Pokémon: Yellow, a good anime adaptation?

 

Pokémon is a saga we all love dearly, and like any other, it began with its first game. In this case, the first two were Pokémon Red and Pokémon Green in Japan, which, after some bugs were fixed, became Pokémon Red and Pokémon Blue. The West never received a Green version, while Japan did get a Blue version. But technicalities and curiosities aside, the third/fourth version that started it all—the third version of Pokémon and its subsequent copycats like Inazuma Eleven 3: The Ogre's Threat and Yo-kai Watch 2: Psychic Specters, among many others—was Pokémon Yellow.

This game was created out of pure necessity. And what necessity is that? Let's go back a bit, to 1997, specifically April of that year. That's when the first episode of the Pokémon anime premiered, starring Satoshi, aka Ash, and featuring such impressive companions as… Pikachu (you thought I was going to say Misty and Brock, huh?). The Pokémon phenomenon was already on the rise thanks to the original games, but this anime only made it explode in a way no one expected, and unintentionally, Pikachu became more popular than Charmander, Bulbasaur, or Squirtle ever were, even though they were the starter Pokémon.

And the anime went on and on: Ash, Misty, Brock, Pikachu, Staryu, Onix… every character/Pokémon that appeared in the new episodes became more popular than ever, and nobody could stop it. But there was someone who could take advantage of it: Game Freak and what was then a fledgling The Pokémon Company. To do this, they adapted the code and basically everything included in Red, Blue, and Green and created a copy of the anime in video game format with all the content they already had from the original games. They put Pikachu in front and called it Pokémon: Yellow. It was released a year after the anime, at the end of 1998.

As I mentioned before, the story is changed to closely resemble the anime within its limitations. Pikachu is your only starter Pokémon and cannot evolve. Squirtle, Bulbasaur, and Charmander, which Ash has in the anime, are obtainable in the game in the same locations where he acquires them. The starter Pokémon of the rival, whom we'll call Gary, is Eevee, after Gary Oak. Jessie, James, and Meowth also appear throughout the game, along with Team Rocket, making their first appearance in video games. Overall, most things are different, although the core story remains the same as in the original games.

The story in this game is alright, but it falls short even by the standards of the original Pokémon games. We aren't introduced to Team Rocket until the sequels two years later, and it has more plot holes than any other Pokémon game, with random elements like the Kanto War, which is barely mentioned.

Furthermore, don't even get me started on something these games do very well: downplaying the threat posed by Team Rocket, a mafia organization that should be terrifying. In intense moments, like a tower full of laboratories being taken over by Giovanni and his Team Rocket, our rival appears right in the middle of it all, challenges you, and then leaves as if nothing were happening, as if he were strolling through a tower controlled by mobsters. If this were a detective game, Gary would already be in handcuffs and going to prison for collaborating with criminals. Thankfully, this was one of the things they fixed in the remakes and Let's Go, at least. As I mentioned, the story in the originals is a mess, not a massive one, but it's definitely noticeable.

In terms of gameplay, the game is just as disastrous as Red, Green, and Blue. Not only are the stats and moves a mess, and types like Dragon are completely unbalanced, but that's not the worst part. The worst part is that at the same point in the story or at a gym, you can enter a battle and think, "Wow... level 35... I'm at the seventh gym," only to reach the leader and have them jump to level 60 for no apparent reason.

These are the most disastrous Pokémon games in terms of gameplay, and you'll be lucky if you enjoy them at all. On top of that, the catch rates are so terrible that you'll have to use a ton of status conditions and pray a lot to catch legendaries without a Master Ball. Other issues include the bag having a limit on the number of items that can be stored, even though key items and HMs are filling slots.

The graphics remain the same as in the original game, but most of the sprites have been changed to make both trainers and Pokémon resemble the anime—a very successful move. While the graphics weren't revolutionary or groundbreaking for their time, they suit the game perfectly, and the sprites for Yellow are incredibly beautiful, improved to the maximum extent possible for the era.

On the other hand, the soundtrack is repetitive, and it's understandable why; it's the smallest soundtrack in the entire saga, and instead of using all its strengths, it uses two or three pieces almost all the time, which makes it very tiresome, but it's still a good soundtrack.

Let's be clear, the first generation of Pokémon is overrated, we all know that. It's a generation with many problems, and because it was the first and most nostalgic for those who played it back in the day, it's constantly seen as one of the best generations when it's objectively the worst, mainly due to its countless gameplay flaws, both inside and outside of battles. The complete instability of stats for both Pokémon and moves is particularly noteworthy, making parts of the game almost unplayable. Furthermore, the story is a mess in certain parts until remakes and sequels improve and fix it.

That said, Pokémon: Red, Green, Blue, and in this case, Yellow, are very fun games despite their inconsistencies. Kanto is a very unique region, many characters, and all 151 Pokémon have iconic designs and personalities. The still-unstable gameplay was what started it all, and the soundtrack, though repetitive, is quite good. The graphics are what truly stand out, especially the sprites in the Yellow version, which are very unique and impressive. Furthermore, the anime touches in this version make them even better games than Red, Green, and Blue, despite being essentially the same. If we had to compare the good with the bad, the bad would stand out a bit more, but the good is still good enough not to be overlooked. We're leaving Kanto for other regions now. Until next time, trainers!

Worst parts of the game

• The game's story is slow and lacks substance.
• The gameplay feels sluggish and very broken.
• The soundtrack is quite heavy.

Best parts of the game

• The sprites are really cool, perfectly replicating the anime and its style.
• The changes in this version breathe a lot more life into Kanto.
• Even though it's a disastrous game in every way, it's still fun.

Score

6