My Top 5 Mainline Pokémon Games

While I remember many games in my early years that I played alongside my brother, Pokémon Blue occupies a special place. It was the first game that I remember distinctly wanting to beat and grappling with that challenge, not helped of course by having the reading ability of a kindergartener. And it goes without saying that when I finished the game (with some timely assistance from my family) that like every other American kid I was hooked, and I received a new copy of the next entry of the series for birthdays and Christmas all the way up until high school. And over the years, I’ve asked myself like many others how the mainline entries (including remakes) in this lauded series rank next to each other. So this is my personal top 5 mainline Pokémon based on childhood memories and more or less solid reasoning.

5. Pokémon Sun & Moon

While it was poorly received at the time, Sun and Moon’s commitment to shaking up the formula was a breath of fresh air. Its tropical setting and cast of colorful characters are energetic and infectious in their charm with standouts like Guzma stealing the show, and like that loud-mouthed trainer, I too enjoy the wide variety of Bug Pokemon, my favorite type, to be found on Alola. You could honestly call this entry the beach episode of the series with how laid back but surprisingly character driven it is. Plus given the family drama and mad science experiment that plays out at the heart of the story, there is a lot to love about the different direction the adventure takes. 

4. Pokémon Sword & Shield

This first entry on the Nintendo Switch promised a revolution in the openness of the series. Ultimately though, it delivered a half step with its wild area serving as the primary open area and with more traditional linear routes for the rest of the game. And while the wild area’s charm did wear thin by the end of the game, the high intensity gym battles reminiscent of soccer world championships did not. Coupled with one of my favorite groups of rivals, Hop, Marnie, and lovably smug Bede, whose diverse attitudes contrast well, what emerges is a more traditional experience embellished with interesting ideas. Ideas that help to make the player feel invested in this world in a way that the too-openness of Scarlet and Violet perhaps lacks. And while it is unlikely for Gen 10 to go backwards in how open it is, I hope that Game Freak takes a lesson in crafting more character-driven and perhaps at times linear set pieces from this entry for the highly anticipated Gen 10.

3. Pokémon HeartGold & SoulSilver

Considered one of the most lovely crafted remakes in the series and boosting the potential to have every Pokémon (493 at the time) within the confines of its cartridge, the appeal of HeartGold and SoulSilver lies in its vastness. This entry had the player exploring not only one but two regions all while defeating over 16 gyms.  Although we were already very familiar with the Kanto region at this point, there were so many new challenges like getting the chance to climatically challenge Red on the highest point, Mt. Silver, in Johto. Moments like these make the games feel larger than life. If either game has any flaw, then it is this vastness that can make it feel more like a DLC and rob the Johto region of having an independent identity separate from Kanto. But on the flip side of the coin, there is enough distinctness in this entry starting from the player’s outfit to the ancient Bell tower to make the region feel more slow-paced and contemplative compared to the hustle and bustle of Kanto. Even the way you meet your rival is distinct as you catch him glaring with criminal intent into Professor’s Elm laboratory in a way that Blue would never be brazen enough to do. Of course it helps that several of my all-time favorite bug Pokémon like Heracross or Scizor reside in this region, and in the end, the uniqueness of this second generation remake has earned the continued attention of players to this day.

2. Pokémon FireRed & LeafGreen

If HeartGold and SoulSilver were beautiful remakes held back by pacing and identity issues, then FireRed and LeafGreen were platonic ideals of a remake that refined and sharpened the original vision of Blue and Red. While I do have fond memories of the first generation games (Especially Yellow’s charming additions), it is easy to see how substantially the next few generations improved on the battle system, type diversity, breeding and training potential through IV’s and EV’s, and overall presentation. I recall vividly the thousands of hours spent on these remakes in comparison to the beloved but obsoleted originals. Particularly the wonderful surprise of the Sevii islands adding the battle tower, a welcome and optional mix-up of exploring the first island after the seventh gym, and an extra plot about the remnants of Team Rocket. But by far the biggest and greatest surprise of my childhood was the return to battle the Elite Four again only to be soundly defeated by their leveled up and remixed teams. Far from disappointed, it ignited a renewed and explosive interest in the game that remains one of my touchstone gaming memories.

1. Pokémon Diamond & Pearl

In many ways, Diamond and Pearl, and Gen 4 as a whole, represent the full maturing of the Pokémon formula alongside a subtle if not noticeable improvement in art direction for the series. The decision to make physical or special attacks dependent on the logic of the move rather than type (I.E. Fire Punch went from a special attack move because it was fire-type to physical) alongside the previous improvements mark the end of an era for the series as it moved on to adding more fun if less useful gimmicks like mega evolution (Conceptionally cool though) and beyond in subsequent entries. This flowering of the series also was coincidental with the last region in the mainline games to be based on a real life region of Japan, Hokkaido in this case, and while this is conjecture on my part, I have always felt persistently that the mainline games lost a richness in how they crafted a region following the decision to move beyond Japan in later games. Part of the reasoning I have rests on a simple conclusion that choosing less familiar foreign countries or cities adds spice but necessarily requires more research without first-hand knowledge of the temperament or less well-known characteristics of a country. Still, as this list shows, I have an appreciation for the more recent games that standout to me and retain that extraordinary charm of Pokémon or human design that Game Freak has always maintained, but Diamond and Pearl stand atop as the long cumulation of ideas that are found or implicit in the first games. The fulfillment of this vision places the games in a unique spot in the franchise’s long history and has greatly helped them to withstand the test of time in ways that entries since or before simply have not. Alongside a great soundtrack, an interesting antagonist in Team Galactic, and an oppressive presence in Cynthia, Diamond and Pearl are easily my favorite games of the series.