A Look at Pokemon: Generation 1

Intro
The start of it all, Generation 1 of Pokemon.  It is from this that Pokemon has became as big as the other franchises of Nintendo.  Originally to be called Capsule Monsters the series was started by Satoshi Tajiri who enjoyed catching bugs.  So it moved to catching monsters.  Now looking at things it took development 5-6 years to complete.  So it took a long time for this series to start, even to the point where Game Freak almost went bankrupt.  When you look at these beginnings it is very impressive that the series got to where it is today.

Graphics
For the time it took to develop the game the graphics are below average.  All the buildings are the same style and the only thing to tell the difference from a Gym, Pokemon Center, and a PokeMart is a tiny sign.

For the Pokemon sprites all of them look like little effort went into designing them.  Look at the gen 1 artwork done by Ken Sugimori, that is professional work done that I would have liked to had seen on the sprites as well but it isn't until Pokemon Yellow that the Pokemon sprites turn out much better.

Now if the first games had little time to put in work I would understand but the time frame they had here, well they could have done better.

Plot
At the age of 10 a young boy leaves to become a Pokemon Trainer.  The Goal being to collect 8 badges, beat the Elite Four and become the Champion.  Basic of the series but there is also the other plot line of the games.  The bad guys.  Team Rocket, a group of mafia like men determined to take other the world.

When you look at the Team Rocket plot here things fall apart.  The last time you really ever battle them is the Silph Co. building.  From there you don't really encounter them anywhere.  Sure the boss of Team Rocket is the last gym leader, but that last gym is treated as nothing else, a gym.  The final battle there should have had more on the line than just a badge, the gym should have been crawling with Rocket Grunts with a grand plan to stop.  But no... it's a gym and nothing else.

Gameplay
The bare elements of the game are all here.  Not perfect, with only having 15 types and moves being set by type, but most things in the series started here.

Pokemon battle one on one with 4 moves, with certain stats being more favorable than others trainers pick the right move to defeat the opponent.  Simple yes but it's a solid game style and for good reason that it has been used up to now.

But now we get to the flaws of the gameplay.  Moves like Gust and Karate Chop were Normal moves even though their true types existed at the time (so Bite was changed after the Dark type was created).  The kind of damage done by types also remained unpolished with Bug being super effective against Poison and vise versa, unlike now were Bug does half damage and Poison does normal.  Also Ice did normal damage to Fire types.  But the biggest flaw of all is the typing of Psychic types, with Ghosts doing no damage though not having any good Ghost type attacks.  Bug types did do super effective damage but they only had a few moves that were not worth anything.  There is also a flaw with stats as there was no Special Attack or Special Defense, it was just Special.  But what did Special mean?  Was it both attack and defense, or did the Defense stat take both kinds of attacks?  Before anyone says anything just think about it, without looking it up on the internet can anyone honestly look at this and figure this out?  Final nail here is Dragon and Ghost types.  I dealt with Ghost with the Psychic thing but for the first generation Ghosts and Dragons were not given much to work with only having one family line and no others.  Plus the only Dragon move, Dragon Rage, that only does a small set damage.

There is also a reason that there are multiple versions with certain Pokemon you can/can't catch, Trading.  It was a main point in the games and made to enforce the trading function to the point that some Pokemon have to be traded to evolve.  That is a good marketing tool so that with friends you can trade with.  But that is only if you know someone who can trade with you that is close by with a link cable.  There is one problem with trading and that is regards to starters.  You have one of three to pick and after that you can't get the other two.  A minor problem as you might not find someone who would easily give up their starter in a trade.

The Yellow version doesn't have great changes like the third games after it but it does have its own twists.  The main thing is that it somewhat follows the anime, with Pikachu being the starter and Jessie and James are there in Team Rocket.  Pikachu can follow you around like Ash's Pikachu and has different expressions as its treated good or bad.  It is the game I started with and I would pick this one over the others just for the relationship with Pikachu and better Pokemon sprites.

Pokemon
For the longest time Gen 1 had the most Pokemon that came from a generation, only to be outdone by Gen 5 when it had a total of 156.  But for its time it brought forth some of the most iconic Pokemon of the series, Pikachu, Mewtwo, Meowth, and Jigglypuff.  There are some good and some bad, but well deal with that in the bonus part of this look back.

Pokemon Stadium
Now the Stadium game we all know of is really the second game.  The first one being only in Japan and for good reason.  That many Pokemon where not added to the game so for the better we got this one.  Pokemon Stadium, a game that brought our well trained Pokemon to a 3D glory.

It offered challenges to trainers of all kinds with Cup battles that focused on certain levels Pokemon can have.  Also the challenge of the Gym Leader Castle.  And for those without the game, don't worry, Rental Pokemon are there for you.  The only downside to that is that they don't have moves that you would pick but it's better than nothing and have a large roster to chose from.

Stadium also offers a mini game section where you can play different games with different Pokemon.  They were amusing and there are easy to hard modes to up the challenge.  But best thing of the game was the GB Tower.  A device that allowed a Pokemon Game Boy to be played on the N64 console.  I without a Game Boy used this to play my Pokemon Yellow game.

For beating the Elite 4 and Rival at the Gym Leader Castle you are reward with either a starter, hitmon, fossil, or Eevee.  And removes the trade problem that I noted before.  And for beating the Prime Cup: Masterball Round 2 you can get Pikachu from your game to learn Surf.  Granted that you had it as one of the three Pokemon on your team.

Replayability
So aside from catching and training them all, what else is there.  You could get Stadium if you have the means for that extra challenge but what else is there in the game?  All you really have left is battling the Elite 4 over and over again.  Best that you have a friend with a game and link cable to battle with.

Final Thoughts
A good start but there is so much more that can be done with the series and in later generations they have with so much better things.  The first games get a remake in Gen 3 that we'll get to but for now as it is the games are good.  It doesn't hit any high standards at all but it's the heart of the game that kept people coming back for more and how the Pokemon series evolved to what it is today.
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And to end the look at this generation we look at the best and worst of designs of Pokemon. Now a few things to note.  Not all will be about appearance alone but how they are presented in the series.  Also no Pokemon on the worst list can be explained through species of real life animals, take Beautifly for example, it is a butterfly like Butterfree but based on two different kinds.  Also this list is hard to make, while some of my favorites are on the best list it goes by design.  Last rule is that pokemon may be grouped in one spot by family, or if they are part of a group (Ex: legendary trio thing), and of unrelated pokemon might be together if they have something similar that bugs/fascinates me.  Finally any Pokemon on my worst design list is not a Pokemon I hate.

Top 5 Worst and Best Pokemon Designs of Generation 1

Worst


5 Kangaskhan

Once my sister asked me if there are a kangaroo Pokemon yet and I said no.  When it comes to Kangaskhan I don't see it as a kangaroo and it's design doesn't help much.  If it wasn't for the baby it always has would anyone think of a Kangaroo?  Plus it's strange that for being one of the first Pokemon they have yet to give the baby it's own Pokemon form and name.

4 Voltorb and Electrode

Simple yet so many things just shouldn't work with it.  For one is that they can be mistaken as items/pokeballs, while they share a look they don't have the black band in the middle that pokeballs have AND they might not be the same size.  Now looking up origin of them is that they could be based on the enemies called mimics (monsters that look like chests), now while they can be confused for items, who can look at them and say that they would honestly fall for that.  Especially Electrode who is far bigger yet you might run into one thinking it is an item in the game.  Also with their moves they might be based on bombs.  I don't know about you but explosive creatures might might good enemies but I don't have mush taste to have a bomb in my team.

3 Grimer and Muk

For this family it comes down to one thing, I have dealt with sludge before.  It isn't pretty, it isn't fun, and a lot of stuff had to be thrown out just from touching the sludge.  It's from that experience I wonder from than on why make something like that?

2 Koffing and Weezing

First thing, Beta versions of the game had them named Ny and La respectively, meaning New York and Los Angeles.  That isn't offensive now is it?  Somehow being a mutant life form that lives off pollution and they are not exactly a great looking example it if.

1 Magneton and Dugtrio

I don't hate them in any way but they are more than deserving of this spot.  While they are copy and paste of their pre-evolved forms the fact that they both are from one generation kind of kills the "losing creativity" idea people have when it comes to newer games.  With Dugtrio it's based off the Wack-A-Mole game which is odd and Magneton is well... MAGNETS!  To the credit of the creators Magneton does get more of a 1.5 since it got an awesome evolution in the 4th gen.  But really when it comes down to it designs like this doesn't prove the point old Pokemon fans claim.

Best



5 Rhydon

This one is credited as being the first Pokemon created.  And for the one that holds that spot it is kind of surprising that Rhydon doesn't get the kind of fame other Pokemon of this generation has gotten.  Even before it got an evolved form it was already a powerhouse of a Pokemon.  When looking at Rhydon, I can really feel the soul of the start of Pokemon.  That's more than enough of a reason to give it at least this spot.

4 Gastly, Haunter, and Gengar

A perfect example of simplicity done right.  The only ghost of the generation they may not have much during the first gen but they have a look to them that ghost fans would love.  As Gastly evolves its eyes get more menacing and a smile that could easily compete with the Joker's.  And as the evolution continues the ghostly Pokemon grows many spikes making it look more threatening as it becomes Gengar.  Out of the concept of the game Gengar is one of the originals, much like number 5.

3 Meowth

A Pokemon that had to be on here.  With on as the talkative member of Team Rocket Meowth is a simple design yet wonderful at the same time.  The base for Meowth seems to be the beckoning cat, an item used in Japan to draw in customers.  Considering how popular Meowth is in the series, they seem to work the same way.

2 Pikachu and Raichu

Yeah these guys.  But who can blame me.  A well balance between mouse and electricity make for the perfect design.  And like Meowth if the design didn't work Pikachu would certainly not be as popular as it is now.  Plus given moves like Fly and Surf, who wouldn't want one?  Though the means of getting one of them that knows those moves is MUCH harder now more than ever.

1 Eevee and all it's evolutions

Yes it's cheating since some of it's evolutions are from other generations but screw that.   Eevee started here and because of that all the others came to be because of Eevee.  What makes it the best is how Eevee is simple yet complex.  There are 7 evolutions of Eevee and all of them are styled to fit their element all while keeping a design that clicks into players minds to say "that's an Eevee evolution!"

Pokemon Art (c) Ken Sugimori
Information Source Bulbapedia