Last Update: 2/19/07
Pokemon Yellow
Pokémon Yellow: Special Pikachu Edition is the fourth game in the Pokémon video game series in Japan, and the third in North America and Europe. It was released on the Nintendo Game Boy and features Super Game Boy and Game Boy Color enhancements. The game follows Pokémon Red, Blue and Green versions. Yellow, like the other 8-bit Pokémon games (Red, Blue, Gold, Silver, and Crystal), is not compatible with the newer Advance generation games.
The game was released in Japan on September 12, 1998 and is known as Pocket Monsters Pikachu . It was released in North America on October 1, 1999 and was called Pokémon: Special Pikachu Edition by Nintendo. In both regions, the games are often referred to by fans as simply Pokémon Yellow, Pokémon Yellow Version, or Pokémon Pikachu. The name (and Pikachu on the cover) is due to the fact that Trainers get Pikachu as their starter Pokémon (like Ash Ketchum did in the animated series). The game was very successful; it became the top-selling handheld game for weeks and entered the Guiness Book of Records in 2001.
The game was released in Japan on September 12, 1998 and is known as Pocket Monsters Pikachu . It was released in North America on October 1, 1999 and was called Pokémon: Special Pikachu Edition by Nintendo. In both regions, the games are often referred to by fans as simply Pokémon Yellow, Pokémon Yellow Version, or Pokémon Pikachu. The name (and Pikachu on the cover) is due to the fact that Trainers get Pikachu as their starter Pokémon (like Ash Ketchum did in the animated series). The game was very successful; it became the top-selling handheld game for weeks and entered the Guiness Book of Records in 2001.
Publisher: Nintendo
Features
Unlike previous Pokémon titles, Yellow version gave the player a Pikachu instead of the usual choice between three Pokémon; this change makes the game harder at the beginning stage than the previous two games, since Pikachu’s electric attacks are ineffective against the first Gym-leader, Brock. As a result, several Pokémon had their move lists altered, giving them different attacks, allowing them to access some of their more powerful attacks earlier (for example, both Nidoran learn Double Kick thirty levels or more earlier, giving the player an easier time against Brock), or allowing them to learn from new Technical Machines. Whereas Pikachu in other games would learn Swift, in Yellow it would learn Thunderbolt, its trademark attack in the anime and a move normally only learnable by a Technical Machine.[3] All Pokémon games after Yellow would have Pikachu learn Thunderbolt instead of Swift.
Like in the anime, Team Rocket members Jessie and James make their appearances along with their Pokémon, although they are never named as such in the game. Unlike the other Team Rocket members in the game, whom can be seen from a distance and usually avoided, Jessie and James would ambush the main character, when the player is about to do something like battle Giovanni or exit a dungeon. Unlike in the anime, Brock and Misty do not go with Ash in the game, and Jessie and James do not come up with their usual evil plans to capture Pikachu.
Pokémon Yellow also allows the player the chance to acquire the three rare Pokémon Bulbasaur, Charmander, and Squirtle without having to trade for them from Red or Blue, as in those versions they were offered as a choice of starter Pokémon. The way they are obtained closely follows the storyline of the anime as well, in accordance with the number of badges received or objectives the player completed. For instance, Bulbasaur is awarded after the player defeats Misty;[4] Charmander is given to the player by a kid after defeating the trainers on Nugget Bridge outside Cerulean City; and Squirtle can be obtained from Officer Jenny after winning the Thunderbadge.
The game also had smaller changes to closer reflect the anime’s first season. The receptionist in each Pokémon Center is now Nurse Joy (later games like Pokémon Gold and Silver would also have Nurse Joy in each Pokémon Center), and many of the Trainers the player meets have their Pokémon lineups and dialogue altered to represent characters Ash met in the anime. Many of the Gym Leaders also had similar alterations as well. Lt. Surge uses Raichu as his lone Pokémon, Koga uses 3 Venonats and a Venomoth, Sabrina uses Abra, Kadabra and Alakazam, and Giovanni uses Persian instead of Rhyhorn in the Viridian City Gym.[5]
Yellow also attempted to fix major glitches in the Red and Blue versions. Some elements were re-coded, and thus, in certain areas, Yellow-exclusive glitches occur, such as a Yellow-exclusive Glitch City tied to the Saffron City gym.
Like in the anime, Team Rocket members Jessie and James make their appearances along with their Pokémon, although they are never named as such in the game. Unlike the other Team Rocket members in the game, whom can be seen from a distance and usually avoided, Jessie and James would ambush the main character, when the player is about to do something like battle Giovanni or exit a dungeon. Unlike in the anime, Brock and Misty do not go with Ash in the game, and Jessie and James do not come up with their usual evil plans to capture Pikachu.
Pokémon Yellow also allows the player the chance to acquire the three rare Pokémon Bulbasaur, Charmander, and Squirtle without having to trade for them from Red or Blue, as in those versions they were offered as a choice of starter Pokémon. The way they are obtained closely follows the storyline of the anime as well, in accordance with the number of badges received or objectives the player completed. For instance, Bulbasaur is awarded after the player defeats Misty;[4] Charmander is given to the player by a kid after defeating the trainers on Nugget Bridge outside Cerulean City; and Squirtle can be obtained from Officer Jenny after winning the Thunderbadge.
The game also had smaller changes to closer reflect the anime’s first season. The receptionist in each Pokémon Center is now Nurse Joy (later games like Pokémon Gold and Silver would also have Nurse Joy in each Pokémon Center), and many of the Trainers the player meets have their Pokémon lineups and dialogue altered to represent characters Ash met in the anime. Many of the Gym Leaders also had similar alterations as well. Lt. Surge uses Raichu as his lone Pokémon, Koga uses 3 Venonats and a Venomoth, Sabrina uses Abra, Kadabra and Alakazam, and Giovanni uses Persian instead of Rhyhorn in the Viridian City Gym.[5]
Yellow also attempted to fix major glitches in the Red and Blue versions. Some elements were re-coded, and thus, in certain areas, Yellow-exclusive glitches occur, such as a Yellow-exclusive Glitch City tied to the Saffron City gym.
