Pokemon

I want to start this blog post off by stating that I'm open for suggestions. Visit my Game Collection on IGN Clubs, and pick something for me to blog about. Post it in the comments, or email me.

Now, the first thing I was requested to blog about was Pokemon. As you can see, I own a few Pokemon games. So I thought I'd go over them.

Now, Pokemon started in 1996. I think that's when the development started, actually. The first two games in Japan were Pocket Monsters Red and Green (Pocket Monsters being the Japanese name of Pokemon). Blue was added later, followed by Yellow a year or two after.

In North America, however, things were different. They were unsure whether or not Pokemon would sell. So, they took the anime, which was made in Japan after the games had become smash hits, and released it in the US before the games were released. The reason being that they wanted to judge interest in this new brand before releasing the games. This has lead to some people believing the games are based off the anime, which is simply untrue.

Green never came out in the US. The first two out in this region were Red and Green, with Yellow following a year later. At its core, Pokemon is a basic RPG game. The catch being that instead of using your own character to battle, you use creatures that you caught. The tag line of the game was "Gotta Catch 'Em All!" Which Nintendo used, along with the fact that not all Pokemon could be caught in a single cartridge. You had to have a friend who had the other version, and trade with them. The final Pokemon, Mew (#151), couldn't be caught in any of the games. In fact, you had to be at an official Nintendo event in order to add Mew to your collection. Meaning you could never truly catch them all, unless you had a cheat device.

The basics are simple. Each Pokemon can only know four moves at a time. The use of moves is limited by a PP number, with the least powerful moves having 20 PP and the most powerful having only 5 PP. You can only carry six Pokemon at a time. HP and PP, along with status ailments, can be cured by items or by visits to a Pokemon Center. Your goal is to battle the Gym Leaders, who are always accompanied by underlings who you have to battle first. The ultimate goal, once you have all the gym badges, is to fight the Elite Four, followed by the Pokemon League Champion.

The Pokemon games have more of a story than just gym battles, though. You are rarely able to fight a gym leader without first completing some task that involves the overall story at some level. In the first two Pokemon series (Red/Blue/Yellow and Gold/Silver/Crystal), the enemy is Team Rocket. In Ruby/Sapphire/Emerald, they shook things up a bit. In Ruby, Team Magma is attempting to awaken a legendary Pokemon, while Team Aqua is trying to stop them. In Sapphire, the roles are reversed, as Aqua are the villains and Magma are the allies. But in Emerald, both teams are villains. It's an interesting story twist that keeps those two games from being too stale.

Overall, though, very little has changed. Granted, I've not played the DS games, but I'm sure they're basically the same. But, Pokemon still sells an extreme amount, so I can't fault Nintendo.

Also on my list is the Pokemon: Trading Card Game for the Game Boy Color. Yes, they made a video game based on the actual TCG. The game only contains cards from the original set (Basic) as well as Jungle and Fossil. There was a Japan-only sequel to this, that included more sets. The game recreates most of the TCG rules, though I seem to recall some things didn't work properly. There is a story, which flows a lot like the regular Pokemon games, but it's a nice change in that it's based on the TCG. It's more strategic than a typical Pokemon, thanks to the TCG rules and such.

I stopped following the actual TCG sometime after the first Team Rocket expansion. It was fun, but I had no one to play with. Despite the fact that I collected over 400 cards. I don't have much to say about that, though.

Finally, there is the anime. I was a fan for the first season or two, but then it got a bit too predictable. Ash would challenge a gym leader, lose, and then through some cheesy bit, discover his flaw and overcome the odds. It's a formula they used way too often. I've started watching again with the Diamond & Pearl series. I'm glad that the focus isn't entirely on Ash anymore. And Dawn going through contests makes for a refreshing change. It's certainly better than the original version of the anime. There are a lot more stories they can do, and it's not always the same old routine. Still, it's as cheesy as ever, sometimes in an "After School Special" sort of way. But it's better than it used to be.

Now, I want to make a comment about the Pokemon themselves. The first generation (1-151) all seemed to be influenced by something in nature, either an animal or plant. And they all had names that looked easy to pronounce. The most difficult name, for me, was Zapdos, which isn't too difficult. Since then, however, things have become a bit wacky. The designs have become more fantastic, and the names have become much worse. When I first saw "Typhlosion," my brain exploded. Though, looking at it now, I can pronounce it. But at the time, I just saw a mess of letters. What happened to simple and easy to pronounce names? But, I guess I'm just nitpicking now.