Just one look at that title screen and it all comes rushing back. Nintendo's insanely popular monster catching game dominated our childhoods as every kid on the playground fought to become a Pokemon Master. In order to catch 'em all, you had to own both versions and trading was also necessary, making Nintendo evil geniuses; the launch of Pokemon must have seen an incredible rise in the sale of Game Boy link cables. Whilst linked to somebody else though, there was another tempting option; to battle. Back then we weren't worried about latter elements such as IVs and breeding - it was simply a battle between two hand-raised teams. Professional Pokemon players (yes, they exist) would have ridiculed us for our team selections but we just enjoyed using our favourites. Outside of battling our peers, we were racing them. Tracking down every Pokemon in the game took seemingly forever and even then, you had to spend time raising them to 'catch' their evolutions too. Nowadays, there's nearly a thousand Pokemon to collect; 150 feels like a much more obtainable goal. Having the most complete Pokedex made you feel like king of the playground as an added bonus - who says playing video games won't get you anywhere in life?
I have an addiction to achievements, a craving for new bands and a dream to become Captain America. I once finished second in a Mario Kart 7 tournament so I'm kind of a big deal.
