The original Pokémon Red and Green games were released on the Game Boy.
Nintendo's monochrome handheld provided the technical foundation for Pokémon's first adventure. Its link cable was equally important: two players could connect their systems to battle or trade, turning a single-player role-playing game into a social experience.
The Game Boy was already an established product when Pokémon launched in Japan in 1996. That maturity helped because many children already owned one, and the system was relatively affordable. Pokémon's success therefore extended the commercial life of hardware that was no longer the newest Nintendo platform.
Pokémon Yellow was later released for the Game Boy as an enhanced edition inspired partly by the anime. The series subsequently moved to the Game Boy Color, Game Boy Advance, Nintendo DS, and newer Nintendo systems, but the original Game Boy remains inseparable from the franchise's beginnings.