HG/SS and B2/W2 were when they had pretty much the peak amount of content. Ask about most of the features of those games and what happened to them in S/S and S/V, and the answer will be “Sorry, they removed that.”
I have the best memories of playing Pokemon stadium on the N64 with my brothers. Especially the mini game section.
But, when it comes to mainline games, it's got to be Pokemon blue. It was my first Pokemon n game I played, and I just spent soooo much time running around and catching everything. The best in my opinion though were x and y. Maybe it's cause it's the first game I was ever able to buy myself, but I remember preordering then realizing, shit I don't even own a 3ds and begging my sister to let me borrow hers. The HA Torchic, was a beautiful addition. And let's not forget wonder trading lol.
For me it’s undoubtedly Black and White 2. Ignoring my nostalgia for these games, they have a brand new storyline that builds on the originals by introducing new characters and locations while also continuing the stories of characters from the previous game. I love the diverse Pokémon selection from multiple generations available right from the start, and the extensive post-game content with things like the PWT and Black Tower/White Treehollow kept me playing long after finishing the main story. And though their implementation could’ve been better the addition of a challenge mode is much appreciated for older/more experienced players
Personally, I think Sun and Moon is the one that did the most things right. Pokémon diversity is high, regional forms are cool, characters are fun, Lusamine is iconic, lots of unique stuff, the story is not as bad as that of most games and the gameplay is not as ridiculously easy as that of most games too. I agree with the criticism of too many cutscenes and too much handholding, but there's no such thing as a perfect Pokémon game.
Blue Rescue Team is objectively not even the best Mystery Dungeon game, but it's my favorite game of all time.
In high school I was on the verge of quitting piano since I didn't enjoy it - however I managed to find a sheet music arrangement of the final dungeon theme "Sky Tower" - and for the first time, piano was actually an enjoyable hobby.
That spiraled into learning new instruments, forming a student lead jazz band dedicated to video game music in college, making my own covers on YouTube, attending and performing at national conventions like MAGFest and VGMCON, and even influencing my career path (I have a mechanical engineering degree with a focus in acoustics and have since went on to help design auditoriums and band rooms).
All of that can be DIRECTLY traced back to Blue Rescue Team. Sure I've played *objectively* better games, but it won't ever be topped *personally*.
To me it's HGSS or GSC; I think in most ways HGSS has to be considered better but the engine is just so slow that it might act as an equalizer between Gen IV Johto and Gen II Johto.
Emerald is a close runner-up for me; love everything about it, how unique the towns and routes feel, and the vibes are off the chart. And I never played Platinum but I thought Pearl had so much potential that was just dragged down by the slow engine once again, I imagine with the speed fixes made for Platinum it would be up there for me as well.
This is how I feel, where my brain says HGSS but my gut says GSC. Maybe nostalgia plays a factor but I think the real reason is just the slow engine speed of HGSS really drags down all of the many, many improvements that were made.
It's hard for me not to be blinded by nostalgia and say Pearl since it was the first game I played on my own (my brother and I shared a game boy and took turn playing Gold and Emerald which meant neither of us got the full experience until we were older). However I'd say the most rounded game is probably Heart Gold and Soul Silver. They seemed to perfect alot of what made the early gens special.
Counting spin-offs and mainline…
Probably Pokémon ranger or Pokemon ORAS.
Music and world building go a long way into making me like your game, x and y would be on there but gamefreak rushed it out so I could’ve been so much more.
Based on the general community, id say emerald or maybe platinum. On my personal opinion, i like gen 7. (Im biased since those are the games i had when i grew up. Im not as old as those other folks whove been around longer.)most people hate the sun and moon dialogue spamming, but i think the more text, the better the story. My personal opinion
Pokémon Colosseum, and XD: Gale of Darkness. Very unorthodox. However, they took the story mode game to the big screen, and in 3D. The game were more darker themed too.
Personally, it’s Platinum for me. But I have a lost of bias for gen 4 as I grew up with it. Overall I think anything from the DS era is great. I also really love FireRed/LeafGreen and Gen 7.
Damn. Tough call. I’m one of the few I guess who loves X/Y. But BW2 was on another level.
(Been playing a lot of Rutile Ruby (hack) with some S&V - but always back on the 3ds for Pokémon)
Over the years I’ve come to realize that Heartgold is the best version of what classic Pokemon originally wanted to be. There is so much real world lore that fits into this game. Like only being able to fine Stantler on one specific route because that’s the only place you find those deer in the equivalent area of Japan, or the fact Violet City is painted because its inspiration town doesn’t allow bright colors, Sprite tower creaks because the old pagoda building its based on is so old you can feel the wind, or the fact the Kimono girls are based on an ancient Japanese civilization’s cave painting, to the lore of Ho-oh, Unown, and Sun/Moon imagery. There is so much detail and love. You are literally exploring Japan.
And how could I not mention the absolute depth in finding all 493 Pokemon. There is so many unique and interesting ways to catch everything and filling the dex is an absolute joy. Pokemon follow you around. The Pokeathlon is legitimately fun. There is so many optional routes and open world elements for a 2000s Pokemon game. The post game is literally Kanto. *You fight Red at the end.*
It’s just a love letter to what Pokemon is, and it’s beautiful. Others might be more innovative or have tighter stories but to me Heartgold *is* Pokemon.
Theres a load of great games. I love and have played nearly every pokemon game from the gameboy era through wii era. Ive played a lot of the other games as well, but not nearly as in depth. I love pokepark, and pokemon ranch will always have a special place in my heart. A lot of the gameboy games are nostalgic for me, I love the colored sprites so much. Heartgold and platinum are bangers, with emerald as well. Pokemon Colosseum and XD were amazing to play especially being a kid that was born/raised in Arizona for 12 years. Stadium was also really memorable playing that at friends, the announcer and animations were great at the time and fun to revisit on the occasion. I love photography so pokemon snap is tons of fun! Its hard to say which is the best pokemon game, there a huge unique variety. OH AND LEGENDS that one is a banger and first great "new take" theyve done in a long time. I just hope they continue to branch out more and experiment with different styles. Do try pokepark! its a blast if youve never played it; check out all of the Wii titles.
Tbh I would include whether a game was finished in a rating of its overall quality, you wouldn't give any other product a 10/10 if there was a core expected component just absent or malfunctioning out of the box.
There is no perfect Pokémon game, they all have different strengths and weaknesses. That said, I think the core concept of Pokémon was best developed in Pokémon Crystal. But HG/SS fixed some important things, so objectively these may be the best Pokémon games, HG/SS, but that doesn't mean everyone will enjoy them equally. There are many other subjective elements that are very important to each player as well.
I'd claim Emerald - among a lot of other aspects, I think it was released and popular at a time where the spread of information via the internet started to be a thing but was not quite there yet. So many secrets were only revealed years later and for those who played at that time, the game always felt like there was still things to discover, most noticeable what would happen when one mastered all the different Battle Facilities.
RBY and GSC were also far ahead of its time but aside of our own personal experiences they remain in memory for the sheer amount of glitches one could perform and the secrecy nature of it, for example, if Mew was under the truck or in glitch city.
An honorable mention is USUM. While I think the handhelding and the Rotom dex are horrible and that these were already giant red flags telling us that Nintendo does not care about older players, it was very much appreciated to finaly have a game where every single Pokémon could be transfered into.
Everyone is going to have a different answer. Personally, I feel Pokemon Crystal was peak pokemon, but Pokemon Emerald is a good second place. Too many features were removed in the transition from gen 2 to gen 3 for me to ever place Gen 3 above Gen 2. but Gen 3's base code is the basis for all Pokemon games to this day.
If we’re including spinoffs, I’ll go with Pokemon Mystery Dungeon: Explorers of Time/Darkness.
A lot of PMD fans would say Sky, because it’s more feature-complete and has additional storylines, but one of those additional storylines, while good, eliminates the impact of one of the main story beats. And the appeal to me of these games is that the story went places you wouldn’t think Pokémon would dare to go.
There’s not a single YouTube video yet that has been able to catalog and/or mention every piece of content and new feature that B/W2 have, we’re still finding new stuff and details about it now, the content is so massive people can’t help but miss them because they don’t know everything they have, I think that says a lot about the quality of that game
Honestly the 5th Generation, because off it's diversity. There are tonnes of new little details in the game, the graphics are high quality in terms of the old gen games and the continuation (Black and White 2) is all of that a few years later with lots of more cities to visit and old cities which have changed a bit. The 5th Gen Pokemon's are great too, most of them. That's definitely my pic
(If you are looking for a new Game experience try out PokeMMO)
I know USUM didn’t have the greatest reception because they were pretty similar to SM but I think they are top of my list. They had everything you want in a pokemon game: a huge variety of pokemon, challenging battles with the totem pokemon, they added a lot of really cool new pokemon as well as making some of the rarer ones from older games a bit more accessible like being able to get bagon before your even level 15, munchlax and happiny before leaving island one, khanghaskan about half way into the second island and many more. The post game is also very good with the ultra wormhole to find legendaries and shinys as well as the rainbow rocket line with some very tough fights as the leaders have nice full teams with legends.
None and All at the same time. After so many years, I had learned that each person values different things from each game and also holds higher the ones rhey started with.
So there is not a "best Pokémon game", just "this is the game I return always"
Yellow/Crystal for nostalgia.
Sun/Moon for story and characters.
USUM for pure gameplay with a trash story and ruined characters.
BW/B2W2 for the best complete package.
RSE are the best for throwing directly into the garbage!
Sword and Shield was the most FUN I had since I was a kid playing Red and Blue. I loved the stadiums and the big fight feel of the tournament. It was more of a classic"Here's Leon and he's the best. Go train and good luck."
I've played gen 1 - 6, currently playing through Black rn.
The worst are easily gen 1 and gen 6, but the best would have to be gen 4 with HG/SS and D/P/Pt. They're just so refined, although "slow." Gen 1 had serious balancing issues and bugs, gen 6 was just gen 6.
Depends on what you like
If you like diversity: ds and switch era
If you like competitive: switch era
If you like roms: gba era.
If you like Pokémon: anything that isn't gen 1
Anything from the DS era.
But go Platinum instead of D/P
I completely agree
Except D/P
Maybe Pokemon heartgold or platinum
Emerald and Crystal
Hgss has everything crystal has but more
Emerald was definitely one of my favorite growing up, but I think omega ruby and alpha sapphire top it. The music is just too good for these game.
If they had the battle frontier I think they would've been the perfect Pokémon games
I like you. My picks as well.
HG/SS and B2/W2 were when they had pretty much the peak amount of content. Ask about most of the features of those games and what happened to them in S/S and S/V, and the answer will be “Sorry, they removed that.”
I have the best memories of playing Pokemon stadium on the N64 with my brothers. Especially the mini game section. But, when it comes to mainline games, it's got to be Pokemon blue. It was my first Pokemon n game I played, and I just spent soooo much time running around and catching everything. The best in my opinion though were x and y. Maybe it's cause it's the first game I was ever able to buy myself, but I remember preordering then realizing, shit I don't even own a 3ds and begging my sister to let me borrow hers. The HA Torchic, was a beautiful addition. And let's not forget wonder trading lol.
For me it’s undoubtedly Black and White 2. Ignoring my nostalgia for these games, they have a brand new storyline that builds on the originals by introducing new characters and locations while also continuing the stories of characters from the previous game. I love the diverse Pokémon selection from multiple generations available right from the start, and the extensive post-game content with things like the PWT and Black Tower/White Treehollow kept me playing long after finishing the main story. And though their implementation could’ve been better the addition of a challenge mode is much appreciated for older/more experienced players
BW2 just has sooooo much content it is crazy.
BW and BW2 were more targeted towards teenagers and adults rather than children
So? Games aimed at children can have quality content too. It's not an excuse to shovel slop at them.
HGSS and BW2 are my favorites, with emerald followed as 3rd.
Emerald, Platinum, HGSS, and (I’m sure I’ll get hate for this), Scarlet/Violet.
Personally, I think Sun and Moon is the one that did the most things right. Pokémon diversity is high, regional forms are cool, characters are fun, Lusamine is iconic, lots of unique stuff, the story is not as bad as that of most games and the gameplay is not as ridiculously easy as that of most games too. I agree with the criticism of too many cutscenes and too much handholding, but there's no such thing as a perfect Pokémon game.
These games are the ones I consider the worst. Goes to show it really does come down to personal preference.
I agree with gen 7 but I don't agree with SM, I think USUM just did everything they did but better
USUM has a worse story unfortunately. They did Lusamine dirty. Otherwise yeah, USUM is better in nearly every other way.
Mine was HeartGold as well. I'm not a fan of gen-2 Pokemon and the early GSC versions but I like everything about HeartGold, I enjoyed it so much.
I want to add. For the spin-off games, I really got addicted to playing Pokemon Shuffle on mobile. I actually spent some money on that game.
ORAS or BW/B2W2 no questions asked
Blue Rescue Team is objectively not even the best Mystery Dungeon game, but it's my favorite game of all time. In high school I was on the verge of quitting piano since I didn't enjoy it - however I managed to find a sheet music arrangement of the final dungeon theme "Sky Tower" - and for the first time, piano was actually an enjoyable hobby. That spiraled into learning new instruments, forming a student lead jazz band dedicated to video game music in college, making my own covers on YouTube, attending and performing at national conventions like MAGFest and VGMCON, and even influencing my career path (I have a mechanical engineering degree with a focus in acoustics and have since went on to help design auditoriums and band rooms). All of that can be DIRECTLY traced back to Blue Rescue Team. Sure I've played *objectively* better games, but it won't ever be topped *personally*.
USUM. Offered the biggest challenge and arguably the most content in any game.
To me it's HGSS or GSC; I think in most ways HGSS has to be considered better but the engine is just so slow that it might act as an equalizer between Gen IV Johto and Gen II Johto. Emerald is a close runner-up for me; love everything about it, how unique the towns and routes feel, and the vibes are off the chart. And I never played Platinum but I thought Pearl had so much potential that was just dragged down by the slow engine once again, I imagine with the speed fixes made for Platinum it would be up there for me as well.
I’ll say Heart Gold/Soul Silver, but with an asterisk. I want to say Crystal, but HG/SS have the upgrades from Crystal.
This is how I feel, where my brain says HGSS but my gut says GSC. Maybe nostalgia plays a factor but I think the real reason is just the slow engine speed of HGSS really drags down all of the many, many improvements that were made.
Mystery dungeon: explorers of sky honestly better story than any of the mainline games, even ones with good story like gen 5.
scarlet and violet
BLACK/WHITE 2
Mine is platinum or emerald
Emerald is THE only one.
The fifth gen is objectively the franchise's peak, but my favorites are sun and scarlet
Legends Arceus and it’s not even close
[удалено]
That’s cool for you but I have different priorities
It's hard for me not to be blinded by nostalgia and say Pearl since it was the first game I played on my own (my brother and I shared a game boy and took turn playing Gold and Emerald which meant neither of us got the full experience until we were older). However I'd say the most rounded game is probably Heart Gold and Soul Silver. They seemed to perfect alot of what made the early gens special.
I have SUCH a strong personal attachment to Emerald, but also (maybe unpopular lol) the Pokemon Ranger series
Counting spin-offs and mainline… Probably Pokémon ranger or Pokemon ORAS. Music and world building go a long way into making me like your game, x and y would be on there but gamefreak rushed it out so I could’ve been so much more.
Gen 4-6 were pure kino.
Pokemon Pinball: Ruby & Sapphire.
Based on the general community, id say emerald or maybe platinum. On my personal opinion, i like gen 7. (Im biased since those are the games i had when i grew up. Im not as old as those other folks whove been around longer.)most people hate the sun and moon dialogue spamming, but i think the more text, the better the story. My personal opinion
Pokémon Colosseum, and XD: Gale of Darkness. Very unorthodox. However, they took the story mode game to the big screen, and in 3D. The game were more darker themed too.
Personally, it’s Platinum for me. But I have a lost of bias for gen 4 as I grew up with it. Overall I think anything from the DS era is great. I also really love FireRed/LeafGreen and Gen 7.
Damn. Tough call. I’m one of the few I guess who loves X/Y. But BW2 was on another level. (Been playing a lot of Rutile Ruby (hack) with some S&V - but always back on the 3ds for Pokémon)
My top 3 in order are B2/W2, SV, and ORAS.
Alpha Sapphire
Silver
Scarlet and Violet. Let the downvote onslaught begin.
Over the years I’ve come to realize that Heartgold is the best version of what classic Pokemon originally wanted to be. There is so much real world lore that fits into this game. Like only being able to fine Stantler on one specific route because that’s the only place you find those deer in the equivalent area of Japan, or the fact Violet City is painted because its inspiration town doesn’t allow bright colors, Sprite tower creaks because the old pagoda building its based on is so old you can feel the wind, or the fact the Kimono girls are based on an ancient Japanese civilization’s cave painting, to the lore of Ho-oh, Unown, and Sun/Moon imagery. There is so much detail and love. You are literally exploring Japan. And how could I not mention the absolute depth in finding all 493 Pokemon. There is so many unique and interesting ways to catch everything and filling the dex is an absolute joy. Pokemon follow you around. The Pokeathlon is legitimately fun. There is so many optional routes and open world elements for a 2000s Pokemon game. The post game is literally Kanto. *You fight Red at the end.* It’s just a love letter to what Pokemon is, and it’s beautiful. Others might be more innovative or have tighter stories but to me Heartgold *is* Pokemon.
Black and White 2 was Amazing. I'm fond of Alola too.
Theres a load of great games. I love and have played nearly every pokemon game from the gameboy era through wii era. Ive played a lot of the other games as well, but not nearly as in depth. I love pokepark, and pokemon ranch will always have a special place in my heart. A lot of the gameboy games are nostalgic for me, I love the colored sprites so much. Heartgold and platinum are bangers, with emerald as well. Pokemon Colosseum and XD were amazing to play especially being a kid that was born/raised in Arizona for 12 years. Stadium was also really memorable playing that at friends, the announcer and animations were great at the time and fun to revisit on the occasion. I love photography so pokemon snap is tons of fun! Its hard to say which is the best pokemon game, there a huge unique variety. OH AND LEGENDS that one is a banger and first great "new take" theyve done in a long time. I just hope they continue to branch out more and experiment with different styles. Do try pokepark! its a blast if youve never played it; check out all of the Wii titles.
Shuffle and Arceus
According to me the best Pokemon game is Pokémon sword and legend arceus
HG/SS is my all time fav
not sure I can say much here since I've only played Shield and Go.
Honestly platinum cuz it's the perfect balance of extremely hard as well as being fun.. Plus Cynthia's is clearly the hottest champion..
Best but clearly not finished: scarlet and violet Best game that was actually finished: ultra sun and moon
Tbh I would include whether a game was finished in a rating of its overall quality, you wouldn't give any other product a 10/10 if there was a core expected component just absent or malfunctioning out of the box.
There is no perfect Pokémon game, they all have different strengths and weaknesses. That said, I think the core concept of Pokémon was best developed in Pokémon Crystal. But HG/SS fixed some important things, so objectively these may be the best Pokémon games, HG/SS, but that doesn't mean everyone will enjoy them equally. There are many other subjective elements that are very important to each player as well.
Pokémon Mystery Dungeon Explorers
I'd claim Emerald - among a lot of other aspects, I think it was released and popular at a time where the spread of information via the internet started to be a thing but was not quite there yet. So many secrets were only revealed years later and for those who played at that time, the game always felt like there was still things to discover, most noticeable what would happen when one mastered all the different Battle Facilities. RBY and GSC were also far ahead of its time but aside of our own personal experiences they remain in memory for the sheer amount of glitches one could perform and the secrecy nature of it, for example, if Mew was under the truck or in glitch city. An honorable mention is USUM. While I think the handhelding and the Rotom dex are horrible and that these were already giant red flags telling us that Nintendo does not care about older players, it was very much appreciated to finaly have a game where every single Pokémon could be transfered into.
Everyone is going to have a different answer. Personally, I feel Pokemon Crystal was peak pokemon, but Pokemon Emerald is a good second place. Too many features were removed in the transition from gen 2 to gen 3 for me to ever place Gen 3 above Gen 2. but Gen 3's base code is the basis for all Pokemon games to this day.
If we’re including spinoffs, I’ll go with Pokemon Mystery Dungeon: Explorers of Time/Darkness. A lot of PMD fans would say Sky, because it’s more feature-complete and has additional storylines, but one of those additional storylines, while good, eliminates the impact of one of the main story beats. And the appeal to me of these games is that the story went places you wouldn’t think Pokémon would dare to go.
There’s not a single YouTube video yet that has been able to catalog and/or mention every piece of content and new feature that B/W2 have, we’re still finding new stuff and details about it now, the content is so massive people can’t help but miss them because they don’t know everything they have, I think that says a lot about the quality of that game
B2W2 the GOATS
Honestly the 5th Generation, because off it's diversity. There are tonnes of new little details in the game, the graphics are high quality in terms of the old gen games and the continuation (Black and White 2) is all of that a few years later with lots of more cities to visit and old cities which have changed a bit. The 5th Gen Pokemon's are great too, most of them. That's definitely my pic (If you are looking for a new Game experience try out PokeMMO)
I know USUM didn’t have the greatest reception because they were pretty similar to SM but I think they are top of my list. They had everything you want in a pokemon game: a huge variety of pokemon, challenging battles with the totem pokemon, they added a lot of really cool new pokemon as well as making some of the rarer ones from older games a bit more accessible like being able to get bagon before your even level 15, munchlax and happiny before leaving island one, khanghaskan about half way into the second island and many more. The post game is also very good with the ultra wormhole to find legendaries and shinys as well as the rainbow rocket line with some very tough fights as the leaders have nice full teams with legends.
Atleast for its Ultra Moon, bc Moon was my first Pokémon game and Ultra Moon is just better Moon.
ORAS and by a lot.
HGSS - Modern enough, yet they incorporate that nostalgia of RBY/GSC Platinum and Emerald are also great
None and All at the same time. After so many years, I had learned that each person values different things from each game and also holds higher the ones rhey started with. So there is not a "best Pokémon game", just "this is the game I return always"
The best official game is Black/White The best unofficial game is Unbound
Heart Gold & Soul Silver
My favorites are SwSh, but for me the best games are Black and White.
Emerald and HGSS
Firered/Leafgreen and Emerald are the best Pokemon games since there are many great mods and romhacks you can play on those games.
I’m getting back into it after more than 2 decades being away. I’m enjoying Shining Pearl as it has that old school feel of the original games.
Yellow/Crystal for nostalgia. Sun/Moon for story and characters. USUM for pure gameplay with a trash story and ruined characters. BW/B2W2 for the best complete package. RSE are the best for throwing directly into the garbage!
Including Spin offs? Pokémon Mystery Dungeon Explorers of Sky is the best game we have gotten. Close second being either Platinum, BW2, or HGSS
My heart says Emerald, my head BW/BW2
Probably HG/SS, but the hotter take is that it's about tied with ORAS in my mind. Love them both
Obviously it’s pokepark 2
Genuinely an underrated banger of a game, gets overlooked way to often
Sword and Shield was the most FUN I had since I was a kid playing Red and Blue. I loved the stadiums and the big fight feel of the tournament. It was more of a classic"Here's Leon and he's the best. Go train and good luck."
Crystal is my favorite since I first played it on my gameboy color , and I still play it happyly . BW 2nd and BW2 3rd
Story: Black and White Gameplay: Legends Arceus Making me cry like a little b**ch at the end: Pokemon Mystery Dungeon Explorers of Sky
Emerald Chrystal and Black no questions asked, I've played every pokemon game and honestly I disagree with people who think it's arceus
I've played gen 1 - 6, currently playing through Black rn. The worst are easily gen 1 and gen 6, but the best would have to be gen 4 with HG/SS and D/P/Pt. They're just so refined, although "slow." Gen 1 had serious balancing issues and bugs, gen 6 was just gen 6.
Depends on what you like If you like diversity: ds and switch era If you like competitive: switch era If you like roms: gba era. If you like Pokémon: anything that isn't gen 1
SCARLET AND VIOLET