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Pokemon
Pokemon is the hottest character license from Nintendo. This beautiful full-color guide presents a walkthrough of the popular Game Boy game, valuable strategies for capturing and training pocket monsters, and an identification guide to all 150 known Pokemons. Author Jason Rich has gone straight to the source for inside information that will be treasured by collectors and enthusiasts in this fully Nintendo-authorized story book and companion guide.
- GenresVideo GamesChildrens
Paperback
First published December 1, 1998
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97 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews
August 30, 2014
It gets an extra star purely for nostalgia's sake, but this was a terrible book. It barely even qualifies as a book. It was basically someone playing the game and writing down, in the simplest language, what happened. A Let's Play for the pre-internet era, maybe.
January 25, 2020
A lets play in written form. It was trash, but nostalgia wins. Didnt have a gameboy, so reading this book was the closest i got to playing the game lel
July 3, 2024
This is objectively not a good book.
But.
Nostalgia.
(I wouldn't recommend it unless you played the original Red or Blue versions and want some sweet, sweet nostalgia)
But.
Nostalgia.
(I wouldn't recommend it unless you played the original Red or Blue versions and want some sweet, sweet nostalgia)
November 24, 2010
Other than the part where this was called "Pokemon: Pathways to Adventure" and was actually about Ash and his level 76 Charizard that he got by never using any other Pokemon, I remember this perfectly, even though I was 6 when I read it and have no idea where the book got to... But how did he win EVERY battle with his Chareptile? Huh? Answer me that, JasonRich!
November 7, 2017
Ah, Pokémon. Probably the most popular anime of the 90's. It wasn't my first anime (Sailor Moon holds that honor), but it was definitely a highlight among my childhood cartoons. And of course, I loved the original video games, which is why I've picked them up when visiting Japan. Unlike in the Western world, you can find the classic Pokémon games for very affordable prices there, even when they're mint in the original box - crazy, but true.
But since the topic of this review isn't the video games, but rather the book, let's take our attention back to that.
The book is essentially a player's guide to the games, naming the protagonist Ash and the rival Gary, a la the anime. It has Ash take Charmander for his starter, as was the most common choice at the time, and serves as a good walkthrough. Probably what I enjoy the most about the book is that each page features Pokémon illustrations by Ken Sugimori, the original artist for the video games and TCG. Personally, I find his art very nostalgic to look at, so to read a walkthrough of what I grew up playing while at the same time seeing throwback-style art takes me back.
Probably my only issue with the book, though, is some inconsistencies. First off, the book omits Ash's battle with Gary at Saffron City, and if I'm not mistaken, the one before he reaches the Indigo Plateau is also omitted. The biggest problem is that the final battle has Gary use Exeggutor, Gyarados and Charizard, when he should be using Arcanine, Exeggutor and Blastoise, because he took Squirtle at the beginning. This is a pretty glaring mistake, and takes away from the experience - but since the book is otherwise faithful, it's not completely ruined, especially because it makes mention of the secret 151st Pokémon - case in point, Mew - at the end.
Overall, the book is a fun read for any Pokémon fan who grew up on the classic games, and/or enjoys Ken Sugimori's art. If only for the nostalgic value it provides.
Rating: 3.5 out of 5
But since the topic of this review isn't the video games, but rather the book, let's take our attention back to that.
The book is essentially a player's guide to the games, naming the protagonist Ash and the rival Gary, a la the anime. It has Ash take Charmander for his starter, as was the most common choice at the time, and serves as a good walkthrough. Probably what I enjoy the most about the book is that each page features Pokémon illustrations by Ken Sugimori, the original artist for the video games and TCG. Personally, I find his art very nostalgic to look at, so to read a walkthrough of what I grew up playing while at the same time seeing throwback-style art takes me back.
Probably my only issue with the book, though, is some inconsistencies. First off, the book omits Ash's battle with Gary at Saffron City, and if I'm not mistaken, the one before he reaches the Indigo Plateau is also omitted. The biggest problem is that the final battle has Gary use Exeggutor, Gyarados and Charizard, when he should be using Arcanine, Exeggutor and Blastoise, because he took Squirtle at the beginning. This is a pretty glaring mistake, and takes away from the experience - but since the book is otherwise faithful, it's not completely ruined, especially because it makes mention of the secret 151st Pokémon - case in point, Mew - at the end.
Overall, the book is a fun read for any Pokémon fan who grew up on the classic games, and/or enjoys Ken Sugimori's art. If only for the nostalgic value it provides.
Rating: 3.5 out of 5
October 21, 2016
Jason R.Rich crea una ficción alrededor de la historia de Pokémon Rojo y Azul, las dos entregas primigenias de la marca. En ambos juegos la historia es la misma: el jugador encarna a un su alter ego que se hace entrenador Pokémon y tiene como meta, llegar a ser el mejor y derrotar a su rival. El jugador puede personalizar los nombres de todos los personajes, pero en esta novela, Rich ha optado por usar los nombres americanos: el protagonista es Ash, el mentor del protagonista el profesor Oak y el rival a batir es Gary.
Así pues, Rich relata en tercera persona todo el videojuego: los diferentes retos a los que debe hacer frente el jugador, los combates, lugares que visita, y acontecimientos en los que participa. En sus casi cien páginas se detalla todo los pormenores del videojuego, no a modo de guía, sino como si de una historia fan (fanfic) se tratara. Todo desde un lenguaje sencillo y muy accesible: se trata de un libro para un público infantil, una extensión más de mundo Pokémon: puedes jugarlo, pero también leerlo si quieres. Un libro agradable, muy para fans del videojuego original. Algo desfasado en pleno 2016 pero reivindicable para aquellos nostálgicos que quieran volver a revivir sus pokeaventuras en unas pocas páginas.
Toda la reseña aquí: https://goo.gl/uXGI7y
Así pues, Rich relata en tercera persona todo el videojuego: los diferentes retos a los que debe hacer frente el jugador, los combates, lugares que visita, y acontecimientos en los que participa. En sus casi cien páginas se detalla todo los pormenores del videojuego, no a modo de guía, sino como si de una historia fan (fanfic) se tratara. Todo desde un lenguaje sencillo y muy accesible: se trata de un libro para un público infantil, una extensión más de mundo Pokémon: puedes jugarlo, pero también leerlo si quieres. Un libro agradable, muy para fans del videojuego original. Algo desfasado en pleno 2016 pero reivindicable para aquellos nostálgicos que quieran volver a revivir sus pokeaventuras en unas pocas páginas.
Toda la reseña aquí: https://goo.gl/uXGI7y
May 14, 2017
Fun adventure.
February 1, 2015
Nostalgia!
Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews