On which handheld system did the original Pokémon games debut?

The original Pokémon games debuted on Nintendo’s Game Boy.

Pokémon Red and Green were released for the Game Boy in Japan in 1996. The system’s link-cable feature was central to the design because players could connect two Game Boys to trade Pokémon or battle one another. That technical possibility helped turn a single-player role-playing game into a social collecting experience.

The games used the Game Boy’s monochrome display and limited hardware, although later releases added color support. Pokémon Yellow was designed for the Game Boy and later benefited from the Game Boy Color’s palette. The series subsequently moved to platforms including the Game Boy Advance, Nintendo DS, Nintendo 3DS and Nintendo Switch.

A frequent mix-up is saying that Pokémon began on the Game Boy Color. The Game Boy Color launched after the original Japanese games, and Pokémon Red and Green were Game Boy titles first. Their simple presentation was not a barrier to success: trading, exploration and the goal of completing the Pokédex gave the hardware a distinctive multiplayer identity.