Pokémon Yellow
For the GameBoy (gb) or the GameBoy Color (gbc)

In 1998, Nintendo teamed up with a small company called Game Freak... Most of us hadn't heard of this company, and wondered why Nintendo partnered up with them.  They released a game, well more like two games, called Pokémon Red, and Pokémon Blue.  A little over a year later, another game called Pokémon Yellow was released.  They said the game was different.  Personally, when I saw this game, I thought to myself, how can this be different.  This game, while it doesn't have major changes, they are still present and enhance the game majorly.  The changes will be explained in the Overall section (the last section).

*Please Note*
While writing this review, I tried my hardest to strip all Nostalgia from my brain to write a non-biased review.  I am considered a "gen onner", but not as bad as some.   While I grew up with this series (my first game was Pokémon Blue), and my first let's play was Pokémon FireRed, I believe the first gen has some flaws, but I accept these flaws instead of proving them wrong like some.  But hey!  I'm not here to go on about nostalgia, I'm here to write a review... a very detailed review.


Graphics - 9
For this system, the graphics, being the same for regular Pokémon Blue and other Pokémon games on this console, were very impressive for such primitive graphic capabilities and cartridge space.  Each Pokémon has an individual sprite, some have over world sprites such as Bulbasaur in Cerulean City, and Pikachu following you around the whole game (unless it has fainted or you don't have it in your party).

 Speaking of  Pikachu has multiple reactions that were programmed in just for Pokémon Yellow.  The gym leaders and elite four each have different sprites, and the rival has different poses for almost every battle.  Not to mention since it is Pokémon Yellow, there is a Surfing mini game, which has very nice graphics.  With the inclusion of Rocket (better known as Jessie and James from the Anime)  to battle every now and then, the game has not only the Team Rocket Grunt sprites, but now they included over world sprites for Jessie and James as well as battle sprites.  (When fighting them, I was disappointed that Meowth wasn't any special. I would have loved if he would have at least been in the battle sprite with Rocket)   Overall, the graphics really were phenomenal for this generation, and they pushed the limitations set on the games.  The graphics are probably the best thing about the first Generation games, yes the sprites looked weird but they needed something to go off of to enhance the sprites.  At this point in the Franchises life, there was no where to go but up.


Sound - 7
I compared the sound for this game to other games on the GameBoy and GameBoy Color that I had not played before.  I have played a few games on this system, and from the ones I played, the Pokémon ones seemed the surpass the others on sound.  However, after I looked up a few games (I simply YouTubed Gameboy soundtrack and clicked on a few links), which I compared this game to Megaman II, Batman, and Street Fighter (the first 3 links I found that were not reviews)  the sounds were Mediocre at best.  The opening song that is playing when you first turn the system on brings back so many memories, and for a new player it makes you feel like something amazing is about to happen, and you are about to embark on this grand adventure with amazing upbeat music.  Then next song, which was Pallet Town theme, brought me back to reality.  It was calm and after the opening music, made me feel like it wasn't going to be that awesome of an adventure.  I remember when I first played Blue for the first time and heard that music, 5 year old me turned off the GameBoy and I didn't touch the game for a few hours (which as a little kid seemed forever).  Anyway, I'm not going to go through all the sound tracks and criticize or praise them, that would take too long.

Lets skip to the battle music, since that is what majority of the game consists of.  There are many different battle themes.  Just to name a few there are the Wild Battle Theme, Rival Battle Theme, Gym Battle Theme, and Elite Four Battle Theme.  The Wild Battle Theme is probably going to be the most commonly heard, which makes you appreciate the other battle themes more.  Trust me I was so glad when I got to fight a trainer or a gym leader so I would have a change of music.  First, when you hear the iconic pre-battle flashes (that's what I call them) for the first time, you don't know what to expect.  I thought my game was broken the first time I played it (I might have cried because I had liked the game so far... aside from the Pallet Town theme).  Anyway, the wild Pokémon music gave me a sense that this was what the game was about, because I liked the different battle music the best.  The gym leader music defines the situation the player is in.  The music is very fast paced, and intensifies the battle.  Personally, my favorite music is the Elite Four Theme.  It is very upbeat, and motivates the player to try their best and beat the Elite Four.

There are also different locations that have music that fit to a tee.  From the horrorifying yet catchy Lavender Town music to the serene music of Cerulean City.  Even the music for Saffron City makes you feel like you are in a city because it just reminds the player of the surroundings.  

Overall, the music, while fitting in most locations, is very subpar when compared to the music from other games on the system.


Addictiveness - 10
Pokémon is very near and dear to my heart.  However I, like most gamers, (well more like people in general) have cravings.  Sometimes I have cravings for some video games.  Pokémon is one of them.  While I have beat this game countless times, I have to be craving the game.  I can't really rate this, because I have learned that I don't have an addictive personality.  I am rating this a 10 because I have bought almost every game in the franchise, but I think that's just love for the franchise.


Story - 9
For 6 year old me (I got Blue when I was 5 and this when I was 6),  who grew up watching the show and wanting a game that had Pikachu following you around, having this game was such a joy!  Yes I, like many other fans, named their character Ash and the rival Gary.   However, I did wish that Misty and Brock would follow you around. (I was really let down when I beat Brock and he simply stayed there)  I loved fighting Rocket.  Although it loosely followed the anime, I still loved every minute of it.  There were times that I was glad it wasn't exactly like the anime however.  For example, you can evolve all of the starters (but I must admit I felt really bad about evolving Bulbasaur and Squirtle), and when you do evolve Charmander, you don't have to worry about it disobeying you!  It will listen to everything you say! You don't have to release Butterfree to find it's mate (which was the saddest moment of my childhood).  You can have a whole team of legendaries if you want to!  "Oh Lance I like that dragon team you have, but say hello to my little friend Articuno!!"  Last but certainly not least, and  trust me it's defiantly not least.  In fact, it's probably the best thing... Anyway, the best thing about it not being just like the anime is it's not programmed for you to lose the gym battles/ elite four!  Finally, I can just go in, wreck everything, and move on without having to stop and do side quests!

Overall, I give the story a 9.  Even though I love this story, and it gives me so many good memories as I played through it, it's not perfect.  There were things it could improve on, because after all, it is the first generation.  The test monkey.  


Depth - 9
This was very hard for me to write about.  I have divided this into 2 parts.  The first part being how much the game offers, and the second is how deep the plot is on an emotional level.  

Part 1:  The game offers quite a lot.  You battle through 8 gym leaders, the elite four, and a Champion (I won't reveal it for those who haven't played the game).  There are a fair amount of dungeons, better known as caves, the S.S Anne, etc.  However, if you catch Pokémon along the way you will be rewarded with various items, 10 Pokémon are the minimum that you have to catch (well you technically don't have to, but the reward makes a dungeon near impossible to go through without it).  Your Pokémon level up by battling trainers and wild Pokémon (trainers Pokémon give more experience), and their base stats will go up.  Occasionally, they will learn moves as they level up, but you can only learn a maximum of 4 moves in your move set. On your journey you will come across items called TMs (or Technical Machines).  There are 50 in the game, and only the ones that can be won in the casino and the department store.  Collecting all of them and all of the Pokémon on your journey can leave the player for hours of experience. (that is if you don't Google the locations of the TMs) I am still missing a few TMs, and I have over 50 hours on my file.  However, if you just do the bare minimum such as battle only the required trainers, catch only the ones you want for your team, and speed through it, you can easily finish the game in about 8 hours.


Part 2:  Before the release of Pokémon, RPGs had a very basic formula.  They were very heavily story based with you fighting against evil because you are probably the "destined one".  Pokémon comes around and says "Forget you guys!" Instead of focusing heavily on story, they go with the bare minimum.  Yes, the story gets better in the future generations, but this review is simply for first generation.  As for this generation, the depth is lacking.  The character has no connection with the evil group.  Yes, they fight them, but they fight them because that's how the story goes.  If we were just another NPC (non-playable character), we would probably do nothing.  It is unknown why we are so "special".  The story isn't very deep so this part gets a rating of about a 5.


Difficulty: 7
I gave this game a difficulty rating of a 7.  This game has many different ways to play the game.  Various modes such as Nuzlocke, mono-type run, mono-Pokémon run, and no Pokémon center run.  Some offer more challenge than others.  However, I combined all of them and heavily weighted the fact that most people don't do the crazy runs, and they play the game like normal people.  So if you play the game like a normal person, it isn't that hard.  There are some areas that can give the player trouble such as Sabrina's gym (because Psychic was such an overpowered type), going through the rock tunnel (it's hard if you don't have flash), and getting stuck in those battles where someone spams Wrap (I'm looking at you trainers in Erikas gym!)  The Elite Four is a challenge with the strongest Pokémon being level 60.  However, they are the "final boss" for they are meant to be hard.  Overall, the game isn't that difficult if you train, but if you challenge yourself it can be quite difficult.


Overall - 8.3
My reasoning behind this is I averaged all the scores.  There aren't that many differences with this game compared to Pokémon Blue and Red.  The main difference between Pokémon Blue and Pokémon Red compared to Pokémon yellow is that you have Pikachu following you around.  You can obtain all the starters in your play through instead of having to pick only 1.  Other than that there really aren't that many differences.  This game was very fun to play through, and I enjoyed making this review.
Bye!