I want my Red, Blue, and Yellow: Special Edition back!

When I was younger, all my free time was spent mashing buttons on my Gameboy color. I remember that I spent more time with that piece of pink plastic than I did with my family.

I had a few games, but my favorite was Pokemon. I admit I was a bit obsessed. My mother put an hour limit on my game play at one point in an endeavor to get me to interact with “real” people. Much to her dismay, I kept playing and would even sneak in some extra time.

Pokemon games over the years have been disappointing. I want my Red, Blue, and Yellow: Special Edition back! The Leaf Green, Fire Red, Sapphire, Ruby and Emerald versions weren’t that bad. But when Pearl and Diamond came out, it was all downhill from there. The two versions released after those two was Soul Silver and Heart Gold. I enjoyed the fact you could have your Pokemon walking behind you. It reminded me of Yellow: Special Edition and having Pikachu follow in my footsteps. However, a few years later when versions Black and White were released I was super psyched.

I preordered it and was overjoyed when I opened the package that contained the game. When I started playing it, my excitement quickly died down.

You would think with hundreds of Japanese and American game designers they would come up with cool Pokemon. Nope, it seems not an ounce of creativity was used. It seems that the designers created the creatures out of the random inanimate objects around them. Trash bags, candles, gears, and ice cream cones… seriously? That’s complete rubbish. You can’t draw a stick, put huge eyes on it and call it Twiggy. That’s just lame.

Another disappointment was your character’s rival or “friends” in Black and White. One of the cool things about Pokemon was you could choose the name of your rival character you compete with throughout the entire game. I loved building up hatred against my rival. Choosing a name made things more personal.

Black and White completely lacks this personal touch. Instead, you have “friendly” competition with your supposed best friends Bianca and Cheren. Cheren is a smart, logical based person and Bianca is a dimwitted, illogical person. You’re crazy if you think I want to battle these two “friends.”

I don’t want to play a game in which the battles are friendly competitions with two friends. I play to win. How can I feel the satisfaction of winning a battle unless my opponent storms off when they’re defeated?

However, I’m pretty sure no matter what I will attempt to play the new Pokemon games. I grew up with Pokemon. There’s the rush of my Charmander evolving into a Charmeleon (fire type is the way to go). Frantically mashing the “B” button because I thought it would make battles easier. The happiness when I finally “catch ‘em all.” It’s all a remaining memory of my short childhood. I hope to make it a lifelong memory.

You may call me a nerd. But I am a Pokemon Master. And if you can’t accept my awesomeness then… Totdile, I choose you! Totdile, use Swagger. Totdile, use Rage!