PoDiRancher
Well-Known Member
The first two generations are my favorite, but it's not always easy to pinpoint why, so this is a topic for discussion on that. Input from people who favorite these gens is most valued but any perspectives on what they did well or best by anyone is welcome. I'll start by listing a few things:
1. Rivals. I think the first two rivals, Blue and Silver, were the best. I don't want nor like friendly rivals who thank you for beating them, I don't look forward to training to crush them the next time they show up. I think later games fail spectacularly at crafting a compelling rival. This doesn't mean Blue or Silver are perfect but I find them to be immensely superior as rivals. Between the two I think Blue is more fun to look forward to beating but Silver retains enough of that element while also being more of a real character with an arc.
2. Art style. This isn't just about the characters designs per se, but the art style itself (mostly pertaining to extraneous aspects of the games, like the box art, manual, etc). It's all a lot more sharp and tough looking, and this extends to the trainers. Sugimori's watercolor-type illustrations really look nice and unique too, everything looks a little "rough" (not sloppy) and that's appealing in its own way.
3. Themes/story. The simplicity of the first two generations with their more relatively (keyword: relatively) grounded world was more interesting. Flooding the earth, or opening portals and stuff, not really stakes I can care about at all. Mafia, Frankenstein-esque Pokemon science experiments (Mew/Mewtwo), revenge? Easy enough to follow concepts without being too ridiculous.
4. Mystery. The first game really nailed this. Part of it is timing, since it was the mid-90's not everyone had access to the Internet and even then most of what you'd find is different than what you'd find today. The Internet was more like a rumor mill than the encyclopedic way it is now, so instead of just Googling something like Mew being under a truck to see if it's real as would happen today, you'd more than likely just come across more fuel to the fire. Not just stuff like that though, the implicit lore is more prominent in early games. Is Ditto a failed Mew clone? Is there a link between Kagaskhan & Cubone, or Clefable/Gengar? Subtle world building; what war was Surge talking about, where are the real animals at which people mention/refer to, and what connection do Pokemon have to space (like Clefairy/Jigglypuff evolving from Moon Stones which fell upon Mt. Moon)? What's PokeRus, where did it come from, and what does it do (rhetorically speaking; we know now but it wasn't as clear at the time)?
5. Music. This one is even more subjective than the rest, I think. In my opinion the music perfectly matches everything in the first two generations, from the epic opening to the safe, cute, nostalgic little home town theme, to the exciting battle themes (I think Champion's Theme is the best battle theme in the series). I've played most Pokemon generations and after generation 3 I can't think of a single theme. The music is never bad but not particularly memorable to me.
So anyway, these are just my views, and I'm not trying to put down the more recent entries in the series. I think they all do good things and are generally fun enough, and advance the series in meaningful way (like the important physical/special attack split, and remakes of the older games feel a lot better paced usually). I'm very interested to hear what people say.
1. Rivals. I think the first two rivals, Blue and Silver, were the best. I don't want nor like friendly rivals who thank you for beating them, I don't look forward to training to crush them the next time they show up. I think later games fail spectacularly at crafting a compelling rival. This doesn't mean Blue or Silver are perfect but I find them to be immensely superior as rivals. Between the two I think Blue is more fun to look forward to beating but Silver retains enough of that element while also being more of a real character with an arc.
2. Art style. This isn't just about the characters designs per se, but the art style itself (mostly pertaining to extraneous aspects of the games, like the box art, manual, etc). It's all a lot more sharp and tough looking, and this extends to the trainers. Sugimori's watercolor-type illustrations really look nice and unique too, everything looks a little "rough" (not sloppy) and that's appealing in its own way.
3. Themes/story. The simplicity of the first two generations with their more relatively (keyword: relatively) grounded world was more interesting. Flooding the earth, or opening portals and stuff, not really stakes I can care about at all. Mafia, Frankenstein-esque Pokemon science experiments (Mew/Mewtwo), revenge? Easy enough to follow concepts without being too ridiculous.
4. Mystery. The first game really nailed this. Part of it is timing, since it was the mid-90's not everyone had access to the Internet and even then most of what you'd find is different than what you'd find today. The Internet was more like a rumor mill than the encyclopedic way it is now, so instead of just Googling something like Mew being under a truck to see if it's real as would happen today, you'd more than likely just come across more fuel to the fire. Not just stuff like that though, the implicit lore is more prominent in early games. Is Ditto a failed Mew clone? Is there a link between Kagaskhan & Cubone, or Clefable/Gengar? Subtle world building; what war was Surge talking about, where are the real animals at which people mention/refer to, and what connection do Pokemon have to space (like Clefairy/Jigglypuff evolving from Moon Stones which fell upon Mt. Moon)? What's PokeRus, where did it come from, and what does it do (rhetorically speaking; we know now but it wasn't as clear at the time)?
5. Music. This one is even more subjective than the rest, I think. In my opinion the music perfectly matches everything in the first two generations, from the epic opening to the safe, cute, nostalgic little home town theme, to the exciting battle themes (I think Champion's Theme is the best battle theme in the series). I've played most Pokemon generations and after generation 3 I can't think of a single theme. The music is never bad but not particularly memorable to me.
So anyway, these are just my views, and I'm not trying to put down the more recent entries in the series. I think they all do good things and are generally fun enough, and advance the series in meaningful way (like the important physical/special attack split, and remakes of the older games feel a lot better paced usually). I'm very interested to hear what people say.