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Recommend me just ONE Pokemon game
- Thread starter DGrayson
- Start date
solid advice, but remember to add the warning, there will be dong chariots
01011001
Banned
you can play literally every Pokemon game on the big screen... and I'm not only talking about emulation here. you can play every GameBoy game using officially released hardware like the Super Gameboy, Super Gameboy 2, the N64 Transfer Pack or the GameCube Gameboy Player.
and all the newer ones are of course... emulatable
jigglet
Banned
What about the DS / 3DS games?
And I just read he doesn't even have a Switch, which would seem the most likely console you'd have if you want to play Nintendo games. If he doesn't have a Switch I doubt he's going to be battling collectors on eBay to pickup a Super Gameboy or Gameboy Player.
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01011001
Banned
like I said not only emulation, but for those... you gotta emulate yeah.
but the Wii U can emulate DS pretty nicely for example, because it has an official emulator that you can inject roms into
GreatnessRD
Member
Pokemon Gold (2000 version)
Can't attest to these hippy versions of later years.
Can't attest to these hippy versions of later years.
killatopak
Member
Any form of Silver and Gold.
S
SpongebobSquaredance
Unconfirmed Member
this is the only right answer. best gen, great remake.
It's almost impossible for me to remove the nostalgia I have for the original release of these, but IMO Gold/Silver are still the quintessential Pokemon experience and the DS remakes are a great way to play them.
IMO Jhoto and Kanto are still some of the best regions and the number of Pokemon was still low enough that the designs are consistently good (for the most part). I also appreciate how they were still mostly light on story as opposed to some of the newer games which make you sit through their awful storylines.
With that said some of the newer titles have some welcome quality of life improvements like no random encounters and no need for HM slaves (essentially a pokemon you have to keep around because it has many needed traversal skills)
Gonpachiro Kamaboko
Member
plus some of the .rom hacks are the best games in the series to me
Soodanim
Gold Member
I don't know how much you know, so to give you a brief rundown of major changes in the series:
GB(C)
If you can't play a ROM hack: Black/White (maybe 2, I haven't played it but it's allegedly one of if not the best in the series)
If you can play a ROM hack, I'd go with Gen 3 or Gen 5:
Gen 3 hack: https://www.romhacking.net/hacks/1991/
Gen 5 hack: https://www.romhacking.net/hacks/4575/
Edit: originally put the wrong link for Gen 3 hack, instead putting a link to a Fire Red hack
GB(C)
- Gen 1 - Green/Red/Blue/Yellow
- Very buggy
- No need to play these
- Very buggy
- Gen 2 - Gold/Silver/Crystal
- Adds Dark and Steel types, balancing the types and giving variety
- Post-game includes the entire first game's map
- Gen 3 - Ruby/Sapphire/Emerald
- Adds Abilities: innate perks that have some sort of effect (stronger punch moves, faster in rain, etc)
- Gen 1 - Fire Red/Leaf Green
- Remake of the originals with upgrades up to that point
- Gen 4 - Diamond/Pearl/Platinum (DS)
- Touch screen menus (not forced)
- Attacks are now clearly either Physical or Special (or other) as well as their given type
- Gen 2 - Heart Gold/Soul Silver (DS)
- Again, remakes with upgrades
- Lots of post-game content, including legendaries from other generations
- Gen 5 - Black/White (DS)
- No old monsters until you finish the main game. Probably less novelty there to a newcomer.
- Reusable TMs, which is a fantastic change
- Gen 5 - Black 2/White 2 (DS)
- Includes Easy and Challenge modes
- More regional Pokemon than BW1
- Gen 6 - X/Y
- 3D, for better or worse
- Adds the Fairy type
- Adds Mega evolutions: temporary bonus evolutions limited to certain pokemon, and only one per trainer per battle
- Gen 3 - Alpha Ruby/Omega Sapphire
- Another remake, but their remakes are all good
- A lot of post-game content, you'll see more legendaries than you know what to do with
- Gen 7 - Sun/Moon
- I hope you like low framerates
- Classic 8 gym system replaced entirely with each island having a trial
- Post-game has lots of strange, other dimension pokemon
- Ditches Mega Evolution (a common theme with this series, good ideas are often abandoned)
- Adds Z Moves: instead of upgrading a pokemon, you upgrade a move once per battle
- Gen 7 - Ultra Sun/Moon
- I dunno, S/M was not good so I quit the series
If it's an option available to you, will be the route I recommend. ROM hacks give you QoL upgrades the main series sometimes never got, and remove the duality of two games and everything that comes with that (like trading to evolve).
If you can't play a ROM hack: Black/White (maybe 2, I haven't played it but it's allegedly one of if not the best in the series)
If you can play a ROM hack, I'd go with Gen 3 or Gen 5:
Gen 3 hack: https://www.romhacking.net/hacks/1991/
Gen 5 hack: https://www.romhacking.net/hacks/4575/
Edit: originally put the wrong link for Gen 3 hack, instead putting a link to a Fire Red hack
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Spaceman292
Banned
Colosseum is the coolest, but other than that they're all basically the same. The older ones have fewer annoying characters and tutorials.
S
SpongebobSquaredance
Unconfirmed Member
Colosseum has a great soundtrack and an interesting plot for a Pokemon game, but no routes and being so repetitive brings it down considerably.
Party McHardy
Member
One of the better spin-offs and it deserves a sequel.
CuteFaceJay
Member
Legitimately I would say try either Omega Ruby and Alpha Sapphire OR Heart Gold Soul Silver.
These games are a full package with good features and are seen as some of the most peak Pokemon has been in terms of Game quality.
These games are a full package with good features and are seen as some of the most peak Pokemon has been in terms of Game quality.
Ikutachi
Member
I’m a big advocator for playing the originals. Crystal is nice for the extra detail of Pokemon showing animation in battles.
Kiddo Cabbusses
Member
I thought people hated it because Dynamax was a busted mechanic on-tier with Gen 1 Psychic type and Gen 1 favorites were effectively made paid DLC.
Kamina
Golden Boy
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ResurrectedContrarian
Suffers with mild autism
Finally, a man of taste. I made the same recommendation on the first page of thread.
I just don't get the interest in traditional pokemon games, but the TGC deck building & card battles are fantastic and full of strategic options / replayability.
tkscz
Member
Heart Gold or Soul Silver.
Silver and Gold were meant to be the LAST pokemon games before it blew up in popularity. These two were the only ones, in my opinion, that felt like sequels. You get a main campaign PLUS an addition romp through the lands of the first gen games (Red, Blue, Green, Yellow) with a secret boss at the end. You get the re-challenge trainers for extra XP and money. Multiple pokeball selection and just enough pokemon to not feel overwhelmed. HG and SS just add additional gameplay elements that had been added to the games up to that point (abilities, mini-games etc...). You can play either one of those two and be done honestly.
Silver and Gold were meant to be the LAST pokemon games before it blew up in popularity. These two were the only ones, in my opinion, that felt like sequels. You get a main campaign PLUS an addition romp through the lands of the first gen games (Red, Blue, Green, Yellow) with a secret boss at the end. You get the re-challenge trainers for extra XP and money. Multiple pokeball selection and just enough pokemon to not feel overwhelmed. HG and SS just add additional gameplay elements that had been added to the games up to that point (abilities, mini-games etc...). You can play either one of those two and be done honestly.
Bridges
Member
Black/White for the DS for sure.
Last game in the series before they introduced party-wide XP share and made the game on permanent easy mode. Completely original pokedex for the first and only time since the original game, lots of stuff to do in the post-game, arguably the best story in the series (though you shouldn't be playing these games for the story or you will be disappointed regardless), lots of interesting mechanics that never really returned like rotation battles... It's my personal favorite in the series and feels like the last truly great entry imo.
Barring that, can't go wrong with FireRed/LeafGreen on the Gameboy Advance. They're the superior remakes of the original (though LGP/LGE are fun in their own right) and give you a good sense of why people care about these games in the first place.
Last game in the series before they introduced party-wide XP share and made the game on permanent easy mode. Completely original pokedex for the first and only time since the original game, lots of stuff to do in the post-game, arguably the best story in the series (though you shouldn't be playing these games for the story or you will be disappointed regardless), lots of interesting mechanics that never really returned like rotation battles... It's my personal favorite in the series and feels like the last truly great entry imo.
Barring that, can't go wrong with FireRed/LeafGreen on the Gameboy Advance. They're the superior remakes of the original (though LGP/LGE are fun in their own right) and give you a good sense of why people care about these games in the first place.
Soodanim
Gold Member
Despite not recommending them in my post, they're definitely a great choice
