Pokémon Blue/Red

Game Boy
September 28, 1998
How do you beat a classic?

You open with a pseudo-diegetic conversation with Professor Oak, a researcher, before picking your name and your rival's. One welcome transition later and we're in our upstairs room, playing an SNES. Downstairs, our mom (in iconic but optional dialogue) forces herself to grapple with the fact that her little boy is leaving ("It said so on TV.").

Oh, and Professor Oak wanted to see you.

Your rival is there at the lab, but Professor Oak is nowhere to be found. And the only way out is up - through the grassy path leading out of Pallet Town. Oak, of course, suddenly materializes the moment you so much as think about touching a tall grass tile. He takes you back to the lab and you get to finally pick your own Pokémon (I chose Squirtle, because I'm demonstrably correct).

But before you can leave, your rival challenges you to your first battle.

While the game doesn't bother tutorializaing the battle (as usual with games of this age, the lengthy manual takes care of the basics with some fantastic watercolor art that is absolutely seared into my brain folds), the big "FIGHT" button seems to be obvious enough. After massacring your way north to Viridian City, you're stopped in the PokéMart and asked to deliver a suspicious parcel back to Prof. Oak. Doing so nets you a Pokédex and a request to go out there and explore the world of Pokémon!

In terms of tutorialization, optional NPC conversations are the key here. An old man on the north side of Viridian City will tell you how to use Poké Balls to catch Pokémon, but only if you answer "No" when he asks if you're in a hurry. Otherwise, you can scooch right on by him without consequence. Other NPCs in town will tell you where to go next (through Viridian Forest) or tell you about the two kinds of caterpillar Pokémon. Either way, the game is very much encouraging you to talk to everyone you can and interact with posted signs.

In my mind, that's where the tutorial/intro ends. Now it's just you, your Pokémon, and the wide world ahead of you.

Intro Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐/5