Twenty years since the franchise kicked of and after a plethora of games, TV episodes, films, trading cards and toys, Nintendo has given Pokémon fans a chance to replay the games that started it all through the Virtual Console on the 3DS. Since I never played Yellow on the original Gameboy cartridges, I've played both Red and Blue, I've figured this would be the perfect time to go on an adventure with an electric mouse.
Labelled as a "Special Pikachu Edition" on the box of the original cartridge release, Pokémon Yellow is the same as Red and Blue, only this time Pikachu follows you around, and Jessie and James from the anime make a cameo appearance. The Pokémon sprites are also updated to look much more like the anime, which is great considering the original sprites from Blue and Red look horrible.
Wild creatures are captured with Poké Balls and then you level them up (some evolve), learning new moves along the way as you travel around the Kanto region taking on the various Gym Leaders. Compared to later games in the series the gameplay is quite stripped down and can be a little fiddly, but for the most part it works well providing a simple fun experience that still manages to engross as you put together a formidable team.
The overall objective of the game is simple; beat your rival since birth (Prof. Oak's words not mine), beat all eight gym leaders, defeat the elite four, and collect all 151 Pokémon (I've done it six times before). What makes this re-release even better is that Game Freak didn't clear up the glitches left by the original team in 1998. Meaning that fans are able to perform both the MissingNo. and Mew glitch, which make the game more entertaining. It also means that fans have the chance to catch a legitimate Mew without using cheats, and are also able to upload the Pokémon to the Poké Bank sometime in the fall.
Compared to the future games, the opening of the Yellow (including Blue and Red) looks as old and outdated as you'd expect. Originally released at a time when everyone and their mother were buying PlayStations, old and outdated could actually be said of their original cartridge release too, but they look good by Game Boy standards. There's a clean style, a plethora of locations and some simple but effective transitional effects as you enter battle.
One visual upgrade this game offers over the Red and Blue versions is the color. For Red and Blue Nintendo has done their usual thing of not including Super Game Boy enhancements, but Yellow was a Game Boy Color title and thus it is in coloro on the 3DS . It should be noted that this is not the most impressive colourisation however, with towns, buildings and their occupants displayed in four colours (rising to ten elsewhere in the game), but having different colors for different locations still enhances the visuals, and the various Pokémon benefit too.
Multiplayer is back for Pokémon Yellow, Blue, and Red, so if your friends have any of the games on the 3DS, then connect through the wireless communication and battle or trade with one another. The wireless communication is a much needed upgrade from the Link Cable's used in the past, even saving a few dollars to your pockets.
Another fun feature that Pokémon Yellows holds over Red and Blue is a surfing mini-game accessible from a beach house at a certain point in the game. It's a fun side game and can be quite addictive as you try to improve your score. For the original release of the game you needed access to the Nintendo 64's Pokémon Stadium to unlock the mini-game, but this requirement has been waived for the Virtual Console download (yeah!).
In conclusion, Pokémon Yellow is still an enjoyable experience that I recommend anyone check out. While the game lacks future features, it's still does enough to keep you until the end of the game. The wireless link play is an amazing addition that keeps the spirit of the original game alive, and also encourages game play between friends to happen. So have a great day and remember to "catch 'em all" and be the very best you can be.
