Yamato-san
I own the 5th gen
OK, I'm sure the majority of members here will agree that the 1st generation of Pokemon was probably the least inspired and most unoriginal in terms of designs, a point which I won't argue about. However, this poll asks whether you outright hate all those designs, or like them as much as you would all the later Pokemon.
Personally, I can highly respect and appreciate the simplicity of those designs given where they came from. Tajiri originally just wanted to make a game in which kids living in industrialized society could capture, show off, and trade animals like he did in his own childhood, with a few added quirks like the whole battle aspect (likely done because RPGs are such a familiar gaming format, especially in Japan, and you gotta admit, the game wouldn't have much replay value if collecting animals was all there was to it). With that said, I can see why several of the Pokemon are so simple, resembling basic animals in real life with a bell or whistle here and there. On a similar note, I rather like the original Red/Green version sprites... so distant from the official artwork due to such simple graphics. It makes it seem less like the worldwide phenomenon it became, and more like the small-town, 8-bit monochrome portable game from the mid-90s it started out as (though, it's kinda hard for westerners to think the same when Pokemon was released well into the N64 era, with the Game Boy Color just around the corner, but as some of you may already know, I've personally been familiar with Pocket Monsters ever since spotting it in a magazine around the time of its original release).
Quite a few of my favorite Pokemon are 1st gen, and still remain among my favorites to this day. Hitokage may just be an upright lizard with a flame on its tail, but that still doesn't stop it from being cute in my opinion, likewise for the beautiful Kyuukon, who in reality seems like such a basic caricature of the kyuubiko myth. Some nostalgia plays a part as well (Butterfree was my first evolution, and I thought its psychic attacks kicked ass ^^). I, of course, grew to love subsequent generations as well, and I do think those overly nostalgic fanboys who bash pretty much everything past 151 with stupid logic (Agehunt being a Butterfree rip-off, anyone?) are among some of the banes of Pokemon fandom. But I digress. What does everyone else think? You think the 1st generation designs were both unoriginal and failed at life? You think they were unoriginal but likeable? You like them but think it's mostly your nostalgia speaking? You think they are original and likeable, possibly your favorite generation? What?
Personally, I can highly respect and appreciate the simplicity of those designs given where they came from. Tajiri originally just wanted to make a game in which kids living in industrialized society could capture, show off, and trade animals like he did in his own childhood, with a few added quirks like the whole battle aspect (likely done because RPGs are such a familiar gaming format, especially in Japan, and you gotta admit, the game wouldn't have much replay value if collecting animals was all there was to it). With that said, I can see why several of the Pokemon are so simple, resembling basic animals in real life with a bell or whistle here and there. On a similar note, I rather like the original Red/Green version sprites... so distant from the official artwork due to such simple graphics. It makes it seem less like the worldwide phenomenon it became, and more like the small-town, 8-bit monochrome portable game from the mid-90s it started out as (though, it's kinda hard for westerners to think the same when Pokemon was released well into the N64 era, with the Game Boy Color just around the corner, but as some of you may already know, I've personally been familiar with Pocket Monsters ever since spotting it in a magazine around the time of its original release).
Quite a few of my favorite Pokemon are 1st gen, and still remain among my favorites to this day. Hitokage may just be an upright lizard with a flame on its tail, but that still doesn't stop it from being cute in my opinion, likewise for the beautiful Kyuukon, who in reality seems like such a basic caricature of the kyuubiko myth. Some nostalgia plays a part as well (Butterfree was my first evolution, and I thought its psychic attacks kicked ass ^^). I, of course, grew to love subsequent generations as well, and I do think those overly nostalgic fanboys who bash pretty much everything past 151 with stupid logic (Agehunt being a Butterfree rip-off, anyone?) are among some of the banes of Pokemon fandom. But I digress. What does everyone else think? You think the 1st generation designs were both unoriginal and failed at life? You think they were unoriginal but likeable? You like them but think it's mostly your nostalgia speaking? You think they are original and likeable, possibly your favorite generation? What?
