What Is Your Favorite Gen?

In terms of the games, the gap between Gens 1 and 2 was actually significantly larger than the gap between 2 and 3:

RBY - 46m sold
GSC - 30m sold
RSE - 22.5m sold

And for reference, DPP had 24.5m sold. So the more significant decline actually took place after Gen 1 and before Gen 2. The stabilization of the franchise really happened between Gens 2 and 4. Gen 1 was in a tier of its own in terms of popularity. While Gens 2-4 are effectively in the same tier, all having been hugely popular but not nearly as much of a phenomenon as Gen 1.

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I definitely would not put Gen 2 in the same tier as Gens 3 and 4. People were still nuts about Pokemon in Gen 2. While there was definitely a bit of a cool-off after Gen 1, that was only because Gen 1 mania was something we had literally never seen before and will probably never see again.

Gen 1 is in a class of its own, Gen 2 is in its own bubble and then Gens 3 and 4 were a part of the biggest lull in the history of the franchise.

For example, I remember when Gen 2 was getting set to come out, all of the kids on the playground were talking about the new Pokemon. Everyone knows about the Pikablu rumors, but kids were also talking about Snubbull, Donphan, Sudowoodo, etc. On the other hand, I donā€™t remember anyone ever mentioning any Gen 3 Pokemon or even anything about the games in general when Ruby and Sapphire were about to release.

As a matter of fact, if you were still playing Pokemon by the time Ruby and Sapphire came out, it was essentially social suicide. I actually remember only one kid mentioning something about Pokemon in 2003 and he was made fun of. ā€œAre you talking about Pokemon?!?!ā€

In regards to the sales, people may have bought the Gen 3 and Gen 4 games, but it was more of a secret thing at that time. It wasnā€™t something that was discussed in school or among friends. You didnā€™t have link cable battles or anything of the sort. Now, itā€™s obviously more accepted, as even people in their 30s openly admit to playing Pokemon games. But keep in mind that the kids that grew up with Gens 1 and 2 were entering middle school (and possibly even high school) when Gen 3 came out. That was that awkward teenage phase where you are embarrassed by basically everything, so Pokemon was just something that wasnā€™t talked about.

All that being said, I think the Gen 3 games are absolutely brilliant. Gen 4? Thatā€™s another storyā€¦

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As a matter of fact, if you were still playing Pokemon by the time Ruby and Sapphire came out, it was essentially social suicide. I actually remember only one kid mentioning something about Pokemon in 2003 and he was made fun of. ā€œAre you talking about Pokemon?!?!ā€

For people your age, sure. But the games were also humongously popular among people my age (people born in the late 90s). Gen 2 was pretty much an afterthought for people my age. It was all about Gen 3 and Gen 1 (the latter because of FRLG, which were nearly as popular as RSE).

So yeah, I donā€™t doubt your experience at all. I think itā€™s just a generational thing. Gen 3 seems less popular to you than it actually is because of your peer demographic, and the same thing with Gen 2 for me.

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Welp I went in to edit and accidentally deleted my first post :joy:

@zorloth Iā€™m sure youā€™re right and thatā€™s kind of what I was getting at with my now-deleted original post. Seems like for a lot of folks itā€™s not necessarily the first Gen you played, rather the first Gen you were old enough to appreciate. At least in my experience.

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The biggest difference I found with Gen 1/2 (at least when I grew up) and Gen 3 and after is in regards to the TCG. I rarely saw any EX cards at my school. In 2002/2003, a lot of kids started bringing Yu-Gi-Oh cards though, and I saw those almost replace Pokemon cards after a while until they got sort of ā€˜bannedā€™ or restricted at school due to popularity like Pokemon cards did. In my case, I actually moved on from Pokemon cards into Magic cards instead and only briefly played Yu-Gi-Oh as like many others I had one of the Starter Decks.

I definitely remember a lot of kids and friends having & playing Pokemon Ruby or Sapphire as well, but it was not as much of a main conversation subject like Gen 1/2 was. At this point I remember getting a PS2 and almost moved on from handhelds by 2004. My last Pokemon game I beat was Ruby, and the last one I got was Fire Red.

So in my experience, Gen 3 was still really popular, but not on the level of Gen 1 or 2, specifically the TCG side.

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Oh yeah, thatā€™s no question. The TCG hugely declined after Gen 2. My point was that the data shows that the video games didnā€™t decline nearly as much. The Gen 3 games were still obscenely popular despite the TCG having totally faded into the background by Gen 3.

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Iā€™d definitely agree with that, and the numbers back it up pretty clear. RSE were big hits no doubt. It was also the first Pokemon games on GBA, correct? So that would also be a big factor in sales as part of a new console release, similar to how RBY really pumped up Gameboy sales to insane levels.

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Gen 3. I donā€™t own Ruby/Sapphire, nor Fire Red/Leaf Green, but have played through Emerald multiple times on emulator over the years. Rayquaza is my favorite Pokemon. Gen 3 cards are my favorite as well. The Emerald and Ruby/Sapphire Pokemon Pinball music is very nostalgic. Iā€™ve never played gen 1 games and have played just a little bit of Crystal. Pokemon Sword was the first game I played since Pokemon Black on DS and the various Emerald playthroughs over the years, so Iā€™m pretty nostalgic for that. I really enjoyed the open world feel and am glad that Pokemon is moving that direction for Scarlet and Violet.

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As anyone with a shred of taste would, I prefer gen 3 :sunglasses:

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Hah! Gen 3 was amazing. Despite playing Gen 1 first, my favorites were 2 and 3. Actually, other than Gen 2 being a little more nostalgic, my favorite game was always LeafGreen.

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Gen 1 will always be my favourite, but I played Ruby/Sapphire/Emerald a ridiculous amount of times

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Gen 1 & 2 worked so well together. It truly felt like an expansion of the pokemon world. Returning to kanto after defeating johto with everyone at higher levels was brilliant. Shining PokƩmon were a home run. Also on the anime end, how they slowly integrated a few new PokƩmon like Togepi, Marill, Ledyba, Donphan was nice.

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All this nostalgia talk. Had to turn on Crystal Clear again.

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Iā€™m from 1995, and my first game ever was Ruby. It was followed by Emerald, FireRed, and SoulSilver.

I remember playing them on Visual Boy Advance on my pc lol

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For me itā€™s Gen 3 with Gen 2 close behind. They were the first games I played, even though I had seen my friends play gen 2. I absolutely love the music and the fact I could play that when I did band. I absolutely love the ocean part too. Really drives home the adventure aspect. Out in the middle of nowhere. No land, itā€™s all blue. You donā€™t know if/when youā€™ll see land or a trainer. Or a shipwreck. Also, bring back dive.

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Best HM ever. I want a region brimming with Dive and Whirlpool. Maybe we could even get a Dive Whirlpool combo. :grin:

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I love Gen 1, itā€™s the foundation of my childhood but I think I have to give it to Gen 2. Gold, Silver and Crystal really took the mysticism of Pokemon to a new level. Hearing rumors about legendary Pokemon and having to go find them was magical to me as a kid. Like how you had to roam Johto to find Raikou, Suicune and Entei, or having to climb up Tin Tower to find Ho-Oh or traversing down into the Seafoam Islands to encounter Lugia.

I do have to give Gen 3 some love though because I think those might be my favorite games to play through nowadays. I love that Hoenn has such a variety of environments to explore. I think it also has a great balance of new and old Pokemon to capture as you explore as well.

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110% on both of these aspects. They really nailed it with the mix of Pokes, they managed to mix in a good chunk of oldies without overdoing it and always in places where it made sense and felt right, and retaining that feel of an entirely new dex.

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Reading this is making me want to play Ruby again :sweat_smile:. I played it when I was a kid, but donā€™t recall beating it. I love Gen 1 & 2, but I feel I definitely need to go back to where I left off in my childhood.

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I definitely recommend playing Gen 3, itā€™s definitely a great follow up to the first two generations! Iā€™ve been playing through all of the games in order of release and itā€™s been interesting seeing how they change things from game to game.

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