Favorite Generation?

[Turtle Tamer Kammy]

What's your favorite generation of Pokemon to play? Mine's Generation 2. I'm working on Crystal for the first time now. I love Johto. It's so cozy. ^_^

 

[Birdyspot]

I'm rather torn, and I haven't yet played Gen IV, but I'm going with Gen II. It gave birth to my all-time favorite Pokemon, Lugia. I got into Pokemon not long before Gen II came out in Japan, and I was so taken with Yellow and Red that I imported Silver as soon as I could. I loved the flavor of Johto, although I wish they'd done more with the region. GSC also contains my favorite soundtrack of all the games. Ahh, memories.

 

[jigglysama]

My order would be RSE>RBY>GSC

Probably DP would be between RSE and RBY or better than RSE. I have to play the games first.

 

[Kasumi]

I'll wait until DP comes out... in AMERICA!!! To cast my vote here.

 

[Misty]

RBY.

I've been playing Pokemon for a rather long time, and overall, not just RBY, but the entire RBY generation stands as a monument to what Pokemon is and how to best execute it. There are some significant flaws, yes - we could talk about stuff like Psychic/Tauros domination, but really, every generation possesses problems and RBY's are really not much worse than the others'.

What sets RBY apart is the simplicity and effectiveness. There are no pointless gimmicks - just a really fun game with excellent multiplayer. GSC and ADV and DP have built on this design in useful and useless ways, but the end result is that what really changes the game often falls under "useless". The "useful" category is generally filled in with stuff like new Pokemon, new types, traits, and EVs - in other words, things that affect the battling engine. To be fair, all of this is fairly important - Pokemon is primarily a multiplayer game and a lot of these changes have had a profound effect, especially in competitive/Netbattle. But the single player continually loses the value it had in RBY.

When I played RBY over 7 years ago, it gave me a feeling that this was a new and innovative concept. The anime was in its prime, the TCG was easy for anyone to learn, and thanks to the fad, there were always people to play with. Unfortunately, as time goes on, every single one of these has declined - the anime is no longer remotely as interesting as it was, the TCG is loaded down with a billion cards that do who knows what, and finding people who are willing to admit liking Pokemon is an exercise in futility ;[ As for the games themselves, DP has finally demonstrated that the innovation in Pokemon is just about shot. Their ideal was to basically mix RSE and GSC into one big honking game and add internet. That's not innovative, that's just pandering to the fans and hoping they'll buy into it. There's no risk factor anymore - I guess taking risks with a cash cow is generally not smart, but the result still saddens me and makes me long for the days of RBY. :/

 

[Fairy Leviathan]

DP look great and all, but until it arrives in the US, I'm going to say the second generation. Why? Because it gave birth to a buttload of stuff,
Mystery Gift, PKMN breeding, the customization of your room, Chikorita, the Night and Day concept, money storage with your mom, and much, much more.

 

[Plusle98889]

I think my favorite generation is Generation 2. I think Generation 2 had the coolest music. ^_^ Since the 4th Generation hasn't arrived in the United States yet, I'm not gonna totally rule that out.

 

[Silktree]

As for the games themselves, DP has finally demonstrated that the innovation in Pokemon is just about shot. Their ideal was to basically mix RSE and GSC into one big honking game and add internet.

I would not even say that the Internet factor is an addition - it was borrowed right from Japanese Crystal. In fact, Diamond and Pearl's WiFi is not as full-scale as the Mobile Adapter, with online downloads sorely missing. I have read many articles on the Mobile Adapter that described it as providing the players with the feeling that the game was never-ending, owing to the constant data updates. No one has said the same for Diamond and Pearl.

That's not innovative, that's just pandering to the fans and hoping they'll buy into it. There's no risk factor anymore - I guess taking risks with a cash cow is generally not smart, but the result still saddens me and makes me long for the days of RBY. :/

Unfortunately, either most fans are satisfied with that fact, or they have come to accept it as-is. Those who are not fans are bound to criticize the repetition of the formula, of which the fans approve by definition, rather than the root of the actual problem (or possibly, I am in the wrong and they are in the right).

From what I have seen, you are the only one on these forums who has noted that the fourth generation is the least innovative. It seems that the game sales which have not gone down from standards by much, are all that matters when it comes to proclaiming that "Pokémon is still going strong."

That in itself may be true, but what does it really mean?

 

[warpy]

gen 3
with my 2 favorites breloom + gardevoir