I’m wondering what, in your opinion, is the best Pokémon game. Specifically not your favourite, but the one you would show to a complete newcomer to show what the mainline series is at its best.
My personal thought would be either Emerald or HG/SS, but I admittedly haven’t kept up with the series so much after Black and White 1, which I disliked the designs for and found too slow and hand-holdy.
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HG/SS for an RPG introduction. No crazy generation mechanics like dynamax, mega, or terrastilize that you need to learn. Yes full support for doubles and singles. G/S has a well designed difficulty curve with lots of extra content HG and SS expand on it.
Champions if you just care about the competitive battles and not the RPG elements. Straight to the point PvP only, no breeding and farming required. Format based (they call them Regulations) so there’s a limited selection of pokemon+items in the game with an evolving and changing banlist.
Second for HG/SS. It had everything G/S had, which was solid to begin with, and added elements up through 4th gen I think. You get two regions, a huge pokedex, weather and day/night cycles, phoning the gym leaders for rematches, classic graphics before the 3ds. It has a all the classic Pokemon elements without all the clutter and limits of the new games.
For me it depends on what I’m looking for in a Pokemon game.
Ruby/Sapphire/Emerald is just a good all rounder, though some of its battle mechanics are outdated.
Diamond/Pearl/Platinum is the best if exploration is your Jam
Black/White/Black2/White2 is the best for combat and battle mechanics
Heart Gold and Soul Sliver if you want an excellent post game
FRLG because it introduces Pokémon the way it was meant to be introduced, with Pallet Town and Team Rocket, which are cultural references people will hear elsewhere, without being as completely outdated and awkward as gen 1.
Pokémon Gold/Silver for sure. The QoL updates over Gen1 (RB) and 1.5 (Y) are just enough, although RBY was actually challenging at times GSC reduced the difficulty a tad. But the map is better, bunch of side quest options that aren’t too grindey, good callback to Kanto. I haven’t played the remakes but I’m sure they would be just as great.
I played the Brilliant Diamond one after not having played Pokémon for quite a while, played the gen3 ones on emulator a bit (Emerald in this case, quit when the difficulty was way too low until you got to the League, suddenly you actually had to work for it). Played Shield as well but didn’t even really feel like a Pokémon game to me.
So yeah I’m a typical genwunner but I prefer the second gen games. Crystal was neat but I don’t prefer it over Silver/Gold.
My favorite is Emerald. But I also really enjoyed Sword and Shield, as well as Violet (i have not played Scarlet).
- Black & White 1. People complain about not having access to older Pokémon until the post-game, but IMO that is a GOOD thing for a new player. Having a limited roster allows for much tighter game design. It is also easier for a new player to only have to learn 150 Pokémon with their type matchups and abilities as opposed to the ~400-600 that are commonly used in most other games. Remember that it is nkt just about the 6 Pokémon in tbr player’s party, but also the Pokémon they are battling AGAINST that a player needs to understand to play the game.
For every single gym, there is an area where you can catch a Pokémon to counter it nearby. Very often you encounter a trainer who shows you a new Pokémon, and then it is available on thr next route.
With older gens you might not have all of the great improvements the series has made over time. Physical/special split, abilities, held items, color, multiple bag pockets, etc. Big Stadium and Small Court are available early as a source of exp and money farming that scales. The battle subway is great. The experience curve was re-worked and is much better. The games run and move a lot faster than Gen 4 and anything that came later.
The only downside is that, as DS games, it is annoying to have to emulate the 2nd screen and touch it occasionally. These games use that screen less than most DS games though.
- FRLG. Really polished, no second screen. Sucks that there is no physical a special split, but other than that has most of the important mechanics and is still a polished experience.
I implore you to try Black 2/White 2. In terms of pacing, flexibility with team-building, difficulty, variety of Pokemon, post game content (especially if you still have your copy of BW1), visual style, and storytelling, I personally believe this is where the Pokémon games truly peaked.
So yeah, BW2 is my favorite, and what I consider to be the best in the series.
I haven’t played either version of BW. How does having a copy of 1 benefit 2? Also I guess what’s the difference there? I have this same confusion about Ultra Sun and Moon. I don’t understand why I should need both versions of the games.
Gen 3 is definitely my pick, doesn’t really matter which one. Haven’t played them, but I assume the remakes would be contenders as well.
The answer is almost certainly “whatever game you first played as a kid”
The mainline games I’ve tried are:
- Red
- Crystal
- Fire Red
- Platinum
- Soul Silver
- White 2
Out of these, my top 3 are:
- Soul Silver
- Fire Red
- White 2
I should try Emerald one of these days…
Gen 4 (platinum) as it was the most recent one ive played. Gen 3 are great too, but lacks the physical/special split
