Hi, I'm doing another series; big surprise. It's the only way I can still feel feelings, by stringing them together into continuous segments of more feelings to come. The more avid (read: compulsive) reader may have picked up on me buying almost every Pokémon generation, to cope with some stuff. After several months of letting that pricey mistake fester in me, I've finally made the move towards playing those cartridges. Before I can start, I do need to remove and replace each individual battery as every single one of your Game Boy save batteries have sadly died by now. If you were holding on to games from your childhood, then I hope you have fond memories, because that's all there's left. I put a video of me butchering a DIY battery repair on TikTok, if that's your thing.

Now that I have beaten the Elite Four in Pokémon Yellow, I'm going to see if I can finish every other generation that way and assess whether they hold up, one by one. I have never played a bunch of these iterations, so I'm going in with as much of a clean slate as possible. The only version I don't own is Black or White 2, because of its ludicrous price, but I'll find a suitable replacement when that time comes. Additionally, no remakes for now, because that's not in the spirit of what we're going for here. Okay, I hope that's all clear: Beat every core generation game, then talk about them. Yeah? Sounds good? Then let's get into Generation 1, the OG shit.

I originally played, I dunno, like ten hours or so of Pokémon Blue, so I knew the basic outlines of the first release. Anyone who is roughly my age has probably picked up on the concept through osmosis as well, but just in case: You're a little child who, one day, gets called by the old man next door. He wants you to pick up a Pokémon and venture out into the world, to catch more critters and become the very best at doing so. The ol' professor's kid is a butthole and also your arch rival. I call that jerk Farts, because I can. Farts doesn't care about Pokémon, only about winning. It's an anime story, baby. You've heard this one before.

Pokémon Yellow isn't fully faithful to the original. Instead of choosing from three element types, you just get tossed a Pikachu that hangs out with you. This is sort of the fan version, as you'll also get handed other favorites down the line. Honestly, a nod to the anime was exactly what I wanted anyway, because I remember the show more than the video game. In broad strokes, however, the Gen 1 games are identical.

The core of what makes the Pokémon games great is finding new creatures. Walking through tall grass, spelunking in some cave; every new area has its own Pokémon to catch, if you can wear them down first. At the time it was released, this collection system was revolutionary and it still feels great today. The attachment rate to new Pokémon is instant. That's likely why so many remember Gen 1 the fondest, because it was probably the first time you had this overwhelming rush. Yet, looking back, the biggest flaw I can attribute to Gen 1 is that you are rarely finding new stuff. The initial catching frenzy slows to a crawl around the early mid-game, after which you're left with fighting a biblical stream of rats and bats. The time in between obtaining another friend is easily hours apart. That's just not a great feedback loop, even if that eventual satisfaction is significant each time. Not actually coming close to the slogan of catching them all was very sobering. I want nothing more than to catch these precious babies, but the game fights me tooth and nail for it.

Instead, the actual focus in Pokémon Yellow becomes a seemingly unending barrage of trainer battles. Rather than fight wild Pokémon that can be caught, you go up against someone in the same line of work as yourself, for a feat of strength. It's not so much that these battles aren't fruitful, since there's good money and experience in them. Rather, the frequency of a challenge every screen is a real war of attrition. Fights aren't hard, unless they're in a specifically trained area like a gym, but these matches are constant, battering Pokémon and draining their stamina. Moves have limited uses and the better the attack, the fewer times it can be done. Moreover, bouts yield no Pokémon, since catching another person's friends is bad etiquette. Though I do still think that it's hilarious when other trainers just chuck out two tiny seahorses, against your mythical beast that controls the weather. Good luck, Sara. I am super murdering your pet.

So yeah, looking back on it, I was pretty surprised to find the classic Japanese role-playing game (JRPG) tropes we usually associate with different genres to be more visible in Pokémon Yellow than I thought. It is a game made in Japan in the nineties, after all. You do just roam around dungeons and fight people most of the time. There are plenty of mazes and other obtuse progression elements. Your Pokémon need a specific move, which you apply on a specific spot, lest you wander around eternally. And then sometimes you get a new buddy that you can nurture and grow. That's always nice.

There's a lot of banking on exactly one fun aspect in this video game. In theory, that's pretty bad and Gen 1 has aged more than I'd admit. Yet, I still think that just the act of catching a team of friends, outfitting them with cool moves and outsmarting opponents is a tight package on its own. There are additional items, to give your squad some devastating attacks. Then, you can also get into buffs or elemental effectiveness. If you want to, there's a bunch of lateral growth that can make your experience even more tenacious. You technically don't need anything other than raw grit, but it certainly spices things up. There are few games like it and they rarely come close to nailing the simple, self-evident systems of Pokémon. Even 25 years later, it is impressive that developer Game Freak managed to come up with such a captivating concept. Any lesser game would've had me walk away during its many dips, but that glint of desire to get better pushed me onwards to a 39-hour completion. I did, indeed, want to become the very best.

I managed to defeat the Pokémon League on my first attempt, which I had initially started to test the waters. In this final event, you go up against four masters consecutively and either beat them all or start over from scratch. My sidekick Pikachu was my opener, because they could paralyze foes out of the gate. In the wings, I had both a Blastoise and Charizard waiting, for water and fire elements respectively. As a tank, I chose Sandslash, a cute but very deadly porcupine armadillo. I reluctantly chose the spoon-wielding Kadabra for their powerful psychic attacks, but mostly because I was too lazy to build another option. That would've added a few more hours to the playthrough. Instead, I just gave that weirdo a suplex move, because I could. Lastly, as an anchor, I boosted an icy Articuno as high as I could. Those freezing attacks hurt some fringe Pokémon real bad. Still, despite its diminutive size, it was my Pikachu that ended up doing most of the work, just like the anime! I couldn't have wished for a more fitting end to all our hard work together. I love you, buddy.

Now, finally the question: Does Generation 1 still hold up? It's honestly hard to tell. It would be rare to find anyone like me, who hasn't played this game through at least once. If you have, then some of the more glaring parts, like long puzzles, constant item management and endless corridors might not seem so frustrating. Though, on that end, one of the only other differences Pokémon Yellow has is that Pikachu takes up physical space in the game. For a game where tons of areas are exactly one tile in size, Pikachu also taking up one tile turns your friend into a pest that blocks your path more often than not. Fuck you, buddy.

If you haven't played through the original, however, you could probably skip it these days and move to another, similar version, without missing too much. Any subsequent version is just this core idea executed in a slightly better way. The games are, for better or worse, very iterative that way. There is too much time in Pokémon Yellow spent on finding some door or an exit or trudging towards a new city. Everything in your path is just another obstacle, one after another. Your only real loss is not finding some of the show's favorites, but those can easily be replaced with new friends. And, of course, you'll miss out on some quality moments with this cute, endearing game. It turns out that Pokémon is still a good time, any way you can get it.

Apparently, we all felt that Pokémon resurgence at the same time, as fellow site user danielkempster started their own journey in another blog. Maybe read it, also, if you have that insatiable nostalgia lust. They'll be going all-in with a deep dive, rather than just sticking to one version. I just wanted to hang out with my Pokémon friends. I called my Pikachu "Fatto Ratto." If you don't give your Pokémon nicknames, we can't be friends. That's something Farts would do.

Gen 1 Rating: 7/10