Pokémon Red Version and Pokémon Blue Version were the first Pokémon games to be released outside of Japan, becoming available in North America on September 28, 1998, in Australia and New Zealand on October 23, 1998 and in Europe on October 5, 1999. In North America, the pair closely followed the debut of the anime's English dub, which began airing on September 8, 1998, and within a year, Pokémon was well known as a popular Nintendo franchise.

The games are available on the Nintendo 3DS Virtual Console between the Pokémon 20th Anniversary on February 27, 2016 and the discontinuation of the 3DS Nintendo eShop in March 2023.

Unlike later generations, Red and Blue were not the same as their corresponding Japanese releases Pokémon Red and Green. Besides Pokémon distribution, the aspects of Red and Blue such as graphics, script, and sprite designs are instead based on Pokémon Blue.

Despite being released towards the end of Game Boy's lifespan, they quickly became the best-selling non-bundled games released for the Game Boy as well as being the best-selling role-playing games of all time.

You've finally been granted your Pokémon Trainer's license. Now, it's time to head out to become the world's greatest Pokémon Trainer. It's going to take all you've got to collect 150 Pokémon in this enormous world. Catch and train monsters like the shockingly-cute Pikachu. Face off against Blastoise's torrential water cannons. Stand strong when facing Pidgeot's stormy Gust. Trade with friends and watch your Pokémon evolve. Important—no single Pokémon can win at all. Can you develop the ultimate Pokémon strategy to defeat the eight Gym Leaders and become the greatest Pokémon Master of all time?

Gyms
Players are introduced to the first eight Pokémon Gyms of the series, each with their own type affiliation, led by Brock (Rock), Misty (Water), Lt. Surge (Electric), Erika (Grass), Koga (Poison), Sabrina (Psychic), Blaine (Fire) and Giovanni (Ground).

Elite Four
The Elite Four of Kanto are a step above the rest, all located at Indigo Plateau and ready to take on all challengers. In order, they are Lorelei (Ice), Bruno (Fighting), Agatha (Ghost) and Lance (Dragon). The final battle is against the Pokémon Champion, the rival, who does not have a type specialization.

Pokémon
Each game contains pre-recorded data on 151 different species of Pokémon, including Mew, a Pokémon unavailable to players of either game under normal conditions. Despite this, not all Pokémon are available to the player, regardless of version; trades must occur between players in order to complete their Pokédex without the use of cheats or glitches. Mew is the only Pokémon in these games that must be acquired through attending either a Nintendo sponsored event, a glitch, or cheating.

Differences in the Virtual Console release
The Nintendo 3DS Virtual Console releases can link with other Virtual Console Generation I and II core series games via Nintendo 3DS wireless communication, simulating the Game Link Cable. When initiating a link, the Virtual Console menu on the touch screen replaces the Cable Club attendant's dialogue.

Using Poké Transporter, Pokémon can be sent from the Generation I core series games to Pokémon Bank, from which they can be withdrawn in the Generation VII core series games.

The moves Blizzard, BubbleBeam, Confusion, Dream Eater, Explosion, Guillotine, Hyper Beam, Mega Kick, Mega Punch, Psychic, Reflect, Rock Slide, Selfdestruct, Spore, and Thunderbolt had their animations changed slightly to tone down the flashing.

Trivia
The names Red and Blue were selected because it was believed that these colors would better appeal to Americans due to the United States flag being red, white, and blue.

This obtainable is based on the Caught status in the Pokédex. However, if one of each Pokémon is counted to be on your Box, this will further go down to 120. This excludes the first two stages of the starter Pokémon you chose, the first stage of the Fossil family, and Eevee.
According to the Pokémon Pokédex Collector's Edition (Prima's Official Pokémon Guide), Red and Blue were developed by a team of nine members.

Because Pokémon Red and Blue's script is based on a translation of the script of Pokémon Blue but use the in-game trades from Pokémon Red and Green, two translation errors related to these trades occur.
The man who trades the player an Electrode on Cinnabar Island claims that the Raichu he received "went and evolved". As Raichu does not have an evolved form, this is not possible. In the context of Japanese Pokémon Blue, it makes sense as the player trades away a Kadabra, which evolves through trade, for a Graveler.

The old man who trades the player a Jynx in Cerulean City claims that the Poliwhirl he received "went and evolved". As Poliwhirl cannot evolve via trade in Generation I, this is not possible. In the context of Japanese Pokémon Blue, the old man trades away a Haunter for a Machoke, which does evolve through trade.

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