18 Essential Landmark Titles Every Gamer Must Play

17. Pokemon Red/Blue

Pokémon was one of those cultural phenomenons that seemed to define a decade. The days of collecting Pokemon cards and having them confiscated by the dinner ladies may seem a lifetime away now, but it's a franchise that touched us all, and these particular GameBoy cartridges are ones that were no doubt semi-permanently lodged in our handheld consoles for years at a time. Visually, they may not have been that far detached from the likes of older Zelda games, but for a generation of young consumers in the '90s, these were the titles that acted as a gateway to the entire RPG genre. Collecting digital Pokemon became as much of an obsession as the trading cards did, and status amongst friends was measured quite simply by who had caught them all. Well, that and who could give their character the rudest name. But nostalgia aside, the game still stands up today as a fantastic RPG. Even years after having thrown out your old GameBoys, it's well worth loading up with an emulator on your smartphone and reliving one of the most iconic gaming experiences to date.