The Creation of the Pokemon Franchise
The Pokémon franchise is the brainchild of Satoshi Tajiri. He created the franchise with the help of Ken Sugimori. Satoshi wrote the games; Ken, on the other hand, was an outstanding illustrator. He made the illustrations from the written concept. In the early 1980s, Tajiri wrote and sold his arcade gaming magazines known as Game Freak. Ken Sugimori, an artist, helped capture his writings into images. However, they realized the arcade games didn’t do well in the gaming market anymore. Consequently, Satoshi Tajiri and Ken Sugimori decided to make video games instead. Therefore, Game Freak evolved from a gaming magazine to a video game developing company in 1989.
The company developed a decent handful of games between 1989 and 1996. The games include Yoshi, published by Nintendo on the NES, Magical Taruruto-Kun on the SEGA Mega Drive, and Super Mario. However, the game changer wouldn’t come until 1996. In 1996, Game Freak experienced real success with the release of two games: Pokémon Red and Pokémon Green. The two games got created for the Nintendo Game Boy. These games combined the collection and trading of monsters called Pocket Monsters (Pokémon, for short). The inspiration behind these games was Satoshi Tajiri’s childhood hobby, which was a collection of insects. It went on to become the second-largest gaming franchise in the world. (Should you wonder, Mario is the largest gaming franchise in the world. Nintendo also owns it.)
Pokémon is a role-playing game (RPG). Players assume Pokémon trainers’ role who travel around the world to collect and train creatures known as Pocket Monsters. As the game begins, players can choose only one out of three types of Pokémon: fire type, water type, and grass type. After a choice has been made, the player can explore different towns and environments as they battle and capture a wide variety of Pokémon.
The game's ultimate goal was to catch all 151 Pokémon, which was the reason for the two different game versions. Pokémon Red and Green have version-exclusive Pokémon. Therefore, it was essential to link up Game Boys via a link cable to complete the game. This enables players to battle each other and also trade various Pokémon among themselves. Gamers found the collecting and trading of Pokémon adventurous and exciting, which led to the franchise's massive success..
The massive success prompted more releases and the first of which was the limited Pokémon Blue version, only available through a mail-order in Japan. Amongst the subsequent releases were remakes. Pokémon Yellow was the second edition release. Pokémon Yellow featured Pikachu (the most famous Pokémon and brand figure for the franchise) on the cover. It was inspired by the Pokémon anime that was released around that time. Unlike the first edition, where you had to pick one of three Pokémon, you start with Pikachu. While Pokémon stay in Poke Balls (Pokémon are captured in Poke Balls), Pikachu followed you around like Ash Ketchum’s Pikachu did in the anime.
Before the creation of Pokémon, there was never any product of Game Freak released outside of Japan. However, the sheer success of the first and second edition of Pokémon carried this invention across national borders. The North American version of Red and Blue was released in 1998, while Yellow was released in 1999. After only three years, Pokémon went from a game developer’s experiment to a global phenomenon. It birthed a successful anime series, manga, and a trading card game.
At the end of the century, Pokémon had its sequels in Pokémon Gold and Pokémon Silver. This edition introduced 100 new Pokémon and a real-time day and night system. This edition sold several million copies in a matter of a few months. It received an updated version exclusive to the Game Boy Color known as Pokémon Crystal. With seven games released in Japan and 6 in North America and Europe, the Pokémon series established and solidified itself as Nintendo’s newest blockbuster franchise.
Nintendo and Game Freak have not looked back since then. They have continued to release sequels every few years. In 2003, Pokémon Ruby and Pokémon Sapphire were released for the Game Boy Advance. The next set of sequels were released for the Nintendo DS. The sequels that featured on the Nintendo DS include Pokémon Diamond and Pearl, Pokémon Black and White, and Pokémon Black 2 and Pokémon White 2, which were released in 2007, 2011, and 2012 respectively. These releases were a massive hit in the gaming industry.
Pokémon Ruby and Sapphire brought double battles. Pokémon Diamond and Pearl were the first in the series to allow online multiplayer. Pokémon Black and White introduced triple battles and rotation battles. Pokémon Black 2 and White 2 were the same as Pokémon Black and White with the addition of a new side game, “PokerStars Studios,” in which the player participates in filming a movie Pokémon and other actors.
In late 2013, Pokémon X and Y were released for Nintendo 3DS. There were the first games in the franchise to boast 3D graphics instead of its predecessors’ 2D graphics. There were new additions of Pokémon as well as a new mechanic known as Mega Evolution. They are the second best-selling game on the Nintendo 3DS after Mario Kart 7.
In 2016, Pokémon Sun and Moon were released for the Nintendo 3DS. Sun and Moon introduced 81 new Pokémon. It also included new features such as Alolan forms of previous generation Pokémon, powerful moves known as Z-Moves, alien creatures known as Ultra Beasts, updated battle and training mechanics, and improved polygonal 3D graphics.
The most recent series are Pokémon Sword and Shield, which were released for Nintendo Switch in 2019. Sword and Shield introduced 81 new Pokémon alongside 13 new regional variants of pre-existing Pokémon. New features include Dynamaxing (which increases the size of Pokémon under certain conditions), Gigantamaxing (changes the form of certain Pokémon). On the other hand, Wild Area is a large, open-world area with free camera movement that contains co-op raid battles.
The fantastic thing is all these games only scratch the surface of what has become the Pokémon empire. This particular franchise boasts 33 main series games and countless spin-off games. Also, a 23-season anime and 20 movies. Plus, a long-running trading card game, and an endless amount of toys and other merchandise. The Pokémon franchise has transcended being a video game series to become a global phenomenon. The most impressive aspect of this franchise is its longevity. About 24 years since its establishment, it has only grown bigger and better while sticking to its foundations.
In conclusion, the Pokémon franchise will continue to entertain and inspire for generations to come. This belief is so as it has been in existence for a more extended period and still thrives in the gaming market.
