Oh boy. If anyone ever reads the numerical ratings I gave to this "gem", I'd be booed off the Internet. Anyway, Pokémon Red! What can one say about it that hasn't already been said? The game is the killer app on the original Game Boy, being the one of the best selling games (along with Pokémon Blue, Yellow, Gold, and Silver; Gold and Silver were also compatible on the Game Boy Color), and I would give it a score so much better had I been reviewing it in context. However, since this is 2015 we are talking about, I'm mainly here to talk about how well the game has aged since it came out in around 1998. Is there a point to playing this old dinosaur over the remake Pokémon FireRed? Let's find out.

Graphics Oh boy, why do I always talk graphics first. Despite the large and well shaded sprites in the battle screen and the rather decent over world sprites, the graphics of the game are still pretty awful. The Pokémon present barely resemble the creatures they represent, and some sprites (such as Geodude) are cringe-worthy. The rating for this section would've been much higher, again, if I was reviewing this in 1998. However, we now have Pokémon Yellow, a game with some truly beautiful graphics that do justify the Pokémon. Moreover, we also have Pokémon Gold and Silver, more Game Boy games (again, they are meant for the Game Boy, but looked better on the Game Boy Color) that made the Pokémon look beautiful. Red (and Blue), with its long CREATURE development cycle (it took reputedly more than 2 years to design the 151 Pocket Monsters), was still unable to do any of the creatures justice with the sprites present in the game, which is truly sad.

Sound: The tunes of Pokémon Red are well-known, household tunes. While deceptively simple, the tunes are intricately crafted and well worth their amount of remixes on the Internet.  A song doesn't need to be complicated to be good, and like the Super Mario Bros. Main theme, Pokémon Red is amazing with its musical dexterity.

Addictiveness: I can't say anything more than what's already been said over and over again. The game's popularity stemmed from how much there is to do and how much there is to accomplish. Don't forget the cheats and the various game-breaking bugs! This factor never changed with age, and its just as addictive now as it was in 1998. Kudos to you, Red!

Story: The story of Pokémon Red is rather simple. Without giving away too many spoilers, your player (canonically known as "Red") is first seen next to his (that's right, men only. Sorry, ladies) Super Nintendo. He then leaves his house and is greeted by Professor Oak, the town's Pokémon Professor. The professor leads you to his lab, and allows you and your rival (officially, the boy is known as "Blue" in the states and "Green" in Japan. The names represent the duo of games in each of their regions respectively) to pick out one starter Pokémon each. Once the player makes his choice from Bulbasaur, Squirtle, or Charmander, the rival takes his time to pick the Pokémon that is advantageous over the player's (Bulbasaur > Squirtle, Charmander > Bulbasaur, Squirtle > Charmander) and challenges him to a Pokémon battle. The player then continues through the region of Kanto, defeating the various Gym Leaders scattered in 8 cities and curb-stopping the criminal organization of Team Rocket before taking on the Elite Four in a bid to become the Pokémon League Champion. The story is simple, yet effective, and its charm is definitely present. Despite the same story being reused over and over again for the sequels, it is a fine story for children of all ages anyway.

Difficulty: The game overall is rather easy. As long as one keeps a steady team of Pokémon and doesn't bother to train any Pokémon, grinding for levels is unnecessary until right before the Elite Four, when the NPC trainers take a huge jump in their levels. Grind in Victory Road before fighting the Elite Four or cheat for Rare Candies.

Overall: The game didn't age too well. Despite my abundant mentioning of the pros of the game in sections other than graphics, the game is still overflowing in problems. The glitches are abundant, the types of Pokémon are poorly balanced, some Pokémon are outright unusable, etc. While the game was seriously well made by 1998's standards, it doesn't hold up in today's day and age. I can only give the game a 7 at best.

We can read the numerical ratings by looking at the review on the game's page, you know. XD 



Other than than, pretty good review for Pokemon Red. I think it is one of the best ones I have seen for the game.