With over 700 playable characters, each with dozens of moves available to them and a myriad of hidden stats that players can level, Pokemon has a lot of room for complexity. Despite this fact, the game offers a compelling experience to astonishingly young players; a remarkable feat for a turn based RPG. The reason this is possible lies in the brilliance of the long running series’ design.
At first glance the show may seem supplementary to the games, though undeniably part of the series’ success. But it may, in fact, be essential and inseparable for a majority of the younger crowd. This is because the show functions as a re-imagining of a traditional game tutorial. It is also why the show’s protagonist, Ash Ketchum, never seems to learn anything, forever maintaining his naivety. It is in this way, that the viewer can identify with him and learn alongside him. This is important.
A child is very capable of learning the rules of rock paper scissors; there are only three objects to keep track of. Pokemon is built around a similar concept, but instead of rock, paper, and scissors, the idea of strengths and weaknesses is played out through something like fire, water, ice, darkness, light, grass and what have you. It’s a lot more to comprehend, and as smart as kids can be, it would be difficult to teach them all of these elements up front. Hell, even adults sometimes struggle to keep it all straight in their heads. Fortunately, the show is always reiterating what elements fare well against others. The game’s design itself is also built around this learning curve, by starting players off with a battle against their rival that instructs them on how to use fire, water, and grass against one another. Losing this battle does not result in a game over scenario. Then, as the player proceeds onward from this battle, different types of Pokemon are slowly introduced, allowing younger players to learn just a little bit at a time.
The pacing in these games is important. After players choose their first Pokemon, they discover that they have two abilities available to them; an attack and another move designed to either enhance or debuff stats. This teaches players, immediately, that there are various types of attacks that they can incorporate into their strategy. By starting players off with only two moves, Pokemon games ensure that the player won’t be overwhelmed by the learning curve. The game continues this trend, only allowing Pokemon to know four moves at any given time. It makes it very easy for a player to keep track of their move sets.
Of course, at the center of the game are the actual Pokemon themselves. This is one of the game’s most enticing features. While all of the characters are cute in their own way, there is also a lot of diversity to them. Players are almost guaranteed to find a favorite and get attached. When the game was released, virtual pet games like Tamagotchi were very popular. Pokemon seems to appeal to some caretaking nature in people that extends to virtual pets, and this is evident in the way that so many random people under 30 can probably give you a list of their favorite Pokemon . Players are almost guaranteed to find a monster that speaks to their sensibilities from the vast array of options.
It really is impressive when you take a step back and look at what has been accomplished. The game can be so very basic, and is accessible at such a young age, yet offers so much room for growth that it manages to be accommodating to all ages. There are even World Wide tournaments for multiple age brackets held on a yearly basis. This is, perhaps, the franchise’s greatest strength; the ability to hook gamers when they’re young and keep them interested through release after release. Perhaps this is why the show and games have been releasing and updating alongside one another for almost two decades; something most “trends” can’t manage to accomplish.