Pokémon Red and Blue: all version differences

Category × version

Version differences

• GraphicsJP BlueInternational Red/Blue

  Japanese Blue brought new artwork, new dialogue and glitch fixes. The Western Red and Blue use Blue's script and sprites but keep the Pokémon distribution of Japanese Red and Green.¹

• Bug fixInternational Red/Blue

  The Western versions were rewritten from scratch on the model of Japanese Blue, because the original Japanese code was too fragile to translate directly.²

• GameplayJP versionsInternational Red/Blue

  PC storage went from 8 boxes of 30 Pokémon in Japan to 12 boxes of 20 abroad, and Blizzard's chance to freeze dropped from 30% to 10%.¹

• TextInternational Red/Blue

  Some details were localized: the console in the player's bedroom is a Famicom in Japan and an SNES abroad, and a Buddhist altar in Celadon became a Diglett sculpture.¹

• GameplayJP versionsInternational Red/Blue

  Japanese and Western cartridges run different code, so Nintendo warned that trading between them could corrupt data; official trading across languages only arrived with Ruby and Sapphire.³

• ContentJP RedJP Green

  Japanese Red and Green differ only in which Pokémon appear and how often; the story and text are the same.³

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