The Bare-Boned Radiance of Pokémon Red & Blue

[@aokcraig]

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[@codinginflow]

It has been almost 30 years since I first played them and I'm still obsessed. It's like a first love that you never get over.

[@ianweir3608]

Pokemon Blue was how I learned to read. I couldn't have cared less about homework or books. The only thing I actually _wanted_ to read was the game, so 6 year old me could finally get past the sleeping man in Veridian

[@aokcraig]

I love that!

[@kakhead]

I always say I learnt how to read so much from playing gen 1 pokemon growing up ha ha I thought it was just me XD

[@SuperKingLeoGAMES]

Same. People looked at me crazy cause it's very simple but the comprehension tests were there.

[@terraventusaqua123]

@@SuperKingLeoGAMES I agree. It took me forever to get through Cerulean City because I never bothered to pay attention to Bill’s dialogue.

[@SuperKingLeoGAMES]

@@terraventusaqua123 That part!

[@XellossBoi]

I really appreciate your analysis and like that you didn't begin your retrospective like a lot of others do and jumped straight into ykur subject. Really well put together!

[@aokcraig]

Thanks so much for the kind words! ^^

[@Mateo_Vert]

dragon was weak to ice tho ..ice beam from the girl in celadon dept store in exchange for a fresh water makes lance a pushover

[@dror843]

he is clearly a clueless zoomer that was born at 2020

[@SuperKingLeoGAMES]

I was a bit slow so I DEFINITELY didn't get ice beam or rock slide as a kid. Then of course I never knew about Dratini so Lance was the first time a lot of us saw dragons. My over leveled Blastoise could only depend on Hydro Pump Surf and Skull Bash which made the win amazing. But yes it was incorrect for him to say they were only weak to itself.

[@Mateo_Vert]

@@SuperKingLeoGAMES naw I wasn't tryna roast him 😭

[@SuperKingLeoGAMES]

@@Mateo_Vert 🤣

[@HolyRollerGuero]

Fun video man it’s crazy my daughter is two now and we spent our morning eating breakfast and watching the OG pokemon on Netflix, a lot of nostalgia

[@yukiizura]

My first ever starter was Chikorita in Crystal, and I actually don't think I have to this day ever used Cyndaquil or Totodile lmao 13:56 THIS MOVIE IS SO UNDERRATED TY FOR BRINGING IT BACK TO PEOPLE'S ATTENTION Red and Blue for me can basically be summed up as "I can completely understand why these titles kickstarted Pokémania, and the highest grossing media franchise ever, but they do not, in any way, shape, or form, hold up today". At the time, they were remarkable in their innovation, concept, character design, and vision, but anyone who plays them nowadays can be 100% forgiven for viewing them as the horribly bland, uninspiring, glitchy messes that they are. Gaming has evolved - our *expectations* have evolved, partly BECAUSE of the baseline that Red and Blue gave us. Generation 1 and 2 get a lot of slack from me for being the first two attempts at figuring out the formula, and my problems with the Kanto and Johto regions come not from RBY and GSC, but instead their remakes and how Gamefreak has presented the regions to new audiences. I am glad that Gamefreak has not forgotten Red and Blue, or the Kanto region, but what I need from Gamefreak is to also not forget how very basic these titles, and this region, are, and that if they want them to remain as memorable and iconic to the new generations of fans who enter the franchise every day, as they are to the generations of fans who came before them, they need to be those innovators once again and breathe life into Kanto.

[@shewolfcub3]

Gen 2 is amazing actually and one of theb est games ive played. Screw gen 9 and 8 those are pure rubbish. same with gen 7. Give me gens 1-6 any day ever, so much better. Objectively too.

[@yukiizura]

@@shewolfcub3 I fear you have much to learn about the definition of "objectively"

[@thunderman4412]

@@shewolfcub3 your not cooking gen 2 is literally the 2nd worst generation

[@shewolfcub3]

@@thunderman4412 Easy to disprove unironically, the worst are actually gen 8 and 9 and thats factual. Newgenners are coping over their games being garbage they have to try and make up any wild ahh reasons as to gens 2-5 being bad

[@thunderman4412]

@@shewolfcub3 yuh uh "easy to disapprove" yet you haven't brought up any points.

[@erikmclennan3934]

Favourite Gen 1 Pokemon is Eevee - it's really cool that they gave you a second 3-way choice after your starter.

[@janachilles7633]

My very first Pokémon was a Bulbasaur in Pokémon Red. Good old times. 😊

[@Brizzle427]

My first pokemon was a oshawatt in Black, I still have that pokemon. It's sat in home

[@nicholasleaf3646]

My first pokemon game was Blue. I had Squirtle as my pokemon and my favorite was Zapdos back then. We had this Nintendo convention in Finland and I remember waiting 4 hours in line with my brother to get free Mew to my game. Best four hours ever spent as a kid!

[@erikmclennan3934]

10:00 that is awesome dude 😮

[@angelinacamacho8575]

charmander was my first and i love using charizard in the newer games its also my favorite.

[@beforelifewaschaos]

"...and dial up your Internet 🛜" "Hahaahaahua..huargh... Ah.. God... my back!" That sentence made a pensioner of me for a moment 😂

[@SuperKingLeoGAMES]

I chose Squirtle. This game was powerful before Internet. I remember getting to lavender on my own and immediately putting it down. At school I heard some kids talking about it and HAD to ask what was in the tower because I was too scared. It made me talk as weird as that sounds.

[@BadMoonRising92]

@@SuperKingLeoGAMES that’s one thing that was incredible about video games before widespread internet and KZbin. How you learned about secrets that may or may not even be true from word of mouth from other kids or just roaming aimlessly before accidentally stumbling upon a legendary Pokémon you had no idea was even in the game. Now when a game releases all the secrets are leaked within a day of it being out.

[@SuperKingLeoGAMES]

@@BadMoonRising92 Indeed. Such a magical moment in time. Unfortunately the experience has become a race instead of the journey being the destination.

[@nathanf7072]

My first Pokémon was Squirtle. Kid me needed to get the cool turtle from the box art 😅

[@SuperKingLeoGAMES]

Exactly lol.

[@nintendonerdjoseph]

Great video!

[@drew8235]

Gen 1 and 2 will always be the best. They just had a charm that the later games had less of with each new entry. There's beauty in simplicity.

[@rami4816]

I dont care how basic these pair of games are, they are one of the greatest games ever made and its a testament to the creators of this game even pulling this off on a gameboy cartridge of all things

[@devilrider39000000]

My first starter was Charmander, but also Squirtle in Pokémon Red. I got Pokémon stadium first, so I was able to use Squirtle as an extra starter.

[@BadMoonRising92]

My first ever starter was pikachu. I got a turquoise game boy color and Pokémon yellow on Christmas Day 1999. So getting a gameboy I was finally able to play Pokémon.

[@NicolaShelton-h5k]

My first ever starter was piplup but i had 4 water type pokemon on my diamond team😊

[@Gigglerue]

I started playing the Japanese Green version, and I'm honestly surprised how different it feels to play this than our Red & Blue, it's like the old school games were the same old bizzare kinda abstract pre-anime titles, but they're more colorful and cutesy~ like I swear even the opening noise is higher pitch, and the sparkles are more colorful, just lots of subtle differences here and there~ Also the battle menu is way cooler in the Japanese version, the attack box lists them up to down and sticks out over your Pokemon's backsprite evenly against your Pokemon's HP, EXP and level~ :V

[@Gigglerue]

By the way, my first ever starter was Totodile in Gold version~ :9

[@blackfrieza6969]

Red Version Is My First, My Charizard Is A Destroyer.

[@kendaowens6656]

I picked Bulbasaur as well 😊

[@kakhead]

Just finished red blue and yellow and got the pokemon stadium prizes so i could move them up to.modern day only to find out stadium prizes are aparently illegal in current gen 🤦‍♂️ was a good nostalgia trip and first time ever got a surfing pikachu :)

[@NiklasO1988]

I thought I had to pick Squirtle because I had Pokémon Blue and Blastoise was on the cover. I was also sort of the pokémon wizard at my school and helped a lot of (younger) kids advance through their game because they didn't speak English.

[@facoulac]

very well made

[@MasterofSpiders]

8:51 - Additionally, even if Ghost moves had worked properly, Shadow Ball, Shadow Claw etc. don't exist yet. The only Gen 1 damaging Ghost moves are Lick with it's 10 power and Nightshade which deals damage equivalent to the user's level. So type advantage would've been essentially worthless if it had been in place. And to cap it off, the only Ghost line in the game have Poison as a secondary type, which is weak to Psychic. The thing is despite that, Sabrina wasn't *that* hard because only her Kadabra had the move Psychic. Alakazam, her ace, had Psybeam, which isn't as powerful (although married to Alakazam's ridiculous Special stat, it's not to be laughed at) and Psywave which did partially random damage. So it couldn't effortlessly sweep a whole team. They fixed that from Yellow onwards though.

[@adrenaliner91]

The originals were in green-green, not gray... at least on original hardware. Besides the GB Light that I never saw in Germany because it was probably never released. I think the Pocket was still green-green.

[@tlst94]

What if the OG GameBoy had a backlit colored screen? And if Gen 1 had genders, breeding, baby forms, a female protagonist, Daisy as an optional female rival, and a tournament Pokemon League? While canonically, the League and Gyms were recently-invented as the player becomes the world's first Champion? While some mons like Cubone or Charizard were retyped to part Ghost or Dragon Types(to balance out the game)? And if more Bug, Ghost, & Dragon moves existed sooner in Gen 1? While catching em all was easier(even in Safari Zone)? And if Oak rewarded us to find and catch Mew after showing him our completed PokeDex? How'd the first games have been like? How well would they've been recieved?

[@Mateo_Vert]

First starter Bulbasaur !! Still the goat

[@shanavalkyria3438]

went back and played yellow on my ds years back. It was fun and im glad i revisted it but it was a rough time and it will be awhile before i try again. Chose yellow more for the color and the higher gym levels My first starter was Squirtle back in blue. Would replay firered or leafgreen if i wanted to go back to kanto again just for the creature comforts.

[@ReneDeLaRosa-i1n]

The first time I ever played pokémon was in 1999 on my cousin's game boy emulator. I decided to play because I wanted to see what all the fuss was about. I knew nothing about the games. I had never seen the anime but I knew kids were talking about it. I decided to try out Blue version and I picked Squirtle because I thought it was the cutest of the three. I even remember the first pokémon I caught was Rattata because my cousin told me it was pretty strong LOL

[@wikiuser92]

My first game was LeafGreen, my first Pokémon was Charmander, and my favorite Pokémon period is Raichu.

[@randomedgygamer2191]

My very first was charmander in 1999, was obsesed with that line and dont regret a thing. I love all starters though, except maybe quaxwell and quaquaval

[@RPGPOKEFAN78]

My first ever starter Pokemon was in Ultra Sun where I chose Litten and when I got stuck on the Dragon trial I traded my Litten now an Incineroar for a Solgaleo so I could beat the game

[@ProfessorWFS]

Subbed

[@domdude64dd]

Bulbasaur is #1 for a reason, cuz I picked them first

[@CarlYoungII]

Alakazam was my fav from Generation 1.

[@adrenaliner91]

My starter was Pikachu :D Yellow was my first own Pokémon game.

[@PabloNeves26]

14:24 that's an awesome movie frim India!

[@ProfessorWaifu]

My first was Bulbasaur on Pokémon Blue

[@shamrockgamr]

Froakie was my first!

[@Gazzarix]

My first play through was on an emulator- Pokemon blue with Bulbasaur😂😂

[@pootis.145]

first starters were probably umbreon and espeon, then mudkip

[@dror843]

mew was distributed in USA and other countries as well. why dont you complain about celebi in english crystal and such ? its the same thing uncatchable (unless VC crystel version)

[@jerseys89finest]

i got red when it hit the us

[@dror843]

"no sense of wonder after beating the champion" what about exploring the seafom islands ? articuno zapdos moltres ? exploring the burned down mansion and learning mr fuji is responsible to be involved in mewtwo and also as well blain gym is fitting he likes riddles there are riddles... get over yourself

[@nicomoreno3154]

My first ever starter was Mudkip in Pokemon Sapphire

[@tkf15]

I would borrow my brother's gameboy/ds lite over the years, my first starter was Litten in Moon. I'll always love gen 1, but I doubt I'll ever play the orginal games. I prefer FRLG

[@sbccave4015]

Gengar is my favorite gen 1 pokemon

[@Socioromanticism]

Togepi is my favorite first generation Pokémon is Marill.

[@everythingpony]

2:58 all 4

[@shewolfcub3]

Gen 1 is great still and way better than Gens 7, 8 and 9 any day objectively. I'd put it sixth place overall. It wasnt my first game either, I'm Gen Z and Pearl was my first game (Platinum is the definitive gen 4 game as with HGSS) 1. Gen 5 2. Gen 3 3. Gen 4 4. Gen 6 5. Gen 2 6. Gen 1 7. Gen 7 8. Gen 9 (Scatlet & Vomit) 9. Gen 8 (Swoshit)

[@JAN2MARS]

9:30 You... you DO know that Dragon types are weak to Ice, right?

[@aokcraig]

I probably should've elaborated on that point more to be fair :') Ice types were kind of an afterthought in Gen 1 so there were no primary ice types, only a handful of Pokemon with ice as a secondary typing because they were able to learn an ice move or two. I maybe should've said "no DIRECT counter" seeing as there are of course ice-type moves in the game, but no ice-type Pokémon as such.

[@lukey666lukey]

mine was bulbasaur

[@bradysnow2349]

Squirtle then pidgey

[@dror843]

gen 1 4ever. stop the hate

[@dror843]

i keep playing em and ill keep playin em forever what you gonna do about it zoomer

[@shewolfcub3]

@@dror843 Gen 1 is great but not the best. I hate gens 7-9 theyre garbage. For me its 1. Gen 5 2. Gen 3 3. Gen 4 4. Gen 2 5. Gen 6 6. Gen 1 7. Gen 7 8. Gen 9 (Scatlet and Vomit) 9. Gen 8 (Swoshit)

[@dror843]

@@shewolfcub3 well for me gen 1-2 are the best

[@NormansWorldMovies]

85 comments, RGT 85

[@jrsilva85]

Um... Dragon types were also weak to Ice. Designs for pokemon today are lazier in my opinion.

[@josephlupia590]

Totodile 1st

[@Gazzarix]

My first play through was on an emulator- Pokemon blue with Bulbasaur😂😂