Can't catch 'em all with just this

I never heard of a person that didn't know what Pokemon was. About a year and half ago, the big Pokemon craze ended which lasted about two years. I was one the millions who were hooked on it. The games, the tv show, the figures, the trading card game, I loved it all. I bought Pokemon blue when it was released right before Christmas in 1999. Back then only versions red and blue were out and couldn't be kept in stock at stores. Many people were confused as to what the difference was between the red and blue version. This was basically a way for Nintendo to make more money which I will explain later on in the review. And now, the review.

Story

The one thing that the Pokemon games lacked in. There is really nothing for a story. Your an 11 year old kid who is ready to become a Pokemon trainer. Pokemon trainers are people that usually start out as teens or preteens with a Pokemon given to them or that they capture. They raise that Pokemon and capture others to battle against other trainers. However, some trainers don't battle Pokemon and some train them roughly to win every battle. You start out in Pallet Town in Prof. Oak's lab. He gives you a pokemon and his grandson, Gary, a pokemon. Gary has been your rival ever since you were little, but from now on the rivalry is more intense. You head out away from your town capturing and battling other Pokemon. Along the way you'll encounter a group of Bandits known as Team Rocket. The rockets are a big gang which captures and steals Pokemon to sell. Also, at most towns you'll find a trainers gym. The gym leader holds a badge in which you need all 8 of them to enter the Pokemon League. To receive the badge, you'll have to defeat the leader. Once you get all 8 badges you can head to the Pokemon league. This is where you'll face four tough trainers known as the Elite Four. The Elite four is the final step in becoming a Pokemon Master, or is Gary?

What's the difference between Pokemon Red and Pokemon Blue?

Almost nothing. The reason for two of them is a plan Nintendo thought of to get more money. How? There's a few Pokemon that can be gotten in Red that can't be in blue, as there is a few Pokemon in blue that can't be gotten in red. This would make some people want to go out and buy both versions, which means more money for Nintendo. The only way to get all 150 in one version is to trade with someone. Any other differences? Well, if your using a Gameboy color, the colors in the game are more blue then red. That covers the differences between red and blue.

Battles

The Pokemon GB games use your standard RPG turn based battles. Use one of your Pokemon to fight one other Pokemon at a time. During battle you can switch the Pokemon your using to any other of the 6 your allowed to carry, as can your opponent, unless your fight a wild Pokemon. Each Pokemon can have four attacks. They also can have one or two elements. There is 15 elements in total. Elements are the type of a Pokemon. They include; grass, fire, water, rock, fighting, normal, ghost, poison, bug, flying, ground, electric and a few others. Some element attacks are super effective against an element defense. For instance, if your using a fighting attack and your hitting a normal Pokemon, it will do extra damage. Others will be not effective and do little or no damage to the opponent. You should learn what elements are effective and not effective against what element. So battles could involve some strategy.

Graphics

For a 3 year old GB game, the graphics weren't too bad. The characters and most other stuff and the screen would usually be blocky. During battles, the Pokemon your using would look very blocky and was thankfully changes to lines instead of blocks in versions Gold and Silver. Occasionally a graphical glitch will occur like a black block on the ground. The game has no slowdown in move and overall has decent graphics.

Sound & Music

Like graphics, the sounds & music weren't good. The sounds weren't really bad as they weren't beeps and dings. The music was kind of annoying put could be put up with. The game wouldn't have been better without music, as the music adds more of an exiting feel to it. During the Pokemon League part the music sounds daring and competitive which is pretty cool. I guess its not bad.

Final Comments

Pokemon Blue is in my opinion, better then Red. If you own a GB and like RPG's you should get Pokemon Blue, even if you hated Pokemon. The games are that cool.