Which generation of pokémon was the best?

[Muskrat Catcher]

Pokémon is full of the "Which is the best?" type of question, but my favorite thing to debate is which generation was the best? That is, which one would you most like to re-live the experience of? You can make it into a top 6 style list, or just say your favorite or least favorite.

Here are my opinions with a short explanation: (These are all opinions, and not facts)
1. Gen V: Best story, the restriction to only new pokémon before you beat the game was really fun in my opinion, I love multi battles, or as I call them tag battles, Amazing music, the new way the camera would follow you through certain places was amazing, the pokémon were finally animated in battles rather than still sprites, competitive battling was in its prime in this generation, and the post-game was the best yet
2. Gen III: Nostalgia factor since this was the first gen I played, color, Gen I remakes, music, contests, good story, good quality of new pokémon, I feel like this is the oldest generation of pokémon that would still be enjoyable to play today, even after the horde of changes and improvements since then, and it was the generation that introduced my favorite pokémon, flygon
3. Gen VI: Did a lot of things right, did a lot of things wrong, pokémon amie (YESSS!), the eon flute/free flying (YESSSSSS!), Fully animated battles, huge pool of pokémon to build your team off of, wonder trading, dramatic and dynamic camera work, super training, quality over quantity in pokémon. I did not like how almost exclusively OP pokémon got megas, worst starter roster (OPINION), was really easy to progress, almost no post-game, the amount of fanservice was unprecedented, and competitive battling was hurt.
4. Gen IV: Physical/special attacks, great spin-offs, much easier to trade/battle with others, best pokémon league and champion, best region, did not change the formula of gen III much (good and bad), best legendaries and starters, and was the last game before the difficulty began to decline. I did not like how slow the game was, both battle and story wise, I didn't really care for team galactic, the new pokémon were not my favorites, probably the least changes and new mechanics from the last gen, and not very memorable in general, save for a few select moments and locations.
Note: From here on, I have not played any games from these generations, so that may have biased me, but I don't see any reason to change my mind.
5. Gen I: Fresh game, new ideas, some amazing pokémon, and just a pretty awesome design in general. However, the ideas may have been good but the game was broken, too many bugs to list, horribly unbalanced gameplay and illogical battle mechanics, creator of genwunners, some horrible pokémon, and many more flaws
6. Gen II: Addition of steel and dark types, much better gameplay and balance, large overworld/postgame, really cleaned up after Gen I, and added so many needed features to make the game more enjoyable. It was not very special otherwise, mostly had just 'meh' pokémon, and it has received probably the least attention compared to all the other generations.

And one last note, don't be afraid to disagree with me or anyone else. In fact, I would prefer that you disagree with me! I love seeing other people's viewpoints!

 

[PKMudkip]

Favorite: Gen III
Not only was there Mudkip, but the Pokemon were pretty cool and in COLOR!!!! The legendaries had nice designs and they AI rival was really decent (OPINION) I didn't like the teams (Aqua and Magma) as their plans were stupid and flawed. The score was okay but too many trumpets (OPINION)

Least Favorite: Gen II
The starters sucked coffcoffcoffcoff (OPINION), the game play was exactly the same as Gen I and the day night thing was stupid (OPINION)

 

[Teran]

1. Gen V: Best story,

This opinion hurts my soul

 

[Muskrat Catcher]

This opinion hurts my soul

Perhaps I should elaborate. I can understand why people could disagree. There certainly are flaws with the story and clichés, but no other pokémon game really came close to the depth and complexity of this story. Let's start with N. He was basically brought up to be a tool, a mean for Ghetsis to achieve his goal. He was chosen to be the defender of truth/ideals, depending on the game you had, and Ghetsis brought him up specifically to be chosen by Reishram/Zekrom so that he could harness the power of those pokémon for his needs. Already right there, that is a much darker and twisted plot for pokémon to take for your rival from the evil pokémon team, rather than the typical "I will take over the world" or "I will be better than you" motives. N thought he was doing the right thing, he thought he was doing a favor to all pokémon, like an abolitionist felt towards slavery, so when he found out that he was lied to his entire life, that he was used, he must have been crushed! His entire life was a lie! Other than N or team plasma, the plot with your friends was also great. The moment when Bianca has to stand up to her father who tried to take her home was really touching, especially since up until then she was pretty timid. She fought for her independence, and started her transformation which eventually led up to her achieving her dreams as seen in Black2/White2 where she becomes the pokémon professor. I thought that was really cool. On the flip side, you had your competitive rival Cheren who taught the (somewhat cheesy) message that pokémon isn't completely about being the very best like no one ever was, and trying to take the quick and easy way to the top is irresponsible in the long run. Gen V just did something with the actual storyline that no other game came close to doing in my opinion, since it actually had depth, complexity, and it made you think rather than spoonfeed you the plot. N, Cheren, and Bianca were all characters that left an impression on me, and actually had a personality rather than the bland, childish personalities of the other games. That is why I think the story was the best.

 

[Depressed Gengar]

4: Physical and Special attacks actually exist. Gen 2 remakes, aka the best games throughout the entire franchise. Some of the hardest Gym Leaders throughout Pokémon history. I could go on and on.
6: Megas are really neat (admittedly, far from perfect, but neat). My biggest complaint is mostly which Pokémon got them (LOOKING RIGHT AT YOU, GARCHOMP) when others (BUTTERFREE) need them more. Customization, despite needing more work, is a legit thing now. Greninja and Hawlucha are just plain amazing.
3: Also had some rather memorably tough leaders, as well as the rival battle beneath Cycling Road. Diving was a neat new concept that I wish could be used in more places. Hoenn itself felt like the most vibrant of all regions, what with its desert, volcano, many islands, abandoned ship, and even a city inside an extinct volcano.
2: Patching up Gen 1's broken mechanics, OP Psychic type, and what not, it was essentially a much better version of the previous games. But now it just feels outdated. Oh well, Gen 2 remakes exist.
5: Wow, a gen that actually has plenty of notable flaws, aside from Gen 1. Let's just start with the fact that there were no legitimate trainer rematches outside of those stadiums. Now, let's just bring up the fact that rotation battles exist, which are just annoying at best. The region was barren. Some of the Pokémon were the worst I've ever seen (Deino line in particular, though there's a bunch more). And the worst of all, no Pokémon pre-Gen 5 before Post-Game, which was easily one of the worst mistakes in the entire series, hands down. Eh, at least there was Triple Battles, Sandile line, and a few other things as far as positives go.
1: Team Rocket was the best thing about these games. Nothing else to say.

 

[Heroine of Winds]

Best Pokemon generation:

Gen 2 for me. It improved a lot of things from Gen 1 and the best part about it was going back to Kanto after beating the Johto League. I thought it offered a lot more content compared to Gen 1.

Worst Pokemon generation:

Gen 4 because it's probably the most slowest game in the series. And it interested me less compared to other generations.

 

[LunarWingCloud]

I liked Gen V since it took the great foundation of tweaking that Gen IV did and just polished it up. It also added a really great story and a clean, lush region, Unova is my second favorite region, next to Kanto.

 

[Rick Sure]

Gen IV was probably the Generation that had the best change(physical/special split)and while D&P had slow pacing, Platinum fixed that. Now Platinum is my favorite Pokemon game. Also, Gen II remakes.

 

[Sir Gengar de Èctoplasma]

Gen I

Spoiler

+ First generation
+ Team Rocket
- OP Psychic
- Sprites were ugly in some versions of Red and Blue (Japanese?)
- Bugs (not the type) and glitches
- Introduction of trade evolutions

Gen II

Spoiler

+ Psychic was no longer OP
+ Dark and Steel
+ Fixed broken mechanics from gen 1
+ Breeding
+ Day and night cycle
+ Postgame
+ Berries
+ Friendship
+ Genders
+ New evolutions to existing Pokemon
+ Introduction of female player character
+ Shiny Pokemon
- Useless baby Pokemon
- Too much HMs
- Most new balls are useless (Moon, Love and Fast Balls)
- Glitches

Gen III

Spoiler

+ New villanous teams
+ Diving
+ Double battles
+ Abilities
+ Natures
+ Introduction of remakes
+ Introduction of Pokemon Mystery Dungeon
+ Battle Frontier
- Removal of day and night cycle
- Bland rival
- Too much water HMs
- More baby Pokemon

Gen IV

Spoiler

+ First generation I played (bias)
+ More new evolutions to existing Pokemon
+ Return of day and night cycle
+ Dusk and Quick Balls
+ Physical and Special attacks
+- GTS (easier to trade, people asking legendaries for everything)
- More baby Pokemon
- Too much HMs
- Lack of Fire types in D/P Sinnoh dex
- Not including every new Pokemon in D/P Sinnoh dex

Gen V

Spoiler

+ Many new Pokemon
+ Storyline was good
+ Seasons
+ Poke Mart combined with Pokemon Center
+ Triple Battles
+ Animated sprites for Pokemon
+ Good postgame
+ Good music
+ No more CAPS LOCK Pokemon names
+ Less HMs
+ TMs can be used multiple times
+ Poison doesn't inflict damage outside battle
+ No new baby Pokemon
+ Pokemon World Tournament
+- Only one rod, that is unavaible until postgame
+- Third game being divided to two versions, yet they were better than previous third games
- More (T)rubbish Pokemon than in previous generations
- Rotation battles were annoying
- No remakes
- No Safari Zone
- Gates to Infinity was pretty much worst game of PMD series

Gen VI

Spoiler

+ Fairy types
+ Mega Evolution
+ 3D graphics
+ Pokemon amie
+ Wonder Trade
+ Customization
+ No new baby Pokemon
+ Easier to get shinies
+ Horde battles
+ (ORAS) Soaring
+ (ORAS) Delta Episode
+- Exp. Share giving exp to all party members (leveling up is easier but so is the game)
+- Sky battles were good idea but too limited
+- (ORAS) Safari Zone Pokemon are easier to catch, but it practically lost it's purpose
- Only a few new Pokemon
- Some Pokemon that received megas should have gotten regular evolutions instead
- No more seasons
- Transferring from previous games is no longer free
- (XY) Bad postgame
- (ORAS) Too much HMs
- (ORAS) No customization
- (ORAS) Pokemon Centers and Poke Marts separated again

I guess Gen II and V were the best, while Gen I was the worst.

 

[CptJPuff]

EDIT EDIT:

Looking back at everything, I think Gen 2/1 were the best regions, but Gen 4 had the best Pokemon.

 

[SphericalCrusher]

First gen will always be my favorite. I don't think there is a real "best" though, but 6th gen is really epic as well as 2nd.

 

[ELITEWarri0r115]

Gen 2. (soul silver since that's the only game I played for gen 2) For these reasons:
1) Team Rocket still exists.
2) pokemon can follow you
3) Going between Jhoto AND Kanto.
4) pokemon can follow you
5) the soundtrack
6) pokemon can follow you
7) the gym leaders
8) pokemon can follow you
9) the rival
10) pokemon can follow you
11) the events
12) Po- Did i mention Pokemon can follow you?

 

[Kai_64]

My Favorite: Gen II

I remember playing R/B in '99 and being blown away, then Gen II comes around. Everything about G/S was amazing. The new pokemon where great, Johto is my personal favorite region design wise. I love how well it meshed with R/B as well. I was a direct sequel and I loved it.

Least Favorite: Gen V

I just didn't like it that much. I found it to be the least enjoyable. There were still some cool aspects added, like reusable TMs, the PWT, match making. The region and some of the Pokemon designs I just didn't appeal to me. Keep in mind I actually like the trubish and vanilish lines.

 

[pershona]

Favorite: Gen 5
Has the best story imo, and Black&White 2 also has a great post game
I also like a lot of the Pokemon designs, and small improvments like Reusable TMs just made it an more enjoyable experience.

Least Favorite Gen 6:
Didn't like the story, post game is barely there and the difficulty is a joke. Though i haven't played ORAS yet but i haven't heard good things about it.

 

[TriforceOfAura]

Geez... This is tough. I'd have to say my favorite gen is...
Gen III--Nostalgia mainly. First games I ever played, they, in my opinion, had the second-best roster(Lucario was not among the Gen III roster, so it's automatically below Gen IV roster-wise :3), and were just overflowing with awesome stuff.
Gen V--Not sure why everyone hates on Gen V. By leaps and bounds the best plotline, 3D animations, enhanced graphics, and RESHIRAM! Big dragon of white!
Gen IV--Lucario, enough said.
Gen VI-Mega Lucario, enough said.
Gen II--Only good thing about Gen II was the amazing length of the games.
Gen I--The originals aren't the best.

 

[Dutch Kirby]

This is so hard for me... I'm going to count both anime and games, as well as the Pokemon themselves. Anyways, Gen I, II and III are pretty much tied for me. Gen I started it all and has the best anime seasons, I'd say, while Gen III has the best Pokemon. Gen II balances those things.

Then, Gen IV has decent Pokemon and games, and lackluster anime (but not as bad as Gen V and VI). Most of Gen V's Pokemon just don't appeal to me, so that generation is my least favourite.

 

[ViridianViridi]

My favorite is (incoming flame war):

Generation 5. (Honorable mention goes to Gen 4).

I think Gen V had the best story, the most expansive gameplay, good Pokemon roster, and was just the funnest for me.

Least favorite: Gen I (Dishonorable mention goes to Gen 3).

Meeuurrrgghh, why does this gen get all the attention? The Pokemon roster was bland for the most part (Looking at you and), story and region were bland, and it's way too overrated and shoved down our throats (ESPECIALLY looking at ).

 

[Murlough]

Gen V. The generation with my least favorite starters happens to be my favorite XD. I've heard the game's region was based on America so I'm a bit biased because of that. I thought the story of Black/White was amazing. The only other game to have a decent story imo was the very first. I also love that we have to REAL rivals in the game. Black2/White 2 screwed up a bit (I'm looking at you Hugh...) but even so I think it was downright awesome.

 

[Ryu Shimazu]

I would say Generation III, despite my favorite Pokemon being Tyranitar. My main reasons are:

- It fixed a lot of balance issues
- You could run (If this was added in Gen II, disregard it too lazy to look it up lol)
- Unique Rival Legendaries (They didn't have to have wings, people)
- First Rival Dragon legendary (Sadly, 'Quaza kinda set us up for repeated failures of the Dragon legend spammage)
- Dual type Starters! (Then again, Blaziken's typing is repeated 2-3 gens...)
- Moar non-Dragon Pseudo's (Tyranitar and Metagross are gems, yo)


That being said, when I'm done with some games I've got to go back to ORAS. Gawd.

 

[Elin]

Gen V had the best story, reasonable difficulty, and had likable rivals that weren't Gary Mother****ing Oak.

I personally loved the Pokemon, much more creative than any of the other regions (except you, Trubbish).

Seriously, I don't get the hate it gets from Genwunners.

 

[Deleted member]

My favorite is Generation 2 followed by Generation 1. I've played every single Generation, but the original games on Game Boy tend to, in my opinion, have the best gameplay, characters, pokemon designs, world, and music.

 

[PsychoIncarnate]

The game I put the most time into was Heart Gold/ Soul Silver. Don't remember which one. That was gen 4? Yep, gen IV was my favorite. Diamond/ Pearl/ Platinum were the games I spent the second most time on.

However Gen IV also introduced Stealth Rock, which I REALLY dislike as it started making certain pokemon useless after that point

Gen 1 had a sort of spirit to the game that wasn't really replicated. At least for me

Gen 4
Gen 1
Gen 2
Gen 6
Gen 3
Gen 5

Gen 5 had some cool pokemon. But the game was utterly ruined for my by terrible starter pokemon and horrible experiences playing it.

...Maybe Gen 5 isn't the worst game in the series. It's just the game I had the worst experience playing

 

[Nona]

Opinions ahoy

Gen 3 for Pokemon Colosseum. I love Colosseum's music, and the fact I was playing a former criminal and stole Pokemon from people was fun as heck. Wes has my favorite protag design, even if he looks pretty Yu-Gi-Oh.

Spoiler

And Miror B.

But uh, IV and V were cool. I liked HG/SS's remake of Team Rocket. Proton's booty is top tier, and Black/White had better stories than the previous gens.

 

[TimeChain]

Gen I - Probably my least favorite Generation, but I still like it. I'm glad that it exists because this is the Gen that started it all, but compared to the other gens, its kinda...meh. I mean, its good (Outside the fact that Psychics are OP and its kinda buggy). Just not AS good, y'know? I like the Pokemon and...uh...I like Pikachu. 'Nuff said.

Gen II - Definitely the fan favorite. I don't love it as much as other people, but I still think Gen II is pretty freaking great. It introduced a lot of stuff: Breeding, Genders, new types, berries, friendship and a fantastic postgame. Although, Gen II's lineup of Pokemon are kinda lacking IMO.

Gen III - The Generation I was introduced in. I love the Pokemon, Hoenn was diverse, Team Magma and Aqua are great, Double Battles are cool, Abilities and Natures are cool too, the music is great, and so are Pokemon Contests. Now if only if I had my original cartridge...

Gen IV - Definitely the generation I have the most memories with. I love the Pokemon, the world of Sinnoh, Team Galactic, the fantastic Gen II remakes, and I love the introduction of the Physical and Special attack split. I just kind of wish the game was faster. Oh, and Cynthia is bae.

Gen V - I don't really get why people don't like Gen V. I love it! It's definitely the generation that wanted to stand out the most aesthetically. That includes the people, the Pokemon, the region, the evil organization, the music, and most of all its tone. This is probably my favorite Generation.

Gen VI - Definitely not my favorite Gen, but I still really like it. It introduced Mega Evolution, fairy types, Wonder Trade, Pokemon Amie, an improved Exp. Share, and my favorite Pokemon game (ORAS) which introduced the Delta Episode, Soaring, and an improved PokeNav. This Generation was also pretty fast not just in terms of transportation but processing power as well. Although (and I'm mostly talking about X and Y for the following issues), the Pokemon were kinda lacking, the game, especially with Mega Evolutions and Exp. Shares, is pretty easy, and the story and characters were kinda lacking.

 

[ErenJager]

Generation One was the best hands down.

Without it's success no other generation would have came into existence.

the generation one pokemon movie is the 5th highest grossing anime movie of all time to this day, a feat no other generational movie has done.

generation one also sold the most games/ grossed the most money. (without factoring inflation)

Generation one also didn't have the legion/ grandfathered fandom that later generations have today.

 

[CassandraZD]

I honestly want to say that Generation II is the best one (and to a greater extent the Gen II remakes in Gen IV). These games really brought to me what I was looking for in a Pokemon game, which is the ability to explore this nice, laid back, rural region with lots of caves and stuff to explore. I loved just exploring in this game. There were so many hidden things like the Lapras in Union Cave and neat stuff in the Dark Cave and Mt Mortar, and none of that stuff was even mandatory. There was just so much optional stuff and it was all fun to do. That's the big problem I have with newer Pokemon games because they tend to skimp on that. It's less of an adventure and more of a tour through Disney World. You get these thin, linear routes that connect to a town in a region that's literally a circle (Unova, Kalos, looking at you with your poor region design). It's boring and it's not fun to explore.

Another thing I like a lot about Gen II is that the region has a history. During the game, NPCs will tell you stories about Ho-oh and Lugia and the Burned Tower and how Ho-oh revived Suicune, Raikou and Entei, and how there's a mysterious shrine in Azalea Forest that's home to a time-travelling Pokemon, or how the Lake of Rage is home to a ton of Gyarados, or that the Sprout Tower is full of monks who train with Bellsprout all day. There's just so much rich backstory and lore to this region that makes it so interesting and alive, and this is something many other Pokemon games lack, especially the newer and more urbanized regions (UNOVA AND KALOS). This game made me realize that a rural region is just so much more interesting and full of life than an urbanized region.

I'd also like to mention that Sinnoh is also a fantastic region for these same reasons. I don't particularly enjoy DPPt much, but I think the Sinnoh region took a page from Johto's book. Sinnoh is loaded with fantastic lore and history, and manages to also have this nice perfect balance between urban and rural areas, and the region itself is also fairly diverse. There are also tons and tons of optional side areas (even after all these years I'm still finding items in Mt Coronet and on routes I've explored countless times). It's just so rich in backstory and content that it's just a straight up good region. Also, there's the side story with Arceus that ties Johto and Sinnoh together. Truly fantastic.

I would have included Kalos as a good region for lore and region backstory, but all the lore tends to only pertain to legendary Pokemon, not giving insight or info on the history of the region itself, only history on how the legendary Pokemon affected the region. Aside from that you just get obvious clues such as "in the center of town is a big pink crystal." It's really lackluster in the information it gives you on the region, and that makes it fairly boring.

Unova has this issue as well but it's worse. You don't even get that much information on anything. Due to the fact that the region is so urbanized, it could be assumed that all the history of the region was torn down and replaces with cities. Sure there are ruins north of Castelia City, but they're fairly insignificant and they have no explanation. There's also the relic ruins under the sea that also have no real explanation. I'd go so far as to say that this is simply laziness, and it renders these areas completely void of interest at all.

Now so far I've managed to avoid Hoenn because that one's a bit complex and difficult to discuss. Certain areas have backstories while others don't. Some areas are simply interesting in their geography, such as Sootopolis or Mossdeep. Hoenn is a crazy can of worms I don't care to open.

Anyways, that's my overly long post on why Gen II is bestest.

Edit
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

I forgot to talk about Kanto.

Like Hoenn, the Kanto region is difficult to talk about. Kanto was the first in the series, so that makes it a bit hard to compare it to other regions. It's flawed, but is that because of poor design or because it was the first?

I'd like to note that the region itself is very well designed. Every area gives you an incentive to return to it. Pallet Town leads you to Cinnabar Island, Viridian City has a the last Gym, Pewter City has the Old Amber, Cerulean City has the Cerulean Cave, Celadon City has the Department Store and Game Corner, every area gives you a reason to go back at least once. The region is also fairly compact, and after you complete Cerulean and Vermillion City, the games gives you the freedom to tackle the rest of the region in just about any way you choose. Take the Cycling Road to Fuschia or take the Rock Tunnel to Lavender? You have options, and that's something the past two generations have failed grossly at. Kalos and Unova are quite literally circles with a little branch leading off. They don't allow you to tackle the region how you please, making your experience less unique to your playstyle.

Kanto also has a little bit of history and lore, but it's almost entirely in regards to Mewtwo (Abandoned Mansion). Kanto really doesn't appear to have much history, though it is a small region and is underdeveloped (compared to Unova and Kalos, and to a lesser extent Sinnoh). In that area, I feel Kanto fails, though that could also be due to it being the first in the series, and nothing had been really established at that point.

 

[Kneutronic]

Well...

I only really got into the Pokemon series during Gen III, so I pretty much skimmed over Gen I and II.

My favorite Gen in the series was probably Gen IV, with Gen III coming a close second.

As stated before, Gen IV had the physical/special split but it also introduced me to some cool Pokemon that are now some of my personal favorites, either by design or by battling prowess, including but not limited to;
Empoleon
Vespiquen
Honchcrow
Garchomp
Palkia
Darkrai

Some of my favorite Pokemon characters also came from this Gen, too:
Team Galactic was a team I wasn't that crazy about, but Cyrus is my 2nd favorite villainous team boss, losing only to Ghetsis.
Fantina, the gym leader of Hearthome City and a French native (in English releases), earned my charm for her personality.
Looker, added into Pokemon Platnum, was another one of my favorites, as well.

Need I also say that some of the music tracks were pretty dang epic. I loved the legendary themes in this game, as well as multiple others.

Plus, this generation exposed me to what Gen II was like; to this day, HeartGold and SoulSilver are my favorite games in the series.

 

[VillageofFitness]

Gen V is a personal favorite, as it provided a ton of additions to Dragon type, a type that I thought was severely understaffed as it were. I like II because it was basically Gen 1 with new Pokemon and balancing mechanics. Anyone who says Gen 1 is the best basically longs for a time where you could Hyper Beam and Earthquake your way to victory with narry a care. There's absolutely nothing wrong with that, but I enjoyed the variety of strategies that came in with Gen II.

 

[Arcturian]

Gen 3 is my favorite. I feel that Kanto and Hoenn are great "companion" regions. Kanto set the standard for Pokemon regions, while Hoenn did its own thing. Also there were very few Gen 1 Pokemon available in Gen 3 until after you get the national dex, and no Gen 3 Pokemon in Kanto until after that. This exclusivity made them feel more unique from one another.