Pokemon Red Classic FAQ

Pokemon Red any% glitchless (Classic) FAQ

Q: What are you trying to do?
A: Beat Pokemon Red as quickly as possible with these restrictions: no glitches, no hard resets (meaning no RNG manipulation), no instant text, no Poke Doll.

Q: What are you playing on?
A: A GameCube using a GameBoy Player.

Q: What is the world record?
A: 1:58:05 by krazyd4n.

Q: What is your goal?
A: To beat the WR.

Q: How is this category different than regular glitchless?
A: No RNG manip means I'll have to accept a variety of Nidorans, rather than the same perfect Nido every run. I also can't manipulate Mt. Moon encounters or trash cans. This makes the game more interesting and exciting, but some runs will be lost to bad stats and/or too many encounters. Also, I have to do Rocket Hideout for the Silph Scope rather than just using a Poke Doll to escape the Marowak in Pokemon Tower. It's about a 5-minute detour.

Q: Doesn't manip make the run more consistent? Why play without it?
A: For me, the main reason is that RNG manipulations are extremely stressful to execute. Hitting them consistently is mostly a matter of natural talent that I lack, but I still get upset when I miss them. Running without manip also makes the run more strategic, as you have to manage different Nidoran stats and different risk thresholds (take fewer risks with good Nidos/times). Whether that's worth the hours of early resets remains to be seen....

Q: Why are you resetting?
A: Probably because my Nidoran's stats were too low. I might also reset because my Nidoran died or I lost too much time to encounters.

Q: What stats are you looking for?
A: Stat ranges at Level 8 are as follows: HP 25-27, Attack 14-16, Defense 11-14, Speed 13-15, Special 11-13. Attack is the most important stat, so 16 there almost always makes the Nidoran runnable, and 14 is always a reset. But something like 26/15/13/15/13 is also very good.

Q: Why do you exit the grass when looking for Nidoran?
A: Encounter slots appear in cycles, so at certain times in that cycle, my chance of encountering a L3 or L4 Nidoran is much higher or lower than the base 30% chance. More info here: http://www.pokemonspeedruns.com/index.php/Pok%C3%A9mon_Red/Blue/Yellow_DSum_Manipulation

Q: Why are you playing on a brown palette?
A: Because it allows me to see the trainers in Rock Tunnel, which makes movement much easier. Hold up + B on the Game Boy title screen to use this palette.