Diving into a classic game is always a treat, but it’s even more fun when you put yourself into a challenge with it. Pokemon Yellow with the Nuzlocke Challenge gave a decent challenge but wasn’t too difficult due to some good RNG on Pokemon options and some types being well overpowered in Gen I compared to future games.
The Nuzlocke Rules used in our site Pokemon Nuzlocke runs:
- One Pokemon to catch per route/area, and it must be the first one you encounter unless it’s a duplicated Pokemon already captured in a previous area.
- Once a Pokemon faints, they are gone forever in the game’s run.
- Shiny Pokemon can be caught and used indiscriminately, even if previously caught/fainted.
- Level caps are based on the highest level in a Gym Leader’s party.
- Battle Mode is always on Set.
- Minimum one healing item per battle allowed; held items okay when game allows for it.
- All Pokemon you captured MUST have a nickname for maximum emotional pain inflicted if they “die”
Variety of Pokemon: 8/10
Gen I of Pokemon gave us the OG 151, meaning you have almost 151 potential teammates (no Mew, multiple Eevees, etc.). That’s a wide berth of Pokemon at first glance. However, with this generation, certain types well overshadow others, namely Psychic and Water.
At the beginning of the game, there’s a good potential variety, but its luck of the draw (as are all Nuzlockes). Additionally, during the first third of the game, you receive each of the starters as a gift from various NPCs; I counted them as the Pokemon obtained in their areas/routes. They gave more flexibility on how I wanted to tackle gyms, and are pretty great on their own.
Later on, I actually skipped through a few routes because I began to find duplicates of Pokemon or evolution lines I already had. The hardest part was bypassing so many good choice in the Safari Zone, Seafoam Islands and the Pokemon Mansion.
At the end, the variety was enough for me to have a really fun team to play with. Starmie was a key player along with Nidoking and Jolteon. I felt my type coverage was solid, and I had enough room to play comfortably against the whole Elite Four and my rival.
The Grind Factor: 1/10
Woof.
This was the toughest part about the entire last third of this Nuzlocke. Pokemon Yellow, Red and Blue are NOT grind friendly. Towards the end of the game, the best areas to grind were the Pokemon Mansion (Raticate’s Hyper Fang nearly had many of my Pokemon in an early grave), or the second to last room in Victory Road.
The lack of having repeatable battles as many modern Pokemon games have was apparent. After this experience, I see grinding as a quality of life feature that’s really been eased with Exp. Share (which I have a newfound appreciation for) and things like Vs. Seeker.
The issue was also in the last four gyms, where each Leader’s Pokemon levels were hovering around late 40s to early 50s when Erika was a cap of 32. The significant jump in level wasn’t reflected well in trainer/wild Pokemon battles in between gyms.
Nostalgia Factor: 10/10
Pokemon Yellow was created just to include some of the anime bits into Pokemon Red/Blue, and it’s still a treat to retread. I grew up on this generation of Pokemon, so I have a profound respect for the franchise and grew up with it in some formative years.
Looking back on it, I still had the same joy of trying to catch Nidoran (male) because it would wreck havoc as a Nidoking before we even got to Cerulean. Searching for the legendary birds, Moltres, Articuno, and Zapdos were so fun, even if no muscle memory, I knew exactly where they were.
And nothing beats the first time you get the Master Ball (even though I didn’t even use it).
Yeah, the item bag SUCKED. The inability for Pokemon to not automatically go into another box if the first box was full is ATROCIOUS (RIP my dream of catching Articuno). Karate Chop and Gust both being Normal-type moves is an ABOMINATION.
Despite these, I loved this game and revisiting this one time was great. However, if you asked me to re-Nuzlocke it…
Replayability for Nuzlocking: 2/10
No sir or madam, I’d rather not. This was a fun challenge, but I don’t see myself revisiting this particular gen of games again. There were too many QoL features I missed, and I’m very partial to the current Special/Physical split of attacks introduced in Gen IV.
The Nuzlocking part itself wasn’t bad, but the grinding was enough to turn me away from future runs for awhile.
Difficulty and Challenge: 5/10
Now what you’ve been wanting to know. Is Pokemon Yellow hard to Nuzlocke?
The answer: not really
Grinding aside, the variation of Pokemon throughout Kanto gave many options on how to tackled different gym leaders – as long as you respect the Nuzlocke. Get cocky with keeping a low health Pokemon in, karma WILL get you.
One part that was actually hard to get past – THE SHEER AMOUNTS OF CRITICAL HITS EVERYONE DOES. Seriously. 24 Karate Chops in a row, and each one was a crit (thanks, Mankey). WHAT. And likewise, the AI will crit on you at the most inconvenient time, and just as often.
Overall Score: 28/50
Running a Nuzlocke on Pokemon Yellow can be a chore at times, and even downright unfair at others. However, despite the jank, I felt it was great to romp through old-school Kanto and beating Blue into a pulp every time I saw his smug face. The classic Pokemon choices make each gym encounter fun enough to push through to the next one.
While we may not revisit this generation anytime soon, it was like meeting a quirky old friend; charming for a majority of the time despite the quirks and fun to reminisce about the old times.
Should you choose to run your own Nuzlocke, here are a few tips to help get things rolling:
- Don’t be the hero – keep your Pokemon healthy, even if it means using a Potion you may not really need to
- Find a Psychic-type Pokemon and grind them out (Starmie, Slowbro and Mr. Mime are solid choices)
- Unless you utilize a Universal Randomizer or a modded version, avoid Pokemon you cannot trade to maximize their potential, such as Kadabra or Machoke
- Manage your bag smartly – keep TMs, HMs, and Key Items in your PC Box.
What are your thought on this Nuzlocke challenge? Follow me on X for more news, updates and general gaming shenanigans! Happy Gaming!
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