• Collect up to 139 Pokémon with this game
• both Red and Blue versions are required to capture all 150
• use the optional Game Link cable to trade Pokémon and play against a friend;
• for one to two players

It's the game that started a revolution, but it's not just the fad that convinced gamers to "catch 'em all." This deceptively simple and child-friendly roleplaying game design is a far deeper game design than it looks. Pokemon features way more strategy and gameplay than it leads on, offering gamers almost infinite gaming possibilities even after the main adventure ends. Pocket Monsters Red was released in Japan in 1996 by mail-order only (the two launch titles were Green and Blue). The franchise arrived in the west in 1998 as Pokemon Blue and Red (Roald Dahl holds the copyright for "Pocket Monsters" in the west, so the title was changed to the Japanese colloquial name). The games could be linked up with each other and with the N64's Pokemon Stadium titles for creature trading.
Welcome to the world of Pokémon, one filled with wild Pokémon and the people who attempt to tame them. You are Ash Ketchum, a boy on a quest to become the best Pokémon trainer in the world. Professor Oak, the leading authority on Pokémon, has given you your choice of three tame Pokémon in exchange for your helping him catalog and document every Pokémon in the world.

But to catalog a Pokémon, you have to capture it, by first beating it up with one of your trained Pokémon, and then hitting it with an empty Poké Ball. As your tame Pokémon gain experience in battle, their abilities improve and they earn access to new attacks. Sometimes they even evolve into more advanced Pokémon.

Aside from capturing wild Pokémon and evolving your own, you can catalog new Pokémon--the only way to gather some Pokémon--by trading with another Pokémon player using either a link cable or the Game Boy Color's infrared system. Pokémon gained through trades learn and evolve faster, and trading is the only way to capture all 151 Pokémon, since each Pokémon game (Pokémon Red, Pokémon Blue, andPokémon Yellow) has certain Pokémon missing. So if you own Red and want to have a complete set of Pokémon, you must find a friendly Blue or Yellow owner and arrange a trade.

Pokémon Red is packed with interesting characters, an ingenious story hook, intriguing strategy, and of course plenty of cute Pokemon, and it's easy to see how it started the Pokémania that is sweeping the world. --Michael Fehlauer

Pros:

• Gameplay and strategy that are fun for all ages
• Fantastic replay value
• Brilliant game design encourages players to meet and trade

Cons:

• Hours of looking at the Game Boy's little screen may hurt neck
• Only 1 saved game per cartridge--2 people can't share a single game
• No difference between Red and Blue except for distribution of Pokémon

Customer Rating:
Summary: Pokemon Red Version
Comment: 8/10 Gameplay (Mainly because of my bitterness toward the snail's pace leveling-up)
7/10 Story
8/10 Graphics (Especially for a 1998 Gameboy game)
5/10 Sound/Music (Nothing special, but the consistent beeping when you're at low health could drive me to drink)
7/10 Replayability

Overall: 9/10
I think this is probably one of the best Gameboy games out there. Definitely a great buy, I'll replay it every so often still.

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Customer Rating:
Summary: Nostalgia overload!
Comment: Man, this brings back memories! Even though the remakes, Fire Red and Leaf Green are better graphically speaking, you still can't go past where it all began. The red-tinted monochrome screen, the brief flashes of green, the fact that it took me over an hour to find a Pikachu!!! If your a fan, you should own this. If not, try it. Join us!

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Customer Rating:
Summary: The game that started it all!
Comment: Many consider this series to be nothing but kiddy games, and at first glance they'd be right. However, once you start playing this game you will start to realize that it will soon be your secret alternative life. I'm serious, once you start this game, you can't stop until you've beaten it at least four times over. Ya its got bad graphics but its a Gameboy game, who cares? This has to be the most addicting game I've ever played and is surprisingly deep at times, although never as deep as Final Fantasy or anything. Definitely pick this game up if you already haven't.

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Customer Rating:
Summary: Another Pokemon Review by me..
Comment: This game was a good start for the Pokemon franchise but to strictly say. Very straight forward game and not very difficult. In my opinon this is the kinda game you would play in your free time or for old times sake. The controls are identical to Blue and Yellow and gameplay is simple.

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Customer Rating:
Summary: Can't beat the original
Comment: For us old pokemon fans, we fell in love with red and blue. I personally was a charzard fan in third grade, and this happened to be my first rpg. Everyone seemed to have some version of pokemon. You could even trade them with other people, providing you had the correct linking device. After pokemon fell out of fashion, no one seemed to want those really new games (except for the new third graders of course). The original set of pokemon were the greatest, even the strange ones like jynx. I hated the pokemon show after about a year of watching it everyday and owning all the pokemon merchandise. But I still buy the games and play them, because you can't beat the game play. It's quite simply amazing.

I'm sad to say my red version was stolen from me a few years ago, but I hope to purchase it once again at a used video game store.

Don't be expecting good graphics. This game has terrible graphics but it's still a wonderful game. Many old rpgs are :]

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