Pokémon was originally released on which videogame console?

The global phenomenon of Pokémon (Review) first began its journey on a classic handheld system, capturing the imaginations of players worldwide. The very first titles in the series, Pocket Monsters Red and Green, launched exclusively in Japan on February 27, 1996. These groundbreaking role-playing games, developed by Game Freak, introduced the world to catching, training, and battling creatures in a vibrant new universe. They were later released internationally as Pokémon Red Version and Blue Version, bringing the adventure to a wider audience.

The console that hosted this initial adventure was Nintendo's iconic Game Boy. Released in 1989, the Game Boy was a revolutionary handheld device, celebrated for its portability, impressive battery life, and a robust library of games, despite its monochrome screen and 8-bit processor. Pokémon's design, which encouraged players to link up with friends (Review) to trade and battle, perfectly leveraged the Game Boy's inherent social and on-the-go nature. The immense success of Pokémon, in turn, significantly boosted the Game Boy's continued sales and cultural relevance throughout the late 1990s, cementing its place in gaming history.

From these humble beginnings on a simple gray brick, the Pokémon franchise blossomed into one of the highest-grossing media franchises of all time. The core series of games has continued to evolve across subsequent generations of Nintendo's handheld and home consoles, but it all started with the fundamental experience offered by that original, beloved device.