I got Blue as a Christmas present back in 1999 (I was 12 I think). Luckily I bought the guide afterwards to help get past Victory Road. I could never see the path I was supposed to take until I loaded it up on my Super GameBoy (SNES thing) and the colours were defined. I used to think there was a wall somewhere, where there wasn't, and that was the only way past. I actually found out I could walk on it by accident, looking for some sort of invisible door.
Then I got Gold, then Ruby. I'll probably pick up Leaf Green when the price drops. And yeah, it's only because I wanted to have a game for each colour (Red, Yellow (Gold), Ruby (Red) and Leaf Green). What? (?_?)