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[Kyzer]

The annual self-cataloging of my personal top games is still fresh in my head.

And for the umpteenth time, an entire list of backlogged games has been once again put on hold for another run through of a game I've already beaten.

Why?

Because I love the Pokemon games.

Spoiler

I think Gold/Silver were some of the best games ever created.

Every game is an instant classic, with a familiar formula that is what I believe to be the epitome of the concept, "Easy to learn, Hard to master.".

Where to start?
How about the...

Music

I absolutely love the music in every single entry of the series, and I would foremost want to commend their team on making extremely catchy and memorable tunes. After all, who here doesn't know the Pokemon Center theme? or the Bike Theme?

I would imagine that at least in this aspect, many people will have their specific input to throw down, so here are my two favorite tracks, anyway:
Eterna Forest
Champion/Red

World Design

I love how the world is traversed in a simplified Metroid-esque manner, using HMs to unlock the next level zone that you're supposed to go into. I especially love how the Gyms and puzzles are designed with an easy exit in mind. A lot of people take this for granted in the Pokemon games, but solving a puzzle is stress-free, as you can rest assured that you'll not only be rewarded appropriately(for the most part), but you'll come to realize that everything was designed for you to make your way back out with no effort at all.

The NPCs are interesting, the ambience is great, and the locales vary. It's wonderful.

Art Style
First of all, Ken Sugimori is an amazing artist, and I can't say enough about his work. In fact, so little can I do so, that I won't even try, and I'm pretty much leaving it at that.

I'm a big fan of the art style of the series as we know it, and can't wait to see what directions it'll take from here.


If I Made Gen 5...
I'm sure by now you all know, that there is a lot of speculation being done at the moment as to just when we'll get our reveal of the first 5th Gen Pokemon, and I personally think we're overdue. As a huge Pokemon fanatic, here's what I would love to see as improvements to come:

- Replace HMs with Key Items: (or at least make them tolerable). HMs have become more of a chore than a cool feature, since as time went on moves like Cut weren't exactly a welcome addition to your arsenal as much as they were a limit on your moveset.
-Multiple Save Files: Why should I have to erase everything I've done to play the game another time? I would expect that the extra revenue brought in by the split versions of every game would stop them from ever giving you a way of transferring Pokemon between yourself, but why not give you the option if you're willing to pay for it? Most likely this would be a Wii channel or something, though, sadly.
-More than 4 moves: I understand the entire competitive metagame would be ruined, or whatever, but my solution would entail your Pokemon having, possibly, all of their moves always retained, but you would have to choose your moveset of 4 from a pool, whenever outside of battle of course.
-Pokemon Evolution During Battle: This would add a million more times epicness to the battles of the game. They can already learn moves, why not evolve?
-Revamp the Battle Sprites: I'm so tired of only being appealed by Pokemon when they're not mine. In other words, I hate seeing a Pikachu, thinking, hey, cool, I'll raise one, and then when I see the backsprite, want to stab my eyes out and release the damn thing. Either make good backsprites for once, or ditch the system. Maybe try something like DBZ:AOTS

and idk I'd probably add a bunch of other stuff, but this is a thread I'm making to talk about how much I appreciate this series, so it's good for now.


So, what do you guys like about Pokemon?

 

[Naughtboy]

I can't appreicate a pokemon game anymore until they give us a try console version; it's been over 15 years since Pokemon has been out. All we've got to show for it are like 100 gameboy games and 3-4 shitty n64/gamecube and wii games.

Why don't they just develop the DS version for WII? Once that happens, i can officially say i have become a Nintendo fan again

 

[Kyzer]

I can't appreicate a pokemon game anymore until they give us a try console version; it's been over 15 years since Pokemon has been out. All we've got to show for it are like 100 gameboy games and 3-4 shitty n64/gamecube and wii games.

Why don't they just develop the DS version for WII? Once that happens, i can officially say i have become a Nintendo fan again

Ah, see, I always thought that a console version would be impossible merely because a company like Nintendo is too fiscally conservative to take on a project that big, because of the sheer amount of work it would require.

But then they defied all odds in my head and created little overworld sprites for every Pokemon for HG/SS.

Maybe they're actually gonna use the money they've been making and put in some effort.

 

[Sixfortyfive]

So, what do you guys like about Pokemon?

The ragequits!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qihXo-bFL3c
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9aVCbs18jy4 (check the video description)

I played Red and Blue back when they were all the rage, then skipped pretty much everything up until Diamond/Pearl. I've only recently got into competitive battling and really like the sheer wealth of customization and strategy involved, even though IMO it takes way too much work (or an Action Replay) to make it worthwhile.

 

[Moobabe]

-More than 4 moves: I understand the entire competitive metagame would be ruined, or whatever, but my solution would entail your Pokemon having, possibly, all of their moves always retained, but you would have to choose your moveset of 4 from a pool, whenever outside of battle of course.

This could remedy your HM concern as well. If they have you 6 move slots but 2 can ONLY be filled by HMs?

 

[Segata Sanshiro]

I appreciate the Mystery Dungeon games. Because I like that kind of shit.

 

[Kishgal]

I like Pokemon, conceptually... but when I actually play it, I always get annoyed with only being able to have one pokemon out at a time, and it taking a full turn to switch them out. I would start every battle with one of my weaker pokemon in the fight and switch to my stronger one on the first turn so the weaker one can level up, and it would just get so old after a while. That's probably not the "right way" to play, but I don't know any other way. Still, every time a new one is released, I get it and try again... I wish I could enjoy them!

 

[upandaway]

I honestly have no idea where Pokemon should go in the future. The universe is fleshed out enough that it can be in every form of gameplay invented (or not yet invented).

It seems that it's going in a bit of an Animal Crossing direction, lately, which as far as it has been implemented I like it, but any more actions to do once a day or any events once a year and it will really piss me off. It will be far more tedious than it is now (and Pokemon is still a tedious series, if you want to do anything after beating the E4).


The biggest idea I had for forever is that they should incorporate manual Fly into the series. Like, you actually move in the sky on your Pokemon, and it's an extension of land. There won't be any bullshit like flying cities or anything, but there would be other trainers in the sky and you could engage wild battles, and it would have some sort of grip to it like the Underground in Sinnoh.
As long as the instant movement is kept in a different item or move it should be fine.

 

[Sixfortyfive]

I like Pokemon, conceptually... but when I actually play it, I always get annoyed with only being able to have one pokemon out at a time, and it taking a full turn to switch them out. I would start every battle with one of my weaker pokemon in the fight and switch to my stronger one on the first turn so the weaker one can level up, and it would just get so old after a while. That's probably not the "right way" to play, but I don't know any other way. Still, every time a new one is released, I get it and try again... I wish I could enjoy them!

Well, if you're just talking about the singleplayer quests, there are Exp Share items to take care of that. If your only goal is to cut down on the tedium, though, there's no reason to do anything but just steamroll through the entire game with 2 Pokemon (your starter + one strong guy that cover's your starter's weaknesses). You won't be splitting the Exp between many guys and will therefore be at a high enough level to crush anything before you. The other 4 team slots can be given to HM slaves, eggs, or what have you.

 

[Hawkian]

All pokémon beyond #152 are a sacrilegious abomination of horror and bile.

 

[Sixfortyfive]

It seems that it's going in a bit of an Animal Crossing direction, lately, which as far as it has been implemented I like it, but any more actions to do once a day or any events once a year and it will really piss me off. It will be far more tedious than it is now (and Pokemon is still a tedious series, if you want to do anything after beating the E4).

I have honestly, literally, run out of shit to do in Platinum, and I never thought that would happen. I have every species in the Pokedex. I have every colored print and important milestone (e.g. 100+ wins in the Tower) in the Battle Frontier. I have the black Trainer Card. My starting team of 6 are all at level 100. My Torterra has literally every possible ribbon it could obtain. I have at least one of every berry. The vocabulary guy in the snow village has no more words he can teach me. Pretty much the only thing I have left to do besides train more Pokemon is check the lottery every day, and I usually end up getting a PP Up or Exp Share out of it because I have so many damn unique IDs in my PC (which has almost run out of space now). I guess I could try to collect foreign Pokedex entries, but eh.

HGSS can't come soon enough.

 

[upandaway]

Well, if you're just talking about the singleplayer quests, there are Exp Share items to take care of that. If your only goal is to cut down on the tedium, though, there's no reason to do anything but just steamroll through the entire game with 2 Pokemon (your starter + one strong guy that cover's your starter's weaknesses). You won't be splitting the Exp between many guys and will therefore be at a high enough level to crush anything before you. The other 4 team slots can be given to HM slaves, eggs, or what have you.

But that just makes the single player tedious. It involves no input from you besides exploring routes the width of the DS screen and mashing A once a battle is engaged. The only thing you'd do different in every playthrough is the 2 Pokemon you pick and their attacks, and that's a waste.

I think the best way to play the games is to ignore the flaws of the difficulty and go the full 6 Pokemon. Sure, one or two will take a break once a while to make room for an HM slave, but that only happens when you move from city to city. I basically run away from any trainer that isn't forced on me and usually I end up with just the right levels and attacks to take on everything. The AI is bad enough that even when my whole team was 45 I beat the E4, but it was hard and exciting.

I have honestly, literally, run out of shit to do in Platinum, and I never thought that would happen. I have every species in the Pokedex. I have every colored print and important milestone (e.g. 100+ wins in the Tower) in the Battle Frontier. I have the black Trainer Card. My starting team of 6 are all at level 100. My Torterra has literally every possible ribbon it could obtain. I have at least one of every berry. The vocabulary guy in the snow village has no more words he can teach me. Pretty much the only thing I have left to do besides train more Pokemon is check the lottery every day, and I usually end up getting a PP Up or Exp Share out of it because I have so many damn unique IDs in my PC (which has almost run out of space now). I guess I could try to collect foreign Pokedex entries, but eh.

HGSS can't come soon enough.

Well fuck, you have a lot of time on your hands.
I started Platinum last month in the middle of Crystal and right now I guess I'm trying to have 1 of every single Pokemon (including whole evolutionary chains because OCD).

Did you try any spinoffs or something?

 

[Why would you do that?]

It's funny, I was considering doing a Game Freak appreciation thing at one point (because I just love Pulseman and Drill Dozer), but figured that not enough people would care.

I love the Pokemon games. Oddly, I think Gen 2 is the best, but Gen 1 is my favorite. It has nothing to do with nostalgia, since I played Gen 2 first.

I used to hate Pokemon before I got Pokemon Gold. I was 9, 10 years old, and kids were always talking about it, memorizing the Pokedex. I said that memorizing all of them would waste their brain space and turn their brain to mush. :lol Then I got Gold for Christmas and loved it.

I'm not interested in the metagame or anything like that (I like Pokemon for the single player), and I wasn't too big a fan of the 3rd gen, but I really think the 4th gen was quite good, so I can't wait for the fifth gen.

EDIT: Because of my not wanting to erase my save file, I only played through Gen 2 (Gold) once. I plan on getting the remake to help with that.

 

[sky]

The pokemon games have great atmosphere... the dialog, the overall simplicity, the music... it creates a really fun and humorous setting.
Also, the girls are hawt!

 

[BlueWord]

I can't appreicate a pokemon game anymore until they give us a try console version; it's been over 15 years since Pokemon has been out. All we've got to show for it are like 100 gameboy games and 3-4 shitty n64/gamecube and wii games.

Why don't they just develop the DS version for WII? Once that happens, i can officially say i have become a Nintendo fan again

Why do people even want a console version? Maybe it's just me, but I really don't see what being on a console could add to the experience. Pokemon was designed around portable game systems from the outset; unless a console version really improves the game, somehow, then I'm happy to have them stay on handhelds.

And, just for the record, this franchise is so incredibly awesome. The music, especially, is really wonderful. There are tunes I'll never forget in these games.

 

[Kishgal]

Well, if you're just talking about the singleplayer quests, there are Exp Share items to take care of that. If your only goal is to cut down on the tedium, though, there's no reason to do anything but just steamroll through the entire game with 2 Pokemon (your starter + one strong guy that cover's your starter's weaknesses). You won't be splitting the Exp between many guys and will therefore be at a high enough level to crush anything before you. The other 4 team slots can be given to HM slaves, eggs, or what have you.

Well, I guess that's an idea, but it seems to go against the "catch 'em all" premise. But so do the core mechanics, I think. With so many pokemon to raise, only being able to use one at a time makes the whole thing seem very overwhelming and overly time consuming. :/ I'd like to raise a whole bunch, just not one at a time.

 

[ElFly]

-More than 4 moves: I understand the entire competitive metagame would be ruined, or whatever, but my solution would entail your Pokemon having, possibly, all of their moves always retained, but you would have to choose your moveset of 4 from a pool, whenever outside of battle of course.

Uuugh, no.

It's not only about the competitive metagame, but about having to make the difficult choice of which moves to keep and which ones to forget.

Compare to, say, Final Fantasy 6, where every character can learn every spell, and you'll realize why pokemon is a much more personalized experience.

Personally, I think the game would lose a lot if they added a fifth move. The game would still have worked great with 3 moves. More or less than that, would take away a lot of the charm of the game.

 

[upandaway]

EDIT: Because of my not wanting to erase my save file, I only played through Gen 2 (Gold) once. I plan on getting the remake to help with that.

Holy shit. You don't know how many times I replayed the first 2 games as a kid.

Most of the time it was because my sister dropped my Gameboy while it was playing, and the save got deleted. But I would replay the whole thing again and again, half the times catching them all. There's a ton of variety for the single player with each playthrough because of the different Pokemon you can take.

 

[sky]

I think it's also mentioning how awesome Pokemon Snap was.
Sure, it's a spinoff... but what a cool and fun idea.

 

[Dabookerman]

I love Pokemon because it introduced me to Misty <3

 

[upandaway]

Uuugh, no.

It's not only about the competitive metagame, but about having to make the difficult choice of which moves to keep and which ones to forget.

You know, his idea already exists in the games right now. As long as you have enough heart things, you can always decide which moves to get out of the Levelup pool if you're not in battle.

 

[Naughtboy]

Why do people even want a console version? Maybe it's just me, but I really don't see what being on a console could add to the experience. Pokemon was designed around portable game systems from the outset; unless a console version really improves the game, somehow, then I'm happy to have them stay on handhelds.

And, just for the record, this franchise is so incredibly awesome. The music, especially, is really wonderful. There are tunes I'll never forget in these games.

I don't know, but i thought there was/is so much more than can be done with this franchise. I wouldn't even mind if they used the Coliseum battle engine couped with an excellent rpg over-world. I don't know why it can't be done. Imagine a world where its more than just little tiny sprites. And when you use "Fly," you actually fly on your pokemon etc. Ever since the N64 days i've been craving for a true console version.

They certainly have the resources. Really how expensive are the DS games to make? They sell 5 million copies in mere weeks and make probably over 5xs what they spend on the games, specially when a lot of their stuff is recycled anyway

 

[Sixfortyfive]

But that just makes the single player tedious. It involves no input from you besides exploring routes the width of the DS screen and mashing A once a battle is engaged. The only thing you'd do different in every playthrough is the 2 Pokemon you pick and their attacks, and that's a waste.

I think the best way to play the games is to ignore the flaws of the difficulty and go the full 6 Pokemon. Sure, one or two will take a break once a while to make room for an HM slave, but that only happens when you move from city to city. I basically run away from any trainer that isn't forced on me and usually I end up with just the right levels and attacks to take on everything. The AI is bad enough that even when my whole team was 45 I beat the E4, but it was hard and exciting.

Well the guy I quoted seemed to be saying that he found raising Pokemon to help with the quest to be too tedious.

But I agree with you in general, though. For Platinum, I decided to go the full 6-member route with the following conditions:

- Pokemon introduced in DPPt only.
- Only use Pokemon that are found early in the game, so long as they don't cause type redundancies.
- No HM slaves. Split them evenly between my team.

I ended up with a team of Torterra, Staraptor, Bibarel, Luxray, Kricketune, and Bronzong. I cleared the E4 at about level ~50 and converted my Torterra into a fighter for the Battle Frontier afterward, whom I took with me for the 100-win Battle Tower challenge.

I plan on doing the same for HGSS, only with a party of Johto Pokemon.

Well fuck, you have a lot of time on your hands.

Eh, not really. I just don't play that many other games anymore. Pokemon is a good game to come back to between other major releases for me.

I haven't tried many of the spinoffs. I did rent Pokemon Snap once back in the day and have messed around with Battle Revolution a little bit.

 

[Why would you do that?]

My favorite music from the series:

Gen 4: Battle against rival
Gen 1: Route 4 (Could listen to it for hours somehow)

I also like Gen 1 Indigo Plateau, Gen 2 Dark Cave, Gen 4 trainer battle, Gen 4 Dialga/Palkia Battle, and Platinum Giratina Battle.

Because I guess they're similar, my favorite music from Game Freak period:
Skuller Factory (a little low quality. I uploaded a higher quality one here)

Holy shit. You don't know how many times I replayed the first 2 games as a kid.

Most of the time it was because my sister dropped my Gameboy while it was playing, and the save got deleted. But I would replay the whole thing again and again, half the times catching them all. There's a ton of variety for the single player with each playthrough because of the different Pokemon you can take.

I didn't have many kids to play with (by the time I got interested in Pokemon, I had already switched schools to one where Game Boys weren't allowed anywhere), so I was always trying to add more and more to my Gold Pokedex whenever I had opportunities. I never completed it before my batttery died...

 

[I should be doing hw]

This is more about the anime but still Pokemon related, just read it in another thread and its so awesome that it has to be spread.
In short, the entire anime is a construct of Ash's mind after he gets struck by lightning in the first Season.
http://s2.zetaboards.com/PAWG_Forum/topic/690288/1/
Amazing read if only for all the detail and links made by the author, who ever that is.

On the games:
Only thing I'm not a fan of with the DS games at this point is the shitty 3D they've tacked on to the series. DS can't do 3D so don't try, Pokemon looks amazing in 2D why'd they have to change it. Also, after playing the GBA games on an emulator with speed-up function/frameskipping its almost impossible to go back to the slow as fuck pace of the original games. They need to speed them up, remove the amount of time a battle starts and when you can actually fight.
Finally, make Psychic Pokemon less broken, not sure how though. In every game once you get a Pokemon that knows Psychic its basically a cakewalk afterwards as it rapes everything.

EDIT:
Final note: Old designs for the motherfucking win, or to be more tactful, the old art. The hand drawn designs from Red/Blue and Gold/Silver far outweigh the much less charming, computer drawn designs that now have a shittier animu slant.

 

[tenritsu]

I ended up with a team of Torterra, Staraptor, Bibarel, Luxray, Kricketune, and Bronzong. I cleared the E4 at about level ~50 and converted my Torterra into a fighter for the Battle Frontier afterward, whom I took with me for the 100-win Battle Tower challenge.

I plan on doing the same for HGSS, only with a party of Johto Pokemon.

That'll probably end up being Feraligatar/Typholsion/Meganium, Furret, Ledian/Ariados, Noctowl, Ampharos, and Quagsire.

 

[hirokazu]

I came in to appreciate.

 

[viewtiful_dru]

I like belly drum Charizard, even if he sucks.

 

[EvilMario]

The games themselves are fantastic. Having played through HGSS, it's by far my favorite 'game' in the series. I wish we'd receive a new Pokemon Colosseum/XD game on the Wii, and a REAL Pokemon Stadium/Box. No shittastic-Revolution, thanks.

The metagame has taken a turn for the worst though. The game is more based on entry hazards, and offense than any sort of balance. Stall is more prevalent at higher levels, but only to preserve ladder scores on Shoddy. If they wanted to entirely re-do everything in Generation 5, including move pools, base stats, how battles function, I'd be down. If they just want to add more Pokemon, and more moves though, OKAY. :lol

 

[ElFly]

You know, his idea already exists in the games right now. As long as you have enough heart things, you can always decide which moves to get out of the Levelup pool if you're not in battle.

You still need to keep the four moves per poke. And IIRC the heart scale guy will only make you remember moves that you could get by leveling up. God help you if you delete a tutor/egg/surf pikachu move.

I love the heart scale dude, btw. He rules.

But 5 moves would mean being able to keep an extra move to counter type deficiencies for everyone. It would make every pokemon a lot more flexible, when the great thing is that you need a team to cover for each other.

 

[SolarPowered]

I just recently started playing the platinum version after a hiatus of at least 5 years. I've already put in double the time I spent on CoD4 and I don't see myself stopping any time soon. It felt nearly as good as the first time I booted up red/blue.

That said...
*2 Extra slots only HM purposes
*HM's as key items for anytime HM use with compatible pokemon
*Better sprites and even more expansive worlds
*Tougher difficulty curves
*A fifth move slot would be amazing

I know that this list seems harsh, but I say this as a big fan of the game and it's basic mechanics. A console Pokemon could never come to fruition though. Something like that could rival even WoW

 

[Sixfortyfive]

The metagame has taken a turn for the worst though. The game is more based on entry hazards, and offense than any sort of balance.

This is why I've gotten into double battles a bit more lately. Entry hazards and the fixation on switches/counters aren't nearly as prevalent, though it's often difficult to stall in doubles as well. A lot of times you really have to think and predict your way through a disadvantageous situation instead of just switching out to a counter, and I think I prefer that.

I'm hoping Shoddy Battle 2's inclusion of double battles increases their popularity among the English-speaking community's metagame.

 

[someguyinahat]

I appreciate the Mystery Dungeon games. Because I like that kind of shit.

High five.

I liked the concept of pokemon but I didn't like the "forced multiplayer" - in that in order to catch them all you had to find someone else who had the game and would trade with you. I understand that's done to sell more games through peer pressure, but still, the single player in me was irritated. Heck, the original red and blue were designed that only certain people could actually fill their boxes with them all, as opposed to just see them in the pokedex - trade a Hitmonlee for a Hitmonchan to get both in the dex, but then what? Someone will have to give up their only hitmon to help you.

Enter Mystery Dungeon. You get all the goodness of roguelikes, the fun of playing with up to four pokemon at once, and the chance to catch 'em all by yourself (at least, in Explorers of Sky.) What's not to like?

 

[red shoe paul]

I played Red and Blue back when they were all the rage, then skipped pretty much everything up until Diamond/Pearl. I've only recently got into competitive battling and really like the sheer wealth of customization and strategy involved, even though IMO it takes way too much work (or an Action Replay) to make it worthwhile.

Same here! I skipped everything since Red and now that I have Platinum I've been finishing it up before Soul Silver & Heart Gold. I plan on going to Toy's R' Us tournaments and fucking shit up. :lol

I've supported the series since I was young, and will continue to do so just because of how well it has evolved and how very popular it still is.

 

[viewtiful_dru]

Oh yeah, is Scizor still running shit? I remember him being really good when he got bullet punch.

 

[upandaway]

I've supported the series since I was young, and will continue to do so just because of how well it has evolved and how very popular it still is.

About that, is it really that popular now? Among kids, I mean, I don't see any kid with a DS playing Pokemon anywhere. Sure my country is kind of skewed in these aspects but still, my whole school was about it.

Honestly, it's not as popular now as it was then. I could see a lot of sales are coming from guys like in this thread, fans since the beginning. Pokemon hasn't brought in new people in a while.

 

[Herbspiceguy]

I've only played some of the early Pokemon games; JP Green, US Blue and Gold. I haven't touched any of the GBA or DS games.
I found out early about Pokemon through the internet. Reading about the concept really made me want to play the game. When I was on holiday with my parents in Singapore in late 96 I was able to track down a copy of a Japanese Pokemon Green cart. A wonderful site called Euro-Asia Game Boy (Repository) provided translation walkthroughs and some in depth FAQs. That's how I played through the game. I think this was the only time I ever attempted to finish an untranslated rpg and I really loved every minute of it. Later I would buy the imported American (I live in Euroland) Blue and Gold games.
The upcoming Pokemon Gold will most likely be my return to the series.

 

[Sixfortyfive]

Oh yeah, is Scizor still running shit? I remember him being really good when he got bullet punch.

He's still the most-used in standard play, and top 15 if you include normally-banned legendaries.

About that, is it really that popular now? Among kids, I mean, I don't see any kid with a DS playing Pokemon anywhere. Sure my country is kind of skewed in these aspects but still, my whole school was about it.

Honestly, it's not as popular now as it was then. I could see a lot of sales are coming from guys like in this thread, fans since the beginning. Pokemon hasn't brought in new people in a while.

It still tears up the sales charts, but I have no clue about the demographics. Gabe from Penny Arcade went to a tournament once and was at least double the age of anyone else there.

 

[red shoe paul]

About that, is it really that popular now? Among kids, I mean, I don't see any kid with a DS playing Pokemon anywhere. Sure my country is kind of skewed in these aspects but still, my whole school was about it.

Friends in Japan said it's still really popular, and events are still going on here in America where you get exclusive items, or Pokemon so I assume the following is still big. I'll let you know when I go to an event, hah. :lol

 

[TheOrangeKid007]

All pokémon beyond #152 are a sacrilegious abomination of horror and bile.

Agreed with the exception of Miltank...for some reason I thought that a cow pokemon kicking butt was hilarious. I never really thought of Tauros as a cow.

 

[Segata Sanshiro]

Can't speak for outside Japan, but in Japan... haha, you would never question Pokemon's popularity with kids here. The characters are huge, the merch is huge, and the game is pretty much an instant shut-up button if you need to do some grownup stuff with your kid in tow.

 

[ShinNL]

I love the amount of meta games in Pokémon. But what I always wanted to see since I was a kid (wow, it has been that long) are battles that looked more like the anime. They don't have to remove the pure tactical turn-based aspect of the battle system (replacing it with other kinds of battle system) but at least make misses look like misses and tackles like tackles. My dream of GameFreaks working together with Camelot never came true

That said, they kept a darn good job of keeping sprites still as actual beautiful sprites. That's pretty impressive in a world of Nintendo's ugly 3D rendered sprites.

 

[DryEyeRelief]

- Replace HMs with Key Items: (or at least make them tolerable). HMs have become more of a chore than a cool feature, since as time went on moves like Cut weren't exactly a welcome addition to your arsenal as much as they were a limit on your moveset.

I'd make them items that monsters have to hold so they're still pokemon oriented. That feature doesn't get used nearly enough during the campaign. Make them "weapons" or something.

 

[suikodan]

The first Pokémon game I played was the Yellow version on GBC and I played almost 100hrs in the subway back then.

I do LOVE the core* games, I think they're excellent (if a bit repetitive) but each time I hear the original Pokémon Trainer battle music, I always remember how much I loved playing these games.

I can't wait to play the Gold/Silver that will come out in March, I played them originally on GBC but I'm ready to play it again. I will buy a copy for my nephew as well so we can play together.

*core = the Yellow, Red/Green versions, not stadium or mystery dungeon or any spinoffs

 

[VGChampion]

Pokemon is my favorite gameboy game ever. I've been playing ever since Blue and have picked up almost every copy except for the re-releases. The only one I have is yellow in that regard. When I was a kid with my brother, I remember keeping the manual by my side at all times because it was so good. That and the players guides. I was addicted looking at the world maps because of how big they seemed and how you know you are going to go there eventually. Just looking at the map in the OP makes me want to pick up a Pokemon game and play this very instant.

There's definitely some changes I want in the future but Nintendo is pretty conservative with Pokemon so I don't know if they would ever implement some of these.

-Faster battles. They really slowed down with Diamond / Pearl. Instead of having the game tell me it's raining, just have the rain falling down the entire battle and have a little icon above my head or something telling me I'm poisoned, etc...I want to get in and out of the battling as fast as possible. I know that's the big part of the game but I love the actual exploring and finding pokemon more than actually battling with them. It would also be nice if they could update the sprites to go along with it. If my Pokemon is sleeping, instead of some ZZZ's coming from it, have my pokemon lie down and actually look asleep. That goes with the moves as well. I'm tired of different attacks having similar animations. Have my Squirtle actually run up and tackle. I know this would take up a lot of space on the card but if they could do it, I would be so happy.

-More stuff to do which it seems we're going now. I want a ton of extra stuff in the game. As I mentioned earlier, I enjoy goofing around and doing all the side stuff more than the actual battling sometimes. I just want lots of stuff so I never get bored with the game.

-Dump the Toys R Us exclusives and put it through the Wii. I don't live close enough to a TRU anymore that I just want to drive over to get a pokemon. Let me turn on my Wii and download it that way.

-I would also like a revamp of the battle system. The competitive battling over the Internet just really puts me off. I'd rather Nintendo get rid of all these stat points you can breed with or however it works and go a little more basic. I know that wouldn't appeal to a lot of people but it would for me. I never battle anyone other than my friends and family because to me it has become a chore to keep up with everything.

-And get rid of a lot of the HMs. Keep the basics like cut but they lost a lot of appeal when HMs like waterfall came about.

I'm super excited for the remakes coming out in a few months because those games are my least played Pokemon of them all. When they were released the only time I could play them were at night because of my schedule really and I got tired of barely being able to see what was going on. I think these games are why I still despise night time in any open world type game.

 

[Holy Order Sol]

Pokémon needs to play fast again, shouldn't be designed to be time-consuming and shouldn't punish experimentation when it has so much to offer in that department.

 

[Sixfortyfive]

-I would also like a revamp of the battle system. The competitive battling over the Internet just really puts me off. I'd rather Nintendo get rid of all these stat points you can breed with or however it works and go a little more basic. I know that wouldn't appeal to a lot of people but it would for me. I never battle anyone other than my friends and family because to me it has become a chore to keep up with everything.

Actually, ditching IVs altogether would be the biggest improvement to competitive battling IMO. It would cut out about 95% of the work/luck/time involved in raising optimal Pokemon with only a minimal loss in flexibility. Hidden Power would have to be based off of something else and Trick Room teams couldn't purposely lower their base speed for an advantage. Big whoop.

At least there seems to be a little more convenience added with each new game. In HGSS, a parent holding a power item apparently passes down the IV for that power item's stat, removing some of the luck involved.

 

[upandaway]

-More stuff to do which it seems we're going now. I want a ton of extra stuff in the game. As I mentioned earlier, I enjoy goofing around and doing all the side stuff more than the actual battling sometimes. I just want lots of stuff so I never get bored with the game.

It's a bit silly that you say that yet you refuse to buy the 3rd iterations, because that's where the explosion of content happens. If you don't want to buy it after buying the originals, just don't buy the originals.

-I would also like a revamp of the battle system. The competitive battling over the Internet just really puts me off. I'd rather Nintendo get rid of all these stat points you can breed with or however it works and go a little more basic. I know that wouldn't appeal to a lot of people but it would for me. I never battle anyone other than my friends and family because to me it has become a chore to keep up with everything.

But then you're just really selfish. The battle system is built so you can ignore the depth if you want. No one is forcing you do look at numbers.[/QUOTE]

 

[Helmholtz]

I used to love the original games back in the day. Silver and gold were also really good. However, I found that they started adding too many pokemon to the universe, and it just wasn't as special to me anymore. I didn't like Ruby so I never continued with the series after that.

 

[Ondore]

Could HMs be made bearable if the moves themselves didn't suck beyond Surf, Waterfall and (situationally) Fly or Strength?

Edit: Make Cut a Steel-type move (and give it 100 accuracy), Strength a Rock move, maybe Rock Climb a Fighting move?