Pokémon Red / Blue / Yellow

The tall grass rustles, that unmistakable beep sounds, and a wild Pokémon appears on the screen. This single scene set off one of the greatest cultural phenomena of the late twentieth century. Red, Blue, and Yellow weren't just games. They were the gateway to a world that burrowed into the childhood of an entire generation.

The original Red and Green launched first in Japan, and the pair Red and Blue then reached the rest of the world. The brilliant idea lay in each version containing different exclusive Pokémon, so that to fill the Pokédex with all 151 creatures you needed to connect two cartridges via the Link Cable and trade with your friends. Playing thus became both a social activity and a collector's passion at once. The slogan Gotta catch 'em all wasn't an empty tagline but the very essence of the game.

Mechanically it was a turn-based JRPG built on a system of strong and weak types. Water beats fire, fire beats grass, grass beats water. This simple yet deep rock-paper-scissors logic gave the battles surprising tactical depth that a child and an adult alike could grasp. The Yellow version then came later as an enhancement inspired by the popular anime, in which Pikachu accompanies you the whole time, walking behind you.

The games were created by the Game Freak studio under the direction of Satoshi Tajiri, whose inspiration was collecting insects in childhood. Development took years and was several times on the brink of collapse; the game was also kept afloat by the graphic artist and later iconic designer Ken Sugimori. Commercially it was one of the most successful game titles of all time, sold in the tens of millions, and it launched a brand that became the world's most lucrative media franchise.

Though the originals ran on the monochrome Game Boy, on the Game Boy Color they gained a color palette and run on it smoothly. The cultural significance of these games is hard to overstate. They gave rise to the anime, collectible cards, toys, and a whole industry that operates to this day. The first generation remains a sacred cornerstone to which the series returns again and again.

Why play it: This is where it all began. A timeless JRPG whose simple depth and collector's passion still work just as well today as they did in the nineties.