Super Mario Land

The Short

Pros
- Mario in portable form in his weirdest adventure to date
- Jump across Egypt, fly through the skies, dive in the ocean, and...go to Easter Island?
- Music is absurdly catchy
- Good balance and has an unlockable hard mode upon beating it
- Graphics are minimalist but do well working with the original Game Boy's contrast scheme
- Checkpoints are liberal and levels are long

Cons
- First run is too easy. I finished with 20+ lives
- Momentum and physics are completely different from other Mario games (read: nonexistent)
- Short; only 12 levels total
- Nothing in this game ever made it into future Mario games

Let's get to Mario's Land. That isn't Mushroom Kingdom. 

The Long

Call me strange, but I have a bizarre affinity for game sequels that completely branch off from the originals. Super Mario 2, Zelda 2, Castlevania 2: Simon's Quest, and arguably spinoff games like Kirby's Epic Yarn and Pokemon Snap are some of my favorite experiences. One could argue that franchies (especially Nintendo franchises) tend to get caught in their own cycle of familiarity, which is why we end up with six "New" Super Mario Bros games every year when really there's nothing "new" about them. 

But back before Mario competed in the olympics, golfed, and went into space and battled with weird gravity, Nintendo threw him out on their insanely popular handheld: the original Game Boy. Spurned forward with the release of Tetris, Nintendo knew it was time to move their most popular franchise on over. The result? Super Mario Land, which is arguably the weirdest Mario game to date, and that's counting Mario 2. 

Easter Island heads? Cannons from pipes? WHAT IS GOING ON?!

It's worth pointing out that this is the first Mario game not made by Shigeru Miyamoto. Even Doki Doki Panic, which Mario 2 was based off of, was originally created with Miyamoto at the helm. Instead Gunpei Yokoi was the head of this one, the father of the Game Boy. Yokoi's pedigree is no less great: he helped Miyamoto on almost all big Nintendo franchise, and was at the head of Metroid, Kid Icarus, Tetris Attack, and Fire Emblem. However, it's pretty clear that his vision for Mario was a bit different that Miyamoto's based on how different (and awesome) Super Mario Land is.

Super Mario Land, despite all I've said about it, still plays on it's most basic level like a Mario game. You'll be running, jumping, and stomping on enemies. You'll be hitting blocks with your head to get coins and powerups, slide down pipes for secrets, and jump over bosses at the end of stages. However, from the second you pick up Super Mario Land you know this game is going to be different, and not just graphically.

It sure looks like Mario to me...

The physics and momentum in this game are...weird. It feels more akin to Kid Icarus than Mario. A big thing about Mario games is the momentum: get going and it takes a second to stop, fall and you hav ea few seconds before gravity really kicks in. Super Mario Land isn't like that at all. You don't really gain speed when you hit the run button, you just barrel forward. You also can stop on a dime pretty easily. Fall off something and Mario plummets like a rock, and his mid-air control (which is usually just a tad floaty in the other games) is very responsive, perhaps overly so. Now, I'm not saying these controls are bad, far from it. But I am saying they feel quite different. A bit more...jerky, might be the term.

Aside from the weird controls, the game itself is strange, and I love it for it. Set in not the Mushroom Kingdom, Mario is off across such landscapes as Easter Island, an ancient Egyptian Tomb, underwater in a sub shooting Gradius style, and soaring through the air in a plane. I think this is the only Mario game to date where he gets in vehicles (aside from Mario Kart, of course), and the mix-up is actually greatly appreciated. Side-scrolling shooters in my Mario game? Sure, why not? It's awesome and they control great, so we'll take it!

What's the story, fishbone?

That, honestly, is my real opinion of this game: it's cooky, totally different, and I love it for it. A lot of people actually hate this game because it is so different from every other Mario game. Weirdly enough, these are also the people who, in the same breath, tend to complain about the Mario games stagnating. Um...

Anyway, even the power-ups and enemies aren't the same. Power-ups are similar: mushrooms (that look more like cupcakes) and fire-flowers, but they don't give you fireballs. Instead you get...Super Balls, which will bounce and fly up into the air before disappearing  O...k? Gravity, anybody? But they collect coins too, which is pretty neat. 

Enemies are also completely different. The Goomba-like guy is the only one who's familiar. The Koopas have replaced their shells with volatile C4; jump on them and a few seconds they'll detonate for a damaging explosion. There's also floaty Easter Island head, running Easter Island heads (these guys are terrifying), giant bugs, deadly fish, a cloud that's straight out of a Kirby game, and an alien. Yes, the final boss is an alien in a spaceship. Because why not?

There's a hefty amount of secrets in this game. By "hefty" I mean "actually not a whole lot."

As stated, while the controls are different they are certainly serviceable once you get used to them, and you'll need to. Super Mario Land can get pretty tricky, especially later cave levels with those dang spiders that show up all over the place and jump. Despite that, you'll probably never actually die or get frustrated, as the game liberally checkpoints and also throws tons of extra lives at you. With a little skill you can pick up 1-3 at the end of every stage, not counting those acquired by coins or finding them throughout the levels. So the actual jumping and dodging can get tricky, but it never gets frustrating because you have a lot of lives to burn through. Hey, I'll totally take that.

What is unfortunate is the length. Much like Kirby's Adventure, Super Mario Land's greatest weakness is that it's far too short. There's only four worlds with three levels each and, despite the levels being a bit longer than most Mario levels, the game can be beaten in around half and hour to forty-five minutes. After beating it you unlock a "Hard" run, which is basically the same game but with five times as many exploding Koopas, so that's a treat for those who want it. 

To be honest, while I'm sad the game is short, it's about a perfect length for a portable game. As a kid this game worked great on car trips, because you could beat the whole thing once or twice for what was usually the length of a usual ride. Plus, if you get there and you have to switch the game off, it's a short enough game that replaying levels isn't painful. Maybe this is a weak argument defending what is clearly a too-short game, but I think it works for the platform it's on.

What's inside pipe number 3? ...probably another killer plant. 

Graphically, Super Mario Land is a bit...weak. While I like the weird art style, nothing particularly stands out. A rather big oversight is that Mario looks exactly the same whether he's just big or has picked up Super Ball (an issue fixed in Mario Land 2 by adding a graphical change), which is probably because of the Game Boy's color limitations.

Speaking of which, the minimalistic graphics actually work quite well to accompany the original Game Boy's awful contrast. Since backgrounds are pretty much solid white with some very light colored detail, it's very easy to see objects in the foreground. I booted it up on my brick Game Boy and it is still totally visible, much more so than almost any other games. Like the Pokemon games, the lack of detail actually worked in the system's favor. 

Yeah, this game has ninjas in it. Sure. 

Super Mario Land is one of my favorite Game Boy games, even though I'll admit I like it's sequel (Six Golden Coins) a fair bit better. It's a fun game to boot up for quick runs, and the catchy music and quick gameplay make it easy to pick up, play, and then quit without feeling obligated. The sequels cut back on the oddness, which is both good and bad, but the original still holds a special place in my gaming nostalgia. Nintendo will probably never take as much of a risk with its main man ever again, and as such I'm grateful that Super Mario Land exists as a reminder that we didn't always recycle the same Mario formula over and over again.

That and picking up coins that spell "Mario" in a sub is just too fantastic to downplay. If only it were longer...and had actual momentum. Four out of five stars. 

Now listen to some good Game Boy tunes. 

Pokemon Yellow

The Short


Pros 
- Keeps the same, addicting gameplay found in its siblings, Pokemon Blue/Red
- Graphical improvements over its predecessor
- Follows the anime series by giving you a Pikachu to start, unlike any other game in the series
- Is the only game in the series where it is capable of getting all three starters of the generation without trades (Charmander, Squirtle, Bulbasaur)
- Pikachu follows you around and can be talked to, and his mood influences certain aspects of the game
- Improved compatibility with the Game Boy Color
- Starting with an electric Pokemon makes the first portion of the game much harder, which I am totally fine with
- Some very small gameplay tweaks refine certain aspects from Blue/Red

Cons
- At its core, this is still Pokemon Blue/Red, with all the same problems as the first games
- Still no damned XP bar
- You can't catch any Pikachus or evolve the one you have into a Raichu
- Has a Pikachu's Beach minigame which is...just there
- Doesn't add any new pokemon at all
- Might be seen as just a money-maker, cashing in on the popularity of the anime at the time

The face that booted a franchise

Note: I will not be going over the basic mechanics of the Pokemon games in this review, as I have covered these mechanics extensively in my Pokemon Blue/Red review. Instead, all subsequent reviews will instead focus on the changes made to the formula in any particular iteration. 

The Long


It's 1999. Year of The Matrix. Year approaching Y2K. And absolutely the year of the Pokemon. Pokemon Red/Blue are selling like crazy, a start of a blockbuster franchise that can only be compared these days with something like the boom of the Angry Birds games. Nintendo still has a year before the next generation of Pokemon, Gold/Silver, will come out, and it needs to keep its fans happy. The Pokemon anime has taken off big in both the US and Japan, and so Nintendo hatches a plan.

Pokemon: Yellow Version (also known as Pokemon: Special Pikachu Version) is that plan. Taking Pokemon Red/Blue and retooling it so that it better fits with the plot of the anime, Nintendo pushes Pikachu to the forefront of the franchise as its now-easily recognizable mascot, and dedicates an entire game to him. So is this game - which is basically just Red/Blue reskinned - just a cheap cash-in on the anime?

No. In fact, I'd go so far to say it was superior to Red/Blue by a longshot.

Pikachu, catching some sick waves. 

The main difference between Yellow and Red/Blue happens at the very beginning. In Red/Blue, you get to choose which Pokemon you start with, a tradition that carries on into every other Pokemon game to date. You get a fire, water, or grass type pokemon, and your rival (whom you battle throughout the game) will pick whatever your weakness is. In Pokemon Yellow, however, you always start with a Pikachu, and your Rival always starts with an Eevee. It's worth noting that Eevee's are a unique pokemon in that they start with the Normal (aka neutral) type and can evolve into many different types depending on how you go about it (an electric, water, or fire type in Generation I). So your rival pretty much got a way better deal than you, getting a bum Pikachu.

Choices are for tools, anyway. 

This actually makes the game a bit harder, if only because the first gym is a Rock type, which is completely immune to electricity. Sure, electric pokemon and fire pokemon can be hard to find in the wild, but that doesn't mean you have to start with them. The bump in difficulty is actually greatly appreciated; I always thought the Pokemon games were too easy because they start you off with such accessible types. Start me off with something weird, like Psychic or Bug or Ghost or something. But they never do, except this game. So that's unique. 

Suck it, stupid Eevee. 

What is really cool about this version, though, is the fact that (like the anime), your Pikachu won't stay in a pokeball. Instead it'll follow you around so long as its in your available roster, journeying with you to the ends of the earth if necessary. You can also talk to your Pikachu at any time and gauge his happiness, which can be used a specific locations to earn rewards or for specific plot...things.

I'd like to say how I think this is a really good idea for a second. The whole idea about Pokemon is you setting out on a journey of discovery and personal growth in an attempt to be the very best, like no one every was. Having a companion with you (who also fights for you) who has feelings and tags along is really neat. It helps sell the adventure more, because these monsters are no longer just guys that pop up in menus or in battle, they are actually there with you. I felt much more immersed in this game than I did with Red/Blue because it felt more real (if battling tons of Japanese monsters is "real"). It was an aesthetic changes that I totally agreed with.

They brought it back on HeartGold/SoulSilver (the DS remakes of Gold/Silver) and I really liked it there, too. Then they took it out for Black/White because Nintendo hates me.

Sad Pikachu is sad

There are a few other changes to keep the game more in line with the anime, and almost all of them are for the better. Specific gym leaders (Brock and Misty) have been changed to look like their anime counterparts. The regular Team Rocket grunts have been changed to Jessie and James from the show, including their full pokemon roster. But probably the best part is the fact that, like Ash from the series, you can get all three starter pokemon in this game without needing to trade. For those who don't know: another reason why picking your first pokemon is such a big deal is you can never get any of the others without trading; they just don't show up anywhere in the game. Pokemon Yellow has all three from Red/Blue, and most are fairly easy to get. So if you wanted a dream team of Charizard, Blastoise, and Venusaur, this is the game for you. 

Misty looks a little more like her anime counterpart, sans suspenders

The graphics have seen a slight improvement, and there has been one sound change. Pikachu, instead of making some random noise, instead does a very staticy "PIKA!" sound everytime he goes into battle. I can't decided if this is a good or a bad thing, but it's consistant with the source material, so I'll give it that I guess. The graphics, as stated, are generally the same, though it does look a lot better on a Game Boy Color than Red/Blue. Since it wasn't designed for the color system, the Game Boy Color has to sort of guess which colors go where, and it seems to do better on this game than the others. It still looks pretty bad, but at least Pikachu is consistently yellow. 

There are also a few minor changes made to the gameplay that aren't worth mentioning (like you can finally teach Charizard "Fly"), because as a whole it's still the same game as Red/Blue. No new pokemon have been added (though this one has probably the best mix of optional pokemon out of the trio), which is a bummer, and there has been no UI improvements. Yep, still have to go all the way into the menu to see your XP. How obnoxious.

Here's some more Pikachu surfing because, why not? 

As it stands, Pokemon Yellow is probably the best out of the original Generation I Pokemon games. While  it is obviously pandering to fans of the anime, the changes are all welcome ones, and all improve upon the original's solid formula. I still think having a Pikachu that actually follows you around was the main reason I liked this game so much, because I really felt like I was a Pokemon adventurer, much more than I had with Red/Blue. It might be stupid, I know, but this is one of my favorite versions of Pokemon, and if you are looking to revisit the first Generation on its original hardware, this is probably the one to do it with.

It still has the same issues as Blue/Red, but...come on. It's Pikachu. How could you say no?

Four out of five stars. 

Come, trusty Pikachu! Let us go forth and...wait, is that old guy dead?!

Pokemon Blue/Red

Pokemon Red/Blue Versions

The Short


Pros
- 150 Pokemon to capture and battle (no, not 151. You can't catch Mew without cheating. Trust me.)
- Surprisingly deep JRPG with a heavy emphasis on elemental weaknesses and attacks
- Hella tight music, even for the tinny GB speakers
- Hunting down and trading for every last Pokemon is addicting and fits that obsessive-compulsive need
- Idea of creating your own journey to become a Pokemon master is compelling, enough so that they reuse it for every future game in the franchise
- Creating the "perfect team" with the right combination of types and moves can consume your life

Cons
- Lack of an XP bar means you have to go to the menu to check levels every time
- Catching them all means having a friend with a GB and a link cable to trade, since the monsters are limited based on version
- HM moves can't be deleted except through a rather tedious process
- Lacks the depth of future games since it doesn't have breeding, day/night cycle, etc.
- A few cumbersome UI choices
- Game Boy Color doesn't really color it well
- Game really isn't that difficult until the very end
- Status effects are always stacked against you
- In the original version, Psychic Pokemon were virtually invincible
- Like all the games, Pokemon is a serious test to your level-grinding patience

The intro that started it all

The Long

You know what Pokemon is. Even if you've ever played it, even if you can't tell a Zubat from a Pidgy, and even if these new-fangled "pokemans" are clearly inferior to the original 150 you caught as a kid, everybody knows what Pokemon is. I'm pretty sure most people in this country can recognize a Pikachu on sight, have heard the phrase "Gotta Catch 'Em All," and know that in the Pokeworld a Gym is not a place you go to work out. Yu-Gi-Oh came and went, Digimon had a run and sort of faded, but Pokemon persists. And you can laugh or scoff all you want at this "kid's game," but there is clearly something here that has compelled literal generations of kids to play it. Think of it this way: Pokemon Red/Blue came out in 1998. That's fourteen years ago. That's long enough for someone to grow up, get married, have their own kid, and start teaching them to be a Pokemon master. That's insane. 

As someone who experienced Pokemon from start to finish (I was 12 when the phenomenon came crashing over to U.S. shores), I have no shame in saying I think these are all fantastic games. I never got so deep as to the whole breeding/secret stats thing of the later versions, but I did "Catch 'Em All" with the first two generations (never to happen again), have played every single generation and several spinoff games, and even watched the first two seasons of the anime. Yeah. I can sing the entire first-season Pokemon anime theme song by heart, even now. I'll admit that aspect of all this is a little sad. 

TO CATCH THEM IS MY REAL TEST, TO TRAIN THEM IS MY CAUSE

Anyway, the point is that I love the crap out of Pokemon, even though I'm twenty-six and married and should probably be doing something better with my time. If you've ever been on the fence or just thought they were stupid kids games (the franchising of it and marketing it as such probably didn't help that interpretation much), then guess what. I'm here to convince you otherwise. 

So enough of me rambling and let's get on with this review. 

Let the battle begin

Pokemon starts off simple. You are a young boy living in Pallet Town, and whenever boys (and I assume girls) reach a certain age they are set off on an adventure to become a Pokemon trainer. It's a sort of "rite of passage" thing into adulthood, I'm assuming, because after that they either become a Pokemon master, or just a normal like...shopkeeper. It's actually an interesting analogy about pursuing your dreams, because everybody leaves Pallet Town thinking they'll be champion, while your journey is filled with people who have essentially given up. Since it's an open world, you can technically give up at any time and just wander around normally, but if you want to be the best it's a lot of work and a lot of failure. I'm probably digging to deep into this, since there's really no actual story to speak of, but since the goal of it is to allow a player to write their own Pokemon journey, that's mine.

The essential goal is to beat a set of eight Gym leaders (bosses) along the way, then go kill the Elite Four and the Champion in one final blow. The first eight can poise a slight problem if your team isn't great, but the game gets mad hard once you hit the Elite Four, which adds a chunk of gameplay. That's basically the goal of Pokemon. Simple, but I'm fine with that. 

JRK is well on his way to being a Pokemon Master

You are given a choice between three starters: a fire-elemental type (Charmander), a water-elemental type (Squirtle) and a grass-elemental type (Bulbasaur). They might as well had called them "Hard, Medium, Easy" respectively, since that's essentially how it works, though once you get in the second half of the game it becomes kind of a moot point. 

So you pick your Pokemon, grab your balls (Pokeballs) and your journey begins. There's a bit where you have to overthrow a corrupt Pokemon gang called Team Rocket, but the story is pretty much 1. Get stronger and 2. Beat up everybody who so much as glances in your direction. Simple stuff.

Charmander, bringing 'da heat

How to accomplish both 1 and 2 above requires you to catch more Pokemon. You can have as many as you want total, but you are limited to only having six on your team. Pokemon are also assigned a unique element, which each has their own specific weaknesses. Simple ones are that fire is weak to water (meaning the Charmander above is screwed if the Squirtle knows Water Gun), while others get more complex (Psychic is weak to Bug, Strength is weak to Psychic, etc.). The basic elements of this first version are Normal, Fire, Fighting, Water, Flying, Grass, Poison, Electric, Ground, Psychic, Ice, Bug, Ghost, and Dragon. Knowing and mastering these strengths and weaknesses is probably the biggest key point in the game, and being able to actively attack and defend against any of these types requires you to have a perfect team. Pokemon can also have hybrid types (for example, Charizard is a Fire/Flying), with a main type and a side type. These weaknesses can stack and so can strengths (so since both fire and rock take 2x damage from water, a fire/rock Pokemon would take 4x), meaning you have to be very careful in who you pick and who you send out.

You also aren't limited to just your own elemental powers, since moves themselves are assigned elements as well. Your Pokemon often stay reasonably within their assigned class type when they learn moves via leveling up, but you can acquire special items (TMs) that teach moves that can mix things up. Some of the most valuable Pokemon (the dragons), are awesome because you can teach them from a massive pool of elemental type moves. Unlike the Pokemon, however, moves can't have multiple types. 

Seriously, it's a lot to remember. 

And then the clincher: you can only have four moves at a time, and if you forget a move it's gone forever (except if you fulfil a very specific set of requirements and for just one Pokemon). So when you are making your team of awesome, you have to be careful to not screw it up. This can be a big pain because of the UI; you don't know what moves do or even what element they are (though you can guess what "Fire Blast"'s element is) until after you either actually learn it or look it up online. This can mean you could seriously mess up your Pokemon if you forgot an essential move. You can fix this most of the time by catching another one (if it is a catchable type) and fixing it later, but it still is an annoyance.

You also have to choose whether to evolve your Pokemon (which makes them tougher but they learn moves slower), or leave him where he is (where he stays weaker but can learn better moves at a faster rate)

So how do you form this Poke-team? You gotta go out there and catch them! While the battle mechanics of Pokemon can be extremely complex, the actual system themselves is traditional turn-based JRPG. You wander around in tall grass (or get spotted by another trainer) to start a battle. Once in it, you take turns attacking based on the various Pokemon's speed stat (and there are, of course, moves that buff or debuff). You can also spend a turn to take a Pokemon back and send another one out, earning the newcomer a free hit from the enemy. After you've beat the everloving crap out of the other guy (but not enough to kill him, just barely), you can throw a Pokeball and pray (holding Down+B also helps). If you are lucky, you catch the wild Pokemon and he becomes yours FOREVER. If you fail, you can keep throwing with the hope that you'll get it, while the wild Pokemon gets a free hit on your guy every time you fail. 

Somebody actually figured out the math for this. Freaking insane.  

Which brings me to a big complaint (and one that continue throughout the series): catching Pokemon is both exciting and immensely frustrating. Yes, you can buy better Pokeballs that have a better chance of catching. Yes, there are moves that drop an enemy HP to 1 (though False Swipe wasn't introduced until Generation II, so it isn't in this game) and not 0, which is ideal for catching. But missing ten Pokeballs in a row or accidentally hitting an rare Pokemon down to 0 so the battle ends instead of giving you a chance to catch it is infuriating. Considering it's trying to take regular RPG mechanics of "dealing damage" and applying a requirement of precision from them is really obnoxious. 

If you win the battle, every Pokemon who participated gets an equal cut of the XP (which makes a viable strategy to put your low-level Pokemon first, swap him out at the start of the battle for a good one, and then the two share the final XP). Another pain in the butt for the Red/Blue generation is the lack of an XP bar in battle. It gives you the numbers, sure, but in order to actually see how much XP you need to a next level you have to go through the menu to the specific Pokemon to check. It's an annoyance that was fixed in Gold/Silver, but it still really hurts replaying this game again now, in 2012.

Choose wisely. 

The level grinding also gets pretty insane. Since each Pokemon has to level individually, and Pokemon you catch are usually weaker than your current party of six, every time you get a new Pokemon you are signing up for another 10-20 minute grindfest to get him up to par. Again, this can be done via the swap trick (or the Exp Share item in later versions), but it's still tedious. There are also Pokemon that become completely obsolete by the end of the game (read: all Bug Pokemon), so if you heavily invested in them once they hit level ~30 you'll realize they...kind of suck now. Time to catch a new one, I guess. 

Luckily the Pokemon get stronger as you go along, meaning it isn't that bad, but expect to spend a lot of time running back and forth in tall grass as you level grind your Squirtle up to a Wartortle. 

Pikachu has lost some weight since this first game

Another major annoyance is the HMs. Now, in order to make sure you don't just run out and get mutilated by some Lv 40 Ponyta from the start of the game, Pokemon gates your progress with the Gyms. After you beat the Gyms you are given a move (for example, "Cut"), which you can teach any number of Pokemon an unlimited amount of times, and it lets you interact with it in the real world (in this case, cutting specific trees that block your path). I wish they'd do more with having your Pokemon interact with the real world other than just doing these prescribed things, but that isn't my complaint. 

My complaint is once you learn an HM you are stuck with it forever. You can't delete or replace it from your four-move roster. So if you learn Cut (which is a pretty crappy move later on) with your main guy, you just have a wasted slot for every battle forever. Why couldn't they have gated it with, I dunno, an item? They could have given me an ax and I wouldn't have had to ruin my Pokemon. There are ways around it (getting a junk Pokemon to learn all the HM moves), but that's wasting a whole slot from your party of Six to just get around the damn world. As a bonus, these things come back after you leave the screen, meaning you can't just run to every rock, tree, etc. in the world and blow it up once, you still have to haul your crappy HM Mule/Slave around. It's stupid and extremely annoying, and they still haven't changed it. 

Get spotted by a trainer and you'll be locked into a fight. 

Graphically, Pokemon is a mixed bag. The Pokemon themselves look great, well drawn and their moves also look decent. The world itself is a bit bland, but it's a Game Boy game so I'm willing to cut it some slack. The menus are pretty much just tons of text to navigate, which isn't aesthetically pleasing at all, and they can be extremely cumbersome to navigate (especially since you have to go them to to check your XP GAH).

The music is awesome, even coming out of tinny Game Boy speakers. You'll learn to loathe the battle song, but each city and route sports their own catchy tunes, and they all provide both good background noise and an excellent, memorable tune.

The start of a journey

How does one actually rate the game that started a massive phenomenon that is (more or less) still going fourteen years later? Well, when I started reviewing games I decided to review them based on how I fell now, not on how I felt at the time. At the time this game was freaking incredible, a JRPG introduction for kids that had an insane amount of depth hidden beneath it's simple exterior. Nintendo has improved on (or made slight improvements on, anyway) this formula over the years, and after burning through every Generation I can safely say that this game hasn't aged particularly well. The cumbersome gameplay and UI issues really hold it back, and while those of us with nostalgia will be willing to overlook these flaws, the rose-tinted glasses can only go so far. 

This game was also remade on the GBA with the improvements that had been implemented in the years since its original release, and that version is easily the superior one. Pokemon Blue (my version, screw you Red people) will always hold a special place in my heart for what it is, but considering just how many Pokemon games you have to choose from currently, I can't recommend the original Game Boy game as a jumping off point for this generation of gamers. 

Three out of five stars. Though if we were going off my rose-tinted memories, there wouldn't be enough stars in the world.