Which console first played the original Pokémon games?

The original Pokémon games first appeared on Nintendo's Game Boy. Pocket Monsters Red and Green were designed for the handheld system and released in Japan in 1996.

The Game Boy was already several years old when Pokémon launched, but its large installed audience and link-cable multiplayer made it a strong platform for the concept. Players could catch creatures, train them, battle them, and trade them with another Game Boy.

The games used the original Game Boy's monochrome display in Japan. Pokémon Blue and later Pokémon Yellow also appeared on compatible Game Boy hardware, while later releases added color support through the Game Boy Color.

Some players remember Pokémon as a Game Boy Color game because the international launch overlapped with that system. However, the original Red, Green, and Blue games were Game Boy titles, and they remained playable on the newer color-compatible hardware.