The original Pokémon games released in Japan in 1996 were made for the Game Boy.
Game Freak designed Pocket Monsters Red and Green as role-playing games for Nintendo’s monochrome handheld system. Players explored the Kanto region, captured creatures, trained them, battled other Trainers, and exchanged Pokémon through the Game Link Cable.
The Game Boy platform is sometimes confused with the Game Boy Color because later Pokémon titles used color hardware or were compatible with it. Pokémon Gold and Silver were designed for the Game Boy Color, while Pokémon Red and Blue remained associated with the original Game Boy. Their simple hardware helped make trading and battling between two players a defining part of the series.