Pokémon Red and Green were first released in Japan on February 27, 1996, beginning the Pokémon video-game franchise.
The games were developed by Game Freak for Nintendo’s Game Boy. They were designed as a pair so players could trade creatures between versions, since certain Pokémon were exclusive to one edition. The original Japanese releases were called Pocket Monsters Red and Green; the internationally released games were later known as Pokémon Red and Blue.
The launch date is especially significant because Pokémon’s 30th anniversary is counted from this Japanese release. Development had finished in late 1995, but the planned December launch was delayed while related products were prepared. The delay moved the games to February 1996.
The first titles introduced the original 151 Pokémon and established the series’ central ideas: capturing, training, battling, evolving and trading creatures. The games initially sold slowly, but word of mouth, magazine coverage and the discovery of the hidden Pokémon Mew helped turn them into a major success.