Pokemon Yellow: DIE, MOFO, DIE.

*~~//SPOILER ALERT\\~~*
I am possibly going to cover topics in this blog that will expose the plot of Pokemon Yellow Version. You have been warned.

Lemme start by apologizing for my lack of blog post on Friday. I has a life. But I'll try my hardest not to let that happen too often through these posts.
Okay, today I'm actually starting to talk specifically about Pokemon Yellow, after my little rant about the evolution of Pokemon sprites into something worth looking at when I play.

Anyway, I'd like to introduce you to my Pokemanz (so far, anyway):
Pikachu - L 21
Charmeleon - L 21
Diglett - L 22
Ivysaur - L 22
Fearow - L 23

I'm currently chilling on the S.S. Anne in Vermillion City after having gotten my second Kanto gym badge. Something's beginning to hit me - I haven't played this game in a long time. I've had to recall by experience all the little aspects of the game that made me ill with it whenever I would play as a youngster.
I'm going to try not to do any contrasting between generations, as the point of these posts is to expose Pokemon's 'evolution' through time, but this I must rant about.

Trainer and gym leader battling is very dry - not dry in a bad way, but dry as in simple. Let me show you:

This is your simple standby screen in mid-battle. You'll notice that there's no EXP bar. You'll also notice how simple your HP bar is. When your Pokemon/Opponent develops a status ailment, such a poison or paralysis, your current level is covered up by the status ailment. That personally is a distraction to me. Why? Because there will be occasions in battle where an opponent is about to sent a new Pokemon onto the field, and I cannot remember my Pokemon's level, as it's covered up. In order to find that out, I am forced to switch to the PKMN selection to see its level. It's not a big deal, but it's still an extra step.
Also, battle techniques are rather simple. The example I'll use comes from your first gym battle with the rock-type user Brock. He uses the Pokemon Onix.

Fast-forwarding the video to the one minute mark, Onix begins to use the move Bind. Bind and Wrap are very similar, and are used by Pokemon who possess long appendages of sorts, or a serpent-like body. I've grown used to the attack being like any other move; here, it's not. You'll see in the video that Onix can hinder your ability to attack as long as the move of Bind is underway. This proved to be a very scary move, especially in the heat of battle when your Pokemon is low in HP.

Regardless, I'm beginning to remember how things work in Pokemon Yellow, and hopefully no more surprises are going to come my way.

Join me on Monday, where my discussion of Pokemon's gameplay will take me into it's performance outside of battle.

- Cheryl-Buddy