Game #2: Pokemon Blue Version

Game: Pokemon Blue Version

Year: 1998

Status: Available for purchase on eShop

Playing on: mGBA emulator on 3DS

 

Time for game number two! I have wanted to dive into the Pokemon franchise for awhile now. I played Sapphire and Red Rescue Team a lot as a kid, as well as collecting cards, but besides that, I have essentially ignored Pokemon for well over a decade. I mean, the last game I played even a bit of was Pearl. So I figured it was time to return and take a look at the beginnings of the franchise. I know nothing about the original game, so this will be a blind playthrough.

Pokemon Blue Version is part of the first generation of Pokemon games. It was released in 1998 in North America alongside it's counterpart: Pokemon Red Version. Though I am too young to remember, they caused quite a big stir. They are still the seventh best selling games of all time and are by far the best selling games in the Pokemon franchise. I will be playing Blue on the mGBA emulator that I have installed on my 3DS. I figure that this will give me the most authentic experience with the game that is possible for me. 

Iconic title screen

The game starts with an intro by Professor Oak. I opted to go with the default names of "BLUE" and "RED" for my character and my rival respectively, which actually works out well as Blue is typically the name I use in games anyway. After the intro, it is time to embark on your quest. I set out to find Professor Oak. I went next door first, but soon discovered that he was actually in his lab. I also found a map of the world, which indicated that I am in Pallet Town. The world appears to be a lot smaller than what I've seen in other Pokemon games, but that's to be expected considering the restrictions of the hardware this game was made for. 

South of the neighbor's house is a research lab of sorts. I met my rival, and he seems nice enough. I snooped through Oak's emails and found an advertisement to come challenge the Pokemon League, which I assume is the elite four. I'm not sure if that's the ultimate goal of the game, or if Team Rocket eventually shows up, so I'm excited to see where my quest eventually leads!

Pallet Town is tiny. I already explored everything it had, so I tried to leave town, but Oak emerged from my house to stop me. What exactly was he doing there... Anyways, he explained that it was dangerous to walk around in tall grass without a Pokemon to protect me. He then offered to let me take one of his Pokemon, and also allowed me first pick over his own grandson (my rival). Why would Oak give me preferential treatment over his grandson...

I've always had a special place in my heart for water Pokemon

 

 

I chose Squirtle as my starter. I think its the cutest of the bunch, and I've always had a soft spot for water types. Red wanted to fight me, so I got my first taste of the battle system. Honestly I'm not too impressed. He picked Balbasaur, and our battle consisted of just each using tackle on each other over and over again. I won and he gave me a bit of money for some reason. Time to head out of Pallet Town.

Looks a bit more like the Eternally Grey Paradise

It didn't take long to reach Viridian City, and it didn't take long for me to leave. The town's shopkeeper asked me to deliver a package to Oak. Once I did, Oak gave me a Pokedex and a mission to record all of the Pokemon in the world. Doubt I will, but I intend to catch as many as I happen to come across. With little more than the few vague goals in hand, it's time to get back to exploring new spots. I also caught a Spearow, so that's cool.

Back in Viridan City, there appeared to be two paths I could take. I went left first, but was told by Red that I wouldn't be let into town. He then processed to whoop me in battle and sent me back the Pokecenter in Viridan City. Time to try the north path, which ended up leading to the Viridian Forest. I encountered my first random trainers and caught a Metapod and a Kakuna.

 

That's a more accurate description

I reached Pewter City. A man in the Pokecenter mentioned that Team Rocket is in Mt. Moon, so it does appear like they are in the game. Brock is the gym leader of Pewter. Cool to know where he came from! An NPC in the museum mentioned the moon landing, so is Pokemon suppose to take place here on Earth? 

Was Brock this extra in the show?

Brock was a complete joke. My Squirtle destroyed his rock type Pokemon. So I got my first badge and the Bide TM. I gave it to Squirtle. Onwards to Mt. Moon. The route there had a definite difficulty spike. There were a ton of trainers, and nearly all of them were more difficult than Brock. I went back and caught a Rattata and Pidgey to help out. With a bit of grinding, I got past them and found the entrance to Mt. Moon. 

Mt. Moon was the most frustrating area thus far. The encounter rate was one of the highest I've seen in a JRPG. It was a common occurrence to only be able to take two steps before having to fight another Pokemon. Stocking up on repels will be essential for future dungeons. Team Rocket was present in the cave, but disappointingly their main role was to act as more trainers to fight. I decided to take the Helix Fossil at the end of the cave. I emerged onto Route 4 and the next blog post will start with my journey to Cerulean City. I just hope that I can buy repels there.

Team Rocket uses whips apparently

Some final random thoughts: 

• There's more variety to battle screen transitions than I anticipated.
• I'm playing this with the original aspect ratio and screen size, and wow the GB's screen was tiny.
• The dialog has been subpar so far. There's very little exposition, and most NPCs only talk about game mechanics.
• I'm digging the soundtrack so far.
• A lot of sound effects were used as late as Pokemon Sapphire. This creates a weird situation where certain parts of this game are nostalgic, despite the fact that I've never played it before.

Time played so far: 3:40