Video games would never have been what they are today had Pokémon not existed. And, if you allow us, its current popularity in our country might not have been the same without Hobby Consoles, a magazine that has been transmitting its love for this incredible world for 30 years every month.
During all this time, these two living stories of video games have lived unforgettable moments that are already part of the memories of many players in our country. Both have grown hand in hand and, in turn, have been an indispensable part of unrepeatable experiences for different generations.
But the best thing is that the story has not come to an end, far from it, because very soon, on November 19, the new Pokémon Brilliant Diamond and Shiny Pearl will arrive on Nintendo Switch. It is the remake of the fourth generation, that is, of the original Pokémon Diamond and Pearl that were released for Nintendo DS in 2006 in Japan and arrived in the West in 2007.
These new chapters of the saga will achieve a kind of squaring of the circle: being faithful to the original while introducing improvements such as the Pokémon Partner, customization, online possibilities or the enormous space that hides Sinnoh's subsoil. Not counting, of course, the inevitable (and also notable) graphical improvements.
For all this, and because at Hobby Consoles we have always shouted our love for Pokémon from the rooftops, we have prepared this report for you, in which we compile many of the great moments that have created an unparalleled bond.
And it is that, as you already know, Hobby Turns 30, but we are passionate that 25 of them have been in the company of Pikachu and his friends. Long live love stories!
Although we had already told you about it before, the first time we got "serious" with Pokémon was in the number 96 of Hobby Consoles, published in September 1999.
There was only one month left for the launch of Pokémon Red Version and Pokémon Blue Version in Spain and, in view of the phenomenon that we already smelled that they were going to become, we prepared a report in which we explained what exactly these "Pocket Monsters" were and why other countries, such as Japan or the United States, had revolutionized.
Logically, and despite our suspicions, at that time we were not aware of the impressive phenomenon that was upon us... A true video game legend had been born!
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The first time we got together with our Game Boy was to review Pokémon Red Version and Blue Version, which we published in issue 97 of the magazine. And what an experience it was!
As we told you in our evaluation, the new Nintendo title seemed to us something totally different from everything we had played before and, even more importantly, a fun and absorbing game like few others. From that day on, we were clear that we would never want to separate from our Pokédex.
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In number 104 of Hobby Consoles, Pokémon once again had a great presence in the magazine for several of the most relevant reasons.
On the one hand, we announced that the Pokémon movie would soon arrive in our theaters, which would accompany other products such as collectible cards or the television series.
For its part, it was also news that, 6 months after its launch, Pokémon Red Version and Pokémon Blue Version were still at the top of the sales list in our country, both taking first place.
And finally, we culminate our preview of Pokémon Stadium from the previous month with a complete analysis of the new game for Nintendo 64, an installment that dazzled us with its amazing three-dimensional appearance, its incredible gameplay and the immense possibilities of connection with Game cartridges. Boy who offered.
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2 months later, in issue 106, Pikachu and his friends returned to the pages of Hobby Consoles in a big way.
The reason? Neither more nor less than the premiere of Pokémon Yellow Version, which was starring the great character and, how could it be otherwise, completely conquered us.
Well, us and N64, because in that same issue we also show you for the first time the Pikachu Special Edition of N64, a machine as beautiful as it is listed today.
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Pokémon has always been a phenomenon of originality and innovation, but we cannot deny that the arrival of Pokémon Snap in the newsroom left us quite confused at first.
Swapping battles for a photo safari? But who has thought of this? And most importantly, will these wild creatures really be fun to photograph?
Well... and so much so that it was! As you can see in our analysis published in number 109, Pokémon Snap captured our hearts thanks to its great proposal. Taking photos has never been so cool.
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Wait, wait... that now Pokémon already proposes us to embark on an adventure with battles or take pictures? What do you say now is a pinball?
We can't assure you that these were literally our words as we inserted the Pokémon Pinball cartridge for the first time into our Game Boy Color, but that's where the shots went...
Once again, Pokémon surprised us with a completely different proposal that, luckily, brought together two of our great hobbies: pinball and interacting with our favorite creatures.
The result, as you can see in our analysis, we liked very much. So much so that the Game Boy Color that we had in the newsroom became the most sought-after object by all its members.
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While we were still struggling to get a free Game Boy Color to play pinball, in February 2001 Pokémon Puzzle League arrived at the newsroom. And yes, it messed up again.
The idea of transferring the mechanics of Tetris Attack from the SNES to a Pokémon game was a success on the part of Nintendo, and soon the fights to catch the GBC turned into some epic races at the controls of our N64.
Addictive on its own, especially in its two-player mode, Pokémon Puzzle League earned a well-deserved 89 in our review, in which we singled out its staggering amount of fun.
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A couple of months later, in issue 105 of Hobby Consoles, Pokémon returned through the front door to the pages of our magazine.
The reason was, neither more nor less, than the premiere of Pokémon Gold and Pokémon Silver. The second generation of Pokémon hit the new Johto region hard and we couldn't like it more.
With an impressive 95 grade, in the analysis of the new installment of Pokémon we highlight almost everything and qualify it as "the most addictive game ever". There is nothing.
And as a curiosity, that same month we also presented the Game Boy Color Pokémon Special Edition, which dyed our favorite laptop blue and "Pikachu yellow".
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The only generation of Pokémon that arrived GBA was shown in all its splendor in the number 143 of Hobby Consoles, published in a hot month of August 2003.
This new installment presented us with 135 new Pokémon, and also introduced many new features in the formula, one of the most important being the inclusion of battles for up to 4 players.
All this, together with the infallible gameplay of always, made Pokémon Ruby and Pokémon Sapphire catch us again without remedy, as we reflect in our complete analysis.
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Our colleague Daniel Quesada was the trainer in charge of facing Pokémon Colloseum, an installment of the series that squeezed the GameCube circuits to the max to offer some spectacular battles.
The protagonists were, on this occasion, the Dark Pokémon, creatures that populated the Aura region and that we had to purify so that they would fight by our side.
The great mix of role-playing, strategy, and exploration was always shown spectacularly in Pokémon Colosseum, a game that although we didn't place it among the best in the saga, it did manage to get us hooked again, this time, on our GameCube.
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The jump of our favorite pocket monsters to Nintendo DS invited us to explore the Sinnoh region, where many old acquaintances and nearly 100 new Pokémon awaited us.
The possibilities of the new Nintendo handheld fitted him like a glove in the classic style of the series, which benefited from features such as the double screen, the exchange of Pokémon through the Wi-Fi connection or much improved graphics.
With a great duration, getting the more than 480 species of Pokémon that were hidden in Sinnoh was a task as titanic as it was fun, a feat that would gain even more depth with the subsequent arrival of Pokémon Platinum in 2009.
The fifth generation of Pokémon surprised us on March 4, 2011, the day Pokémon White and Pokémon Black officially arrived at NDS.
More than 150 new creatures were waiting to be captured in Unova, a beautiful region that even included an exclusive zone depending on our version of the game: White Forest and Black City.
The new 3D perspective, which gave a new dimension to exploration, was one of the great novelties, to which was also added the arrival of C-Gear, which allowed us for the first time to fight and exchange Pokémon while talking on video chat, we fulfilled missions or participated in world rankings. The Pokémon community grew even more and was already totally unstoppable.
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2012 was a very special year for Nintendo. Among many other things because the great Shigeru Miyamoto was awarded the Prince of Asturias Award and, of course, because our DS received Pokémon White Version and Pokémon Black Version 2.
On our return to Unova, Game Freak and Nintendo introduced us to a brand new story, with a split Team Plasma, and the chance to enter the Pokémon World Tournament.
All these novelties, and many more, made Pokémon White Version 2 and Pokémon Black Version 2 versions totally different from those offered by the games on which they were based, which allowed us to get a full 91 mark in the analysis that we published. in number 255 of Hobby Consoles.
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Pokémon experienced a true mega-evolution with the arrival of Pokémon X and Pokémon Y, which represented one of the biggest leaps in the history of the saga.
The first great advance was its graphical jump to 3D, in which some great cell-shading models stood out that, in addition to being spectacular, were very faithful to Ken Sugimori's original designs.
Our new group of friends, including Kalm, Serena or Xana, accompanied us on our exploration of Kalos, where we had to investigate the mysteries of mega-evolution on behalf of Professor Ciprés.
And, why fool yourself, we spent many, many hours hallucinating with this new installment, in which we also discovered for the first time the Fairy-type Pokémon and how good everything looked on the mighty Nintendo 3DS. The result? A most enthusiastic analysis that closed with an impressive 94 note. It was not be for lowerly!
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Nintendo's 3D handheld returned to welcome our favorite universe in Pokémon Omega Ruby and Pokémon Alpha Sapphire, which made the most of the possibilities of the third generation of Pokémon.
This update of the versions that we loved so much a decade ago in GBA completely conquered us, not only for bringing out our memories by exploring the Hoenn region again, but also for all the new features that it included.
Starting with the technical section, very spectacular, and continuing with the large number of improvements at the playable level, such as the Ultraflight or Videonav, the functions for the touch screen or some improved combos in combat.
Once again, and we no longer remembered how many times it had done so, Pokémon hopelessly caught us again on our Nintendo laptop.
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The arrival of Pokémon Megamysterious World coincided with a very important date: neither more nor less than the 20th anniversary of Pokémon since its arrival on Game Boy in Japan.
To celebrate it, we couldn't help but gather three of our editors to talk about their favorite installments of the saga, who marked some texts full of nostalgia and words of emotion.
Of course, the final climax was put by our analysis of Pokémon Megamysterious World, which we qualify as an essential installment for fans of the saga and totally recommended for new players. Are there any that do not meet these two premises?
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We had been hearing about a Pokémon arcade for months that was sweeping the arcades of Japan, and our desire to travel to the Japanese country to try it could not be greater.
Luckily, its release on Wii U in 2016 saved us the plane ticket. And, what was even better, it showed us why Pokkén Tournament had become the star of Japanese arcade games.
For the first time the saga moved to the fighting genre, offering us some spectacular combats full of frenzy and strategic possibilities.
In our analysis, published in number 297, we told you why we liked the idea so much, to which we gave it a score of 90. Once again, Pokémon took the outstanding.
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The arrival of Pokémon Sun and Pokémon Moon completely revolutionized the newsroom, so much so that we didn't hesitate for a second to offer you our cover of number 305 of Hobby Consoles.
In its pages we collected a very interesting interview with Shigeru Ohmori and Junichi Masuda, director and producer-composer of this new installment respectively, and in which they entrusted us with the most curious information about their game.
As a final culmination, in that same issue we published our analysis of Pokémon Sun and Pokémon Moon, or what is the same, 4 pages full of enthusiastic words about the new generation of the saga.
We liked the new Game Freak and Nintendo work so much that we didn't hesitate to rate its story as the best of the entire series (that's nothing), which together with its enormous added possibilities made it take an impressive 97. Pokémon no longer only got the outstanding, but bordering on perfection.
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Exactly one year later, in issue 317 of Hobby Consoles, Nintendo proposed us to return to Alola with Pokémon Ultra Sun and Pokémon Ultra Moon, a new version of the games that we had not yet managed to get out of our 3DS.
In this new edition we were able to visit new areas of Alola, capture even more Pokémon (400), deal with Team Rainbow Rocket or enjoy new mini-games.
These developments further expanded the possibilities of Pokémon Sun and Pokémon Moon, so in our analysis, which had a score of 86, we recommend returning to Alola, especially if you have never explored its lands before.
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At Hobby Consoles we were very clear that Pikachu could do anything, but the truth is that we were surprised to see the iconic Pokémon become a private detective.
This great new twist to the saga changed its usual role-playing proposal for an adventure in which, together with the young university student Tim Goodman, we had to embody Detective Pikachu to investigate a mysterious disappearance in Ryme City.
This new research system, coupled with a great sense of humor starring a Pikachu more irreverent than ever, managed to convince us, something that was reflected in our review published in issue 322.
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When Nintendo introduced its brand new Switch, one of the first things we imagined was what a new installment of Pokémon would look like on its powerful circuits.
Luckily, we didn't have to wait too long, since at the end of 2018 Pokémon: Let's Go and Pokémon: Pikachu - Eevee arrived, the jump of the franchise to Switch with which we had dreamed so much.
Especially aimed at new fans of the saga, this iteration of the saga broke with many of the established mechanics and, in addition, released Pokéball Plus, a great device that increased the realism and immersion of our captures.
Much more focused on exploring Kanto than fighting, Pokémon: Let's Go and Pokémon: Pikachu - Eevee were a great premiere for the saga on Nintendo Switch, which resulted in a score of 89 in our analysis published in the number 329.
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Pokémon became the absolute protagonist of number 341 of Hobby Consoles, whose cover letter was a spectacular cover inspired by the new titles of the saga: Pokémon Sword and Pokémon Shield.
Published in December 2019, in this issue we also offered you a complete report in which we reviewed 20 years of the saga's history, and in which we did not hold back when it came to telling you curiosities and telling you about the phenomenon that had been devastating for 2 decades .
How could it be otherwise, the end of the party was put by our analysis of Pokémon Sword and Shield, which managed to take us back to the captures of our childhood and, at the same time, surprise us very positively again.
Its usual formula, supported by a huge number of novelties, such as the Wild Area, and enhanced by the enormous possibilities of Switch, led us to give it a 90, in addition to intuiting where the saga would advance from that moment.
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Nintendo Switch received a new portion of Pokémon with Mysterious World: DX Rescue Team, a remake that brought back all the charm of the Mysterious World sub-saga.
With a game style far removed from the classic Pokémon formula, this new installment surprised us with its great story and its random turn-based battles, which also made us fall in love with the beautiful artistic section with which they were represented.
In our analysis of Pokémon Mysterious World: DX Rescue Team, which was published in issue 345 of Hobby Consoles, we unpacked all these virtues, which led us to qualify it as "a great remake that will once again excite lovers of the original game" . Boy did he do it!
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With Pokémon fully established on Nintendo Switch, Nintendo's hybrid console received New Pokémon Snap, which, two decades later, once again invited us to demonstrate our photographic skills.
As in the original, in New Pokémon Snap we had to automatically progress through colorful levels while taking photos of Pokémon, with which we could interact in a lot of different ways.
The possibilities, much greater than those offered by the N64 installment, made our passion for photographing Pokémon come back stronger than ever, something that was reflected in our complete review published in issue 358.
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And we end this report by returning to what we told you at the beginning: 25 years after its arrival in Japan, the Pokémon phenomenon shines brighter than ever. And, for example, just take a look at number 364 of our magazine, the last one we have published to date.
In this very special issue, which celebrates the 30th anniversary of Hobby Consoles, Pokémon is one of the main protagonists, since we dedicate no less than 8 pages to it in a report that reviews the 25-year history of the saga.
And, of course, all this with an eye on Pokémon Brilliant Diamond and Pokémon Shiny Pearl, the two new installments that will be released on November 19 on Switch and that we look forward to with the same enthusiasm as when we were children.
And it is that if there is something that makes this saga great, it is precisely that: that, regardless of the time that passes, it always manages to surprise and trap us in equal parts. Hopefully this feeling never leaves us!
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