The Original Pokémon Games Originally Released

Pokémon is a Japanese media franchise that has been well-known for producing iconic Pokémon video games. Since 1996, starting with the Pokémon Red and Blue, the Pokémon franchise has continued to awe its players with numerous game titles.

The popularity of both the Pokémon animated cartoons and the Pokémon video games led many developers to step into the field. As of today, we have numerous Pokémon puzzles, action-fighting, and digital pet games. However, the original Pokémon games originally released were RPGs as we see below.

1)  Pokémon Red and Blue

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Pokémon Red and Blue are two independent Pokémon video game titles that were developed by Game Freak in 1996. These two video games feature essentially the same storyline and gameplay mechanics. The only difference between these two iconic titles is the version-exclusive Pokémons they have.

In these third-person overhead perspective games, players roam in an open-world 2D environment. Their job is to find the maximum number of wild Pokémons and capture them by first defeating them in a Pokémon duel. Players can also challenge trainers in the game or be challenged by them. Furthermore, there are eight gym trainers and the elite four which also need to be defeated in order to challenge the Champion.

Continuous fighting and winning the Pokémon duels results in Pokémon evolution which increases their statistics and they learn new abilities. The ultimate aim of these games is to complete the in-game Pokédex with all the 151 Pokémons by playing both of the games and capturing all of the available Pokémons.

2)  Pokémon Yellow

Pokémon Yellow is the second installment in the Pokémon video game series by Game Freak that was first released in 1998. It is not the successor to the first game, Pokémon Red and Blue. Instead, it is an advanced version of its elder sibling.

Just like the first game, Pokémon Yellow is RPG-based and features a third-person overhead perspective of the game. The ultimate aim of the game is to complete the Pokédex by collecting all of the 151 Pokémons available in the game. While roaming through the game world, players come across different Pokémons and challenge them. Besides completing the Pokédex, just like in the first game, players have to defeat the eight gym leaders and finally the elite four to be able to challenge the Champion.

Apart from the obvious similarities, Pokémon Yellow is also different in some aspects from the original games. In the first game, players have the option to choose their starting Pokémon from Charmander, Squirtle, and Bulbasaur. However, in Pokémon Yellow, the starting Pokémon is always Pikachu. Moreover, the yellow version features slightly better graphics.

3)  Pokémon Gold and Silver

Yet another classic video game title developed by Game Freak in 1999 is Pokémon Gold and Silver. The game is the successor to the original Pokémon Blue and Red and takes place 3 years later after the ending of the first game and is also set in a different place.

Pokémon Gold and Silver retain the same third-person top-down perspective of the game. The basic gameplay is the same: Players wander around, find Pokémons, duel, capture them, and complete the Pokédex. The eight gym leaders and the elite four also there need to be defeated in order to challenge the Champion.

However, Pokémon Gold and Silver introduce several new features. Now players can breed Pokémons that might produce an egg and a new youngling will appear. Pokémons can now hold items that can be strategically used in battles where some items will boost health and some cure status effects. Furthermore, specialized Poké Balls and Pokégear have been introduced in the game. Above all, there has been an addition of 100 new distinct Pokémons to further ramp up the game.