Welcome to a new edition of Retro Corner and we take a look at Pokemon Yellow as an update to Red/Blue. It wasn't uncommon for companies to do this a year after a previous version's release came out. Capcom and Midway (now defunct) were actually infamous for this when it came to Street Fighter, Resident Evil and Mortal Kombat. The difference these later versions had were updated moves, rosters and other features not found in the earlier releases. At the time, this was one of the few exceptions Nintendo practiced such a business tactic. They never undertook such practices like this with Mario Kart or Smash Bros as you would expect them to do. The Yellow Edition's 1999 release would mark the last Game Boy game to launch on the handheld. Gameplay As mentioned already, Yellow version is an update to the Red and Blue editions with Nintendo fixing some of the glitches like MissingNo. The difference is Yellow follows some of the anime's plot, and the player takes the role of Ash and Pikachu. The Special Pikachu Edition is hands down the best version out of the three because of following the anime's plot. The idea that Pikachu was the player's starter always felt relatable and even more so with fulfilling the role of Ash instead of Red. It was a little funny to see Gary in Blue's place as the rival and even Jessie and James from Team Rocket were here too. Honestly, this is what Nintendo needed to make Red and Blue like instead of developing characters with no personalities. Just as the player automatically receives Pikachu as their starter, Gary will get Eevee in turn. The reason Gary receives Eevee as his starter is because he could evolve it later on to make up for the lack of any main elemental Pokemon. That's similar to how Blue's team gets put together in the originals but it's done a little differently here. If you lose your first battle with him at the lab Eevee will become Vaporeon. By only winning the battle at the lab will make it become Flareon. However, beating Gary in the Lab and on Route 22 will have Eevee evolve into Jolteon. I love the way Game Freak designed this as you get the choice of putting Gary at a disadvantage or with a balanced team. That is just another way to pick the difficulty like it was in Red and Blue. The developers even added a mini game called Pikachu surfing as this debuted here first before the theme appeared in the anime. I was never really into mini games in RPGs unless it was from Mario Party. It's a nice addition with a simple challenge of avoiding waves while racking up points by doing flips. One of the side quests that make this the best version is getting the three starters from Red and Blue. I remember how this blew my mind back then as for once no other version was really needed to have them in my party. Another thing about Yellow was finding some exclusive Pokémon from early release. That helps me again not have to get all the versions when I just need one of the other two. The glitches being removed were a bit disappointing but that's expected and now we weren't allowed to mess around. Another reason it's disappointing is these glitches acted like cheat codes and not a problem with the program. Game Freak could have improved some of the side quests like with Professor Oak's Aids. Maybe it would've been better to make a few new items that let you challenge other trainers that were already beaten. I found this an awesome update, and it would help stream-line the progression a little better. Rating: 9.3/10 Graphics/Presentation As usual, the updated edition has some tweaks in a few areas but nothing that wasn't done in the earlier titles. Every texture and animation is basically the same with no changes except for new additions. I'll start with the intro and it's very animated as Pikachu does various things. I always thought this was a little better than Red/Blue's intro involving Nidorino/Jigglypuff or Gengar facing off. The one sprite that will stick out the most is obviously Pikachu as Game Freak did a good job rendering him. His animation is about the same as the other Pokemon sprites but one difference is the voice. Unlike the others, Pikachu doesn't have a generic sound effect and despite the low speaker, you can hear the electric mouse speak his name. That was probably the best sound in the game which made it relatable to the anime. I say this because for once we get to hear at least one Pokemon sound their name out. Another feature that adds to the presentation is Pikachu's interaction whether he follows you around or gives emotions based on the way you treat him. Game Freak really went the extra mile here with programming these features in considering this is a special version. Then there's the updated sprite art which look miles better than the previous release. It was strange that the sprites in the Pokédex looked weird as if they were on something. A handful of examples come from Blastosie, Pidgeot, Butterfree, Mewtwo and Raichu. These sprites include an improve images this time and now resemble the anime's art style that I and so many others are more familiar with. The Super Game Boy features were also added and give the same full color in some areas of the game. There is even a border similar to Red/Blue with the only difference being a yellow and Pikachu themed background. It was nice for Game Freak to add these especially with still seeing updates for something as old as the Super Game Boy. The only thing they could've done is improving the other sounds for the Pokemon like they did with Pikachu. I'm aware of the Handheld's limitations, but it still would've been awesome if they achieved this for the popular ones too. Rating: 8.5/10 Features/Content Everything that's explained in the Red/Blue review is also featured here with the same play through length. The best side quest is getting all three starter Pokémon from Red/Blue as the player has to find them. I remember how awesome it felt to get Squirtle, Bulbasaur and Charmander all in the same version without another game. It made me feel like I was playing as Ash who always had them with Pikachu in my team. Another new thing is the surfing Pikachu game, and this is found on the shores of Route 19. The goal of the mini game is to earn as many points before arriving to the shore. To get points the player moves Pikachu back and forth on a side scrolling screen and has to perform flips in the air along the waves. Every time the player gets Pikachu in the water his HP goes down faster and they have to stay on the water to win and to obtain a high score. The sole reason they apparently put this mini game in was because of the Legend of Surf Pikachu episode from season one. The episode did air in North American on October 2, 1999 nearly a month after the game's release. As already mentioned, I did find it disappointing for Game Freak to take out the glitches in this version. At least the Mew glitch wasn't taken out as it can still be caught by following the same instructions. Rating: 9.3/10 Final Rating The update helped enhance the first two games' features like it supposed to do. The additions of Pikachu following you around and giving reactions were nice features. A couple of things that makes this version superior to the others is getting all the starters and finding some Pokemon without the other editions. The graphics may look the same but the tweaks with Pikachu and the updated art style for the sprites was still better. It was also awesome to see Gary and Team Rocket of Jesse and James act as your adversaries like in the anime. The features were about the same as well and the added side quests and the surfing mini game were great things to mess around with. The only disappointing thing is the glitches got removed from this version which makes it harder to collect 151 Pokemon. These are the reasons Yellow version was the best out of the three Gen One games. The graphical tweaks and new features are what made the newest edition so much better than the original two. Gameplay: 9.5/10 Graphics/Presentation: 8.5/10 Features/Content: 9.5/10 Rating: 9.3/10 Impressive
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Retro Gamer has over 25 years of gaming experience and played many classics since the Golden Age. She has been an avid fan since the day the NES graced her life and changed it forever.
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