Changed my ****ing life.
So this is a review just for nostalgia's sake.
This was the first handheld game I ever played/owned and I was 9.
I got my dad to buy it because everyone in school bought it.
When I first booted it up, I just kept walking around in circles...just walking and walking...it was so much fun when everything was new. Nowadays if I play through an entire modern RPG *cough Dragon Age 2 cough*, I will never get that pure pleasure I got all those years ago by simply walking around (and subsequently getting my mind blown by engaging in my first battle).
Maybe the reason we older gamers feel that games nowadays can't match the classics is not the developers fault, but the fact that we are no longer in that juvenile state where everything was fresh and new and had an imprint on our lives and minds.
It was and still is so much fun. Don't get me wrong, Pokemon Black and White are exactly the same game as this. Forget the 3D graphics, abilities, holding items, etc. It's all just to get 8 badges, level up pokemon, get them stronger, learn new moves, use TMs and HMs, fly, use strength, surf, defeat rivals, defeat league, and catch em all. God, those were good times.
I associate this game with that part of my life when I was carefree, no job, studies, financial worries...I spent time in this unique world for countless hours...man it means so much to me.