Ardent gamers share memories of first Pokémon video game on its 28th anniversary

Ash Ketchum with the first-generation Pokémon. Pic Courtesy/Instagram

Long before video games had people wondering, "Are these visuals from a video game or real life?", early gamers in the 1990s were dealing with a bigger dilemma - choosing between Charmander, Bulbasaur and Squirtle, the three starter Pokémon that first featured in Pokémon Red and Green video games in 1996. Twenty-eight years later, memories of the eight-bit adventures remain fresh in the minds of fans and ardent gamers.

Emulating memories

Dhruv Shah, 26, businessman
It was the summer of 2006, and as an eight-year-old, I was fascinated with the translucent cartridges of the games. Little did I realise this would be a life-changing moment. I picked up Pokémon Sapphire and went on to play it for hours, from cycling through the Safari Zone to solving clues at the Trick House, every moment is etched in my memory. Growing up, it became tougher to keep up with the games. It wasn't until much later that I realised I could play these games on my PC using Visual Boy Advance, a Nintendo Game Boy emulator. The discovery led me down memory lane and I started playing old releases like Fire Red, Soul Silver, and Black. I purchased a Nintendo Switch recently and picked up the newer games; but nothing matches the feeling of meeting your friends in the building in the evening and progressing through together, competing to be the very best. Call it nostalgia bias, but Sapphire remains my favourite title.

The first Game Boy console and Pokémon cartridges. Pic Courtesy/Wikimedia Commons

Game changer

Jason Patel, 25, business analyst
At the time when they were launched, the Pokémon games had revolutionised handheld gaming. It became so popular that children would compare their Pokémon collections, and parents would share the same joy and amusement. I remember pestering my parents to get me a Game Boy with Pokémon Red so I could complete the pokédex (a log of collectible Pokémon) with my brother who had Pokémon Yellow. I believe that the games that followed, while great in themselves, saw success on the back of the nostalgia factor from the first-generation players. I still play the new releases on my friend's Switch. My favourite memory is completing the pokédex with Pokémon Red and Yellow. The runner-up would be Pokémon Go, where my friends and I walked over 70 km searching for Pokémon in the first week of its release. Those were some crazy and exciting times.

Alive and catching

Aayush Thakore, 25, software engineer
I didn't own a Game Boy growing up and so, I'd cycle to my friend's house a couple of blocks down the road daily, and we would spend hours looking at the tiny screen. In 2016, the launch of Pokémon GO took me back to 2006, and I established a Pokémon GO fan club in the city consisting of old and new players. The game is not dead, at least not in Mumbai. The community aspect of the game has now become the centre of it and it reflects in the new members who join us with every passing day. In 2022, I bought my first Nintendo console, the Switch, to play the newly released Generation 9 games. At 24, it brought the same wide smile to my face from the early 2000s when I played my personal favourite, Pokémon Emerald.

Resume game?

Revisit retro Pokémon titles on your devices

. GBA4iOS: This optimized Game Boy Colour emulator comes with on-screen controls for Apple devices
LOG ON TO GBA4ios on App Store

. ClassicBoyPro: A Game Boy Colour and Game Boy Advance emulator with support for hardware controllers for the complete retro experience
LOG ON TO ClassicBoy on Google Play Store

. Visual Boy Advance: There's room for everyone in this community-built multi-platform Game Boy Advance emulator with multiplayer capabilities
LOG ON TO visualboyadvance.org