People will tell you about how gen 2 ruined the series and botched kanto and then you play it and it's one of the most impressive gameboy colour games and arguably one of the most impressive handheld video games ever, fullstop. Kanto being included at all and mostly intact on that gbc cart is a herculean feat and that's not to mention the stellar soundtrack that actually doesn't hurt to listen to AND incredible spritework. I get it, the amateurish gen 1 sprites have their charm and the front sprites improved immensely by the time yellow came around but the back sprites are what you're looking at for most of the game I'm sorry but they just look pixel vomit tbh! Having better yellow sprites also means playing yellow which uh. Is honestly the worst way to play gen 1 kanto gameplay wise. Kanto is genuinely so much better as supplementary material and serves as one of the best postgames in an rpg ever.

Also the level curve REALLY isn't that bad guys. Trainers are like, 10 levels below your team on average for like 1-2 hours of playtime before shooting up to roughly where your team is at once you reach clair. Red is also more than doable even thirty levels lower than his team. If you're not going in with status moves, buffs or at the very least x items that's on you.