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Pokémon Yellow
North American box art for Pokémon Yellow, depicting the Pokémon Pikachu
Developer(s)Game Freak
Publisher(s)Nintendo
Director(s)Satoshi Tajiri
Producer(s)
Programmer(s)Junichi Masuda
Artist(s)Ken Sugimori
Writer(s)
  • Satoshi Tajiri
  • Toshinobu Matsumiya
Composer(s)Junichi Masuda
SeriesPokémon
Platform(s)
Release
  • JP: September 12, 1998
  • AU: September 3, 1999
  • NA: October 19, 1999
  • EU: June 16, 2000
Genre(s)Role-playing
Mode(s)Single-player, multiplayer

Pokémon Yellow Version: Special Pikachu Edition,[n 1] more commonly known as Pokémon Yellow Version or Pokémon Yellow, is a 1998 role-playing video game developed by Game Freak and published by Nintendo for the Game Boy. It is an enhanced version of Pokémon Red and Blue and is part of the first generation of the Pokémon video game series. It was first released in Japan on September 12, 1998, in Australia and North America in 1999 and in Europe in 2000. Along with the release of Pokémon Yellow, a special edition yellow Pokémon-themed Game Boy Color was also released. Pokémon Yellow is loosely based on the anime.

Remakes of Pokémon Yellow, titled Pokémon: Let's Go, Pikachu! and Let's Go, Eevee!, were released for the Nintendo Switch in 2018, the 20th anniversary of Yellow's release in Japan.

Gameplay[]

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In-game screenshot of Pokémon Yellow played on a Game Boy Color, with the main character's Pikachu following behind
The player's Pikachu engaged in a battle with an Eevee

Pokémon Yellow is an enhanced re-release of the Game Boy games Pokémon Red and Blue.[1] Like Red and Blue, yellow is a role-playing game played from an overhead, third-person perspective. In the game's overworld, when the player randomly encounters a wild Pokémon or is challenged by a Pokémon trainer, the player commands their captured Pokémon to perform moves in a turn-based format. Pokémon also have limited health; when all of a Pokémon's health has been depleted, the Pokémon faints and can not be used in battle until it is revived. If a Pokémon defeats an enemy Pokémon in battle, it gains a certain number of experience points; once enough experience points have been earned, the Pokémon levels up. The level of a Pokémon determines its stats, with a higher level correlating to a more powerful Pokémon. Upon reaching a certain level, a Pokémon can evolve, changing it into a more powerful species, though evolution can also be triggered by other actions, such as items or trading with other players. Alternatively, a player can choose to catch a wild Pokémon by throwing a Poké Ball. If a Pokémon is succesfully caught, it will come under the ownership of the player, and can be commanded in battle. Additionally, a caught Pokémon will be registered to the player's Pokédex, which tracks all 151 Pokémon species availible in Yellow.

Pokémon Yellow features several enhancements and changes. Including the below-mentioned inclusion of Pikachu as the only available Pokémon to start with, Pikachu is given both a voice and a personality unique from other Pokémon. It follows the player on the overworld, and can be examined by speaking to it by pressing A when the overworld character is facing Pikachu. While it initially has an indifferent opinion of the player, it can grow to love or hate them based on the player's actions; leveling up will keep Pikachu happy, while fainting frequently will make it unhappy. This enhanced feature would be used again in Pokémon HeartGold and SoulSilver, the remakes of Pokémon Gold and Silver, and Pokémon: Let's Go, Pikachu! and Let's Go, Eevee!, the remakes of Pokémon Yellow. There is an area in Pokémon Yellow that features a "Surfing Pikachu" mini-game.[2] In order to play it, players must have a Pikachu who can learn "Surf", a Water-based attack. At the time, players could only accomplish this by winning a contest to get a "Surfing Pikachu". However, if players use their Pikachu from Yellow in Pokémon Stadium and beat a certain mode under the proper circumstances, they are rewarded with the move Surf, which can be used both in battle, out of battle, and in the above-mentioned mini-game.[3] Pokémon Yellow has slightly improved graphics from its predecessors and can print Pokédex entries onto stickers using the Game Boy Printer.[2][4]

Plot[]

Like Pokémon Red and Blue, Yellow takes place in the Kanto region, which features habitats for 151 Pokémon species. The objectives remain the same as well, though some differences exist along the way.[5] For example, in the beginning, the player is not given an option of choosing one of three starter Pokémon. Instead, a wild Pikachu that Professor Oak catches becomes the player's starter Pokémon, while the rival character takes an Eevee. The plot is loosely based on the Indigo League saga of the anime, and features characters that were not featured in the game or have been enhanced to resemble their designs used in the anime, including Jessie, James, Meowth, Nurse Joy and Officer Jenny. Similar to the anime, Pikachu refuses to evolve. Players are also given the opportunity to obtain the original three starters. As players quest on, they gradually progress catching Pokémon for the Pokédex which they use to defeat the eight Gym Leaders and eventually the Elite Four, all the while battling Team Rocket, a gang devoted to using Pokémon in order to make themselves more powerful. By the time of the encounter with the Elite Four the player has had the opportunity to capture 149 types of Pokémon; in the post-game, after the Elite Four has been defeated, the player may enter Cerulean Cave, where Mewtwo, the final Pokémon in regular gameplay, can be found, battled and captured.[6] The last Pokémon in the Pokédex, Mew, cannot be captured during ordinary gameplay, though exploiting bugs in the game makes this possible.[7]

Development[]

Pokémon Yellow was developed by Game Freak and first began development after the completion of the Japanese-only version of Pokémon Blue, which itself followed the Japanese-only versions of Pokémon Red and Green. Work on Pokémon Yellow was contemporaneous with that of the lengthy development cycle of Pokémon Gold and Silver and both games feature a near-identical sprite of the Exeggutor Pokémon.

Pokémon Pink[]

On April 11, 2020, references to an unknown 'Pink' build for Pokémon Yellow were discovered in its source code after a source code leak, leading many fans to believe that a companion version was meant to be released alongside Yellow.[8] However, it is unknown whether or not there were any plans for a 'Pink' version or what Pokémon would have been its mascot, although it is speculated to be either Jigglypuff or Clefairy.[9][10]

Release[]

Pokémon Yellow's release was made to coincide with the release of Pokémon: The First Movie. Future Nintendo president Satoru Iwata later commented that people likely felt Yellow to be unnecessary due to the upcoming release of Pokémon Gold and Silver, which were scheduled to be released in the same year.[11] It was released in Japan on September 12, 1998, in Australia on September 3, 1999,[12] in North America on October 19, 1999, and in Europe on June 16, 2000.[13] It was published by Nintendo. A Pikachu-themed Game Boy Color bundle was released in North America on October 25, 1999.[14] To promote the release of Pokémon Yellow, Volkswagen and Nintendo collaborated to create a yellow Volkswagen New Beetle with some of its features inspired by Pikachu.[15] Nintendo World Report listed Pokémon Yellow as one of the notable handheld releases in 1999.[16] In all territories besides Japan, Pokémon Yellow was the last video game released for the "standard" original Game Boy platform, rather than being a Game Boy-compatible Game Boy Color ("Dual Mode") game.

Re-releases[]

During the Nintendo Direct presentation on November 12, 2015, it was announced that Pokémon Yellow, alongside Red and Blue, would be released for the Nintendo 3DS Virtual Console service on February 27, 2016, to mark the 20th anniversary of the Pokémon franchise. In addition to retaining their original graphics and music, all three games feature local wireless functionality to enable trading and battling with other players due to the 3DS' usage of wireless communication. The game was bundled with a special yellow version of the Nintendo 2DS in Japan & Australia.[17] While the international versions of the game were Game Boy Color titles, the Japanese version was only released in its black and white Game Boy format since it was originally released in Japan about a month before the Game Boy Color in that region.[18] The Game Boy Printer features do not work on the 3DS Virtual Console version of Pokémon Yellow. The Virtual Console version is compatible with Pokémon Bank, allowing players to transfer their captured creatures to Pokémon Sun and Moon.[19]

Reception[]

Critical reception[]

Pokémon Yellow has been well received by critics, holding an aggregate score of 85% from GameRankings based on 16 reviews, making it the fifth highest-rated Game Boy game of all time.[20] Nintendo Power gave it an 8 out of 10, while Game Informer gave it a 6.5 out of 10.[20] Electric Playground gave it a 7.5 out of 10.[20] The Sarasota Herald-Tribune recommended Yellow as a good game for children.[24] RPGFan called it "so revoltingly addictive that any player of it has no choice but to 'catch 'em all'". They also called Yellow "insulting" in how limited the additions from Red and Blue were.[25] IGN's Craig Harris praised the game's mechanics, commenting that Yellow was the best game of the three to start with. He gave it a perfect score.[4]

GameSpot's Cameron Davis called it a "stopgap" to appease players until the release of Gold and Silver, commenting that "the new challenges are enough to fill the hole - but only just".[22] GameDaily's Chris Buffa listed it as one of the best Pokémon games, commenting that while it was a rehash, there was enough that was new to warrant playing.[26] Allgame's Brad Cook commented that for those who didn't play Red and Blue, Yellow was good; but otherwise, he advised that they wait until Gold and Silver.[21] The Daily Telegraph's Steve Boxer commented that while it had good gameplay mechanics, it was held back by the lack of features. He described Nintendo's actions as avaricious, commenting that Yellow "marks the point where Pokémon ceases to become a game and becomes a marketing exercise/obsession-satisfier".[27]

Pokémon Yellow received two nominations for "Game of the Year" and "Console Game of the Year" during the 3rd Annual AIAS Interactive Achievement Awards (now known as the D.I.C.E. Awards).[28]

Sales[]

In Japan, the game sold 1,549,000 units in 1998, making it the third best-selling video game of 1998 in Japan.[29]

Before its release in North America, Nintendo anticipated that it would make them $75 million in the 1999 holiday season.[30] The Pokémon Yellow Game Boy Color bundle was predicted to be the second most popular toy of the holiday season.[31] Nintendo executive George Harrison predicted that Yellow's sales would exceed 3 million in sales, and would also surpass Donkey Kong 64 in the process, another title anticipated to sell well by Nintendo.[32] In North America the game received roughly 150,000 pre-orders.[33] The bundle debuted at #2 in video game sales and claimed the #1 spot a week later.[34] The standard cartridge sold over 600,000 units in its first week and one million copies within ten days, becoming the fastest-selling handheld game of all time when it was released.[35] Pokémon: The First Movie, a film released around the same time as Yellow, was expected to give it a sales boost.[36][37] A Nintendo spokesman attributed the high demand for the Game Boy Color during the Christmas season of 1999 to Yellow.[38] For the month of December, Donkey Kong 64 led Pokémon Yellow and Gran Turismo 2 on the monthly chart.[39]

Gwenn Friss of the Cape Cod Times called it one of the hottest items of the 1999 Christmas season, comparing it to popular Christmas toys from previous years such as Furby and Tickle me Elmo.[40] Thomas Content of USA Today reiterated the comparison, commenting that it was "poised to stomp" them. He added that it, along with Red and Blue, were responsible for the boost of Game Boy sales from 3.5 million in 1998 to 8 million in 1999.[41] The Idaho Statesman called it the "hottest new title for the Game Boy Color".[42] Yellow was the third best-selling video game in North America in 1999, with the other four top spots occupied by other Pokémon titles.[43] The demand for Yellow resulted in Target to issue an apology for not being able to meet the "unprecedented demand".[44] A survey conducted by CNET also found that none of the stores it contacted had Yellow in stock.[45] A spokesperson for FuncoLand attributed a drop in sales to shortages of both the Game Boy Color and Pokémon Yellow.[46]

For its European launch, 2 million units were shipped across the continent during June 2000, including 500,000 in the United Kingdom.[47] Yellow became the fastest-selling Pokémon title in the United Kingdom,[48] where it received a Double Platinum award from ELSPA for more than 600,000 sales[49] and grossed more than £20 million or $30,000,000 (equivalent to $47,000,000 in 2023).[50] In Germany, Yellow received a Double Platinum award from the Verband der Unterhaltungssoftware Deutschland (VUD) for sales above 400,000 copies by early 2001.[51]

Legacy[]

Remakes[]

Pokémon: Let's Go, Pikachu![lower-alpha 1] and Pokémon: Let's Go, Eevee![lower-alpha 2] are enhanced remakes of Pokémon Yellow Version, released in November 2018 for the Nintendo Switch. They were aimed at newcomers to the Pokémon series, and incorporate mechanics from Pokémon Go.[52] The games take place in the Kanto region and include only the original 151 Pokémon from the first generation of Pokémon. The ability for Pokémon to accompany the protagonist in the overworld returns, a feature last seen in Pokémon HeartGold and SoulSilver on the Nintendo DS. However, whereas only one Pokémon could be chosen to follow the protagonist previously, they will additionally be accompanied by the starter Pikachu or Eevee in Let's Go, Pikachu! or Let's Go, Eevee!, respectively.

They have combined global sales of over 13 million copies.[53]

Notes[]

  1. ポケットモンスター Let's Go! ピカチュウ, Poketto Monsutā Let's GO! Pikachū
  2. ポケットモンスター Let's Go! イーブイ, Poketto Monsutā Let's GO! Ībui

References[]

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External links[]

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