Pokémon Blue Version (Japanese): Difference between revisions

|release_date_ja=December 1996 to January 1997 <small>(Game Boy, mail release)</small><ref name="Lava"/><br>June 13, 1997 to August 31, 1997 <small>(Game Boy, mail re-release)</small><ref name="1997 re-release">[https://web.archive.org/web/19970707185911/http://www.gamefreak.co.jp/POKEMON/NEWS/NEWS.HTM ポケットモンスター・ブルーバージョン再販中！！] (Pokémon Blue Version Re-Release!!)</ref><br>October 10, 1999 <small>(Game Boy, {{wp|retail}})</small><ref name="TPC" /><ref name="NoJ" /><br>February 27, 2016 <small>(3DS VC)</small><br><small>(Note: October 15, 1996 is claimed to be Pokémon Blue's Japanese release date according to some official sources,<ref name="TPC" /><ref name="NoJ" /> but this was simply the date when the still unreleased game was announced on {{wp|CoroCoro Comic|CoroCoro}} magazine<ref name="Lava"/>)</small>

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'''Pokémon Blue Version''' (Japanese: '''{{j|ポケットモンスター　青}}''' ''Pocket Monsters: Blue'') is the third [[core series]] [[Pokémon games|Pokémon game]] for the [[Game Boy]].

This game was announced on October 15, 1996, via the {{wp|cover date|cover-dated}} November 1996 issue of {{wp|CoroCoro Comic}}. It was was originally [[#Release|released]] by mail in early December 1996 to those who had requested it using an application form included with this specific issue of CoroCoro.

The game was originally released to celebrate 1 million sales of Pokémon Red and Green. It was later re-released (again as mail order) in 1997 to celebrate 4 million sales of Red, Green, and Blue combined, and then was ultimately released to general {{wp|retail}} on October 10, 1999.

In Japan, Pokémon Blue is a minor revision of {{game|Red and Green|s}}, which were released earlier in the same year. It was thus the first [[core series|upper version]] in the core series Pokémon games. Fixes in the game include a graphics upgrade, as well as the removal of several known glitches that had been found in the original pair. Outside of Japan, the pair of games {{game|Red and Blue|s}} was released with the same [[wild Pokémon]] and [[version-exclusive Pokémon]] as Japanese Red and Green, with the graphics and game engine from Japanese Blue.

The game was available on the [[Nintendo 3DS]] [[Virtual Console]] in Japan between the [[Pokémon 20th Anniversary]] on February 27, 2016, and the discontinuation of the 3DS Nintendo eShop on March 27, 2023.

Much as would become standard for solitary versions, {{player}}s follow the plot of the previous two games. Like in Red and Green, the player starts in [[Pallet Town]] in the [[Kanto|Kanto region]], receiving a [[first partner Pokémon]] from [[Professor Oak]]. As before, the choices are {{p|Bulbasaur}}, {{p|Charmander}}, and {{p|Squirtle}}, and the {{ga|Blue|rival}} chooses the first partner Pokémon that is super effective against the player's first partner Pokémon.

* All Pokémon have new front sprites but retain the same back sprites from Red and Green. [[Pokémon Trainer]]s and the {{OBP|ghost|Pokémon Tower}}s of [[Pokémon Tower]] have the same sprites from Red and Green. The sprites from Blue would later be used in the international Pokémon Red and Blue.

{{Moveentry|023|Ekans|1|Poison||[[Pokémon Red and Green Versions|{{color|{{red color}}|'''R'''}}]]|gen=1}}

{{Moveentry|024|Arbok|1|Poison||[[Pokémon Red and Green Versions|{{color|{{red color}}|'''R'''}}]]|gen=1}}

{{Moveentry|037|Vulpix|1|Fire||[[Pokémon Red and Green Versions|{{color|{{green color}}|'''G'''}}]][[Pokémon Yellow Version|{{color|{{yellow color}}|'''Y'''}}]]|gen=1}}

{{Moveentry|038|Ninetales|1|Fire||[[Pokémon Red and Green Versions|{{color|{{green color}}|'''G'''}}]][[Pokémon Yellow Version|{{color|{{yellow color}}|'''Y'''}}]]|gen=1}}

{{Moveentry|056|Mankey|1|Fighting||[[Pokémon Red and Green Versions|{{color|{{red color}}|'''R'''}}]][[Pokémon Yellow Version|{{color|{{yellow color}}|'''Y'''}}]]|gen=1}}

{{Moveentry|057|Primeape|1|Fighting||[[Pokémon Red and Green Versions|{{color|{{red color}}|'''R'''}}]][[Pokémon Yellow Version|{{color|{{yellow color}}|'''Y'''}}]]|gen=1}}

{{Moveentry|069|Bellsprout|2|Grass|Poison|[[Pokémon Red and Green Versions|{{color|{{green color}}|'''G'''}}]][[Pokémon Yellow Version|{{color|{{yellow color}}|'''Y'''}}]]|gen=1}}

{{Moveentry|070|Weepinbell|2|Grass|Poison|[[Pokémon Red and Green Versions|{{color|{{green color}}|'''G'''}}]][[Pokémon Yellow Version|{{color|{{yellow color}}|'''Y'''}}]]|gen=1}}

{{Moveentry|071|Victreebel|2|Grass|Poison|[[Pokémon Red and Green Versions|{{color|{{green color}}|'''G'''}}]][[Pokémon Yellow Version|{{color|{{yellow color}}|'''Y'''}}]]|gen=1}}

{{Moveentry|125|Electabuzz|1|Electric||[[Pokémon Red and Green Versions|{{color|{{red color}}|'''R'''}}]]|gen=1}}

{{Moveentry|126|Magmar|1|Fire||[[Pokémon Red and Green Versions|{{color|{{green color}}|'''G'''}}]]|gen=1}}

Pokémon Blue is compatible with {{jpn|Pokémon Stadium}}, {{eng|Pokémon Stadium|Pokémon Stadium 2}} (released as Pokémon Stadium in English), and {{pkmn|Stadium 2|Pokémon Stadium Gold and Silver}} (released as Pokémon Stadium 2 in English). While link battles are not possible directly between Pokémon Blue and the Generation II games, a player may challenge a Generation II game using Pokémon Stadium Gold and Silver.

Using [[Poké Transporter]], the entirety of Box 1 can be sent from the Generation I core series games to {{g|Bank}} (regardless of language), from where they can be withdrawn in the [[Generation VII]] core series games.

Pokémon Blue was originally announced at the {{wp|cover date|cover-dated}} November 1996 issue of {{wp|CoroCoro Comic}}, which was distributed on October 15, 1996. This CoroCoro issue had an application form to request Pokémon Blue via mail. This was originally the only way to obtain this game. The period to request Pokémon Blue was between October 15 and December 27.<ref name="Lava">[https://lavacutcontent.com/corocoro-comic-pokemon-blue/ Translation: Forgotten Story of Pokemon Blue’s Release - Lava Cut Content]</ref>

The game was originally released to celebrate 1 million sales of Pokémon Red and Green.<ref>[https://zoidsland.com/1rebyu-/koro96-10.html CoroCoro - October 1996] (specifically the [https://zoidsland.com/1rebyu-/koro96-10-a70.jpg page about 1 million Pokémon sales])</ref> Pokémon Blue was distributed by mail from early December 1996 to January 1997.<ref name="Lava"/> It was later re-released (again as mail order) in 1997 to celebrate 4 million sales of Red, Green, and Blue combined,<ref name="1997 re-release"/><ref>[https://zoidsland.com/1rebyu-/koro97-7b.html CoroCoro - July 1997]</ref> and then was ultimately released to general {{wp|retail}} on October 10, 1999.<ref name="TPC" /><ref name="NoJ" />

Using [[Poké Transporter]], Pokémon can be sent from the Generation I core series games to {{g|Bank}}, from which they can be withdrawn in the [[Generation VII]] core series games.

The game is available on the [[Nintendo 3DS]] [[Virtual Console]] in Japan between the [[Pokémon 20th Anniversary]] on February 27, 2016, and the discontinuation of the 3DS Nintendo eShop in March 2023.

===Virtual Console icons===

Blue VC JP icon.png|Nintendo 3DS Virtual Console icon

* Due to [[List of graphical quirks (Generation I)#Purple Jigglypuff oversight|an oversight]], Jigglypuff appears purple (instead of pink) in the battle against Gengar at the game intro. This is a leftover from the battle between two purple Pokémon (Gengar vs. Nidorino) in the earlier games {{game|Red and Green|s}}.

* Sales of this game combined with {{game|Red and Green|s|Pokémon Green, the Japanese version of Pokémon Red}}, and {{game|Red and Blue|s|the English versions of Pokémon Red and Blue}} exceed 31 million units, making these the highest selling Pokémon games as well as the only games in the series to exceed 30 million units.

{{Core series}}