[General Discussion] Best Pokemon Game

I'm interested in trying out the games, since they seem kind of fun, but I don't know which of the thousand games to get. For those who know, what game(s) (up to 2) should I invest in?

Edit: Also, if I were to get one of the Gameboy ones (Blue, Red, etc), will they be able to play on either my GBA or DS?

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I would say simply get the GBA ones. Maybe Emerald/Sapphire/Ruby and Leaf Green/Fire Red (one of each, cause they are the same game just with different Pokemon). There are some pokemon that can only be gotten through Colosseum, but that game is so slow that you will be bored to tears. I've actually beaten it, but it takes a while. There is that puzzle one that I hear about...so if you like puzzles, maybe you could give that one a go.

Gold/Silver/Crystal are easily the best ones, but they're pretty dated by today's standards, so I would go with the GBA ones. It's up to you though.

And if anything, you could always go to some review site to see if your interest spikes. Or something.

For your edit: You can play the GB/GBC ones only on your GBA, not the DS.

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I trashed my N64 a couple years back since I didn't have a lot of games on it, but my cousin has the Colosseum. One last question: if my cousin has GB Red and Blue, would I be able to battle from the GBA carts?

Thanks!

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No. I don't believe you can transfer from the GB to the GBA (even battles). I was trying to trade my Gold pokemon to my Sapphire, but its not possible. =(

I do have to say that some of the Pokemon Colosseum music is pretty good though. If your cousin has it, you should check it out.

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YELLOW!


EDIT: I like to be able to get the 3 starting Pokemon without driving 3 hours to the nearest kid with a Bulbasaur.

I was speaking idiomatically.

Like SuperDK stated, Gold and Silver are probably the best, but I'd probably either probably pick up Emerald or one of the Fire Red/Leaf Green games. Also, Nintendo is slowly starting to give information on Diamond/Pearl for the DS, and it has been said that you'll be able to transfer Pokemon from Ruby/Sapphire/Emerald/FR/LG to the new games, something you won't be able to do with the older generations.

- WraithTwo -

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I was disappointed at how the GBA versions had pretty much the same graphics as the GBC versions, except maybe the sprites had more color.

Objectively I'd have to say Gold/Silver were the most fun to play.

FELIPE NO

Silver Version has always been a stable favourite of mine, easily justified by the amount of challenge and variety that the game proposes to the player.
I don't even mind the supposedly outdated graphics - and, anyway, the mechanics are solid enough to warrant sufficing entertainment.

So, for my personal advice, go for Gold/Silver. Sapphire is equally fun, although it's considerably shorter and not so ample "geographically".

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Graphics don't matter for me, addiction does: if the game can hold interest for a long time, that's a winner for me.

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Personally, I like the original Blue/Red versions the most. I've always hated how they split special into special defense and special attack in the later versions. That ruined about 90% of my favorite pokemon, making them virtually unusable.

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The future pokemon games (upcoming for DS are Pokemon Pearl and Diamond) are reported to be compatible with the RSE generation of games. I would recommend Leaf Green and Fire Red as well if you aren’t sure about the RSE series. Leaf Green and Fire Red are based on the old RBY versions for GB and GBC. LG and FR I think are compatible with the future generation of pokemon games too.

This thing is sticky, and I don't like it. I don't appreciate it.

Like SuperDK mentioned, the GBA games are the way to go. Don't bother getting Sapphire or Ruby, get Emerald. LeafGreen/FireRed are also excellent choices.

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FR and LG have enhanced graphics and added sidequests, as well as most of the "classic" Pokemons familiar to people who've seen the anime at least once... Emerald has a lot of new Pokemons that are hard to recognize. So give LG/FR a try, if you like it, get Emerald.

I was speaking idiomatically.

Silver/Gold are easily my favorite out of the series. (I've not played either in so long now.) They added so many new and fun things to the game in those versions, features which, as I have seen, remain unsurpassed in ingenuity in latter versions of the game. (Granted, newer games do have neat features; they don't have much on Gold, especially Silver.)

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Originally Posted by SuperDK

No. I don't believe you can transfer from the GB to the GBA (even battles). I was trying to trade my Gold pokemon to my Sapphire, but its not possible. =(

I do have to say that some of the Pokemon Colosseum music is pretty good though. If your cousin has it, you should check it out.

I'm pretty sure there was a time machine you could attain later in the game that allowed you to get all of the older pokemon you had before. I remember doing it in Ruby.

Anyways, personally, I didn't like Gold/Silver as much, as good as they were. I recommend Fire Red or Leaf Green - it's the best of the both worlds - classic world, but new gameplay mechanics (and better graphics).

FELIPE NO

I really enjoyed playing Pokemon Trading Card on GBC, diferent style playing pokemon, but for the regular role game I go with pokemon Fire red.

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No love for Pokemon Snap?

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I love Pokemon Snap!

If you want to get into Pokemon don't even bother with the old GB ones since they aren't compatable with anything and they have remakes that are. Fire Red / Leaf Green are awesome. Get one of those, and one of Sapphire / Ruby (or Emerald, but I don't know anything about that) for the ultimate Pokemon games.

Pokemon Silver is awesome too, but that's useless now. I'd probably buy a remake of that...

Stay far away from Pokemon Colloseum too, the worst game of all time. Pokemon Stadium 1 & especially 2 are much better, but are also useless now. I wish we got a real stadium game on GC :thumbsdown;

There's nowhere I can't reach.

Pokemon Snap was pretty lame, in hindsight. In fact I'm unsure why I even bothered to play it.

They need to only make Pokemon RPGs. All that shit on the side is meh.

This thing is sticky, and I don't like it. I don't appreciate it.

C'mon, you can't say that Pokémon Puzzle League sucked.

But I have to say that the GSC generation was the best. The game had length, depth, and was just fun. I still play my Gold version every now and then. But, after that, a lot of the Pokémon concepts and designs were just plain stupid. =/

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Originally Posted by Akai-chan

No love for Pokemon Snap?

I didn't much like Pokemon Snap either. That is, it was far too short to warrant the $60 or so I had to pay for it back long ago.
Don't get me wrong: it was a challenging game at some times; however, both its shortness--in my opinion--and bad concept (why do I need to take pictures of pokemon while riding in a pre-defined path: the game could have been ten times more interesting if it were done in more of an adventure style) made the experience somewhat subpar.

I was speaking idiomatically.

Defnitely get Gold/Silver. Mainly because you can jouney to both Kanto and Johto, none of the other versions do this. For the GBA system definitely pick up Emerald.

By the way, I loved the old music they used from the Red/Blue series, and listeing to how the music changed as the games progressed. I also loved the remixes they pulled off for the Stadium games.

What kind of toxic man-thing is happening now?

No, purchase Pokemon Emerald. It's the smartest choice out there. Here's why.

A: The game's mechanics have been better fine-tuned. The programmers learned from a few problems in Gold/Silver and even Ruby/Sapphire. The storage system is superior and the battles/graphics are at their best.

B: There's a premium of things to do. Emerald features the usual collecting and battling, but also offers a "theme park" as a reward for reaching the end of your quest. In this park, you'll face a TON of new challenges and earn some excellent rewards. You can't find the park in any other Pokemon game.

C: There's going to be forward compatibility between Emerald and Diamond/Pearl. Unlike the hard work you may put into Gold/Silver, you'll eventually be able to bring your Emerald pokemon into the DS game. I doubt you'll be able to read both the DS and GBA cartridges simultaneously on one machine, but at least the transfer option will exist.

D: Most Pokemon fans have the most current game. If you should happen to find one who wants to battle head-to-head, it does neither of you any good when your Gold/Silver game is incompatible with his/her Ruby or Sapphire cart. To at least allow the possibility of battling anyone, keep yourself current.

Those are 4 good reasons to get Emerald above any other version. If there's a topic I know well, it's Pokemon. (Ask Colonel Skills or Ritley) So please trust my advice, here.

FELIPE NO

Huh, the newer GBA games are way better than the older games. I love the new Pokémon Box and the RUNNING SHOES. I love how you don't have to save every single damn time you changed boxes in the older games. They're also more fun.

Anyway, Puzzle League and Puzzle Challenge are both awesome games as well. Don't let the Pokémon theme fool you. Underneath all that are great puzzle games.

Stay away from the Stadium games unless you actually have people with the GB/A games to battle with. They're useless otherwise. Stadium 2 does have some cool mini-games though, and one of them even starred adorable FURRET!!. I was disappointed that Coloseium(sp?) didn't have any mini-games.

Another great game is Pokémon Pinball Ruby/Sapphire.

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The GBA games aren't better, but they are the smartest choice to buy now. The GBA games are good, but they hold nothing on the old ones.

Jam it back in, in the dark.