Before coming to Engadget, I worked as an Associate Editor for The Pokémon Company for five years. It was always a little strange to try to explain what I was doing at that time, because I always received comments like “oh, this is still around, I thought it was just a fad” and I had to explain that no, it was still very much a thing.
Now, more than a decade since I left the company, we are here on the eve of Pokémon’s 25th anniversary; the first two games, Red and green Pocket Monsters, was released in Japan on February 27, 1996. And here at Engadget we decided to take a look at this lasting phenomenon and exactly what makes it so dear to children and adults who grew up with the franchise. It’s a combination of good timing, great game mechanics, luck and, of course, highly marketable characters like Pikachu. *
* Which happens to be No. 25 at Pokédex Nacional, which in itself is good luck for this anniversary year. Yes, I just realized that and it surprised me.