Pokémon Day draws crowds to Nintendo Store in San Francisco

Looking back, 1996 was a momentous time for video games. It’s the year “Resident Evil” launched and “Super Mario 64” won Game of the Year in several publications. Lara Croft’s first adventure impressed everyone on PlayStation, and the first “Pokémon” game launched on the Game Boy.

The series focused on pocket monsters has easily surpassed all of them when it comes to the highest-grossing media franchise across games, merchandise and more, according to experts. Today, on its 30th anniversary...