sold more copies than the latest installment of Harry Potter. I'm not kidding.

Red and Blue began almost everything you currently see in the series today. The game begins with you naming your character (you couldn't choose between a boy or a girl in this one) and then your rival. Again, if you had Pokemon fever you probably named your main character Ash and your rival was named Gary (even the strategy guides referred to them as such). It began with Professor Oak letting you have a Pokemon of your choice (between 3 starters) and then ultimately he'd send you on a journey with a Pokedex and have you document the Pokemon you'd find. Along the way, you'd have to deal with Team Rocket, the bad guys who are always causing trouble and stealing everyone's Pokemon, as well as gather eight badges so you could challenge the Elite Four and become a Pokemon League Champion. The entire formula began here, and just about everything mentioned above has been done in each and every main series Pokemon game hereafter.

What was perhaps the strangest thing about Pokemon is that the game was surprisingly deep in terms of combat. It was your traditional turn-based combat. Simple, yet it was so complex. For one, the game has a Rock/Paper/Scissors method to it. Every Pokemon has a type, and every type has its own strengths and weaknesses. For example, Water is strong up against fire but it is weak vs. Grass. Grass is weak vs. fire etc. etc. No Pokemon is invincible. They all have a weakness to some type. Though in these versions the psychics definitely have an unfair advantage as the type they're weak against (bug) is almost non-existent and there are hardly any bug type attacks.

In the battle menu you're given a list of commands. Fight, Item, PKMN, or Run. You can switch Pokemon you've caught in and out of battle on the fly, but it'll usually cost you a turn. It's the strategic portion of Pokemon that makes battling fun and addictive. As you go through the game you'll be challenged by trainers and you never know what they'll throw at you! It's completely unpredictable and some of them are tough. It's also interesting because with 150 different Pokemon, the amount of teams you can make are endless, and it really makes you think about what types you want in your roster. Because most of the Pokemon types are weak vs. more than just one type. It's also important that you give them a variety of moves, as the moves are also typed. On paper it doesn't seem like much, but when you actually play the game, you'll find a clog in your drain you didn't even know you had because you thought your team was perfect... but then that one Pokemon comes along and exposes your fatal flaw.

Pokemon was no short game. It was full of all sorts of side quests. From the Safari Zone, to catching the Legendary Birds, to the Unknown Dungeon. There was plenty to do, and even after the game was over there was STILL more to accomplish. Of course, your main accomplishment was getting them all. Pokemon could easily keep you busy for well over 60 hours. In 1998 this is an amazing feat seeing as how most RPGs of TODAY don't keep you busy that long. The main quest itself only took a measly 15 hours or so, but all the extra content kept you on your toes.

Even more, Pokemon was one of the few Gameboy Games that made excellent use of the link cable. Since Red and Blue versions had different Pokemon, some only appeared in certain versions. You couldn't for example, catch a Magmar in the Red version, but you could in Blue. How then, were Red players supposed to catch all 150? By trading. Until Pokemon came around, my link cable was collecting dust. Trading was usually a slow grueling process, though. Traded Pokemon also got an experience boost so they were easier to train.

Even more exciting than trading, however, was what really made Pokemon a blast to play: Battling. You and your friends could get together and battle one another! Test out your Pokemon teams against your friends. They were, more often not, far better to battle against than the games trainers. It's always interesting to see who your opponents heavy hitter is. With your friends it was always interesting. Imagine how embarrassed you were to say a certain Pokemon sucked only to discover that the trainer actually did a good job training?

As far as the game looks and sounds, it didn't really look all that great when it was released in 1998 (it was after all, a game made in 1995). On the original gameboy it was pretty grainy (but very clear on the Gameboy Pocket) and of course it was black or white (unless you played it on a Super Gameboy or Gameboy Color). For a Gameboy game, though, it actually wasn't too bad. It was annoying to watch a Pokemon simply flinch to attack, and some of the animations weren't all that great, but it was to be expected due to the Gameboy's limitations. The music, however, was fantastic. The tunes were catchy--particularly the trainer battles and gym leader battles. The only really annoying thing was the sound effects. They weren't all that great, and its a shame that Nintendo actually continues to use those exact same sound effects in Pokemon games today. Still, for what it's worth, this was the game you wanted on the Gameboy.

Pokemon is a classic. It'll always be a classic. No matter who you are, if you played Pokemon ten years ago, the craze was completely undeniable. If you got addicted like I did, chances are you're still playing today. Because in its core, the game was far deeper than you thought it was, and the series continues to use that same basic formula even today.

List Price: $16.98
Lowest Price: $8.23

New Items Remaining: 49

List Price: $59.98
Lowest Price: $29.50

New Items Remaining: 60

List Price: $59.99
Lowest Price: Too low to display

New Items Remaining: 40

List Price: $19.99
Lowest Price: $10.99

New Items Remaining: 24