Pokémon Blue on the Game Boy is where it all started for a lot of us. You pick your first Pokémon—Bulbasaur, Charmander, or Squirtle—and suddenly you're wandering through tall grass, getting into battles with wild Rattatas and Pidgeys. The sprites are tiny and pixelated, but there's something weirdly charming about it.

You’ll spend way too much time grinding levels in Viridian Forest, and the music gets stuck in your head for days. The battles are simple turn-based stuff, but figuring out type matchups (why does Water beat Rock again?) feels like cracking a secret code. And yeah, MissingNo. still works if you’re into that.

It’s janky by today’s standards, but there’s a reason we still go back to it.