Red/Blue
Posted by Fei-on CastorIn my sincere opinion, Red and Blue version are the two best, by far. I think it's lame what the series has become, since then. Red and Blue were very challenging, at some points, and despite the common understanding, not really children's games.
I've played some of the ones after Red and Blue (Gold, Ruby, and I think Crystal), but they fell short. I didn't have fun at all, and simply couldn't get into them the way that I did with Red and Blue.
Posted by Mystic Hero
Quoting Fei-on: In my sincere opinion, Red and Blue version are the two best, by far. I think it's lame what the series has become, since then. Red and Blue were very challenging, at some points, and despite the common understanding, not really children's games.
I've played some of the ones after Red and Blue (Gold, Ruby, and I think Crystal), but they fell short. I didn't have fun at all, and simply couldn't get into them the way that I did with Red and Blue.
When you say "not children's games" I'm assuming you mean the competitive aspect of the game when one must assemble an elite team of six with just the right moves and stats to balance out their fighitng equation right? Becuase to me the game is pretty much straight forward if you aren't one that enjoys some friendly human to human competition now and then. The whole point is to go running around catching Pokemon to fill up your Pokedex. To move on you must beat Gym Leaders and what not to get access to new areas and such. It's pretty much a walk in the park to beat the game. Sure you may run into challenging puzzles, but that is part of the fun. Now the real challenge comes when you want to battle other human players. Now the statistics of the game really come into play when you want to create a killer team that will completely demolish your opponent, and this is assuming you are all at an equal level, lets say 100 for an example. You see, Red and Blue was fun for the adventure of the game and maybe some cable battles, but at that time not much went into cable battles as did the other games.
With that said I can safely say that S/G/C had a lot more to look forward too. Not only was there a new area, but that area we so much loved back in the days of Red and Blue, Kanto, was also available once you beat the Elite Four. The introduction to Pokemon holding items was a new idea that also went into human to human battling, but not much was really thought of it at the time. You had yoru basic stat enhancers and what not and a few that amped up power depending on the type of the Pokemon. True, one had to do a little more thinking to create a powerful team, this played even more into Crystal's Battle Tower which was quite a challenge, I myself never even fully beat it.
R/S was then later introduced with a whole new area, but sadly none of the old areas were available like in S/G/C making the game very short and very easy to run through, more so I thought, than the past Pokemon games. This time more was put into the whole item holding concept in battling and a new set of berries was introduced making you have to think a little harder to get the perfect team ready. If you weren't into Ruby or Saphire for the cable battling part, then it became pretty dull, at least to me. The game was extremely short and the puzzles were rather very easy. The only thing you had left to do after to keep you playing was complete the Dex and come up with that perfect team, if you are competitive like me. Other than that there wasn't much to keep you hooked into that game for too long. It wasn't like the older versions, for me anyway. Pokemon got even more wild with even more outrageous names.
Thusly I can safely say that S/G/C was by far one of the most entertaining out of the set both story wise and in the competitive play aspect of it. You can never replace good old R/B. The classic game that got us all hooked in. Puzzles in there were indeed challenging, more so than what the Pokmeon games of today are. But if you are talking about it not being a real children's game at times, that's where competitve play comes in. Competitive play has grown a lot since and there are much more options now you must think about. Children think it's all about who has the higher level or who has the most level one hundreds, and frankly that's what sets apart the children from the gamers. Gamers know that level doesn't mean **** unless there is a tramendous gap of Pokmeon levels in a battle. If you are off by just a few it is very possable to bring home a win if you know your stuff.
Posted by Fei-on CastorI guess I just have issues when a small, awesome franchise grows into such an oversized deal.
Not just the games, but the whole phenomenon that is Pokemon. The same happened with Final Fantasy, and the games are getting progressively worse, in my estimation.
I don't know. Red and Blue will always be the two that I play most. And I'll almost always start with a Charmander, because he's freaking sick as all heck.
Posted by cool gamer dadAs for the story-line... Well, all of the story lines suck but they're still entertaining. Leaf Green and Fire Red are just remakes of Blue and Red with extra features and new areas to explore, so you should... Check one of them out. :) The reason I enjoyed Red and Blue so much is that it was the first of its kind... even though Leaf Green and Fire Red are definitly the better games, I just didn't enjoy them to the level I enjoyed Red and Blue.
[quote=Fei-on]I guess I just have issues when a small, awesome franchise grows into such an oversized deal.
Not just the games, but the whole phenomenon that is Pokemon. The same happened with Final Fantasy, and the games are getting progressively worse, in my estimation.
I don't know. Red and Blue will always be the two that I play most. And I'll almost always start with a Charmander, because he's freaking sick as all heck.
Charmander was soo hard to start with unless you picked up a Mankey on the way to Brock. :O
I always picked Squrtle. Man I was a noob.
Posted by Fei-on Castor
Quoting Stinger:
Charmander was soo hard to start with unless you picked up a Mankey on the way to Brock. :O
I always picked Squrtle. Man I was a noob.
Well, you can catch a Caterpie and evolve him into a Butterfree, and I believe he learns Confusion at level 11 or 12. That can drop Brock's Geodude and Onyx with little trouble.
Posted by cool gamer dadThat's actually what I did in Yellow where you're stuck with Pikachu. Butterfree worked wonders for the first two badges, then just became useless until Ericka.
Posted by GameMiestroPokemon games have indeed been getting worse throughout the years. The new games just do not have the same "attitude" that the originals had. Even slight changes in the text from the originals to Fire Red and Leaf Green- very obvious if play them side by side- make the games lose their "attitude" that once made them so popular. Notice how Colleseum, the most changed game, is generally regarded as the worst in the series.
Posted by The RipleyWell, the general audience was originally aimed for everyone. It was planned to be like a continuing, surviving series, like mario and zelda, however, the game became such a big deal, that shows, cards, novelties, you name it were made from this. The show developed the idea of the pokemon only knowing how to say their names (like matt daemon in team america). Now its just thought of as a little kids game. Its a shame, it could have been good, but they over did it.
Posted by GameMiestroEven small differences- like changing "Smell ya later, Gramps" to "Goodbye, Grandpa"(or something like that) can make or break a game.
Posted by giminiusFor me, Red and Blue have always held the aura of an unsolved mystery, because of the glitches and the limitations the game imposed.
The makers of the game lost this in the transition to the newer, brighter games. The new ones have more depth and complexity in their battle systems, but the last generations have been lacking in the slightly dark, dangerous aura the first ones had. They are easier to manipulate and have better graphics, but they seem more limited.
Or maybe I'm unique in my opinions here?