Pokémon Yellow introduced a game-exclusive feature to the Pokémon franchise that was so game-changing and important, it should have stuck around for all the generations to come. Following the success of the anime series, GameFreak developed Pokémon Yellow to be more of a companion piece to the anime than what Pokémon Red and Blue had been. From Red and Blue pokémon missing in Pokémon Yellow to follower Pokémon staying out of their Pokéballs, this first gen game is a classic and outlier in the Pokémon franchise. Pokémon Yellow stands out in the entire Pokémon catalog as one of the first enhanced games released, starting a trend of third version Pokémon games, but also as an outlier for features other generations of the games didn’t get to see.
Pokémon Yellow Version: Special Pikachu Version, more commonly referred to as Pokémon Yellow, is the enhanced version of the Gen 1 Pokémon games. The first game to be directly inspired from the anime series, Pokémon Yellow featured multiple story changes, gameplay changes, location changes, and even pokédex changes from Pokémon Red and Blue, the predecessors to Pokémon Yellow. Because this version relied so heavily upon the anime, the beloved Pikachu is with the player from the very beginning of Pokémon Yellow, serving as the game’s official starter, rather than one of three starters from Pokémon Red and Blue.
Of all the changes, the biggest change to gameplay and storyline introduced in Pokémon Yellow was the fact that the starter from Professor Oak was no longer Bulbasaur, Charmander, or Squirtle. Instead, players were given Pikachu as the starter on the Kanto region adventures. Typically, once selecting a starter, it becomes extremely difficult for a player to add either of the two remaining starters to their Pokédex. However, Pokémon Yellow allowed the three main starters to be caught in the main storyline. Even though this decision commemorates Ash’s Pikachu from the Indigo League anime series, it complicates Pikachu’s starter Pokémon status and raises a serious question: why hasn’t this mechanic been developed for other Pokémon games?
Pokémon Yellow Ruined Other Gen's Third Games
One of the most frustrating parts of choosing a starter is knowing how difficult it will be to add the remaining two starters to the Pokédex, especially knowing the “gotta catch ‘em all!” Gen 1 motto. It is nearly impossible to catch a starter along a route or in the wild. Occasionally, a starter can be unlocked and caught after completing the main storyline, somewhere in the post-game. A more common way to get another starter is by trading for one, but even that isn’t easy. However, the first generation’s third game, Pokémon Yellow, relieved these frustrations by featuring a main storyline that allows starters to be caught in the wild. Pokémon Yellow has the best story moments that haven’t been repeated in any other generation, not main games or even in the enhanced third versions.
Eight generations later, Pokémon Yellow remains an outlier in the titles that make up the third-game portion of the Pokémon franchise. Many of Yellow’s features stand out as mechanics that deserve to be in future Pokémon games, such as Pokémon outside their Pokéballs utilizing the Game Boy Printer. These features are a major part of the huge success that Pokémon Yellow is known for, yet GameFreak has almost never re-visited this success by implementing the features in the later generations of games. In fact, only Pokémon HeartGold and SoulSilver have used features from Pokémon Yellow. With the complications around catching all starters, it seems an unnecessary problem when Pokémon Yellow has the solutions.