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Pokémon Green: The Lost Version Did you know that in Japan, there were originally THREE versions of Pokémon? While the US only got Red and Blue, Japan had Red, Blue and GREEN versions! The Japanese Green version was actually the same as the US Blue version, with the same Pokémon ratios as US Blue, just with a different color. Then, what was the Japanese Blue version? It was actually a limited-edition game that was only available through mail order. Japanese Blue had different Pokémon in different places (Dittos in Rock Tunnel, Lickitungs in the Safari Zone, wild Jynxes, etc) and different art for the Pokémon and the map screens. Strangely, when the Japanese Red and Green versions were released in the US, they changed Green to Blue, gave it the same Super Game Boy border as the Japanese, and gave both versions the art file from the Japanese Blue version! In this section, we'll look at some of the differences between the Japanese Green version and the US Red/Blue versions of the game. Come with us for a trip down Pokémemory lane... First off, the title screen. Lots of changes here - Ash is in a different pose, his hat sorta looks different, and he is standing to the left of the Pokémon in the Green version. Notice the differenr Abra picture in each version. Also, the Japanese version has the words "POCKET MONSTERS!" along the bottom of the Super Game Boy screen; the US version has... a big empty blank spot. :p The battle screen in the original Japanese version and in the US version. Again, notice the differences in Pokémon art. One interesting thing about this is that while the pictures of the Pokémon from the front were changed, their pictures from behind were not. Ever wonder why Charmander has its arms up when seen from behind, while it has them down when seen from the front? That's because it was drawn that way in the original Japanese game. Also, notice that the Pokémon names are a LOT shorter in Japanese, allowing room to put the Pokémon's level right next to its name. In the US versions, the names are longer, so the level is put underneath the Pokémon's name. Lots of changes to the overworld screens. The colors are totally different. They're a lot brighter in the Japanese version. Also notice that the flowers, water, grass, signs, and houses are drawn differently. I have no idea why they changed this, probably just to distinguish the two versions. Here's Charmander's Pokédex entry. As mentioned above, the Charmander pic is quite different in the two versions. Notice than in the Japanese game the Pokémon's weight and height are given in the metric system rather than the English system used in the US games. Also, the Pokédex entries are a LOT shorter in the Japanese version - however, this is probably just a language difference and not an actual change in the game. Speaking of the Pokédex, look at THIS. The Japanese Pokédex has a big box on the right of the screen with the Data, Cry, Area, Exit options in it. The Pokémon's names all seem to be scrunched over on the left of the screen. In the US versions, the names are a lot longer, so they had to get rid of the big box to make them fit. More map screen changes... as you can see here, in Japanese Viridian City is done up in an UGLY neon greenish color. In the US, it's a much nicer, darker green. Also, look closely at the signs in front of the Pokémon Center and Poké Mart. In the US the "e" on the Pokémon Center sign is accented, but in Japanese, it's not. Also, the Japanese version has the word "SHOP" in front of the Poké Mart, while in the US, it says "MART".