Today we were graced with a Nintendo Direct feed and it contained some exciting announcements. One of those announcements related to everyone’s favorite pocket monsters.
Pokemon Red, Blue and Yellow will be arriving on 3DS through the virtual console. The games will release on February 27th 2016 which will coincide with the 20th anniversary of the titles launch in Japan. 20 years?! Wow, I feel old.
All the games will be true to their originals but you will be able to trade Pokemon by utilizing the 3DS’s wireless capabilities instead of the old link cable method.
Pokemon Red and Blue first launched in 1996 and introduced us to the initial 150 Pokemon. You began your journey with one of the three starters; Charmander, Squirtle and Bulbasaur. The games saw you visit numerous towns with the ultimate goal of beating the Elite Four and becoming a Pokemon Master.
Pokemon Yellow released a year after its predecessors and aligned itself with the popular TV show. Rather than picking a standard starter Pokemon, you began your journey with Pikachu. Just like the show, Pikachu refused to stay in a Pokeball and remained by your side.
The saga has gone on to spawn numerous sequels and remasters. There are now a total of 718 Pokemon to collect and the games have become the biggest selling RPG franchise of all time. The most recent additions to the series, Omega Ruby and Alpha Sapphire, have sold over 9 million copies.
With no new Pokemon game released this year, Will a re-release of the classics sate your appetite? With Pokemon Go releasing on mobile platforms and rumors of a Pokemon MMO being in development, 2016 could be the year of the Pikachu.
Will you be downloading the classic JRPG’s? What do you want in the future from the Pokemon series? Let us know in the comments below.
