Uploaded February 2012 | Updated September 2026, 3 weeks ago
So, back in December, I got a Spanish version of Pokémon Blue. Despite the game being more than 12 years old, it was brand new: The box was never opened, and it even came with the manual. Even though most Spanish versions of Pokémon games are only released in Spain (for reasons I will never figure out), Red/Blue were also released in Latin America (though it still uses the European Spanish dialect). My copy is from Latin America, judging from the ESRB rating on the box and cartridge.
Even though this is the first Spanish Pokémon game that I have owned (and hopefully I will be able to find more in the distant future, one day), I've actually played various games through emulation, going as far back as 2007. I initially did so as a sort of joke, but I played more and more of them to see how much Spanish I could understand (and at one point years ago, I took three years of Spanish, so that helps out a lot). Red and Blue are easier to understand than later games in the series, so while the first generation isn't my favorite, I still like being able to understand the text easily.
So anyway, here's a video of me starting the game. The first thing you'll notice that I'm playing it on my N64, with Pokémon Stadium 2... an English version, too. One reason why I made this video was because there's a common misconception that, before Generation III, no Pokémon games were compatible in different languages, but you can see that the English and Spanish versions are fully compatible! It's also compatible with all the Game Boy games, as well as the first Stadium. You'll notice that, for some reason, you'll see the loading screen that's used if you're playing Crystal (this also happens in the first Stadium). (I cut out most of the loading so that you wouldn't be bored watching this video.)
And since I am playing it on the N64, I can speed up the game 4x, which I do in particularly boring parts. I try to avoid doing this in parts with lots of text, since it would defeat the purpose of this video.
The other reason why I made this video is to show what it is like playing the game in Spanish. If you are watching this video and you happen to know any Spanish at all, then you should try reading as much of it as you can to see how much you can understand (and you should go as far as playing it yourself if you want!). But even if you don't, this video should still interest you due to the quirks in the Spanish translation.
You'll instantly notice that all of the Pokémon names are the same as they are in English! I'm not sure why this is the case; it would have been really nice to see original Spanish names. Not to mention, French and German versions have localized names! Sadly, this trend continues even today with Black and White. I wonder if any native Spanish speakers can make any sense out of these English names, let alone pronounce them...
Also, most characters, at least in R/B/Y, have English names. Professor Oak is called... Profesor Oak. In addition, the Gym Leaders also retain their English names, and some of the preset character/rival names are the same as the English ones. Thankfully, this trend stopped with Generation II. Also, somewhat related: You'll notice that Poké Balls are still called Poké Balls here.
There are also other minor things, too. For example, in the Pokédex, height and weight are expressed in metric units (meters and kilograms). As far as I know, only the English version uses US customary units.
And of course, when naming yourself, or nicknaming a Pokémon, you're restricted to the English alphabet. This is necessary to maintain compatibility with the English versions, which don't have Spanish letters (e.g. á, é, í, ó, ú, ñ, ü, etc.) programmed in the game. It wasn't until Diamond and Pearl (and all games afterwards) that using Spanish letters became possible, although in Gold/Silver/Crystal, it's also possible to use them when naming boxes or writing mail.
Another minor thing, not shown in this video, is that the MissingNo. glitch was mostly fixed (unless you use a glitch where you can walk through walls)! If you try it, you'll just find Tentacool. It's still possible to find by using the Mew glitch, however. But despite that, it's odd that one of the most infamous glitches ever doesn't fully work in the Spanish version! And this also means that the glitch was fixed BEFORE Yellow!
This isn't the only glitch that was fixed; it's also no longer possible to see an old man on the roof of the gym in Cinnabar Island. It's also no longer possible to skip Brock. Most of the other glitches (most notably the Mew glitch), however, remain in the Spanish version.
Well, this is a long explanation, so I hope you all enjoy the video! I also hope this will inspire people to play Pokémon in Spanish, or at least in any language other than English (or whatever native language you speak)... since Pokémon is full of text, this certainly gives a different feel to the game!
So, back in December, I got a Spanish version of Pokémon Blue. Despite the game being more than 12 years old, it was brand new: The box was never opened, and it even came with the manual. Even though most Spanish versions of Pokémon games are only released in Spain (for reasons I will never figure out), Red/Blue were also released in Latin America (though it still uses the European Spanish dialect). My copy is from Latin America, judging from the ESRB rating on the box and cartridge.
Even though this is the first Spanish Pokémon game that I have owned (and hopefully I will be able to find more in the distant future, one day), I've actually played various games through emulation, going as far back as 2007. I initially did so as a sort of joke, but I played more and more of them to see how much Spanish I could understand (and at one point years ago, I took three years of Spanish, so that helps out a lot). Red and Blue are easier to understand than later games in the series, so while the first generation isn't my favorite, I still like being able to understand the text easily.
So anyway, here's a video of me starting the game. The first thing you'll notice that I'm playing it on my N64, with Pokémon Stadium 2... an English version, too. One reason why I made this video was because there's a common misconception that, before Generation III, no Pokémon games were compatible in different languages, but you can see that the English and Spanish versions are fully compatible! It's also compatible with all the Game Boy games, as well as the first Stadium. You'll notice that, for some reason, you'll see the loading screen that's used if you're playing Crystal (this also happens in the first Stadium). (I cut out most of the loading so that you wouldn't be bored watching this video.)
And since I am playing it on the N64, I can speed up the game 4x, which I do in particularly boring parts. I try to avoid doing this in parts with lots of text, since it would defeat the purpose of this video.
The other reason why I made this video is to show what it is like playing the game in Spanish. If you are watching this video and you happen to know any Spanish at all, then you should try reading as much of it as you can to see how much you can understand (and you should go as far as playing it yourself if you want!). But even if you don't, this video should still interest you due to the quirks in the Spanish translation.
You'll instantly notice that all of the Pokémon names are the same as they are in English! I'm not sure why this is the case; it would have been really nice to see original Spanish names. Not to mention, French and German versions have localized names! Sadly, this trend continues even today with Black and White. I wonder if any native Spanish speakers can make any sense out of these English names, let alone pronounce them...
Also, most characters, at least in R/B/Y, have English names. Professor Oak is called... Profesor Oak. In addition, the Gym Leaders also retain their English names, and some of the preset character/rival names are the same as the English ones. Thankfully, this trend stopped with Generation II. Also, somewhat related: You'll notice that Poké Balls are still called Poké Balls here.
There are also other minor things, too. For example, in the Pokédex, height and weight are expressed in metric units (meters and kilograms). As far as I know, only the English version uses US customary units.
And of course, when naming yourself, or nicknaming a Pokémon, you're restricted to the English alphabet. This is necessary to maintain compatibility with the English versions, which don't have Spanish letters (e.g. á, é, í, ó, ú, ñ, ü, etc.) programmed in the game. It wasn't until Diamond and Pearl (and all games afterwards) that using Spanish letters became possible, although in Gold/Silver/Crystal, it's also possible to use them when naming boxes or writing mail.
Another minor thing, not shown in this video, is that the MissingNo. glitch was mostly fixed (unless you use a glitch where you can walk through walls)! If you try it, you'll just find Tentacool. It's still possible to find by using the Mew glitch, however. But despite that, it's odd that one of the most infamous glitches ever doesn't fully work in the Spanish version! And this also means that the glitch was fixed BEFORE Yellow!
This isn't the only glitch that was fixed; it's also no longer possible to see an old man on the roof of the gym in Cinnabar Island. It's also no longer possible to skip Brock. Most of the other glitches (most notably the Mew glitch), however, remain in the Spanish version.
Well, this is a long explanation, so I hope you all enjoy the video! I also hope this will inspire people to play Pokémon in Spanish, or at least in any language other than English (or whatever native language you speak)... since Pokémon is full of text, this certainly gives a different feel to the game!
