Searching for that old Pokémon Feeling

Earlier today my old coworker @Jetsers threw out the suggestion to write a blog post about Pokémon Red and Blue, the original Game Boy Editions.  I loved that suggestion, so I promptly ran upstairs and asked the kids if we had that game since they'd be the ones to know for sure.  The answer was no, but hey dad, look at all these other great old Game Boy games I own!

How about some Frogger with a side of Donkey Kong and Dr. Mario?

Yes, my dear son, for I was the one that bought those particular games for myself and you stole them all. ;)

Alas, the oldest Pokémon Game we own is Pokémon Channel for the Game Cube, which I played with all of my kids when they were super little. For them that was probably their first exposure to Pokémon.

Outside of this we own . . . 

5 Nintendo DS Pokemon Games:

• Pokémon Conquest
• Pokémon Soulsilver
• Pokémon White (we also had Black, but it was given away as a gift)
• Pokémon Black 2 (we might also have White 2? I can't find it)
• Pokémon Mystery Dungeon Explorers of Sky
• Pokémon Mystery Dungeon Explorers of Darkness

6 Nintendo 3DS Games:

• Pokémon Super Mystery Dungeon
• Pokémon Y (we also had X, dunno where it is)
• Pokémon Moon
• Pokémon Sun
• Pokémon Alpha Sapphire
• Pokémon Mystery Dungeon Gates to Infinity

3 Wii Games:

• Pokémon Battle Revolution
• Pokepark Pikachu's Adventure
• Pokepark 2 Wonders Beyond

3 Nintendo Switch Games:

• Pokémon Sword
• Pokémon Shield
• Pokémon Mystery Dungeon DX

Of those, I can confidently say I have only played Pokémon Channel, Pokémon Diamond, and Pokepark Pikachu's Adventure. (I'm not even counting Pokémon Go because, really, who DIDN'T play Pokémon Go?)

But wait! Diamond wasn't even on your list! Yup. We've lost a couple games along the way as well . . . there was a particular season in our lives where Pokémon Diamond was lost, and we tore the house upside down looking for it since the kids were heartbroken when it went missing.  We never did find that game.  Oh well. It happens with those small little black cartridges.

So, anyway, I did a little searching and reading about the old Pokémon games and found the original cartridges for sale USED on Amazon for premium prices . . . like 30 to 50 bucks. Now, as much as it would be great to slap those in my Gameboy color, it just doesn't seem feasible. On the flipside, however, it is totally possible to buy Pokemon Red or Blue on the 3DS in the Nintendo eShop for $10. Now THAT I can handle.

So then the next question was, which one of these bad boys do I want to play! Do I want to play Red with the stylings of  Ekans, Arbok, Oddish, Gloom, Vileplume, Mankey, Primeape, Growlithe, Arcanine, Scyther, and Electabuzz? OR do I want to play with the stylings of Blue with Sandshrew, Sandslash, Vulpix, Ninetales, Meowth, Persian, Bellsprout, Weepinbell, Victreebell, Magmar, and Pinsir?

I leaned Red for the Electabuzz . . . it's the closest to a "stingite" pokemon out of the bunch . . . $10 later I was playing that super old school Pokémon game like it was 1998.

Red Version on a Red 3DS . . . BAM!

I chose Squirtle as my starter Pokémon and my mortal enemy John chose Bulbasaur. He whined so hard when I beat him . . . outta here, John!

I really liked how the game made you talk to everyone in the starting area because you just couldn't seem to find Professor Oak until you tried to actually leave the town -- that was a nice touch. What I didn't like was how I couldn't make my name Stingite because it was one letter too long . . . "Stingit" it is. At least I could give my Squirtle a proper turtle name.

Yow know what I'm talking about, TMNT fans, right?

So it looks like I'll be wandering the tall grass for a bit. Wish me luck!

Thanks again to Joel for the great game suggestion, and if you have a game suggestion you'd like to give me, drop a hello on this Twitter thread here. I was quite surprised at how many of my followers were interested in classic gaming titles!  Good stuff.

Happy Dueling!