Pokémon Blue

THE BAD:
-Compared to future Pokemon games, graphics aren’t too great.
-Sound quality is fuzzy and too loud at times.
-Pokemon attacks are somewhat fake.

SUMMARY:
Pokemon Blue was released in North America on September 30, 1998. It was one of the very first Pokemon game in it’s series and the first for me to ever play. I was only around the age of six or seven when I first started playing but it was so user friendly that I was able to understand the game. As I explored throughout Pokemon Blue I started off with my very first pokemon that was given to me from Professor Oak. I was so surprised to see that besides this pokemon there were so many other unique types out there.

Professor Oak acts as one of the guides in the game that helps you out with getting adjusted to the games many features. He also helps to show you how to catch pokemon with poke-balls. Using poke-balls was one of the only ways to catch wild pokemon. Throughout the game, while sifting through the many deep grasses, there are many different type of pokemon you will come across and want to catch.

Before I really ever was able to begin using my first pokemon I met my rival, commonly known as, Gray. In most pokemon games you will compete against a rival to see who can make it to the top of the pokemon league and become the ultimate pokemon trainer. After meeting your rival you go into an intense battle with him between your pokemon and his. The pokemon who can withstand the most attacks while attacking back until one pokemon is knocked out wins. This is also how training is commonly done. When I would go to train my pokemon I would usually just go into the wild and battle as many pokemon as I could find. Most times I would win and my pokemon’s status would rise, sometimes high enough that they would grow a pokemon level. Levels determine how strong your pokemon are, against attacks and attacking pokemon themselves, a pokemon with a higher level is always better than a pokemon with a lower level.

On your adventure you will not only battle other trainers including your Rival but you will also need to collect Gym Badges. To get a Gym Badge you need to make your way to a pokemon Gym and then battle it’s Gym Leader. But to actually obtain the gym badge you will need to successfully win against this gym leader. For me when battling against Gym Leaders I would train a whole lot before I actually battled and then when I thought my level on my pokemon was high enough I would go to hopefully win a gym badge. There are eight gym-badge throughout the whole game that you are required to obtain to get closer to beating the game.

Throughout playing the game many of the NPC characters such as the villagers in the towns, the gym leaders, other trainers, and just common folk would give advice to help you out on your journey of becoming the ultimate pokemon trainer. Whenever I would get lost during the game I would usually turn to the countless NPC’s to help me out. Most times they were very helpful to directing me to where I should be going. Pokemon Blue isn’t just a game made up of only training and battling other trainers but there is sort of a small plotline in the story of the game as well. This plotline consists of you battling against this team of trainers called Team Rocket. You will not only battle them once or twice but many times until the final battle between you and their leader. The whole plot between you and the Team Rockets really made me enjoy the game even more as I played.

There are many ups to the Pokemon Blue game but then there are some downs as well. For me, when comparing the game play graphics of this game to many future games they are really poor. But I can really understand why, since this is the one of the first Pokemon games to ever be made in the series. Besides this I also didn’t really enjoy the music too much at times since it could get fuzzy and too loud at times. Yeah I know I could just turn the volume down but I’m meaning loud as in like it sounded as if the notes in the music were screeching and scratching. Overall it just didn’t sound too good at times. Also I noticed when battling with my pokemon, most times, their attacks would look really fake and just added to the poor quality of graphics the game had.

Overall with Pokemon Blue’s many ups and downs I just have to say that the game was a huge success, not only with me but also with many other players all around the world. Not only did Pokemon Blue mark the first steps to the Pokemon series but it also grew the gaming series into something more, something ten-times enjoyable for all players all around.

THE BAD:
- The graphics could be a bit better than they were, but it is expected since the game came out in 1997 as a Game Boy game. Pokemon, world, and attack graphics were just alright. Some more colors would have made the game a bit better.
- The music at times seems low quality/scratchy.
- You can only catch/find about 129 of the 151 total Pokemon you can collect in the game. There are some Blue/Red version exclusive Pokemon, which is annoying, and also some given/chosen Pokemon choices that make it so you cannot collect them all. This forces players to trade with people who have the other version, or cheat in some ways.
- Some puzzles, caves, and gyms are like mazes. The game can be very confusing at times, and very easy to get lost and frustrated.
- At certain parts of the game, there are too many trainers in an area, which makes battling irritating at times.
- Some caves/areas spawn too many Pokemon, and you can’t even walk 3 steps before one attacks.
- There are the occasional glitches, as most know, that mess up your game or parts of it.

SUMMARY:
It’s the game that started it all: the phenomena called Pokemon. Games, cards, television shows, and movies have plagued the world for years since and taken over children’s lives. It is easy to understand why the world fell in love with the game and Pokemon – the game is mindlessly fun and never really gets boring (until you get an updated, later released version). I’ll be honest…this is the second time I have played the game (the first time was 8 years ago when the game first came out).

The idea is simple: make a character, choose your first Pokemon, and start a long journey across the world to become the best there is. You go through the game battling trainers and their Pokemon in single Pokemon battles, catching every Pokemon and helping them grow and evolve, challenging Gym leaders and collecting badges, completing various challenges, walking the world and visiting every city and town, until you eventually make your way to the Elite Four so you can kick their butts and become the Pokemon Master. Once all that is done, which should take you well over 30 hours to do, there is even more to do and see, such as visit the previously blocked Unknown Dungeon where you can catch many strong, evolved Pokemon. The game will keep you busy and entertained for many hours, but try not to get too addicted (make sure to take the occasional break from playing sometimes).

Catching Pokemon is easy at the beginning of the game, and gradually gets harder as the game progresses. Different Pokeballs, certain status affects (like sleep freezing, and paralysis), and your strong Pokemon help you catch Pokemon as the game goes on. Some Pokemon are really hard to catch, like the legendary birds, and often require you to put them to sleep or freeze them and weaken them to a few HP’s before you attempt to toss a ball at them. Collecting every Pokemon is definitely not an easy task.

The game graphics are alright, expected for a Game Boy game anyways. When the game first came out, most people probably thought they were really good, but obviously they were good at the time, and in today’s standards probably not so much. But like most old games, the graphics are not the main focus – the game play is – and the game play is great. The music in the game is alright too. Simple and kiddish, bit occasionally you can hear its poor/bad quality. So to sum up this area, the graphics and music do not really make the game worse by much, but it is something that could easily be enhanced for future game versions (hint…hint…future versions of Pokemon).

Since the game has been out for about 8 years, it is hard to find, so you will need to hunt through pawn shops, but at least it will be cheap (I found a copy recently for only about $15 Canadian). So you better hope you own a copy, or feel like shopping around and waiting for awhile until a pawn shop has a copy. If you own a copy, rip it out and start playing. If you do not own a copy, go out and find one and join the Pokemon phenomena! This game is a must have for your Game Boy.

THE BAD:
the music was so incredibly repeatitive that it could get lodged in your head for weeks on end....please, no more repeatitive music, it's so horrible. >_< The battles arent very....graphical...even for the gameboy, it was pretty disapointing when it came to attacks.

SUMMARY:
This game when first brought out completely blew me away, with the huge variety of pokemon to use, fight and catch for your own little collection, this game give you hours and hours of fun. It's quite the master piece when it comes to games, the company really have put a lot effort into the goal in the storyline, the length of the game play, the challenges and how things are to be run. I hope you enjoy this game as much as I have. XD

THE BAD:
The graphics do have some flaw's in it and as soon as you complete the game their is nothing else you can do, just fill the Pokedex.

But the thing that I don't like is the fact that most pokemon have to be traded, and that can take time because the graphics are slower than usual.

SUMMARY:
The graphics do have some flaw's in it and as soon as you complete the game their is nothing else you can do, just fill the Pokedex.

Also, the gym leaders have an army of pokemon that can keep you in suspence, and that's really good.

But the thing that I don't like is the fact that most pokemon have to be traded, and that can take time because the graphics are slower than usual.

THE BAD:
graphics
sound quality

SUMMARY:
great game, for little kiddies. plot a bit short though. battle and trade with your friends. battle trainers to be the top trainer in the world. catch all the pokemon to be the pokemon master. you can print your pokemon off with a pokemon printer. dodgy graphics, sound quality very poor. but great game, a but old now. i suggest to but the leaf green and fire red the improved game and with added features.

THE BAD:
It seemed a little on the childish side. I wouldn't recommend this game for a 20 year old. Well, I would but I doubt he would enjoy it as much as the youngers do.

SUMMARY:
Awesome game in my opinion. The best pokemon game ever made and I think people should try it even if your not a fan of it really. It is a very good game and is one of the best selling games of all-time.

THE BAD:
Pokemon battle cries

SUMMARY:
This game is one of three videogames that started the global Pokemon craze. The three versions, Red, Blue, and Yellow, all have similar storylines (Red and Blue are identical, Yellow follows the TV show), but each one has different Pokemon to catch. The basic Pokemon types are all the same in these versions, and they are as follows:

Normal
Fighting
Water
Fire
Ice
Ground
Rock
Psychic
Flying
Bug
Poison
Grass
Dragon

You start out the game as Ash Ketchum, a young boy from Pallet Town. As you try to leave town, Professor Oak stops you and takes you to his lab where you can choose one of three Pokemon to take with you and keep. The battle cries of the Pokemon get very annoying, but some of the music is good. From the time you start playing this game, you'll probably be hooked from the first Pokemon you catch!

THE BAD:
Why the lack of multiply save files??!!

SUMMARY:
Wednesday afternoon. Three friends sitting around, three Pokémon games and a link cable. Such happy memories...

The graphics outside of battle were so simple, yet effective. However, the battle graphics were kind of lousy compared to other games.

Even though the music quality wasn't fantastic, those little tunes stick in your head. And the idea for different themes for differnet trainers- genius, pure genius.

The characters were great, however I was disappointed with the lack of Team Rocket characters. The gym leaders had very neat looks!

Now I still play the game and I still love it. I don't know why, there are so many better games but maybe Blue just has that old school charm...

THE BAD:
This game lacked graphics and a great plot, but seeing as how it really isn't an RPG we can forgive it.

SUMMARY:
In total this is one of the greatest games of my childhood, and I'll always like it, no matter how old it seems.