1st Gen Red vs Blue

Blue for me

I chose blue, mainly just because I preferred the version exclusives. There were some exclusives in Red that I liked, such as Arbok and Vileplume, but Blue outweighed those in my opinion. Ninetales,Victreebel, and Persian made it 100% worth it to get Blue.
Plus i prefer blue as a color, but that didn't have much to do with it.

Blue - because Blastoise. 'Nuff said.

I mostly tend to side with the "blue" versions of most Pokemon paired games, so it'd be natural that I'd prefer Blue of the two.

The question is not Red or Blue, the question is Fire Red vs. Leaf Green and the winner is Fire Red. Why, you ask? Because Leaf Green is the only Pokemon game that you cannot catch Psyduck/Golduck :( Who wants to live in a world where you can't catch a Psyduck?

i do..........

Personally i prefer blue due to the better game corner, better mascot Pokemon and better version exclusives.

my favorite version of any generation always comes down to what pokemon do i like better on which version since otherwise they're almost an exact mirror of each other.

in this case i prefer the blue version exclusives over the other version almost entirely. the only one i could go either way with is scyther/pinsir.

My mind said Pokemon Blue, but my heart said Pokemon Red.

I voted for Blue. While both versions have some exclusives I like (such as Red having Electabuzz) I also like most of the Blue exclusives, and I strongly prefer Sandshrew to Ekans. I like both Nidoran lines, so that isn't much of an issue. And while none of the starters are exclusive to one version, Blue has Blastoise on it.

Blue.

I prefer the box art for no other reason than A) I prefer blue as a color and B) Blastoise's official art is staring right at the player and gesturing towards them, as though saying "Come on!" Charizard, on the other hand, seems to be staring at a bug buzzing just out of range of the camera, totally oblivious to the viewer. It looks majestic, but Blastoise looks better.

Version exclusives:
Sandshrew is a solid Ground type, whereas I'm not sure Ekans is distinguished for anything but annoying people to death with Wrap. (Off-topic, but if you ever play the Pokemon: Team Rocket Edition hack, this is actually a strong reason to choose Ekans as your starter. Meowth's attack and Koffing's bulk just don't compare to the ability to completely lock down your enemies. Okay, back on topic...) Plus, Sandshrew is cute and bulky, whereas... Ekans is just lacking in good stats, as far as I can tell. It's okay, but rather ehhh, especially as BSTs increase as endgame approaches.

Victreebel has Razor Leaf, which is a guaranteed critical hit due to Gen 1's offbeat crit mechanics. That makes it essentially a 110 BP STAB move with 95% accuracy and no drawbacks. Vileplume doesn't. Vileplume is cuter and has slightly more physical bulk, but Victreebel is a better Pokemon overall. Plus, it doesn't have an absolutely hideous middle form.

Blue has the game's only natural free money dispenser. What's more, it's a natural free money dispenser that gets STAB Slash and has the speed tier to get 100% critical hits with it. Mankey, in contrast, doesn't even get natural STAB. (That would come in Yellow.) It's a decent Pokemon with TM support, but basically inferior to Machop/Hitmonlee in every way.

Honestly, I'd prefer Scyther over Pinsir just because it looks cooler, but I don't spend enough time in either the Game Corner or Safari Zone to see either. Likewise Electabuzz over Magmar -- but, again, I hardly see those. I'm pretty neutral on Arcanine versus Ninetales because the only Gen 1 Fire-type I use on a regular basis is Charizard, and then only if I feel like Charmander starter.

Basically, there's not much difference, but what difference there is tends to slant me towards Blue.

I had Blue but I always wanted red. Main reason was Mankey lvl 5 haha

Blue by a long shot. It's the only one where you can get Meowth and Persian, still some of my favorite Pokémon, and Victreebel and Ninetales were much more useful than Vileplume and Arcanine in the original games. (Remember that Victreebel had Wrap and crithax Razor Leaf, while Ninetales had Confuse Ray and higher Special than Arcanine.)

All about Red

Blue. It was the one I started with.

That's pretty much my only reason. If I started looking at actual differences, such as the ones in the OP, I could probably say based on that. But I've spent a lot of time with both. Blue's mah love.

Red, it was the one I started with and it has one of my favourite Pokémon on the box art/cartridge sticker. I like the exclusives a little more too, heheh.

I'm a fan of all fire Pokemon so Red is the obvious choice for me. That, and Arcanine, is really the only reason for me.

with no questions, blue wins.
Ninetales, Pinsir.. can i say more????????
by the way, i really like Blue more, the blastoise theme and everything :D

I chose Blue. It was the first game I ever played and I prefer their version exclusives. ^^

Red, just because it has better exclusives. I'll always take Oddish / Arcanine / Electabuzz over their Blue version counterparts any day.

Although the one exception is Sandshrew. I love that little guy but I've never been able to use him. : <