Revisiting Kanto: Saffron Is One Of The Most Important Cities In Pokemon History

thegamer.com:

Roll up, roll up, we're heading back to Kanto. As regular readers of TheGamer know, I've been heading through Pokemon Blue's Kanto again, hitting a new place week by week, trying to appreciate it as a tourist. The idea at the heart of it is to figure out why this place means so much to me, and I've developed a deeper admiration for the games with each passing week, as well as finding that some places don't live up to the memory. If you want to catch up on the story so far, check it out here, and as always, a thousand apologies to returning readers for sitting through this intro once more. This week, we're in Saffron City, one of the most important cities in Pokemon's history.

Pokemon has been accused of copying the formula over and over again, so its no surprise that a lot of ideas established in Kanto echo out across the rest of the games. While Celadon is my favourite city in Kanto (though I suppose a couple of places could make a late dash for the crown), Saffron laid the groundwork for my favourite Pokemon city ever - Goldenrod. Though Saffron lacks the rail links with Goldenrod it picks up in Gen 2, Saffron is a clear precursor not just for Goldenrod, but for the idea of a 'capital city' in Pokemon. It's a little rough around the edges, owing to Gen 1's technological limitations, but it's also a testament to how far Pokemon could push these limits. Looking back, it's disappointing how cozy some later games got with simply colouring in the lines.

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But enough about that. I want to appreciate Saffron as a tourist, not as a dusty old video game journalist analysing its impact on the biggest franchise in all of popular media.