My First Pokémon Game

[Family Computer]

I don't know why, but I have the urge to play a Pokémon game. I have a DS & an SP, so basically any portable game would be fine.

I don't really plan on playing any more than 1 unless I find it remarkable, so maybe keep that in mind.

Which would you recommend & why?

[BetaWolf47]

Well, what are your tastes? If you don't want to play something that's aged, I'd go with Emerald. You could try from the beginning but it might be hard to get over the age if you haven't played them before. You might find the pre-GBA games slow because you never get running shoes.

[MissingNo_1231]

I don't know. Personally I'm not crazy about anything past Yellow.

But I'm somewhat of a Pokemon fanatic when it comes to the first wave. As some of you may have guessed...

[Baloo]

The only ones I liked were Crystal and Yellow generations. The others are meh, especially Ruby and Sapphire.

[Family Computer]

As far as my preferences, I honestly am coming into this with a fresh mind. I don't really have any particular wants other than to have the best experience among the various games.

I just found all the versions somewhat confusing because there are remakes of the older games on advance or ds etc.

So I just want to get some opinions on what the solid game is for someone without pokémon nostalgia or expectations if they were just going to play *1* of the games.

[Jorpho]

Gold and Silver seem to be particularly popular, so you might as well wait until the DS remakes emerge.

[Family Computer]

I can read Japanese so I could just buy the import of Heart Gold or Heart Silver.

[Baloo]

I think Heart Gold and Soul Silver would be remakes akin to Firered and Leafgreen.

Graphics and style in the Diamond/Pearl look but with Gold/Silver gameplay..?

Meh, get Crystal, then Heart Gold or Soul Silver if you like it enough.

[Game Freak]

I don't know. Personally I'm not crazy about anything past Yellow.

But I'm somewhat of a Pokemon fanatic when it comes to the first wave. As some of you may have guessed...

I too am a Pokemon fanatic. I grab pretty much anything i see from the first two generations, as those were a memorable part of my childhood and i'd like to preserve that rather than let it go to the trash.

I personally loved Crystal. I suggest that it is the best pokemon game in the RPG franchise. It had all the stuff that made Gold and Silver great, then added more on top of it, including the first iteration of the Battle Tower. Sure you couldn't run. But you still had the bike. That's good enough, right?

My second favorite is probably Sapphire. Emerald is just as good I guess, but it seemed to confuse things a little bit more than they should be. Idunno, that's just how i felt. Perhaps you'll think different.

Thirdly, i hate, just HATE, Diamond/Pearl/Platinum. It bastardizes the franchise, way overgoes the concept of new pokemon, and ruined the general feel of the game for me. They fucked with the first generation and gave them all evos and baby forms! then they have the gall to turn the map into pseudo-3D. Also, the names of the new pokemon are almost impossible to memorize, they're mostly crap names, and they look like someone took an animal and slapped spikes/other weird appendages onto them.

As far as spinoffs go, I recommend either a game from the first Pokemon Mystery Dungeon (red/blue) or Pokemon Pinball. If you have a Game Boy Player i'd get the Ruby and Sapphire one. If not, go for the original. Both are great games, and I loved how the first had the build in rumble.

If you're looking for a console spinoff, I recommend either Pokemon Snap, Pokemon Stadium 2, or Pokemon Colosseum/XD. All are equally good, though Stadium 2 never seemed as fun without friends. Also, Snap is rather short.

[Family Computer]

Thanks for all the replies.

I am not looking to play any spinoff games, but thank you for giving some of the details.

It looks like the best choices are either Pokémon Crystal for GBC or Japanese Pokémon HeartGold/SoulSilver for DS.

[Jorpho]

I can read Japanese so I could just buy the import of Heart Gold or Heart Silver.Or you could wait a little while and purchase it at a substantially lower price. :p

[Archangel]

I remember when I had all 3 original games when I was a kid. I gave my red to someone in middle school for glitch research, the yellow I gave to a friend as a gift, and I still own my blue cart but its MIA with my atomic purple GBC...

I also remember at the same time a privately owned rental store had obtained Gold and Silver imported, on the schoolyard it was a rumor until i went to check it out. They did in fact have it and I rented it but I had no idea what I was doing half the time since it was all japanese.

I had not bothered playing any gen past until Platinum, when a few friends showed me all the new things you can do with trading and battling through wifi. I remember how it used to be with using a link cable and the game to do anything with anyone but being able to battle and trade with anyone in the world it really caught my interest enough to buy and play it. Its really good and greatly improved from the era I was from.

Simply said, if you want a game with a lot of multiplayer ability which you can always get access to, then the current gen is for you. I would say wait for the G/S remakes since they basically hold the best of both worlds...

[calthaer]

I haven't played them yet, but I'm going to guess that the Gold / Silver "remakes" will be the best bet. The DS games change quite a bit from the GBA games, it's true, but IMO not all the changes are negative, and most (like the world-wide WiFi trading / battling that Archangel mentions) are extremely positive.

I, too, am a bit nostalgic for the old GB / GBC games, but although I pop them in and play them a bit now and again, they just don't hold up. Newer games make it so much more convenient to organize, train, and just have fun with the game - you're no longer struggling against the interface; knowing what to do and where you stand and how powerful your guys are becomes a much simpler process. The DS especially...just the addition of a clock to your inventory makes all the difference, as some Pokemon come out at particular times in the day. Even the GBA games, some of which have a clock, don't let you take one with you - I'm always guessing what time it is exactly (since the clock doesn't adjust itself for daylight savings).

Gold and Silver are remembered as some of the best games of the franchise because they took the very good original formula for the games, which were classics in their own right, and added some really amazing, really fun new features - making them outstandingly excellent.

I think it's much like when Super Mario Bros. 3 took the formula of the original Super Mario Bros. and really added a lot of amazing features, like new suits, new versions of enemies, and all the things fans could have ever wanted to make the original classic ten times better. Then came Super Mario World, which...OK, it's a really good game - and the graphics were better, and it's extremely cool, but...somehow for many fans (like me) it just didn't have the magic that SMB3 held.

Pokemon games post-Gold/Silver are basically SMW / New Super Mario Bros and such. They are great games, and really if you take them on their own merits they are improvements over the originals. But the leap forward that SMB3 was over its predecessors will always be remembered by the original fans as something truly special. So as someone new to the franchise, you will probably really enjoy the Gold / Silver remakes, which is like taking the original SMB3 and adding a bunch of graphics and features from New Super Mario Bros in it. You will really be getting a good game experience and will likely enjoy it.

[Blitzwing256]

Start at the beginning.

firered and leafgreen are well done remakes of the first wave of games (minus the abortion we call yellow) it will introduce you to the charecters and gameplay but with the advantage of a better interface and more options then the original games, plus lots and lots of extra stuff to do once you beat what was the original game. as a bonus if you do get into the games you can transfer your pokemon from fire/leaf all the way through all of the newer games (diamond pearl platinum etc etc) something you can't do with the older gbc games now.

[HYB]

I would recommend Gold/Silver, and especially Crystal. Or the new remakes, which I'm really excited about.

Then again, what made pokemon games so great for me is I played them a lot when I was growing up. It adds to the experience if you've played Red, Blue or Yellow first, since way back then it was awesome when you could go back to Kanto. Too bad in later games you can't, which is why I was so disappointed it the 3rd gen, which is my least favorite. So at least you should try Firered or Leafgreen if the older games don't please you. I've been playing Platinum lately, and I really enjoy the Diamond, Pearl, Platinum gen.

[alexander4488]

I recommend Pokemon Yellow; My first Pokemon game, because it is the one that is closest to the cartoon. Of course, that only matters if you're a big fan of the cartoon as I was. Nevertheless, Pikachu follows you and there's also Team Rocket, so that's also cool. Not a big fan of the newer Pokemon. I think they've over done it now and the new Pokemon look weird and way too robotic.

[MissingNo_1231]

I recommend Pokemon Yellow; My first Pokemon game, because it is the one that is closest to the cartoon. Of course, that only matters if you're a big fan of the cartoon as I was. Nevertheless, Pikachu follows you and there's also Team Rocket, so that's also cool. Not a big fan of the newer Pokemon. I think they've over done it now and the new Pokemon look weird and way too robotic.

except for preferring Blue, I agree with you 100%.

It's like Pokemon went through a kind of art deco movement or something.

[alec006]

Just wait till they add the new 100 or so Pokemon,great huh,I miss the old days of 150 where no one knew about Mew. Anyway I do recomend getting either one of the original games or one of the second generation games.

The first gen of course have that nice old feeling of nostalgia,when Pokemon was the big thing at the time and everyone bought a gameboy to play it and link up with their friends and battle using a link cable,not this wifi thing we have now days. Hearing that ole Pallet town theme,going through the Viridian Forest, getting stuck in Rock Tunnel....UGH,I HATE THAT TUNNEL who wants to go back to get HM05 seriously. And lets not forget the Missingno glitch,I mean seeing something like that makes you wonder,if the programmers did it on purpose,hey look its the man on top of Blaines gym,and that bug catcher that yells "YOUR NOT WEARING SHORTS!" great way to start out.

Crystal is the best bet if you want to play right now because it is the longest Pokemon game yet having the Johto and Kanto regions and 251 obtainable Pokemon which does take awile if you do it legit. Heartgold & Soulsilver of course coming out sometime in Spring 2010 in the US will be I belive amazing,I mean,you have the option of playing the old gameboy soundtracks if your that much of a Poke'Manic!

The third gen games, not including Firered or Leafgreen, are to me,confusing as hell, and have not much appeal to them at all,I mean they are abit fun,just,well confusing.

Then the fourth gen,ill admit the only reason I got back into the games is because of Hikari,yea the creators are finally appealing to the anime otaku with that damn short skirt of hers, anyway, I do agree with Game Freak, it is hard to remember what the damn names are,and as the Hoenn Region in the third gen games,the damn map is all over the place,where the hell am I supposed to go?! The third game is the worse when it came to it,but this one at least cleans up the confusingness abit,but not much.

Seriously,what ever happend to going from Pallet to the next town,through a cave and to the next town,not oh lets go right,no left and sail to this island,then up to this city down to this route left thru this house right down the mountain up through a sandstorm down to the volcano, knock it the hell off,im confused where do I go, bullshit,the map doesnt help at all!!

So yea,there ya go,I do own most all the Pokemon games out there,but if you really want to laugh your ass off and get a headache doing it,get Hey You Pikachu for the N64,youl thank me later *sarcasm*

[TheGam3r]

take Pokemon Silver and trust me it's the best of the 8-bit pokemon games.That's the version that started me off on pokemon games and this game will be your starting point


and also Firered/Leafgreen

[Cryomancer]

Fire Red or Leaf Green for sure. That way you are pretty much playing the first games, but with a good interface and the abilkity to trade your work "further up" into the current generation if you decide you like the game.

Diamond/Pearl are so slow I can hardly play them. FR/LG got it perfect far as I'm concerned.

[Archangel]

Just wait till they add the new 100 or so Pokemon,great huh,I miss the old days of 150 where no one knew about Mew. Anyway I do recomend getting either one of the original games or one of the second generation games.

I am sure that there is not going to be anymore after the 493 that exist. I mean they ended the count at what is the literal "god" pokemon with a Multitype ability. Going beyond that would take some very good creativity.

The only way they will ever come out with anything after is if they jump the story to be in space and have the ability to find new and unexplored areas for space pokemon (I know that sounds cheesy) which might be slightly interesting going by the old myth of them coming from space.

Or the more proactive and best way is to come out with a game that will have all 493 pokemon, and all the regions playable in one game. This will not happen unless nintendo increases the storage on their flash carts which might not happen at all for all we know...

[calthaer]

I have to disagree with that one. They're definitely going to add more Pokemon to the roster and make another game. It may not be until Nintendo comes out with a new handheld system - I'm not sure if Nintendo has any plans for anything after the DS? Would be kind of a shame to retire it now; the system still has a lot more good ideas waiting to be developed on it. Maybe they'll have an "advance" version of it like the GBA was a more sophisticated GBC. (edit: didn't see this SD article today: http://games.slashdot.org/story/09/10/28/0239256/Can-Nintendo-Really-Be-Planning-Another-DS-Variant?from=rss)

But I expect a new game 2-3 years after HeartGold / SoulSilver come out...so somewhere around 2012-2013. Ruby and Sapphire came out 3 years after Gold / Silver, and 2 years after Crystal, after the GBA had replaced the GBC. They will include new Pokemon, I'm sure, which as always will be a mix of new species and new evolutions (or pre-evolutions) of old species (Dunsparce has been waiting for an evo for a long time now, and Eevee will probably get maybe Ghost / Bug / Dragon / Fight / Flying / Ground / Poison / Rock / Steel types). There will also be a new way to evolve old guys, maybe combining old methods, like what held item or known move you have while using an evolution stone will do something different. It always seems like they are adding a lot of new guys, but if you take out all of the new evolutions of old guys they put in, the number of new ones is fairly modest. They're also introduced gradually as the game plays out...it's really no more or less difficult or confusing than Red / Blue / Yellow were when they first came out. In fact, it's usually a lot less than the 151 than they put out in that first game. And about 5-10% of each new generation is just the new "starter" guys they put in, and the quality of those guys has been getting better and better as the series goes on.

As for the hyperbolic promo Pokemon that have now reached god-like status (Arceus)...it's always possible that they'll veer off from this current trend of some evil team using an epic Pokemon to wreak worldwide (or universe-wide) havoc and destruction and will go for some other motive behind the team of terrorists in the game (which there will most assuredly be).

It's about time that they create another Colosseum like adventure for a main console, though. Hope that happens. Battle Revolution was gimpy.

[alec006]

Or the more proactive and best way is to come out with a game that will have all 493 pokemon, and all the regions playable in one game. This will not happen unless nintendo increases the storage on their flash carts which might not happen at all for all we know...

Now that would be a game I would love to play,start in Pallet town and work your way up through all the regions,including the Orange Islands (hell why not). Just think,the longest Pokemon RPG ever,damn that would take some time to play but it would sure be a hell of alot of fun,just,your pokemon would seriously be level 100 by the time you got to Johto anyway so,how would they handle that....maybe new starters for each region you go to and you can only use certain Pokemon in one region,or I don't know,it would be an interesting thing to see.

There's also the possibility of that idea in a console version,it would have the charm of the handheld games,only instead you play it on your TV. The Wii sure would make some great environments for the world of Pokemon, I mean,wow seeing Saffron City and Sabrina in 3D or even 2.5D for that matter....hehe,ow the endless fun.

[Rickstilwell1]

I'm a bigger fan of Pokemon Red and Blue for being less complex than the rest. Less Pokemon needed to get them all makes it so much easier.

With Diamond I said no way in hell am I going to get all 493 Pokemon the legit way. I don't have that kind of time to put into the game so I just used action replay so I could take my pick of who I want to use any time in the game. When I get Pearl and play it I'll just play it the legit way and see how much harder it is to get through the trainers by finding Pokemon that are the right type.

To me, 493 characters to try and get is a bit excessive. I am happy that they are all possible to get though. If they had scrapped all old Pokemon each generation the games would have been easier, but at the same time they would have been less friendly to get into if you had no characters you were a fan of.

[Cryomancer]

Technicaly you don't need to get them at all. The mission is to complete the regional pokedex, and for that you only need to see them once. Playing through the game's storyline will get you easily over half of them just from random encounters and trainer battles. Beyond that, completing the pokedex is even optional unless you want to get the national dex, which would then open it up the the full 49X. So it's your choice if you want to do it or not, and even if you decide you want to, the game only cares if you do that region's worth. Completing the whole thing doesn't give you much most the time, although I've not bothered to do it in Platinum so who knows there.

[calthaer]

On top of that, you can import your guys from other regions, meaning that if you completed the Pokedex in the other games, it shouldn't be too difficult to complete it in the game with 493, either.

And it was my experience that battling every trainer throughout the game will actually get 100% of the Pokedex apart from the legendary catches at the end of the game.