Best Pokemon Game

[Chase]

An interesting fact is that most Japanese players preferred the original Black and White over it's predecessors, while Western players rave over the sequels.

On the one hand, the Japanese once gave Black and White perfect scores, while docking it a whole 4 points (out of 40) when the sequels were released. The other hand, Americans go for a 9.0/10 game to a near perfect 9.6 sequel.

The media seems to think that Generation 5 was a very good installment as a whole, with varying opinions over which part of the generation was better.

I tend to agree with the Easterners here. The original games are games that take a lot of unneeded flak for a few bad apples on the dex and people miss the actual depth the games had.

[SnowGlaceon]

Opinions, opinions. No one's right, no one's wrong. That's very interesting though. Personally, the pokedex might be the least concerning thing for me, else XY might be last. Again, they were good games to some, I just didn't enjoy them that much. Sue me.

And as far as media goes, I tend not to listen to them. "Media" usually ends up being only a few people *cough* IGN *cough*. In those cases, it's nothing more than opinions again. Seriously, I'm pretty sure they gave PMD2 a 4 or something. You can't trust people like that

[Juniper]

6. Platinum/Diamond/Pearl

Aside from the interesting starter Pokemon, Gen 4 was so bad that it's the only generation of Pokemon I do not or have not ever owned. Perhaps that's not fair of me - but the games pacing was raised into question -AND- the game required one to purchase a then-next-gen console along with it at the time (Generation 4 was the first game to be featured on the DS.) I was deliberating.

I think mystery dungeon blue rescue team (DS) came a year before gen 4.

You technically weren't required to buy the new console for it though 'cause you can just buy red rescue team for GBA.

Additionally, your 2nd and 3rd choices required 3ds to play.

I will admit that Gen 5 was good. I especially liked the whole "sequel" thing with BW 2. kinda hope they do more like that.

But for me, plat was the improved version of the first poké game I actually owned (Diamond) and playing 4th gen (because of having previous gen pokémon) really performed the dual function of reminding me of all the older pokémon that I saw on TV and in the TCG when I was younger while adding evos like Frosslass and Weavile. Also, when it's the first game you play, the entire 493 cast of pokés are all new so that's pretty cool. I guess I had actually never even considered that most people saw that game as one using older gen's pokémon without an entirely new cast for you regional dex x_x

[Masquerain]

Gonna go with a top 5

5. Pokemanz Y - 1st game(s) to a new generation. The plot was mediocre but I enjoyed the features and the locations. The music and the introduction of new graphics, also customization. Generation 6's pokemon are also not the worst we've had. Somehow it ended up being the game I ended up spending the most time playing after the main story was done, even though it lacks post-game content.

4. ORAS (OR to be specific) - I've always liked Gen 3. It was the one generation with a tremendous amount of water, and yet also the one generation where I always find myself without a water/fire/electric type in my team due to wanting a full hoenn-origin team and yet not liking any of the said types enough to use 'em. Water only present if I'd choose Mudkip. I liked the changed story elements in ORAS. They made things better by introducing primal reversion as a reason why Groudon/Kyogre go mad. Shame for the lack of game corner, but the scenery was awesome. RSE were always with that "adventure in the wilderness" feel. I like OR more because to me, a better and more logical canon plot is somebody trying to expand the landmass rather than people trying to expand the sea when the planet is already 70% or more water...also makes no sense for the sake of pokemon because it's not like anything apart water types can survive drowned in water..

3. BW 2(White 2)- Arguably the best story/plot for me. That was when Pokemon dared to go in a slightly different direction(reinforced from gen 4) and flesh out the bad guys more than usual. While Gen 5 is among my least favorite pokemon-wise, The experience and features made up for it. It was a bit disappointing that initially you could only catch unova pokemon, but all is well. It's among the games I've ended up replaying a lot of times. I like White 2 more because, like ORAS, I believe the better canon is that N has Reshiram of the 2, since what Reshiram represents fits his character more.

2. Platinum- Quite liked the gen itself, the E4 was probably the most engaging one for me at least (well, more so in Diamond than Platinum but yeah). Looker, nice story, more memorable bad guys. The one thing I really dislike in Gen 4 are the starters. Design-wise, I always pick Chimchar because it's the least of all evils in my eyes. The anime did a good job making me hate Piplup. The distortion world was a very nice feature and I'd really like to see something akin to Delta episode if we ever get remakes

1. Crystal/HGSS- Well, the game you start out with somehow always holds a special place in your heart. HGSS made everything better, but still kind of missed the thrill of the mystery surrounding Suicune and such. I have always loved Johto most of all, even in the anime. The story was simple back then, but introduced a double region, which was quite nice. The game was simple too, but I really liked simple things back when I played Crystal- from the phone calls giving you random gifts to the random department store sales and the 1st battle tower. HGSS also brought back the pokemon following you feature, and seeing a Johto with better graphics was always a plus.

0. Special feature for Reborn- being the best fanmade game I ever played. Plot, characters, bad guys, features, having to put effort into finding certain pokemon, more challenge, field effects, the concept of PULSES. Just everything in this game is awesome and I wish the maingames would dare to one day cross that line and venture into the more realistic and dark plots.

P.S. I never liked Kanto nor any of its games much so that one takes last place

[BlackMage]

Not counting fan-made games, my favourite Pokemon game would have to be Pokemon Soul Silver...I just loved its features.

• Pokemon would follow you.
• It had some of the best music in the pokemon games.
• The setting was just beautiful. I loved to spend my time in Ecruteak City, Cinnabar Island and Route 47.
• The world was by far the biggest and there were many activities to do such as Bug Catching Contest and Pokeathlon (Contests were still a bit better)

I never played Gen 5 so I can't say for them.

If fan games were included then it would be a tie for Pokemon Insurgence and Reborn for me. Insurgence has a dark storyline, great features like Deltas, Hidden Grottos etc and Reborn is excellent in plot, characterization and setting. Also, I like Insurgence's Friend Safari and it's capability to connect to the internet and I know Reborn is also implementing it and I'm sitting in my hype train currently .

[Chase]

I think mystery dungeon blue rescue team (DS) came a year before gen 4.

You technically weren't required to buy the new console for it though 'cause you can just buy red rescue team for GBA.

Additionally, your 2nd and 3rd choices required 3ds to play.

Unlike Gen 4, I had very high hopes for Gen 5 and made sure I owned a 3DS. I also played Red Rescue Team on the GBA and that's the only PMD experience outside of the MMO efforts on the internet that I've had. (It's a difficult game for me, and that alone makes it fun every once and a while.)

The issue with Gen 4 (and I've already conceded the possibility that it may not be completely fair of me) is that it came out during the time I was the most "over" Pokemon. The previous generation, Gen 3, was a time I spent HOURS trying to complete the 'Dex. I didn't have very many friends, so I had to purchase FIVE Pokemon games, two consoles, Link Cables, and the GBA extender for the Nintendo Gamecube so I can fill the Pokedex MYSELF.

I was suffering from burnout by the time the Nintendo "DS" (the DSlites, the DSi, not the 3DS) was released. That burnout made me conscious of 100 some-odd dollars for buying Pearl + the handheld console being too much at the time. The will to play the game simply wasn't there for the entirety of the Generation.

Generation 5, I was very hesitant about purchasing - because I still had yet to get the DS I needed to play the game on. Finally, someone escorted me to a used game store here in town and I picked up the console - and I bought the White on release with a friend. For me, the experience was a second coming. Everything that I loved about Pokemon re-surfaced just by experiencing the playthrough. My in-game team in White consisted of completely foreign Pokemon. (Serperior, Darmanitan, Krookodile, Beartic, Scrafty, Haxorus) and like Darvan said above, it was like playing Red (the first game I ever played in the franchise) all over again as everything I saw seemed new and fresh. On top of that, the story, the interactive characters, and the source material seemed as it had AGED with me. I felt like the game was making a concerted effort to re-enter my life - and largely due to Generation 5, here I am today, at Pokemon Reborn.

Generation 4 to me is something I have to eventually get through. I love all three of the starters. I love Cynthia, and I love the premise of the legendaries. I just don't like the Pokemon outside of the tertiary evolutions of 'Mons from previous generations as a whole. I also have some demons to put the rest here, because looking at the generation, I remember that it was a low time period in my life.

[Juniper]

Unlike Gen 4, I had very high hopes for Gen 5 and made sure I owned a 3DS. I also played Red Rescue Team on the GBA and that's the only PMD experience outside of the MMO efforts on the internet that I've had. (It's a difficult game for me, and that alone makes it fun every once and a while.)

The issue with Gen 4 (and I've already conceded the possibility that it may not be completely fair of me) is that it came out during the time I was the most "over" Pokemon. The previous generation, Gen 3, was a time I spent HOURS trying to complete the 'Dex. I didn't have very many friends, so I had to purchase FIVE Pokemon games, two consoles, Link Cables, and the GBA extender for the Nintendo Gamecube so I can fill the Pokedex MYSELF.

I was suffering from burnout by the time the Nintendo "DS" (the DSlites, the DSi, not the 3DS) was released. That burnout made me conscious of 100 some-odd dollars for buying Pearl + the handheld console being too much at the time. The will to play the game simply wasn't there for the entirety of the Generation.

Generation 5, I was very hesitant about purchasing - because I still had yet to get the DS I needed to play the game on. Finally, someone escorted me to a used game store here in town and I picked up the console - and I bought the White on release with a friend. For me, the experience was a second coming. Everything that I loved about Pokemon re-surfaced just by experiencing the playthrough. My in-game team in White consisted of completely foreign Pokemon. (Serperior, Darmanitan, Krookodile, Beartic, Scrafty, Haxorus) and like Darvan said above, it was like playing Red (the first game I ever played in the franchise) all over again as everything I saw seemed new and fresh. On top of that, the story, the interactive characters, and the source material seemed as it had AGED with me. I felt like the game was making a concerted effort to re-enter my life - and largely due to Generation 5, here I am today, at Pokemon Reborn.

Generation 4 to me is something I have to eventually get through. I love all three of the starters. I love Cynthia, and I love the premise of the legendaries. I just don't like the Pokemon outside of the tertiary evolutions of 'Mons from previous generations as a whole. I also have some demons to put the rest here, because looking at the generation, I remember that it was a low time period in my life.

Well, I certainly can't argue with that. That's a perfectly fair reason to dislike a generation (Just in case anyone thinks I'm being sarcastic, I'm really not)

I guess people's gen preference comes down to their own perspective. Example: I started with Gen 4, gen 4 is my favorite. I don't know if I already said this somewhere back there but the fact that Pearl was my first meant that for me, those 493 pokémon were the original 493 pokémon and at first, I actually thought gen 5's pokémon were kind of underwhelming (I didn't like the selection of ghost types that much). Of course it's not all about the pokémon (WHAAAT?). Some people mentioned HG/SS feature with pokémon walking behind you, that was awesome. Toggling the running shoes was also cool (same game). Oh and something I really liked about gen 5 was actually bringing older pokemon from platinum into it and seeing them animated (Spiritomb, Darkrai). That was pretty cool too.

[Azeria]

As much as I love Gen 4 the best gen IMHO would go to gen 5;too much awesome....However.

In my personal opinion,Platinum is the single best pokemon game beating Black and White 2 and HGSS. You may ask why but to be honest, I myself don't even know. Sinnoh gives off a personal appeal to me, the starters are insanely creative all coming from historical or mythical lore aswell as cool real world animals.

Chimchar is a small chimpanzee based on Son Wukong, Turtwig and it's evolutions are based on the World Turtle and Piplup's line are based on the Emperor Penguins and Poseidon.

The gym leaders might not leave as much of a memory but all are pretty interesting themselves;Volkner is a gym leader experiencing burn out/loss of interest due to a lack of good battles and excilerating expierences, Crasher Wake is a masked wrestler who donates his prize money to the poor and helps keep an entire marsh upright, Fantina is a french coordinator.

The evil team;team Galactic might not seem very interesting but my preference for the organization over others all come from the leader himself;Cyrus. A brilliant sociopathic and not to mention narcisistic youth(For all his accomplishements he is quite young, most likely being the youngest main villain outside of N and possible Colress, at 27 but for his debuting generation he was the youngest)Who's personal life goal is to destroy the entire universe aswell as the underlings who helped him accomplish his goal using the world's very deities just so he could have a world to himself;free of emotion, which considering his outburst before and after you fight him at the distortion world is rather hypocritical of him considering how he believes that emotion is the cause of all strife yet as apathetic as he may seem his most shown emotion is anger. Not to mention that in a way he's the ONLY villain in the pokemon series to actually get what he wanted though this is only in platinum(which seems to be the canon timeline as of BW and BW2)in the distortion world as the player would most likely have captured Giratina leaving the Distortion world void and empty. For all his brooding this dark character has he has a very suitable team of pokemon in;Houndoom, Honchkrow Gyarados Crobat and Weavile. All in all my favourite villain.

Barry is interesting to say the least;a very hasty rival who's father is one of the frontier brains and said to be quite the powerfull trainer. He bumps into all the time but shows to be quite the helpfull rival, helping you though out of nowhere against Jupiter and Mars where as otherwise you'd have to face the semi-boss fight on your own. Not the best rival, but a memorable one to me.

Then we have the shining star of sinnoh; Cynthia. Not much to say about her that hasn't already been said, she's the first female champion in the series and oh boy did she leave her mark on the world. She's one of the , if not the toughest champion battle in the entire series;using a very balanced team with no real type theme, her team revolves around hitting you as hard as possible but also covering the weaknesses of her ace;Garchomp. In it's debut generation this thing was terrifying. Crazy Fast, Insanely powerfull and very capable of taking hits. Outside of her position as the pokemon league champion, she is a researcher basing her field of study around Sinnoh's vast history and mythology. She's an interesting character if intimidating(I honestly thought she was the main villain when meeting her for the first time, she's dressed in all black so my first thoughts were;EVIL)

The legendaries were all very imaginative if stretching the limits;You've got 2 Dragons who control the fabrics that balance the universe in Dialga and Palkia, 3 elf/fairies centred around the things that make up the human mind, 2 pokemon centred around dreams;one around good dreams and happiness in Cressellia and her counterpart who brings forth the darkest of nightmares is the fan favourite Darkrai. There's the trio master of the robotic regi trio and the mon that pulled the land mass using ropes and it's immense power alone, The 3rd dragon that controls anti matter and is in a way the representation of the devil of pokemon in the Renegade Giratina and finally the Space Goat that is Arceus. Still feel as if it should've been a Dragon to keep in tune with it's main trio.

All in all a very interesting generation though my personal favourite will always be Platinum. Gen 5 is my favourite generation however HGSS and Platinum make it very hard for me not to automatically say Gen 4. Perhaps I'll do a list sometime...

[Sunbean]

Most enjoyable overall for me was Platinum, with the added fact that my family was extremely into Pokemon at that time and it was great playing with them. (Story and feature wise it's the Gen 5 games, hands down)

But I think my favorite if you include the spinoff games is the second Pokemon Ranger. There's just something about Rangers that was awesome, I kinda like them more than Trainers.

[Juniper]

but arceus IS a dragon

[Fumble]

B2/W2.

[TalkingDinosaur]

When I finished Pokemon D/P, I got bored of Pokemon. I had been playing the series since its beginnings with Red, but D/P's lack of innovation (aside from the much much needed SpAtk and Atk switch) made me abandon the series until some time in late 2013. After browsing through some videos about Black/White and in anticipation for X/Y, I picked up Pokemon White to catch up on the series and I completely regret missing out on Gen 5 when it came out.

Gen 5 is easily my favorite because they finally broke the formula.

Black/White was really story driven, characters had more to them than they did in previous installments, gym leaders took part in the ongoing events caused by Team Plasma instead of sitting in their gyms like statues, they gave meaning to the journey of "completing the pokedex" as a way of learning more about yourself and taking the first step into adulthood, the final boss of Black/White isn't the champion, and Ghetsis is by far the best villian in the series.

I also found the AI in gen 5 more challenging than other gens (but it could've just been my team), while people complained gen 5 had some of the most bland pokemon it definitely gave us some of the coolest (Serperior and Hydreigon <3) and most OU pokemon, and holy shit is Shota Kageyama a godlike composer.

Black/White 2 serving as sequels instead of the 2-in-1 game of Black/White is the best decision Gamefreak has ever made. Seeing already lovable characters return and matured really hits in me in muh feels. The Unova region grew and made to look even more beautiful than before, and the PWT that lets you battle gym leaders and champions from all the known regions with modernized themes was the best feature of Black/White 2.

[Delibird Heart]

My favorite pokemon game is PMD2 (altho PMD comes as a close second).

[Lord_Ludo]

Damn why everyone writing essays out here?

My favorite generation is 4, but I loved XD as well as the Mystery Dungeon and Ranger games. The first Ranger game especially, since I remember how much I enjoyed breezing through it one Christmas a long long time ago

Edited August 19, 2015 by Lord_Ludo

[Juniper]

I liked PMD and PMD2 the first time but I tried to play PMD2 again after completing it and I got bored really quickly. I think it's the story that's the best

[Vinny]

Platinum is best cuz Platinum has Weaviles before the E4.

4th Gen in general has some of my favorites tracks, and that's always what comes to my mind when I think of Platinum and HG/SS.

I replayed Platinum more times than I can remember. But I do enjoy all the features that B/W brought to pokémon games. Platinum is my all time favorite mainstream pokémon game, but B/W is a close second. If only there were Sneasels before the e4

[MikoLAqualiChromatique]

For me, it's HG/SS Thoses versions are just for me the perfect pokemon game.. ! **

Edited August 20, 2015 by MikoLAqualiChromatique

[Myst]

Explorers of the Sky.
That game is something special.

Main games wise, BW. Playing all the generations, (not in order), BW left the most impact with its more story line approach. I really cared about the characters, I wanted to see the story through.

[Cyaloom]

First, I have to say I haven't played a lot of Pokemon Games and I haven't finished all of them anyways.

My favourite Pokemon Game right now is Platinum (it's the first I have played; just that makes it special for me), followed by Black 2 (I also really liked the fifth generation of games... Black 2 more than White: after playing the latter, I just loved Black 2.)

Those are the only Pokemon cartridges I own at the moment, so that is why those three games, and the Generations the belong to, are special for me.

[Jaromir]

Content wise: White2/Black2

From sheer amusement: Platinum

[Doj]

*shudders*.... Trozei..

Dude screw you tbh, Trozei is GOD tier.

[Juniper]

Dude screw you tbh, Trozei is GOD tier.

I'm just joking. I'be never actually played it

[Doj]

I'm just joking. I'be never actually played it

Me neither : )

[Neo]

Emerald is the best game in the series. GF did a near-perfect job when they made it.

[Schrroms]

To me, HG/SS are the ultimate Pokemon games.

Part of the reason is that I grew up with Gold and Silver. The first game I played was Red, but it was with Gold that I was old enough to really appreciate the games.

The remakes took all that was good from G/S and Gen IV and added so much more! The post-game was amazing and the overworld graphics were the best-looking to date in my opinion.

I really liked B/W2 (and XY to a lesser extent) as well, but HG/SS will always have a special place in my heart.

Edited August 25, 2015 by Schrroms