POKEMON: GENERATIONS
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| All Five Generations of Pokémon Starters*. |
"My Name is Oak. People affectionately refer to me as the Pokémon Professor. This world is inhabited far and wide by creatures called 'Pokémon'. For some people Pokémon are pets. Others use them for battle. As for myself, I study Pokémon as a profession. But first tell me a little bit about yourself. Now tell me, are you a boy or a girl? Let's begin with your name. What is it? Right, so your name is Blue. This is my grandson. He's been your rival since you both were babies. Ohj, what's his name now? Er, was it Gary? That's right. I remember now. His name is Gary. Blue, your very own Pokémon legend is about to unfold. A world with dreams and adventures of Pokémon awaits. Let's go!"-Professor Oak, Pokémon Blue
How good was 1998? Pokémon Blue & Red were in the hands of millions of boys and girls from Tokyo to Timbuktu. The games, anime and cards, as well as all the other merchandise became a phenomenon. Nintendo had brought their biggest franchise since Mario to the fold. It was awesome. The first 150 Pokémon were beloved characters that almost all the children I knew loved and still love today. Those games were followed up by Yellow, which I loved to play on my Super Gameboy 
In 1999, rumors and news started spilling in about a whole new game with a completely new generation of Pokémon. It was about this point that some people declared Pokémon to be a wavering fad. Instead, this started a tradition that has led to, after 13 years, 5 generations, 3 main series titles per generation (still pending on one for 5th gen), tons of spin-offs and remakes and one of the biggest video game franchises of all time. A new Pokémon game is guaranteed to be a best seller. It prints money!
But with 5 generations? Which are the best? The follow is a break down of my ranking of the five generations, an explanation, and analysis. Every generation has good Pokémon and bad Pokémon. This is more related to my personal taste and feel for each gen.
First, lets break down the main series.
Generation 1 includes: Blue, Red, Yellow and 151 Pokémon.
Generation 2 includes: Gold, Silver,Crystal and 100 Pokémon.
Generation 3 includes: Ruby,Sapphire and Emerald and 135 Pokémon.
Generation 4 includes: Diamond,Pearl,Platinum and 107 Pokémon.
Generation Five includes: Black, White and 156 Pokémon.
5th Place: 3rd Generation
This generation feels extremely generic, to me, and suffers because of poor coloring. On one hand, I really like the game mechanics added in 3rd Generation and Emerald was a great game but in the end, I found everything just feels "blech".
Worst Pokemon of 3rd Gen?
Best Pokemon of 3rd Gen?
4th Place: 2nd Generation
I remember fondly enjoying 2nd generation but it has a couple of faults. Several cool looking Pokémon from this generation, ex. Ampharos, were given terrible stats and move pools. Other Pokémon, less deserving, like Miltank destroyed everything. The coloring was only a little better than 3rd Generation.
Worst Pokemon of 2rd Gen?
While I liked the idea of pre-evolutions of some pokemon that would allow you to get a Pokémon like Electabuzz earlier through training Elekid (who I like), in general, baby Pokémon brought NOTHING to the table. Igglybuff is hideous, poorly designed and useless. Pichu sucks, but at least it is cute.
Best Pokemon of 2nd Gen?
I was torn between Ampharos (under powered), Tyranitar (overpowered) and this guy. Why is Hercaross special? He looks cool, he has a great typing, great movepool, great stats and a great name. Most importantly, he is an embodiment of the spirit of the game. Pokémon was based on the idea of Japanese boys loving to collect bugs, especially beetles. CROSS! HERACROSS!
3rd Place: 1stGeneration
This is super controversial but allow me explain. Most people love the original 150 Pokémon. I loved them. Before I had any games or cards, I bought a book, containing just the original 150 Pokémon. I read it too death. Literally. I had to buy a new copy to replace it. So why does 1st place 3rd? The main reason is it sets up a lot of bad ideas, like the Magnemites and Dugtrios. The real reason is that I really love the mechanics and Pokémon of 4 and 5 just a little more.
Worst Pokemon of 1st Gen?
Probably the most controversial Pokémon of all time, Jynx was disliked because people thought she looked like a person in black face. I don't really get that, if anything it is a Japanese Ganguro Girl, which is more of a parody of the Californian girl. I dislike Jynx because she is just horrifically designed. If you look at this gen without nostalgia glasses Jynxx is actually better designed than say, Dugtrio or Magneton, but in the end is just hideous.
Best Pokemon of 1st Gen?
I have always loved Golduck. He just looks cool. He evolves from from Psyduck, who is generally one of the cutest, in the way ugly dogs are cute, Pokémon of all time. Yet, why does he beat out Charizard, Mewtwo and Blastoise. Kappa is the word. He is based on one of my favorite Japanese myths, the Kappa.
2nd Place: 5th Generation
Pokemon Black and White are the best Pokemon games made so far. 5th generation has the advantage of being the biggest generation since the 1st and being completely separate from the other 4. Yet it fails because it has many of the same faults as 1st generation. I really love this generation but for its major strengths, it has weaknesses.
Worst Pokemon of 5th Gen?
In an attempt to be more like 1st generation we get the lamest thing since Magneton. Look at that! Its not even a little creative. They literally start with one design for Klink, which kinda sucks. Add some stupid gears, which really sucks. And then a ring and by this point, it needs to go away! The main weakness of 5th generation is it tries too hard to recapture 1st generation.
Best Pokemon of 5th Gen?
I have always had a fondness for Pokemon with snouts. Since Mankey, they have held a special place in my heart. Furthermore, I love fire starters. I have played with a fire starter since the first generation. So is Emboar the best fire start? Not really. He is slow but that makes him unique. He is a bulk fire/fighting type. He has a good movepool and shows off how by 5th generation Pokemon have evolved into ever more creative design. I think Pokemon is better than ever because of....
1st Place: 4th Gen.
4th Generation changed everything. It brought Pokemon to the Nintendo DS and a big decision changed Pokemon strategy forever. The Physical/Special split. This, in my opinion, is the reason why I love 4th Generation. It is when competition got better than ever. As for the Pokemon of this generation, there are too many awesome pokemon to list off.
Worst Pokemon of 4th Gen?
I think it is an almost unanimous decision. Despite the fact that 4th generation has a lot of great pokemon, it also has the single worst of all time. Bidoof is f***ing terrible! I hate you. I hate you Bidoof. You are just another rodent pokemon. You are normal type. You look stupid. You are useless. We all hate you. Go away.
Best Pokemon of 5th Gen?
This was very hard. I think Torterra is my favorite grass starter, Infernape is the best fire starter, Roserade is flower frickin' Zorro, Togekiss makes up for how terrible Togetic was and I could go on. Why do I give it to Luxray? Well, he looks cool and has a cool name. He is an electric lion. He has a great move pool, physical stats and is just plain cool. He is what Ampharos could've been. A lion to make up for the sheep.
I'm not sure where Pokemon is gonna take us in the next 5 years but I am always going to be a fan! I hope that some day we can see more realistic Pokemon in 3D graphics but on the other hand something about Pokemon just works. It has one of the best formulas in the RPG arena and I will keep coming back for years to com.
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| Pokehorror! |
