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Game Soundtracks We Love: Pokemon Red/Green/Blue/Yellow

Hello to everyone! Thank you for joining us, on our cuppa filled gaming journey.

Last week we started off this series with a few beautiful pieces from Fragile Dreams: Farewell Ruins of the Moon. If you missed it and want to check it out: Game Soundtracks We Love: Fragile Dreams

For this article however, we wanted to go with a soundtrack that contrasted with last week’s choice; so we decided to go retro!

Game of Choice

This week is actually a set of games that were made for the Gameboy: Pokemon Red/Green/Blue/Yellow.

What started the Pokemon craze to begin with was the Pokemon games Red, Green and Blue (Green wasn’t released outside of Japan). They later released a special Pikachu edition called Pokemon Yellow, after the anime with Pikachu and Ash became so popular. The Yellow version was made to be more like the anime, with Pikachu following you around and other changes to make it fit in with the anime more. The soundtrack however was pretty much left alone; just a few tracks were added.

For anyone who hasn’t delved into this set of Pokemon games:
You journey around the Kanto region as a Pokemon Trainer with your team of pocket monsters. You battle other Pokemon Trainers, catch new monsters to join your party and train your team up to defeat skilled trainers at Gyms. This is all to eventually vs the best of the best: The Pokemon League and it’s Elite Four!
Along the way; you get to meet legendary Pokemon, play slot machines, annoy Team Rocket and have your rival imply you smell every time you see him (such a friendly fellow). Oh! Let’s not forget; You gotta catch ’em all! 😀 (not really, that part is actually optional :P).

The Gameboy was very limited in what it could handle compared to today’s standards. However, I think the opening track (above), still works great in capturing the feeling of a battle but also the fun, joyous adventure part of the game. Certainly sets the tone of the game before even getting to the main menu  – It’s brilliant I think 🙂

Pokemon Centers are key in Pokemon, as they heal your beloved pocket monsters after a difficult battle. A  jolly soundtrack to bring your spirits up is great after your Pokemon have just taken a beating, and half of them fainted in a battle – those poor Pokemon!

Pokemon battles are inevitable, and although they are turn based; the soundtrack is fast paced. It makes the battles feel far more energetic than what is actually happening on screen; keeping it interesting and making it more engaging. The video above is an extended version and has a slight echo to it, but it still brings back so many memories of battling friends and helping one another with what moves to use against Pokemon.

Final Thoughts

Some soundtracks we can’t help but love because of the nostalgia value – the soundtrack for Pokemon Red/Green/Blue/Yellow is one of them! Sure the sounds of the Gameboy may annoy some people, but they still bring back some brilliant gaming memories and are loved by many of us 😀

A few questions for you:

  • What did you think of the soundtrack?
  • Have you played any of the original Pokemon Red/Green/Blue/Yellow games?
  • Does hearing the music bring back fond memories for you?

Would love to read your thoughts 😀 – Thanks for reading!

3 comments

  1. I played the heck out of this game asa youngster…many happy memories with my late brother. I love the themes for each town and was actually so sad that when you rode the bicycle it played music other than the town themes. I still love Lavender Town’s theme best, I think. So spooky!

    1. Isn’t if fun how music and soundtracks can jog your memory? I didn’t play these games, I was late to the party with Pokemon Platinum. But I do have Pokemon tunes in my Gaming Playlist on my phone. Always so relaxing!

    2. I too preferred to hear the town themes than the bicycle music; they added atmosphere and gave the towns a little more individuality. I had forgotten about Lavender Town’s music until you mentioned it – it certainly was a unique track that fitted the town perfectly – still remember encountering the ghosts in the Pokemon Tower!

      Pokemon Blue was the game for my brother and I; my first experience of a Pokemon game was using Rare Candy on my brother’s team on the Blue version (used the Missingno glitch). Had no idea what move did what, or even what the Pokemon were, and my reading skills weren’t good at the time. So it was more of a “click here, here, now here, if the move doesn’t have attack points; get rid of it” kind of playing. My brother did let me try the Elite Four at one stage…of course that didn’t work out well lol.

      It’s great how games can bring family and friends together 🙂

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