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 FireRed and LeafGreen. The games were first released on February 27, 1996 in Japan, September 1998 in North America, and in 1999 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 151 Pokémon. Some of the basic features included:

• Pokémon Storage System
• Complex Stats System
• Move System restricting knowing only four moves at a time.
• Game Boy Link-up for trading and battling

Those items set Pokémon apart from previous RPGs of its time.

Starters

The starting Pokémon for this generation are Bulbasaur, Charmander and Squirtle. This started the Grass-Fire-Water (respectively) starter type trend that would last to the present as it is similar to the style of rock-paper-scissors games where each has an advantage and disadvantage against one of the others. Choosing either the Water or especially Grass-type starters makes for an easier game; choosing the Fire-type starter proves more of a challenge. The starter choice usually dictated how hard the first few gyms would be. In the 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:

• Brock
• Misty
• Lt. Surge
• Erika
• Koga
• Sabrina
• Blaine
• Giovanni

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 Anime 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.