The world’s most popular animal-collecting RPG turned fifteen at the end of February in Japan. Pokmon fans across the globe have been hunting, training and battling Nintendo’s 649 critters since February 1996 in Japan. Over five generations and fifty titles later, the series is still going strong. We’d like to celebrate with our favourite moments, right from the very beginning with Pokmon Red and Pokmon Blue.
Here are some of our favourite memories from the series!
Jorge Ba-oh, Founder
From what I do remember, it all began with the money-munching Pokmon trading card system. It’s still one of my fondest memories to date; collecting each of the cards in a specially-designed wallet, battling others without knowing the rules and offering my life for that notorious “Shiny Charizard”. Wallets were emptied and the cards soon found their way into the big book of banned items. So we needed something else, and what better way to satisfy those Pokmon cravings than the games themselves?
Unlike most at the time, I opted to wait for Pokmon Yellow. Gaming magazines pimped the game so much I just had to get it. Red? No thanks. Blue? I’ll pass. An adorable Pikachu who followed you around was a must. I even shelled out on an imitation copy where Professor Oak would mutter profanity, and villains Team Rocket would cause the game to freeze.
I did manage to get hold of a copy of Pokmon Yellow in the end, even Blue – just to play Pokmon Stadium for the N64. Excitement swamped me that I left my copy of the game in a local pizza place. Not a good day!
Stadium was the game for any Pokmon fan in the day and even now. Battles were so detailed, fun and even allowed for co-operative play. The mini-games? Still addictive and unsurpassed by any other Pok-battle game. Run, Rattata Run! Pokmon Gold and Silver is still my favourite duo to date – so many gyms, the best Pokmon generations and an unbelievably huge world!
I’ll wrap things up with a double thumbs-up for such a brilliant series that continues to excite and inspire many fans and new gamers. Long may Pokmon grow and prosper!
Adam Riley, Senior Editor
Squirtle, Bulbasaur or Charmander – water, grass or fire? Back when Pokmon Blue and Pokmon Red arrived in Europe, the burning question was which of these would be the best choice when starting this new adventure. Along with the cartoon series, featuring Ash and his side-kick Pikachu, the Pocket Monsters craze totally swept me up and the rest of the nation. What had been thought as being some strange Japanese fad was actually more addictive than anyone, even Nintendo, Game Freak and Creatures, Inc. could ever have imagined. I watched the TV show religiously, following the antics of the perky Misty, constantly love-struck Brock, and the bumbling bad guys, Team Rocket with their feline Pocket Monster, Meowth.
Back in those days I was not an avid portable gamer, preferring to resist the urge to buy the original Game Boy, and regularly choose to stick close to my home console systems, the NES and Super Nintendo. However, thankfully, Nintendo had been wise enough to realise that some gamers did in fact want to play portable titles in the comfort of their own home and on the big screen. Therefore, I was able to fire up Pokmon Blue through the Super Game Boy that plugged into the 16-bit SNES. Personally, it was more Gotta Catch Em AllOn My Own! rather than doing the whole trading with others (secretly I had no friends – but keep that to yourselves!).
The key memory for me, though, lies with Pokmon: The First Movie, where I used my little brother as an excuse to go to the cinema to watch it, and ended up getting all emotional as Ash looked to be dead and Pikachu was desperately trying to revive his trainer, and friend, by shooting bursts of electricity into him. Then, when all hope seemed lost, Pikachu’s tears started to flow and as one droplet landed on Ash’s face, the young boy rose once more from the blast he had intercepted from Mewtwo. Truly gripping cinema…I followed the series after that on-and-off until Pokmon 4Ever and then lost interest until Pokmon FireRed/LeafGreen, dropped the series again, picking it up only now with Pokmon Black/White. The question has to be, though, have I actually grown out of Pokmon or will it rein me in properly this time?
Mike Mason, Reviews Editor
Pokmon is the most important series in gaming to me for a variety of reasons. It represents the end of my childhood, that last craze that I was really involved in, a link back to simpler days. It has, with the exception of Ruby / Sapphire, been a series that I have constantly gone back to, even when my general interest in gaming has waned. Most crucially of all, it was the seed of a common interest in Pokmon that sprouted relationships with some lifelong friends – even though I rarely speak to some of them now – and my long-term girlfriend.
My first exposure came through Computer & Videogames magazine, a back page mentioning the latest crazy Japanese fad, Pocket Monsters. Alright then, I thought, before plopping the magazine into the ever-growing pile of gaming publications and forgetting about it. Months later, the anim appeared. Something about it instantly grabbed me and had me scrabbling back through my crates to find that magazine. I got hold of a Japanese copy of Pokmon Blue and, with no idea what I was doing, started to play, choosing Charmander as my starting partner. I continued to play with no real clue as to what I was doing other than battling, not even capturing other Pokmon; I learnt roughly what moves were, got an inkling of which items healed, how to teach moves, by remembering the Japanese characters. I cant recall how far I progressed – I probably managed up to the sections where you had to Surf, somehow – but I know that, wherever I got up to, the final result was a party that consisted only of a stupidly-levelled (for that point in the game) Charizard. At that point I had no idea about the different moves, what all the statistics were, didnt even know how to capture a Pokmon – nothing. But it still captivated me.
Finally getting to play Pokmon Red in English was a revelation, and really kickstarted my interest. I joined forums, I played all the games, watched the TV show, collected the cards. The day Pokmon Gold came out was wonderful, and remains to this day my favourite experience with the series – though the Heart Gold / Soul Silver remakes did manage to improve on them last year. Ive created teams with no thought from random creatures Ive found, Ive honed killer teams with brutal and/or annoying movesets, but the favourite team I ever brought together was the one consisting entirely of Eevee and its evolutions back in Gold. I made a similar effort in Diamond / Pearl thanks to the new Eeveelutions, but the original incarnation will always be remembered fondly.
With Pokmon Black / White, Im looking to return to that feeling of discovery that I had when I first played Pokmon Red / Blue – both times – and Pokmon Gold / Silver. As Ive grown older, and the Internet has spread its ever-changing mass of information further, it has become far too easy to spoil games before theyre even played. With Black / White, Ive read as little as possible on purpose. I started my game this weekend with barely any prior knowledge – its another chance to grasp desperately at my long-gone childhood.
Ross Marrs, General Writer
Most likely a typical memory within the Pokmon fan, but my fondest and earliest comes from my experience with the trading card game, back in the days of primary school. Did anyone actually play with them? Most likely not, but collecting and trading these cards was on just about everyones mind at the time. If you had a shiny Charizard or Blastoise, youd have been the “cool kid”, a god in the eyes of others. Unfortunately, I didnt have either, but did collect a lot of them, kept them stored away until this day and plan to do so for a long time.
The cards were available in large packs, which contained a ton of cards of a certain type (grass, fire, water etc) or in smaller random selections. I remember frantically opening the smaller packs in hope there would be a shiny card. I’d feel proud and stare in awe at its reflective coating. Having high attack states for a particular move would also please me. The cards were mostly just a collecting phase though and I enjoyed the feeling of nabbing as many Pokmon as I could, just as the brands catch-phrase implied: “Gotta catch em all!”. However the desire for cards would soon be replaced with Pokmon games on Gameboy.
Originally, my brother got a copy of Pokmon Blue for Christmas and I wasnt so interested at first. After watching him play continuously, I got very curious as to why it was so addictive and then went on to pester my parents for a copy of Pokmon Red for my birthday. Though three months doesnt feel like a long time now, as a child it felt as if I waited forever. Eventually the big day came and literally saw me sitting down on the kitchen floor (no idea why I sat in such an obscure place) with my Gameboy Pocket plugged into the mains and me playing Pokmon Red.
Most recently was Pokmon Black, a move into the fifth generation of Pokmon and its still going well. This in itself will become a memory, I believe, since the game feels like a fresh start for me and echoes the feelings I got from playing Red for the first time.
Susan Gray, General Writer
My first memories of Pokmon are very hazy to say the least!
It was over 12 years ago, to be fair. Rewind back to when I was 11, drowned in a sea of American chemicals, preservatives and angry mouthed newsreaders. I was at a friends house who was watching one of the episodes on TV. A horse with a fire mane pulled ahead of a bird with three heads and equally worrying stares. At first, I was naturally led to believe that this was some sort of racing anime. Little did I know that the new phenomena, Pokmon, was about to reign worldwide.
It was the first time that Id played Pokmon Red/Blue/Yellow as well (Red was the first try). I tried it on his Gameboy with no instruction whatsoever, and was stuck in a weird room with a nurse, desk and computer. I hurried over to the computer, unaware that I was smuggling six legendary Pokmon on board…
Deposit? Do I get money this way? I thought. Hmmm who should I sell? I guess this mangy old cat thing called Mewtwo looks scrappable! Why dont I put him in the PC big mistake, haha! He managed to retrieve it, obviously, but the worry I had that I had deleted his best Pokmon wasnt fun for all of 10 minutes!
Another memory occurred when I was well into the game, enough to buy both the Blue and Yellow versions, along with the 3D revival of Pokmon Stadium. Gold and Silver were due out, amazing! I had to have it, even though it was a way down the line for a European release. Help came from overseas as my cousin bought another version of the game, one where translation was needed, but hey, Id wing it!
Excitedly, I managed to work my way through the Team Rocket headquarters. This should be fine, I thought ” find, pick out and battle. Easy, until a guy runs up to me and shouts “F*** OFF!” and proceeds to battle me.
For a brief second I thought I had entered the real world!
Talking of the real world, I have experienced Pokmon. Real Pokmon. Dont believe the lies, its all true! My best memory of Pokmon lies in the quaint beach area that is called Cornwall. Me and my cousins roaming the streets, Gameboy and link cable in hand, approaching fellow trainers and battling; just like the game tells you to do. For the record, Pokmon is real!
Rudy Lavaux, General Writer
I remember being frustrated at first that I didn’t own any of the original games and being left out of what seemed to be immense fun for the few of my friends who were spending hours on their little Game Boy – be it the old Grey Brick, Pocket or Color model. During high school they were sharing info on the game during break and of course, not being a Pokmon trainer, I was left out of their discussions. Then in July 2000 when I was spending a month at my aunt’s in Switzerland, she bought me Pokmon Yellow. A year later, I would even spend my food allowance during a 3-days class trip to Paris to buy Pokmon Silver there without my parents knowing.
Most prominent in how I remember playing Pokmon is how we used to cheat. Some may remember reading about the Pokmon Missingno.. I learned about it thanks to my cousin living in Luxembourg. You’d talk to the Old Man in Viridian City who shows you how to capture a Pokmon, fly to Cinnabar Island, and there you could encounter a glitched Pokmon which had the neat side effect of adding huge amounts of items to the one sitting in the sixth slot of your inventory.
We would duplicate tonnes of rare candies and level up our Pokmon at turbo speed. So I would borrow his cart during my stays there and exploit the glitch again and again, but couldn’t do it on my Pokmon Yellow cart because Nintendo had removed the glitch from that version. So I would send my Pokmon to his cart, level them up, and send them back. Turns out now I could have spared the trouble because there are other ways to access this in Yellow as well, but back then Internet wasn’t as widespread as now, and I had no way of knowing that at the time !
So we cheated… a lot! Later we would use tricks to clone our Pokmon, so we could trade the good ones without losing them ourselves. It involved turning off one of the two systems at a precise moment during the trade on Generation I. It implied losing the other Pokmon though. Lots of Pidgeys and Rattatas lvl 2/3 were send to oblivion at the time. On Generation II, turning off the system at a precise moment while it was saving data after storing a Pokmon in Bill’s PC would make it be stored in the box and still be there on your team.
I sort of lost interest starting with Generation III, but there’s no denying that the series still has a lot of appeal, even now. Pokmon really was a social phenomenon, as Satoru Iwata pointed out in his recent Keynote at GDC 2011. It’s incredible to see how the series is still going strong all around the world all those years later, and seeing youngsters play just as I used to 10 years ago.
The series is only a baby compared to the likes of Super Mario Bros. and The Legend of Zelda, but Pokmon is probably Nintendo’s most successful franchise alongside the Mushroom Kingdom plumber. There’s so much to remember and many more adventures ahead for Nintendo’s adorable world of Pokmon.
What are your favourite moments from the Pokmon series?
