Pokemon have been around for quite a while now, most 21 year olds or those of a similar age will remember them right from the start, no doubt the pockets of parents remember them well. From those grainy pixelated days before the Gameboy colour, we 'endured' greyish screens with crude pixelated drawings of our favourite pokemon. Most elderly people I've met have at some point mentioned the fact they had to watch black and white television and thought in black and white. They never knew the turmoil of those earlier gameboy games that us youngsters faced, most especially the fading red light on the side of the device and the desperate search for - somewhat heavy feeling - duracells.
As I began my soloist career with the poetic lyrics "I want to be the very best..." the bucket of pig's blood from Carrie could have dropped on my head and I would have fully embraced it... |
Pokemon had us hooked, on the back of my guidebook to pokemon the hysteria surrounding the franchise was described as a Pokevirus, I worried about this virus for a few days afterwards. The Pokemon franchise didn't just focus on videogames of course, but set themselves upon the children of our generation through multiple formats such as books, Pokemon cards, sticker books, toys and television. Most of us are likely to remember the pokemon theme song, myself more than anyone, for that tune bears down heavily upon my soul. Flashback to primary school, year 3, the annual talent contest where children would try to show off our skills was taking place. Why? Who knows. Comic relief for the teachers, possibly. Unfortunately I put it upon myself to sing the pokemon theme tune to an audience that was formed of both classes within my year. Roughly 40-50 children sat crammed into a classroom to listen to each acts auditions, most people sang in groups but being the solitary lone wolf type that I am, I thought i'd go it alone. Foolish mistake. As I began my soloist career with the poetic lyrics "I want to be the very best..." the bucket of pig's blood from Carrie could have dropped on my head and I would have fully embraced it. Safe to say I got 0 votes and afterwards I would endeavour through an awkward silence as my name and act were called out. That year I wanted to be the very best, like no one ever was. Turned out I never was. Supposedly writers draw from painful early memories, this was one of mine.
| Suppressing that memory back into my subconscious, we return to pokemon. The game where you "gotta catch em all", 'em referring to somewhat magical creatures. These pokemon could be used to make the world a better place through the powers they possess, but in a similar fashion to reality, money favours the side of war as you instead force them to fight until they slip out of consciousness. | Those of us who were there at the beginning, in the year following on from 1996 BP (before Pokemon), we entered the world through Pallet Town. From there we faced one of the hardest decisions we'd be forced to make within our prepubescent years. Charmander, Squirtle or Bulbasaur? I read somewhere that only children and animals are able to truly emit pure love and this was true. My squad was formed of my favourites, be it multiple water types within my party of 6, it didn't matter to me. Now that I'm old enough to not be playing pokemon still, my party is based on their elemental types and the potential they have to become a team of killing machines. Pikachu, go for the throat! As the game progressed, players were encouraged to take on each town's gym leader in order to gain a badge that would allow them to control higher level pokemon and use skills that allowed them to advance further into the game. This often meant searching the nearby area as the gym leaders inevitably got involved with the politics of criminal organisations such as team rocket, plasma, or whatever space related team each series brought. |
As the series progressed, new elements were added along with improved graphics. Here is a list of Pokemon titles (dates show the times of european release) along with a brief description of changes made:
Red & Blue (1999)
The original pokemon game
Pokemon yellow (2000)
Improved graphics, the novelty of being stalked by a moody/friendly pokemon
Pokemon Silver & Gold (2001)
New Pokemon generation, colourised for gameboy colour, improved graphics.
Pokemon Crystal (2001)
Option of being a girl, animations for Pokemon
Pokemon Ruby & Sapphire (2003)
New Pokemon generation
Pokemon Fire Red & Leaf Green (2004)
Remake of red and blue, new visuals, new events in game
Pokemon Emerald (2005)
Remake of Ruby & Sapphire, new ingame events
Pokemon Diamond & Pearl (2007)
New Pokemon generation, new controls for the DS
Pokemon Platinum (2009)
Remade version of Diamond & Pearl, new in game events.
Pokemon Heart Gold & Soul Silver (2010)
Remake of Gold and Silver, allows player to have a selected pokemon follow them around on the map.
Pokemon Black & White (2011)
Pokemon animations within battle system, new Pokemon generation
Pokemon Black & White 2 (2012)
Introduction of uninspired titles, new ingame events.
Pokemon X & Y (2013)
New Pokemon generation, 3D visuals, mega evolutions, more avatar customization, option of three skin colours for player character and the ability to sit down (very important).
What I recently found whilst playing Pokemon Y for the 3DS is that upon beginning your adventure, you are presented with 2 starter pokemon (possibly 3 if like me, you caught the WIFI event that gave you Torchic, a starter pokemon from Ruby & Sapphire). This meant that from the start, half of my team consisted of three very powerful starter pokemon meaning that I had to worry less about which other pokemon would fill up the rest of my slots, especially when you can find a Pikachu further along the path (JUST SAYIN). Each installment has constantly brought new improvements visually, such as the 3D visuals of X & Y which serve to enhance the aesthetics of the current game. Despite these changes, many aspects of the core gameplay from Red & Blue have remained constant. Each version inevitably sees new gym leaders that players must take down, a new set of 150 something pokemon to capture and more Pokemon leagues to conquer. In this aspect very little has changed since the release of Pokemon Red and Blue. As is stated at the start of each Fallout game, "War, war never changes", this too can be said of pokemon. And my awful singing voice.
Red & Blue (1999)
The original pokemon game
Pokemon yellow (2000)
Improved graphics, the novelty of being stalked by a moody/friendly pokemon
Pokemon Silver & Gold (2001)
New Pokemon generation, colourised for gameboy colour, improved graphics.
Pokemon Crystal (2001)
Option of being a girl, animations for Pokemon
Pokemon Ruby & Sapphire (2003)
New Pokemon generation
Pokemon Fire Red & Leaf Green (2004)
Remake of red and blue, new visuals, new events in game
Pokemon Emerald (2005)
Remake of Ruby & Sapphire, new ingame events
Pokemon Diamond & Pearl (2007)
New Pokemon generation, new controls for the DS
Pokemon Platinum (2009)
Remade version of Diamond & Pearl, new in game events.
Pokemon Heart Gold & Soul Silver (2010)
Remake of Gold and Silver, allows player to have a selected pokemon follow them around on the map.
Pokemon Black & White (2011)
Pokemon animations within battle system, new Pokemon generation
Pokemon Black & White 2 (2012)
Introduction of uninspired titles, new ingame events.
Pokemon X & Y (2013)
New Pokemon generation, 3D visuals, mega evolutions, more avatar customization, option of three skin colours for player character and the ability to sit down (very important).
What I recently found whilst playing Pokemon Y for the 3DS is that upon beginning your adventure, you are presented with 2 starter pokemon (possibly 3 if like me, you caught the WIFI event that gave you Torchic, a starter pokemon from Ruby & Sapphire). This meant that from the start, half of my team consisted of three very powerful starter pokemon meaning that I had to worry less about which other pokemon would fill up the rest of my slots, especially when you can find a Pikachu further along the path (JUST SAYIN). Each installment has constantly brought new improvements visually, such as the 3D visuals of X & Y which serve to enhance the aesthetics of the current game. Despite these changes, many aspects of the core gameplay from Red & Blue have remained constant. Each version inevitably sees new gym leaders that players must take down, a new set of 150 something pokemon to capture and more Pokemon leagues to conquer. In this aspect very little has changed since the release of Pokemon Red and Blue. As is stated at the start of each Fallout game, "War, war never changes", this too can be said of pokemon. And my awful singing voice.
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