One of the most exciting events of the summer was the sudden reappearance of the Pokémon Go craze among the majority of the average populace! It is reminiscent of what I have heard about the '90s Pokémon craze (when the games were first made) that happened before I was born. Once I actually got into Pokémon, which was around seventh grade (sort of late, I know), it was obscure and generally considered weird to even like Pokémon at all. That didn't stop me from playing the game, of course, and I had a really good time doing so. Here's a few quick observations about Pokémon Go, and Pokémon in general, that explain just why the games captivated me then, and still do captivate me today.
My first Pokémon game was Firered. This game was a Game Boy Advanced remake of the original Pokémon Red version that first came out on the Nintendo Game Boy in the '90s. In this game, there were the same 151 Pokémon as there are (or will eventually be) in Pokémon Go. I personally fell in love with one: Bulbasaur. I affectionately named the frog-like dinosaur Pokémon with a flower bud on its back "Frogthang." While Pokémon usually requires a balanced team of equally-leveled monsters in order to be effective on battles, I over-leveled Frogthang so much, he quickly became more powerful than all of the other Pokémon on my team combined! Now, thanks to Pokémon Go, I have two Frogthangs, one in my old Firered cartridge, and one on Go. Attachments to the little creatures are a big part of both games.
As I grew older and more into the Pokémon game series, I eventually got into competitive game play and did somewhat well. I managed to win a ton of Pokémon cards. I made use of a well-crafted team to compete against a lot of other players. The excitement associated with competing was invigorating, and the feeling of victory over other players was extremely satisfying. This competitive spirit often shows up in Pokémon Go with teams. One of my favorite features of the game is being able to choose a team corresponding to a certain legendary bird Pokémon and the ability to conquer gyms in the name of your team.
The best aspect of those games, however, is certainly the exploratory nature of them with exploring the various regions of the Pokemon world, catching strange creatures and meeting new characters along the way. In Pokémon Go, this adventure is brought to life in the real world. Instead of meeting new NPCs, you meet actual new interesting people. Pokémon Go manages to make the neighborhood that the average player lives in a new region to explore.
Overall, it's fantastic that Pokémon has experienced a resurgence in popularity and that something like Pokemon Go was able to bring that resurgence forth. Finally, the adventures that I was only able to experience through a hand-held console can be brought to my world and enjoyed by a multitude of people.
