[Poll] [READ FIRST] What's the best generation of Pokémon?

[The Omega Gengar]

Rules:
-Leave your nostalgia away. I don't care which game you played first, or which is your favorite Pokémon.
-Consider really important aspects, like gameplay, the Pokémon added, game content, etc.
-The remakes count as the gen the original games were released on. (Omega Ruby counts as Gen III)
-Don't get much influence from remakes, really.
-Think before you vote.
-Please state your reasons.
-Remember: Pokémon isn't an objective experience, it's filled with subjectivity, centered on the user's individual journey. Customization is the heart of the experience, it's very much how you play. It's difficult to determine a best generation, because of factors such as age, playstyle and what you value in the games. Of course I know this makes this poll and thread kinda pointless, as it won't change anyone or set anything for real, but I wanted to hear opinions.

About my vote:

Spoiler

I vote for Gen III.
I'll make a quick summary of my thoughts.
Gen I was okay, it started it all, but...it was heavily glitched and unbalanced at times. They had limitations, and making a project this big wasn't easy, but it still was an amazing hit. I really love most of Gen I Pokémon and stuff, but as a game it wasn't great. The remakes made it the game it deseved to be, and I personally liked the expansion to Sevii Islands. Also, I'd like to mention Yellow, that game surely made me feel excited for the different journey we had. This Gen could be 4th for me.
Gen II was amazing, it expanded all the ideas and systems from Gen I and fixed many of the problems. It also introduced an amazingly big map with two regions to explore. So much to do...man, I love long games. I personally don't enjoy much the new Pokémon added. Crystal offered something cool about focusing a bit more on Suicune, but I could easily forget about it. The remakes were undoubtedly good by expanding even farther the post-game. This Gen could be 2nd for me.
Gen III was my favorite. Not because it was my first*, but because it was a really solid game. It was a really big step for the franchise, that step can only be compared to Gen VI, in my opinion. It added so many new systems and made the battle faster. I loved the Pokémon, but what really sells it for me is Pokémon Emerald. Man, even though the game hadn't a rich post game content like Gen II, the catchable legendaries and all the puzzles amaze me. Only if they included the events (Deoxys, Mew...) in normal gameplay, then it'd be awesome. This Gen could be 1st for me.
*Even though Gen III was my first game. I finished Crystal before any Gen III game. I remember losing my save and going mad about it, so I decided to try another one.
Gen IV was good and all, but I feel it's forgettable. Sure, there was the move split and many moves with strategy, but I felt like the game was too slow and flawed. It lacked fire-types, sometimes I felt like they just wanted to throw a bunch of legendaries there, even though I like them all. Cynthia is probably the best thing about it, it wasn't an easy game, for sure. The post-game was cool too, mainly for Platinum. However, as I said, this gen for me is forgettable. This Gen could be 3rd for me.
Gen V was cool, it was more story-driven (it was the only one with a close-to-nice story) than the other Gens and introduced some unusual Pokémon. I saw no problem with them. Actually, I think Unova was really revolutionary, had a really nice post-game, but I personally didn't get many feelings from it, maybe because of the way I played it. Every generation is awesome, so it's hard to classify the ones which I like the least. This gen could be 5th for me.
Gen VI introduced megas, 3D models for the main series, character customisation and that's all really good, but I feel like the game is short. The post-game pratically doesn't even exist, and few Pokémon were added. The game felt most like a way to pull their old fans back, after they were mad with Gen V, and from what I noticed it did work. It was the first one I completely followed the announcement and slow stream of news and leaks. Megas wouldn't exist if it were for me, and some parts of the game would lag a bit, so I'm still waiting for maybe...a Pokémon Z to fix its problems? This Gen could be 6th for me.

 

[sokita_sylllyan]

For me Gen III, because they don't take Cut as a must-learn move, that's for gameplay. For type balance, I think it is OK, if you compare them to one Gen. Umm, but for game experience... the game pace is fast and you need some exact time to unlock something like that island or special secret base items, and maybe that lottery, but with Gen III (the older one, not the remake) has max play time that affecting to some game experience aspect (e.g. can't unlocking the island again if you've reached the max play time). But, this Gen was an important connector from its previous Gen to the newer one, that means you get a higher chance to complete your pokedex faster, that is my main reason why I choose this Gen.

 

[Gamer13]

Rules:
-Leave your nostalgia away. I don't care which game you played first, or which is your favorite Pokémon.
-Consider really important aspects, like gameplay, the Pokémon added, game content, etc.
-The remakes count as the gen the original games were released on. (Omega Ruby counts as Gen III)
-Don't get much influence from remakes, really.
-Think before you vote.
-Please state your reasons.
-Remember: Pokémon isn't an objective experience, it's filled with subjectivity, centered on the user's individual journey. Customization is the heart of the experience, it's very much how you play. It's difficult to determine a best generation, because of factors such as age, playstyle and what you value in the games. Of course I know this makes this poll and thread kinda pointless, as it won't change anyone or set anything for real, but I wanted to hear opinions.

About my vote:

Spoiler

I vote for Gen III.
I'll make a quick summary of my thoughts.
Gen I was okay, it started it all, but...it was heavily glitched and unbalanced at times. They had limitations, and making a project this big wasn't easy, but it still was an amazing hit. I really love most of Gen I Pokémon and stuff, but as a game it wasn't great. The remakes made it the game it deseved to be, and I personally liked the expansion to Sevii Islands. Also, I'd like to mention Yellow, that game surely made me feel excited for the different journey we had. This Gen could be 4th for me.
Gen II was amazing, it expanded all the ideas and systems from Gen I and fixed many of the problems. It also introduced an amazingly big map with two regions to explore. So much to do...man, I love long games. I personally don't enjoy much the new Pokémon added. Crystal offered something cool about focusing a bit more on Suicune, but I could easily forget about it. The remakes were undoubtedly good by expanding even farther the post-game. This Gen could be 2nd for me.
Gen III was my favorite. Not because it was my first*, but because it was a really solid game. It was a really big step for the franchise, that step can only be compared to Gen VI, in my opinion. It added so many new systems and made the battle faster. I loved the Pokémon, but what really sells it for me is Pokémon Emerald. Man, even though the game hadn't a rich post game content like Gen II, the catchable legendaries and all the puzzles amaze me. Only if they included the events (Deoxys, Mew...) in normal gameplay, then it'd be awesome. This Gen could be 1st for me.
*Even though Gen III was my first game. I finished Crystal before any Gen III game. I remember losing my save and going mad about it, so I decided to try another one.
Gen VI was good and all, but I feel it's forgettable. Sure, there was the move split and many moves with strategy, but I felt like the game was too slow and flawed. It lacked fire-types, sometimes I felt like they just wanted to throw a bunch of legendaries there, even though I like them all. Cynthia is probably the best thing about it, it wasn't an easy game, for sure. The post-game was cool too, mainly for Platinum. However, as I said, this gen for me is forgettable. This Gen could be 3rd for me.
Gen V was cool, it was more story-driven than the other Gens and introduced some unusual Pokémon. I saw no problem with them. Actually, I think Unova was really revolutionary, had a really nice post-game, but I personally didn't get many feelings from it, maybe because of the way I played it. Every generation is awesome, so it's hard to classify the ones which I like the least. This gen could be 5th for me.
Gen VI introduced megas, 3D models for the main series, character customisation and that's all really good, but I feel like the game is short. The post-game pratically doesn't even exist, and few Pokémon were added. The game felt most like a way to pull their old fans back, after they were mad with Gen V, and from what I noticed it did work. It was the first one I completely followed the announcement and slow stream of news and leaks. Megas wouldn't exist if it were for me, and some parts of the game would lag a bit, so I'm still waiting for maybe...a Pokémon Z to fix its problems? This Gen could be 6th for me.

There is two gen VI in your review.

My vote goes for gen II.
Gen II added tons of new content which were kept till the generations of today. It added the day and night cycle which made the game experience more "realistic", different pokemon would appear in different times of the day, the breeding system was introduced in this gen which made trades a lot more viable and helped those players which were after the 100% pokedex, shiny pokemons were introduced in this gen, pokemons now could hold items and use them in battle, the pokerus was added in this gen, the dark and the steel types were introduced in this gen, the apricorn system, which introduced new types of pokeballs, was introduced in this gen and the pokegear was also introduced in this gen. Pokémon crystal also added new stuff, it was the first pokemon game to have animated pokemons, which was reintroduced later in Pokémon Emerald, and added different battle themes for legendary pokemons. Gen II had a good plot which was a follow up to the first gen games, a gigantic map with 2 regions (Johto and Kanto), memorable pokemons, a good soundtrack (i'm not saying that the first gen soundtrack wasn't good), it had a graphical improvement, and fixed almost all of the first gen flaws, so my vote goes for it.

 

[PersuerNL]

Hands down, the physical/special split in gen 4 is one of the biggest changes ever made to the franchise. It actually made some pokemon (*ahem* Absol) strong instead of laughable.

 

[The Omega Gengar]

Hands down, the physical/special split in gen 4 is one of the biggest changes ever made to the franchise. It actually made some pokemon (*ahem* Absol) strong instead of laughable.

I gotta agree. In my opinion, Gen III and IV were the ones that really changed Pokémon.

 

[Moddex]

I gotta agree. In my opinion, Gen III and IV were the ones that really changed Pokémon.

Indeed couldn't say it better

 

[PersuerNL]

I gotta agree. In my opinion, Gen III and IV were the ones that really changed Pokémon.

Generation 5 feels like a downgrade to me... Don't get me wrong, the games are awesome (Just started playing them, i feel bad for calling them bad) but the sprites... I know they use several frames, but god, it looks like they were inspired from Red and Green...

 

[Enethil]

Greetings, Even though I have made a thread about this earlier, I will take part in this one aswell. I will cover this matter in 2 long posts, gen 1-3 and then gen 4-6.

So... to best summize my thought on this matter, I made up a sheet that shows my thought on the different elements of the games in each generation and gave them points between 1 and 10. Also, to not make the post too big, I added them into seperate spoilers. (Yes... there will be a lot of text, feel free to ignore this post if you do not want to read it all)

Also... this is my own thoughts about it, and it may not reflect yours.

Generation I:

Spoiler

Alright... the nostalgia trip everyone calls generation 1, but is it really that good when you look back at it now, nay I say... Now, before anyone gives me hate for this, I am a generation 1 veteran & holds these games with just as high esteem as any other of you who played them back in the days, but back then we were kids, and pretty much anything would entertain us.

Part 1: Pokemon Red/Blue - 9 points
Gameplay - 2
Story - 1
Graphics compared to other games at the same time on gb- 5
Post-game content - 1

So... the reason I gave red/blue a 2 in gameplay is that while it is pretty basic & not at all entertaining when playing through nowadays, it was still a quite revolutionary spin of the currently popular jrpg genre which formed the success of the series. As for the story, let's face it, there were hardly any.
The graphics held up to the standards of the gameboy, which is why I gave it a 5, no less, no more. As for the post-game content, apart from battling your friends, which you needed a link cable for, there were nothing else to do than to battle the elite four over and over again, which is why I gave it a 1.

Part 2: Pokemon Yellow - 11 points
Gameplay - 3
Story - 2
Graphics compared to other games at the same time on gb- 5
Post-game content - 1

Pokemon Yellow... the game they made to make some extra money while developing the next generation. I gave both gameplay and story one more point for this one since the pokemon that follows you added a nice touch to the game, and the extra team rocket encounters with Jessy, James & meowth felt quite awesome as a child since you had seen them in the anime. I would remove a point in graphics, were it not for it adding color to the games if you played it on a gameboy color.

So to summarize generation 1: Fun as a kid, but as for playing it today, having played all other pokemon games... it didin't really age well.
Generation 1 got 20 points in total from me.

Generation II:

Spoiler

Generation 2 added new pokemon, color, day/night cycle, a new region, shinies, breeding etc, which increased the depth of the game. Generation 2 happened to be my favourite generation for a really long time since I have more fond memories of playing this generation with my friends & enjoying it to the fullest, but I will not favoritize here.

Part 1: Pokemon Gold/Silver - 16 points
Gameplay - 5
Story - 3
Graphics compared to other games at the same time on gbc - 4
Post-game content - 4

Generation 2 added so much more you could do as I stated previously, which is why I gave it a 5 in gameplay. As for the story, there were actually a bit of story & character development in this game, found in the rival, though it wasn't a whole lot, so story still gets only a 3 from me. The graphics weren't really revolutionary either, but still not bad, which is why it got a 4. As for the post-game. After you beat the champion, you had yet another region to explore, or if you played the former games, return to. There, you would meet familiar faces, and in the end, have an epic showdown with the trainer whom you traveled with in the first games. This would be the perfect end to the series, were it not for its rising popularity, and demand for a new game.

Part 2: Pokemon Crystal - 16 points
Gameplay - 5
Story - 3
Graphics compared to other games at the same time on gbc - 3
Post-game content - 5

As much as I want to say that crystal is one of the best games in the series, I can't from the matter of the perspective I'm looking at it now. While it added even more post-game stuff in the form of the battle tower, and the Eusine story, it really didin't add much more than that, and as it was developed quite late in the gameboy color era, the graphics compared to other games was worse.

Generation III:

Spoiler

As much as I despite this generation, I will still give it a fair chance to compete against the other games in the series. I got nothing more to say... Let's do this.

Part 1: Pokemon Ruby/Sapphire - 13 points
Gameplay - 3
Story - 4
Graphics compared to other games at the same time on gba - 3
Post-game content - 1

So... When I obtained Pokemon Sapphire, I quickly noticed one thing... They had removed a thing that I thought were one of the best thing about the former generation: day/night cycle. As my journey through this game continued, I soon came to realize something, there was no longer any rival rematch with May, instead they gave me a rebattle with some weird kid called Wally whom I had met maybe 2 times in my journey. In my opinion, this was a rather stupid move from gamefreak. It did not affect the points though, I only needed to have this said, so do not worry about.

Anyway, back to the topic: I gave gameplay 3 points due to not feeling much different when battling from crystal. The story though, they upped a notch, and actually tried to create something interesting. I admire them for that, and that is why I gave the story a 4. The graphics felt odd for me, some places were far brighter colors that it ought to have, and some places had far darker colors that it should've had. And I had played gameboy advance games before Pokemon RS that had better graphics, which is why I gave it a 3. The post-game is almost non-existant. They did not even try to create anything new, and decided to copy-paste the battle tower from crystal in there.

Part 2: Pokemon Emerald - 18 points (I never played firered/Leafgreen so I won't cover it)
Gameplay - 3
Story - 5
Graphics compared to other games at the same time on gba - 2
Post-game content - 8

Following what I think is the worst games in the series, came a game with one of the best things they have made to this day, the battle frontier. It is the reason why this game gets to high post-game content points. As for the gameplay, it did not differ much for me, and the graphics holds up even worse compared to other gba games as it was now in the late part of the hand-held console life-cycle, and newer games with better graphics had been released. There were new story elements though, which made me give it a solid 5 in that aspect.

I got no feelings of nostalgia for emerald as other people does, as I quit playing pokemon after what I thought were a total disaster. I did not stop playing for good though, else I would not be here now

This post have been quite long now, and I will continue writing down my feelings about the later generations later.

 

[PersuerNL]

Greetings, Even though I have made a thread about this earlier, I will take part in this one aswell. I will cover this matter in 2 long posts, gen 1-3 and then gen 4-6.

So... to best summize my thought on this matter, I made up a sheet that shows my thought on the different elements of the games in each generation and gave them points between 1 and 10. Also, to not make the post too big, I added them into seperate spoilers. (Yes... there will be a lot of text, feel free to ignore this post if you do not want to read it all)

Also... this is my own thoughts about it, and it may not reflect yours.

Generation I:

Spoiler

Alright... the nostalgia trip everyone calls generation 1, but is it really that good when you look back at it now, nay I say... Now, before anyone gives me hate for this, I am a generation 1 veteran & holds these games with just as high esteem as any other of you who played them back in the days, but back then we were kids, and pretty much anything would entertain us.

Part 1: Pokemon Red/Blue - 9 points
Gameplay - 2
Story - 1
Graphics compared to other games at the same time on gb- 5
Post-game content - 1

So... the reason I gave red/blue a 2 in gameplay is that while it is pretty basic & not at all entertaining when playing through nowadays, it was still a quite revolutionary spin of the currently popular jrpg genre which formed the success of the series. As for the story, let's face it, there were hardly any.
The graphics held up to the standards of the gameboy, which is why I gave it a 5, no less, no more. As for the post-game content, apart from battling your friends, which you needed a link cable for, there were nothing else to do than to battle the elite four over and over again, which is why I gave it a 1.

Part 2: Pokemon Yellow - 11 points
Gameplay - 3
Story - 2
Graphics compared to other games at the same time on gb- 5
Post-game content - 1

Pokemon Yellow... the game they made to make some extra money while developing the next generation. I gave both gameplay and story one more point for this one since the pokemon that follows you added a nice touch to the game, and the extra team rocket encounters with Jessy, James & meowth felt quite awesome as a child since you had seen them in the anime. I would remove a point in graphics, were it not for it adding color to the games if you played it on a gameboy color.

So to summarize generation 1: Fun as a kid, but as for playing it today, having played all other pokemon games... it didin't really age well.
Generation 1 got 20 points in total from me.

Generation II:

Spoiler

Generation 2 added new pokemon, color, day/night cycle, a new region, shinies, breeding etc, which increased the depth of the game. Generation 2 happened to be my favourite generation for a really long time since I have more fond memories of playing this generation with my friends & enjoying it to the fullest, but I will not favoritize here.

Part 1: Pokemon Gold/Silver - 16 points
Gameplay - 5
Story - 3
Graphics compared to other games at the same time on gbc - 4
Post-game content - 4

Generation 2 added so much more you could do as I stated previously, which is why I gave it a 5 in gameplay. As for the story, there were actually a bit of story & character development in this game, found in the rival, though it wasn't a whole lot, so story still gets only a 3 from me. The graphics weren't really revolutionary either, but still not bad, which is why it got a 4. As for the post-game. After you beat the champion, you had yet another region to explore, or if you played the former games, return to. There, you would meet familiar faces, and in the end, have an epic showdown with the trainer whom you traveled with in the first games. This would be the perfect end to the series, were it not for its rising popularity, and demand for a new game.

Part 2: Pokemon Crystal - 16 points
Gameplay - 5
Story - 3
Graphics compared to other games at the same time on gbc - 3
Post-game content - 5

As much as I want to say that crystal is one of the best games in the series, I can't from the matter of the perspective I'm looking at it now. While it added even more post-game stuff in the form of the battle tower, and the Eusine story, it really didin't add much more than that, and as it was developed quite late in the gameboy color era, the graphics compared to other games was worse.

Generation III:

Spoiler

As much as I despite this generation, I will still give it a fair chance to compete against the other games in the series. I got nothing more to say... Let's do this.

Part 1: Pokemon Ruby/Sapphire - 13 points
Gameplay - 3
Story - 4
Graphics compared to other games at the same time on gba - 3
Post-game content - 1

So... When I obtained Pokemon Sapphire, I quickly noticed one thing... They had removed a thing that I thought were one of the best thing about the former generation: day/night cycle. As my journey through this game continued, I soon came to realize something, there was no longer any rival rematch with May, instead they gave me a rebattle with some weird kid called Wally whom I had met maybe 2 times in my journey. In my opinion, this was a rather stupid move from gamefreak. It did not affect the points though, I only needed to have this said, so do not worry about.

Anyway, back to the topic: I gave gameplay 3 points due to not feeling much different when battling from crystal. The story though, they upped a notch, and actually tried to create something interesting. I admire them for that, and that is why I gave the story a 4. The graphics felt odd for me, some places were far brighter colors that it ought to have, and some places had far darker colors that it should've had. And I had played gameboy advance games before Pokemon RS that had better graphics, which is why I gave it a 3. The post-game is almost non-existant. They did not even try to create anything new, and decided to copy-paste the battle tower from crystal in there.

Part 2: Pokemon Emerald - 18 points (I never played firered/Leafgreen so I won't cover it)
Gameplay - 3
Story - 5
Graphics compared to other games at the same time on gba - 2
Post-game content - 8

Following what I think is the worst games in the series, came a game with one of the best things they have made to this day, the battle frontier. It is the reason why this game gets to high post-game content points. As for the gameplay, it did not differ much for me, and the graphics holds up even worse compared to other gba games as it was now in the late part of the hand-held console life-cycle, and newer games with better graphics had been released. There were new story elements though, which made me give it a solid 5 in that aspect.

I got no feelings of nostalgia for emerald as other people does, as I quit playing pokemon after what I thought were a total disaster. I did not stop playing for good though, else I would not be here now

This post have been quite long now, and I will continue writing down my feelings about the later generations later.

I agree, but gen 2 has to have 1 extra point, and gen 1 one less.
Look at nugget bridge, and look at the route south of Violet City. The phone lady will only fight you if you talk to her. Gen 1 FORCED you to do battles you maybe didn't want to. I like the idea that i can just evade a trainer instead of having no other choice to proceed. Also, in gen 2, you could rebattle trainers. That's something i missed in generation 1.

 

[Kyubey the Jabroni]

While I do like the other generations, I say RBYFRLG were my favorite pokemon games due to the fact that the first game was the game where Getting everything wasn't insanity (No trading, going forward in Generations, etc.) and Firered and Leafgreen improved upon the experience and cut off the hard edges the first game has (Bigger postgame, Sabrina didn't have crazy power), and in general, just gave me a good experience (I would choose Leafgreen over my blue if it weren't for the Blue Kaizo Nuzlocke I'm doing, because of the fact that FRLG is better).

 

[Doctor Chikorita]

Gen II by far was my favorite added Day/nights added new pokemon that are timeless on may scales. Also the first gen to introduce female character sprites. Gen 2 rules

 

[Exemplary]

Gen 1 because it introduced farfetch'd

 

[Kyubey the Jabroni]

Gen 1 because it introduced farfetch'd

But farfetch'd required a trade with a great pokemon for your team and you couldn't catch them outside.