Alexander Suffolk is playing “Pokemon Yellow” (Nintendo 3DS)
In the beginning, I was obsessed with “Pokemon Go” just like the rest of the world. But as the weeks went by, it has slowly lost its appeal piece by piece. I wanted pokemon battles to be more than just mashing the screen and I wanted to collect pokemon beyond just Pidgeys. In short, I wanted a fully fledged Pokemon game with only the original 150 that I hadn’t experienced before.
So imagine my pleasant surprise to find that the original Gameboy Pokemon games had been put on the Nintendo 3DS Eshop! And I realized that with all my childhood hours poured into both Red and Blue versions, I’d never gotten around to “Pokemon: Yellow Version.” Ten dollars a few minutes later, I was right back into my childhood, sicking my Charizard on poor youngsters who dared interrupting my journey to make me fight their zubats. It felt good to once again strive to build a balanced team, and years later, I still felt giddy whenever I managed to come across a pokemon I had yet to register to my pokedex. Not to mention my triumphs in constantly defeating my bitter rival, Anus, and laughing in juvenile joy whenever he’d tell me that he’d “smell me later.”
I had also forgotten some of the quirks of the first generation pokemon games. I forgot how all the NPCs only communicate with playing advice or random musings before trying to mug you. I forgot how simple words like “It hurt itself in confusion” could send me into a frothing rage. I forgot how stupidly powerful psychic types were, which inspired me to catch an Abra only to realize that Alakazam could only be obtained by trading pokemon with another player. Seems I forgot that trading annoyance too.
Still, I’m glad Nintendo wizened up to re-release these sublime games in the wake of “Pokemon Go.” Honestly, I’m surprised their availability on 3DS hasn’t been marketed to death. They still stand the test of time, and I’m happy for the glimpse of nostalgia. Now if you’ll excuse me, I still need to grind this Magikarp into a Gyarados. I guess some things never change.
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