I first played Pokemon Red the autumn of my Junior year in college.  I was traveling abroad to Japan for a semester, and after growing somewhat enamored of the cartoon (as discussed previously), I decided I should give the game itself a try.  It proved to be a wise investment, as I put far more hours into it than any other GBC game I ever bought.

Pokemon is, on the surface, a pretty simple concept:  Collect Pokemon, battle with them, gain experience, and fight your way to the top. The collection aspect, which has always been the core of the game (as well as the core of its marketing) is, by itself, a pretty powerful motivator for a lot of players.  A player could invest hours upon hours in the game tracking down and either capturing or trading for every single Pokemon they can to fill their Pokedex, and that alone would probably garner enough gameplay hours to rival most modern JRPGs.

In my mind, however, the real genius of Pokemon is only revealed once you scratch the surface a little deeper.  While the charming story and addictive collection aspects are solid on their own, where the game really succeeds is in how it creates layers of depth that are accessible to those players that wish to take the time to explore them.

Continue Reading…