Pokémon Red, Green & Blue vs. Pokémon Brilliant Diamond & Shining Pearl: Full Comparison

Pokemon is one of the best-selling game franchises of all time. It is an iterative series meaning each Pokemon game has something that makes it unique. There are 16 games to choose from and each one has a list of reasons why you would play that specific one. Even the early titles from the late 1990s. In this article, we’ll be comparing the original games to one of the more modern ones with a 25-year gap between their releases. How do these two games differ? What mechanics stayed intact over two decades?

The Difference Between Pokemon Green and Red/Blue

Before we can compare and contrast the titular games we have to compare and contrast Pokemon Green with the rest of the original first-generation releases.

• Pokemon Green’s PC boxes held more Pokemon. Pokemon Green only released in Japan and it allows for 30 Pokemon to be held in the PC boxes.
• Pokemon Red and Blue have dialed back certain move animations to prevent seizures in players.
• Dialogue is different in Pokemon Green. Mostly because Japanese is a contextual language and a lot of nuance was lost in translation.
• Pokemon were recolored and redesigned for Red and Blue.
• Pokemon Green’s cartridge was Gray while Pokemon Red and Blue’s cartridge was red and blue respectively.

Humble Beginnings Vs Modern Remake

Pokemon Red, Green, and Blue are the original games released by Nintendo and Gamefreak in 1996. These games were released for the Nintendo Gameboy and kicked off the monolith that is Pokemon. It was the very beginning of the features and stories that became modern Pokemon. The biggest difference between Brilliant Diamond/Shining Pearl and the original trio of games is polish. Well, it depends on who you ask.

Regions

Pokemon Red, Green, and Blue take place in the region of Kanto. Many players have nostalgia for Kanto because it was a lot of people’s first introduction to Pokemon, me included. The Kanto region’s cities are all named after colors except for Pallet Town. Kanto is based on the real Kanto region in Japan. It also shares the same landmass as the Johto region. In Pokemon Brilliant Diamond and Shining Pearl, the region is called Sinnoh. Sinnoh is another region that is based on real-world Japan. It’s specifically based on the island of Hokkaido.

Features

Pokemon Red, Green, and Blue are the first iterations of the Pokemon formula. They introduced mainstay mechanics to the series such as the Gyms and Elite Four. These games consist of the original 151 Pokemon that were used as the base for every Pokemon that came after them. They also introduced the concept of Version-exclusive Pokemon.

You can only find these Pokemon in Pokemon Red:

• Ekans
• Arbok
• Oddish
• Gloom
• Vileplume
• Mankey
• Primeape
• Growlithe
• Arcanine
• Scyther
• Electabuzz

You can only find these Pokemon in Pokemon Green and Blue:

• Sandshrew
• Sandslash
• Vulpix
• Ninetales
• Meowth
• Persian
• Bellsprout
• Weepinbell
• Victreebel
• Magmar
• Pinsir

Pokemon Brilliant Diamond and Shining Pearl revamped features from the Generation IV games. These games are from the ground-up remakes of the original Diamond and Pearl. The changes to the formula were met with mixed reception but they provided a new take on old mechanics.

• The Grand Underground is a new way to experience the underground present in the original games.
• New post-game content was added that can only be experienced in this game. The Ramanas Park is an area where players can encounter Legendary Pokemon from other regions.
• HMs were changed to call Wild Pokemon to perform the tasks, removing HM slaves.
• These games introduced auto-saving to the Sinnoh region.
• The experience share item that was introduced in Generation II was removed as experience is now shared throughout a team no matter who participated in the battle.
• Pokemon and item storage can be accessed anywhere instead of having to visit a Pokemon Center.

Pokemon Red, Green, & Blue Gym Leaders

Pokemon Brilliant Diamond & Shining Pearl Gym Leaders

Pokemon Red, Green, & Blue Elite 4

Pokemon Brilliant Diamond & Shining Pearl Elite 4

Pokemon

Pokemon Red, Green, and Blue are the original Pokemon games so they use the original Generation I Pokedex.

Pokemon Brilliant Diamond and Shining Pearl use the Generation IV Pokedex but use their Generation VIII iterations. This means the Pokemon have updated movesets and stats different from their originals.