Generation I
Generation I Pokémon games consist of Pokémon Red, Pokémon Green, Pokémon Blue, Pokémon Yellow on Gameboy and two Pokémon Stadium games on Nintendo 64. The Generation I games take place in the Kanto Region. Pokémon Red and Green versions were remade in Generation III as Pokémon Fire Red and Pokémon Leaf Green. The games first came onto the scene in 1995 in Japan and 1998 everywhere else.
Advances in Gameplay
This generation started it all. There's not much that was advanced in this generation as Pokémon was just starting out. The games marked the first appearance of Professor Oak, the Kanto gym leaders and the first one hundred and fifty-one Pokémon. Some of the basic features included:
- Storage System
- Stat System
- Move System where only four moves can be known at one time.
- Game Boy Link-up for trading and battling
Those three things set Pokémon apart from previous RPGs.
Starters
The starting Pokémon for this generation are Bulbasaur, Charmander and Squirtle. This started the grass-fire-water starter type trend that would last to the present as it is similar to the style of rock-paper-scissors games where one has an advantage over the other and a disadvantage. The starter choice usually dictated how hard the first few gyms would be. In Yellow version, Pikachu is the starter, and the rival takes Eevee.
Gym Leaders
The first group of gym leaders started with Brock of Pewter City who trained Rock-type Pokémon. The gym leaders followed this order:
Discussion of Pokémon Red, Blue, Yellow
The games were revolutionary when they were released and set the mould for future generations to improve upon and by the present games, Pokémon itself evolved into a mainstay in the world of Nintendo.
Pokémon Yellow followed the Pokémon Animé to the point where the main character started with Pikachu and ended up with Bulbasaur, Charmander and Squirtle. The nefarious Team Rocket, while present in the first games, included Jessie and James from the animé and often plagued the main character.
This generation started off the world of Pokémon and looking back, one can see how far it had come.
