For a Game Boy Classic cartridge, this is not a bad little game. I have never owned this, but I have borrowed it long-term before and I can safely say it is more enjoyable than the Red and Blue versions with Pikachu following you around and an extra surf game on the beach somewhere.

When compared with the later Pokémon games, it's not brilliant, but when you have played on the later versions, it has a nice back-to-basics feel with only the original 150 (151) Pokémon.

When played on a colour console, it shows in colour, unlike the Red and Blue versions which show in red and blue respectively.

The game starts off in Pallet Town, just like in the Red and Blue versions. Professor Oak wants you to collect a parcel for him and in return he gives you a Pokémon (Pikachu) for you to keep.

This is like the previous Red and Blue versions, except you have no choice in the Pokémon, whereas in the other games you could choose from Bulbasaur, Charmander and Squirtle.

Naturally, you still have a rival, but he takes the Pokémon that Oak offers you first: Eevee.

The game takes you - playing the role of a young boy named Ash (although you can name him whatever you want) - catching and battling Pokémon and collecting useful items along the way, such as TMs and HMs (technical machines and hidden machines used to teach your Pokémon moves), poké balls (used to catch Pokémon), Potions (used to restore 20 hit points) and many other items throughout the game.

There are two main aims of the game - to become the Pokémon Master and to catch all the Pokémon (the latter is a bit too difficult and can take ages. If you don't have a friend with the other games to trade with via the link cable, you can't catch them all).

Ash has to move through the towns in Kanto (the name of the fictional world/country), battling gym leaders (there's one in each town) and overcoming obstacles such as sleeping Snorlaxes and Team Rocket, not to mention the irritating rival, Gary (although he too can be named with whatever name you want).

In each town there is a Pokémon Centre used to fully heal your Pokémon and to use your PC to store and withdraw Pokémon and items and a Mart for buying various Pokémon items (e.g. poké balls and potions)

Also in found each town is a gym. These are for battling Pokémon in and they become progressively harder as you move through the game, as do the wild Pokémon (which makes you wonder about the unskilled, unequipped inhabitants of the towns!). Each gym specialises in a different type of Pokémon (for example Misty uses water Pokémon which should be a pushover for the electric Pikachu). After defeating a gym leader, you will be awarded a badge (e.g. the boulder badge for defeating Brock's rock Pokémon). Once all the gym leaders have been defeated, it is then time to test your Pokémon and your skill against the Elite Four.

The Elite Four are very difficult if you haven't trained enough and you've got to know what you're doing with the weaknesses and resistances of your Pokémon and theirs. The Elite Four, as their name suggests, consists of four Pokémon masters who each specialise in different types of Pokémon. You cannot heal your Pokémon between each master, except with the items you have with you, so be careful!

If you lose against the Elite Four, as with losing against any trainer, you black out, lose half your money and end up back at the last Pokémon centre you visited.

If you want to catch all the Pokémon, you don't have to own them all, but you do have to have owned them at one point, so if you trade with someone (using the link cable) and then trade back, the Pokémon you received and then gave back is added to your Pokédex (the device that records the Pokémon you have seen and caught/owned).

There are 151 Pokémon to catch altogether, but only 137 Pokémon can be found on Yellow. The remaining 14 can be found on Red and Blue and traded across to Yellow. All, that is, but one; Mew. Mew is pretty hard to get hold of because you need to transfer one across from the Nintendo 64, as far as I know, but seeing as not many people have one with the Pokémon game, it' a bit difficult to actually finish the game in this way.

Overall, this is a nice game with plenty to do on it. It is fairly varied although as with all the Pokémon games there are too many wild Pokémon in caves and long grass--unless you're trying to find one and then they seem to all but disappear.

The Pikachu following the protagonist around is a nice touch, especially as you can turn around and talk to it to see how it's feeling (it shows a picture of Pikachu's face to show you its mood).

The added surfing game is a small addition, but a fun, slightly addictive one. In this, Pikachu moves from left to right, or rather Pikachu stays in the middle of the screen while the sea moves from right to left. The aim is to get Pikachu to do flips and jump over the (rather odd looking) waves in order to earn points. The points don't really serve a purpose, except so that you can beat your high scores. The only problem is, I've forgotten how you get a surfing Pikachu...

There have since been Pokémon games for the Game Boy Color, Game Boy Advance and now the Nintendo DS, but a lot of people still prefer the original games for their classic feel and for the original 151 Pokémon - as opposed to the ridiculous numbers in the modern versions.