As far as the RPG side of things goes it all started with Pokemon Red and Blue on the original Game Boy in 1998. The premise behind the game was simple, an RPG that had you collecting rare animals in order to help study them. 151 of the little buggers were littered around the map and would jump out and attack the Pokemon you have with you, either take them out to help your Pokemon levelup or capture them to help fill your Pokedex (an encyclopedia of Pokemon). The catch was that depending on which version you bought you could only collect a certain amount, and the catch-phrase "Gotta catch 'em all" was sending kids into a frenzy ensuring that at least one of their mates had the copy they didn't so they could connect the games and trade the rare ones. The marketing scheme worked so well that in Australasia there have been just shy of 140,000 units of Red and Blue sold.
Then in late 1999 came Pokemon Yellow. A special Pikachu edition that changed the game ever so slightly. The graphics were slightly updated and this time Pikachu followed behind you, everywhere you went. New mini-games, a different battle mode, harder challenges as well as the ability to connect it up to the Game Boy Printer saw this game fly off the shelves selling just under 110,000 units in Australasia alone.
A year later we see the arrival of the first Pokemon RPG in glorious colour. In the final months of 2000 gamers finally got to see what their favourite Pokemon were meant to look like and with the ability to attach items to your Pokemon and catch specific genders of Pokemon, the franchise went stir crazy again and sales went through the roof.. A nice added feature was the ability to be able to trade with the original two games as well. Just under 200,000 units sold for Gold and 180,000 units for Silver proved that the Pokemon epidemic was nowhere near its end.
July 2001 saw a lot of big changes for the Pokemon franchise. The first notable one being the ability to choose the gender of the character you are playing as. While it may not seem like a big deal it helped connect female gamers to the growing world of Pokemon. Othre changes included hard to get characters, legendary new Pokemon, a battle tower that pits you against swarms of Trainers, and mystery gifts, some of these are still being used in newer Pokemon titles. Sales for this title weren't as high as previous titles, but still managed to break the 95,000 unit mark.
We'll ignore the non-RPG Game Boy titles purely for the fact that the Pokemon name is rarely thought of when puzzle and pinball games are talked about. That and the combined sales of less than 90,000 units. So instead it's a jump forward to the start of 2003. With the Game Boy Advance released Nintendo realised it was time to bring the franchise to a new level. Pokemon Ruby and Sapphire released bringing new contests, the Elite Four gauntlet of trainers and double battles into play. Transporting players into the new world of Hoenn, Nintendo also unveil a whole bunch of new Pokemon to be caught. Not selling as well as Gold and Silver it still managed to have a combined sale of over 180,000 units.
The latest GBA Pokemon games were FireRed and LeafGreen, released last year as we got close to Christmas. Pokemon goes back to its roots as you re-explore Kanto to find some of the original Pokemon from Red and Blue. A new wireless feature allows players to trade wirelessly, chat and check up oin players in your network. It also give syou the ability to connect through to Ruby and Sapphire and the Pokemon Colleseum games on the N64 and GameCube. Breeding strategies also assures you can now catch them all through the right pairings. In less than a year they have a combined sales of over 100,000 units showing that people are still willing to put money into the franchise.
So on to the future: what is instore for the Pokemon series as far as RPG's go? Pokemon XD is currently in development for the GameCube and will be the very first fully 3D RPG Pokemon title to be made. This will undoubtedly be a massive selling tool for Nintendo as each and every gamer who has played and enjoyed one of the Pokemon titles will be keeping an eye out for this, but more importantly is the release of Pokemon Emerald.
Pokemon Emerald is the third adventure to take place in the Hoenn region. Pokemon Emerald features all-new areas and exciting new plot twists.
- Use the Game Boy Advance Wireless Adaptor to trade and battle between Pokémon Emerald and Pokémon FireRed & LeafGreen versions.
- Expand your collection when you trade with a friend. Using a Game Link cable, link up with Pokémon Ruby & Sapphire, Pokémon FireRed & LeafGreen or Pokémon Colosseum to catch them all!
- Wireless Adaptor support - Can trade and chat with Pokémon FireRed and LeafGreen using the wireless adaptor.
- Battle Frontier - This new area features all new battle tournaments and styles that create new rules and ways to battle. This is a great challenge to Pokémon trainers that will excite them and greatly extend overall playtime and value for money.
- More Challenging Gameplay – Pokémon Ruby and Sapphire were widely regarded by fans as too easy. Pokémon Emerald version has made adjustments to make the game more challenging and rewarding for fans of the series, but is still well balanced for beginners to play.
- Pokémon Animations - When entering battle Pokémon will come to life with all new battle animation.
- Team Magma and Aqua - Both rival teams are featured in this title, blending the storyline elements from Pokémon Ruby and Sapphire.
- All three legendary Pokémon - In this title players can catch the popular Kyogre, Groudon and Rayquaza in a small but new storyline addition, in the past both Pokémon Ruby and Sapphire were required to catch all three.
- Match Call – Just like an in-game mobile phone, on the Poke-Nav players can communicate with other in-game trainers to receive tips and advice.
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