The original Pokémon Red and Green games were released for the Game Boy.
Nintendo’s handheld system provided the technical foundation for Pokémon’s first generation. Although the Game Boy had a monochrome screen, its Link Cable allowed players to trade Pokémon and battle friends using two connected consoles. That feature helped make Pokémon more social than many role-playing games of its era.
The games were designed by Game Freak and published by Nintendo. They used a top-down role-playing format in which players explored the Kanto region, captured Pokémon, trained them, defeated Gym Leaders, and challenged the Pokémon League.
Pokémon Yellow later appeared with enhanced features and support for the Game Boy Color’s color palette. The second generation, Pokémon Gold and Silver, was designed for the Game Boy Color. These later systems can cause confusion, but the original Red and Green versions began on the standard Game Boy.