Standard Edition
StandardIn the box
- Game Boy cartridge
- Box with cover art
- Instruction booklet
Game Boy
Pokémon Blue
Pokemon Blue Version is the 1998 North American release of the first Pokemon game for the Game Boy: catch, train and trade 151 Pokemon across Kanto and beat the Elite Four.
Role-playing (RPG)Turn-based strategy (TBS)Adventure
- Update patch
- No patch
- Time to beat
- about 28 hours
- Plays offline
- Yes
Overview
Pokémon Red Version and Pokémon Blue Version are 1996 role-playing video games (RPGs) developed by Game Freak and published by Nintendo for the Game Boy. They are the first installments of the Pokémon video game series and were first released in Japan as Pocket Monsters Red and Pocket Monsters Green, followed by the special edition Pocket Monsters Blue later that year. The games were released internationally in 1998 and 1999 as Pokémon Red and Pokémon Blue, while an enhanced version, Pokémon Yellow Version: Special Pikachu Edition, was released in Japan in 1998 and in other regions in 1999 and 2000.
The player controls the protagonist from an overhead perspective and navigates the fictional region of Kanto in a quest to master Pokémon battling. The goal is to become the Pokémon League Champion by defeating the eight Gym Leaders and the best Pokémon Trainers in the Kanto Region, the Elite Four. Another objective is to complete the Pokédex, an in-game encyclopedia, by obtaining all 151 Pokémon. Red and Blue use the Game Link Cable, which connects two Game Boy systems and allows Pokémon to be traded or battled between games. Both versions feature the same plot, and while they can be played separately, players must trade between both games to obtain all of the original 151 Pokémon.
Red and Blue were well-received, with critics praising the multiplayer options, especially the concept of trading. They received an aggregated score of 89% on GameRankings and are considered among the greatest games ever made, perennially ranked on top game lists including at least four years on IGN's "Top 100 Games of All Time". The games marked the beginning of a multibillion-dollar franchise, jointly selling over 400 million copies worldwide. The Red and Blue versions were remade for Game Boy Advance (and later the Nintendo Switch for the 30th anniversary) as FireRed and LeafGreen (2004) while Yellow was remade for Nintendo Switch as Let's Go, Pikachu! and Let's Go, Eevee! (2018). The originals were rereleased on the Virtual Console service for the Nintendo 3DS in 2016 to commemorate their twentieth anniversaries.
Official trailer
Commercial. Watch on YouTube
Gameplay
Pokémon Blue (GB) - Longplay, Mariofan98 Longplays. Watch on YouTube
Screenshots
Game details
- Genres
- Role-playing (RPG), Turn-based strategy (TBS), Adventure
- Developer
- Game Freak
- Publisher
- Nintendo
- Series
- Pokémon
- Platforms
- Nintendo 3DS, Game Boy
- Age rating
- ESRB E
- Modes
- Single player
- Yes
- Local multiplayer
- Yes
- Online multiplayer
- No
- Co op
- No
- Age ratings
- CERO
- A
- PEGI
- 12
- ESRB
- E
- USK
- 0
Release dates
| Platform | Region | Date |
|---|---|---|
| Game Boy | Japan | 1996-10-15 |
| Game Boy | North America | 1998-09-28 |
| Game Boy | Australia | 1998-10-23 |
| Game Boy | Europe / PAL | 1999-10-05 |
Editions
Space and patches
Update patchNo patch
DLC
No DLC. Game Boy games had no downloadable content.
Playable today
Playable offline todayYes
No online features. The adventure works today on any Game Boy, Game Boy Color or Game Boy Advance; trading and battles need a second copy and a link cable.
| Question | Answer |
|---|---|
| Price at release | US$29.95 North America, September 1998. |
| Ever released on disc | Yes, on Game Boy cartridge |
| Ever released in the store | Yes, 27 February 2016 On the Nintendo 3DS Virtual Console, with trading and battles over the 3DS wireless link and transfers to Pokemon Bank. |
| In the store to buy today | No The 3DS shop has closed. |
| Can be downloaded again if you already bought it | Yes 3DS Virtual Console purchases can still be downloaded again. |
| Disc runs with no patch | Yes |
| Disc runs with the final patch | Does not exist No patch was ever released. |
| Has online features | No |
| Online servers running today | Does not exist |
| Playable offline today: campaign | Yes |
| Playable offline today: local multiplayer | Yes Two players trade and battle Pokemon by Game Link Cable, each with a cartridge. |
| Playable offline today: online multiplayer | Does not exist No online play. |
| Playable offline today: DLC | Does not exist No DLC. |
Online
Plays offlineYes
Reception
- Aggregates
Outlet Platform Score Scale GameRankings Game Boy 88 100 - Critics
Outlet Score Scale GameSpot 8.8 10 Game Informer 9 10 GamePro 4.5 5 Nintendo Power 7.2 10
Staff and cast
- Staff
Role Name Developer Game Freak Publisher Nintendo Director Satoshi Tajiri Producers Shigeru Miyamoto, Takashi Kawaguchi, Tsunekazu Ishihara Designer Satoshi Tajiri Programmers Junichi Masuda, Shigeki Morimoto, Tetsuya Watanabe, Sousuke Tamada Artists Ken Sugimori, Atsuko Nishida Writers Satoshi Tajiri, Ryosuke Taniguchi, Fumihiro Nonomura, Hiroyuki Jinnai Composer Junichi Masuda
Notes for collectors
- Released in North America on 28 September 1998 alongside Red.
- Blue has its own Pokemon that Red lacks, so all 151 can only be caught by trading with the other version.
- In Japan, Blue began as a mail-order special edition for CoroCoro Comic readers in October 1996; its code and artwork became the base of the English Red and Blue.
- Blue first entered the US top 20 sales chart in December 1998, a month before Red.
- Back on the 3DS in 2016 for the 20th anniversary, with link cable play simulated over wireless.
Credits
- Publisher
- Nintendo
- Developer
- Game Freak
- Director
- Satoshi Tajiri
- Released
- 1998-09-28
- Age rating
- ESRB E
- Region
- US
- Time to beat
- about 28 hours
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