Have you played HeartGold/SoulSilver? I also think Gen 2 was peak, and the remakes were incredibly faithful while still adding a ton of content. Plus if you can get a physical copy the Pokewalker was really fun!
Many times. I bought SoulSilver when it was new and got the pokewalker with it. No idea where it is anymore though. I think HGSS are the best ever Pokemon games but unfortunately there’s a lot of bugs with it on emulator for some reason that didn’t exist on cartridge. Every ROM I’ve tried for those games have black spots everywhere and occasional full black screen where you have to save and then restart the “DS” in order to fix it. If you know of a rom for HGSS without bugs that would be awesome.
I still have my original playthrough from 2009 on my cartridge, I don’t want to erase that to make a new save file, which is why I like emulating. The original gen 2 games are clean so I tend to just play those instead, even though I prefer HGSS. GSC are probably my #2.
I’d probably rank them HGSS, GSC, RBY, FRLG, RSE, DPPt, XY, ORAS, B2W2, BW, USUM, SM. I haven’t played anything after that. After Gen 4 is a noticeable drop in quality for me. They’re still good but not nearly as good I’d say. Gen 1-4 was peak. DPPt are still some of my all-time favourite games despite being lower on that list. I’m curious how you’d rank the Pokemon games.
I haven’t played all of them either, and I have played even less of them than you have. I really fell out of love with the series for a while and there are many entries that I started and never finished, latest SM. I never played B2W2 either but its interesting you put it above BW. Maybe I should get on that some day.
Your ranking looks good to me I think from the entries I’ve played, except objectively I think I’d have to rank RBY lower. I love it due to nostalgia but I’m not sure it holds up. Probably would put BW above XY. Would honestly be tempted to rank Crystal separately and put it above GS.
Yeah that’s fair, I just love that RBY is so janky and you can kind of just do whatever in those games. You don’t even need cheats if you want to mess around with the game. You can get a Mew after the first badge, you can walk through walls, duplicate items, all the standard Pokemon cheats you’d usually use a game shark or action replay for, you can just do in those first games with glitches. They definitely do have a lot of problems though. Limited, unorganized bag space is probably my least favourite part of that game. GSC are limited bags too but at least it’s organized.
If you thought BW were alright, B2W2 are basically just improved versions. There’s a different story line and all that but it’s the Emerald of Gen 5 if that makes sense. I’m intrigued you’d rank Crystal higher than GS though. I love all three but Ampharos is basically mandatory in a Johto playthrough for me and she isn’t available at all in Crystal for some reason. No idea why they did that. If we’re breaking up games within a group though Emerald would definitely be higher than RS. Same thing with Platinum above DP.
What makes Ampharos so mandatory? I used it on my first Gold run back in the day but haven’t since I think. Crystal has a bunch of minor improvements that really add up, I think. Enhanced areas, sprites, addition of the move tutor, battle tower, earlier elemental stones, some Pokémon have new moves, overall more catchable Pokémon… It just is the definitive Gen 2 game. I like the story changes as well, bigger emphasis on Suicune and also female protagonist is cool.
Well objectively Ampharos is by far the best electric type in the game if you aren’t using legendaries. Between her stats, move pool, and how early you can get her. There’s also some subjective reasons for me too, she’s one of my favourite Pokémon they’ve ever released. I only usually play Crystal if I’m okay using legendaries for the playthrough and then I’ll hunt for Raiku as early as I can. There’s not many good electric types in Johto unfortunately. The other alternative is getting Kadabra and teaching him thunder punch, but you don’t get STAB and he’s not the most defensive out there. It works but it’s not ideal. You could skip having an electric type on the team altogether but it’s a very valuable type to have. I’m curious what you use instead of Ampharos, if anything.
I like Lanturn, but I’ve also used Electabuzz and Jolteon. Raichu is an option and of course early Raiku. Also used non-STAB electric coverage, in fact back in the day I used Gengar, but these days I don’t have anyone to trade with.
Have you played HeartGold/SoulSilver? I also think Gen 2 was peak, and the remakes were incredibly faithful while still adding a ton of content. Plus if you can get a physical copy the Pokewalker was really fun!
Many times. I bought SoulSilver when it was new and got the pokewalker with it. No idea where it is anymore though. I think HGSS are the best ever Pokemon games but unfortunately there’s a lot of bugs with it on emulator for some reason that didn’t exist on cartridge. Every ROM I’ve tried for those games have black spots everywhere and occasional full black screen where you have to save and then restart the “DS” in order to fix it. If you know of a rom for HGSS without bugs that would be awesome.
Oh weird! I have never played it on emulator as I still have my 3DS and my physical cartridge. That’s a damn shame.
I still have my original playthrough from 2009 on my cartridge, I don’t want to erase that to make a new save file, which is why I like emulating. The original gen 2 games are clean so I tend to just play those instead, even though I prefer HGSS. GSC are probably my #2.
I’d probably rank them HGSS, GSC, RBY, FRLG, RSE, DPPt, XY, ORAS, B2W2, BW, USUM, SM. I haven’t played anything after that. After Gen 4 is a noticeable drop in quality for me. They’re still good but not nearly as good I’d say. Gen 1-4 was peak. DPPt are still some of my all-time favourite games despite being lower on that list. I’m curious how you’d rank the Pokemon games.
I haven’t played all of them either, and I have played even less of them than you have. I really fell out of love with the series for a while and there are many entries that I started and never finished, latest SM. I never played B2W2 either but its interesting you put it above BW. Maybe I should get on that some day.
Your ranking looks good to me I think from the entries I’ve played, except objectively I think I’d have to rank RBY lower. I love it due to nostalgia but I’m not sure it holds up. Probably would put BW above XY. Would honestly be tempted to rank Crystal separately and put it above GS.
Yeah that’s fair, I just love that RBY is so janky and you can kind of just do whatever in those games. You don’t even need cheats if you want to mess around with the game. You can get a Mew after the first badge, you can walk through walls, duplicate items, all the standard Pokemon cheats you’d usually use a game shark or action replay for, you can just do in those first games with glitches. They definitely do have a lot of problems though. Limited, unorganized bag space is probably my least favourite part of that game. GSC are limited bags too but at least it’s organized.
If you thought BW were alright, B2W2 are basically just improved versions. There’s a different story line and all that but it’s the Emerald of Gen 5 if that makes sense. I’m intrigued you’d rank Crystal higher than GS though. I love all three but Ampharos is basically mandatory in a Johto playthrough for me and she isn’t available at all in Crystal for some reason. No idea why they did that. If we’re breaking up games within a group though Emerald would definitely be higher than RS. Same thing with Platinum above DP.
What makes Ampharos so mandatory? I used it on my first Gold run back in the day but haven’t since I think. Crystal has a bunch of minor improvements that really add up, I think. Enhanced areas, sprites, addition of the move tutor, battle tower, earlier elemental stones, some Pokémon have new moves, overall more catchable Pokémon… It just is the definitive Gen 2 game. I like the story changes as well, bigger emphasis on Suicune and also female protagonist is cool.
Well objectively Ampharos is by far the best electric type in the game if you aren’t using legendaries. Between her stats, move pool, and how early you can get her. There’s also some subjective reasons for me too, she’s one of my favourite Pokémon they’ve ever released. I only usually play Crystal if I’m okay using legendaries for the playthrough and then I’ll hunt for Raiku as early as I can. There’s not many good electric types in Johto unfortunately. The other alternative is getting Kadabra and teaching him thunder punch, but you don’t get STAB and he’s not the most defensive out there. It works but it’s not ideal. You could skip having an electric type on the team altogether but it’s a very valuable type to have. I’m curious what you use instead of Ampharos, if anything.
I like Lanturn, but I’ve also used Electabuzz and Jolteon. Raichu is an option and of course early Raiku. Also used non-STAB electric coverage, in fact back in the day I used Gengar, but these days I don’t have anyone to trade with.