Pokemon. What started off as a game based on bug collecting has spiralled into a cultural phenomenon with 12 movies, 14 seasons on TV, the most popular card game to date and millions of dollars worth of merchandise. This aside from the 20-odd videogames fuelling the concept. So what is it about this game that has made it so popular till date?
The first game succeeded mainly due to a strong multiplayer foundation, which elevated it from pastime to social conduit. This was for a few key development decisions. Splitting the game into Red and Blue versions, each with 11 exclusive Pokemon heavily incentivised trading. This was furthered by the extreme exclusivity of the late addition Mew, available only through promotional events and in a few lucky copies. And when trading became so commonplace, multiplayer battles were soon to follow suit, testing traded and raised Pokemon alike.
However, credit must be given to latter games, which launched innovation after innovation, while still maintaining the successful core of Pokemon. Silver introduced 100 new pokemon, dozens of new attacks and two new types altogether, Steel and Dark. There were night and day Pokemon, catchable only at specific times. Pokemon could hold items, consume them or enjoy passive benefits. Pokemon now had genders and could breed, a tool used to teach Pokemon rare attacks.
Then there was the Gameboy Advance, and we had Ruby & Sapphire. Taking advantage of the GBA’s stronger link apparatus and better hardware, we saw 2v2 battles, alongside the standard 1v1. Pokemon now had abilities, natures, different for each one, These made battling and training far more strategic.
With pearl we saw the addition of WiFi, which brought trading and battling to a global level. Like every other generation, Pearl had a new slew of Pokemon, bringing the total up to 500. The day and night function of Gold was reintroduced, and enhanced to reflect five time periods: Morning, day, afternoon, evening, and night.
The recently released Black, promises seasonal Pokemon, which are available once every four months, among other things.
From Red to today’s Black, Pokemon has constantly innovated around a core that’s hard to beat: Collecting and battling. And that is why Pokemon is an evergreen classic and one of the greatest gaming series of all time.