The focus of Pokémon games has changed considerably ever since its early releases on the Game Boy. For many gamers, the first Pokémon game they play is the way the series is “supposed to be” — there’s something nostalgic about whatever their first game is, and it sets a high bar for the rest of the series to have to clear.When we look at how the series has evolved over time, though, it makes looking at newer games interesting.
Pokémon is one of the biggest media franchises in the world, and we want to look back on how the series has changed. Some of the ideas that we thought would become franchise staples got abandoned way earlier than we ever would have expected. Other aspects of the series had the seeds laid years before they ever blossomed. We love all these games and we want all of them to be appreciated equally, so let’s have a fun trip down memory lane and look at the growth of Pokémon.
Pokémon Red, Green, Blue, and Yellow (1996-1998), Game Boy
- Completing the Pokédex
- Rivals
- Gym Badges
Pokémon Red and Green weren’t just hugely popular in Japan, but when they came out in the states as Red and Blue, it kicked off a craze that the series has never been able to quite match. While Pokémon has gotten more popular thanks to more people growing up with the series, there are still folks who have only played these original games and love them dearly.
The impact that the first games had on the franchise is obvious. Not only did they establish formulas that the series would follow for over a decade with gym badges, a recurring rival, and a criminal organization, but they laid the groundwork for one of the most successful franchises ever. Pokémon is a machine and everything about it can be relayed back to Red, Green, Blue, and Yellow.
Pokémon Gold, Silver, and Crystal (1999-2000), Game Boy
- Breeding
- New Pokémon
- Sprite Animations (Crystal only)
- A playable female character (Crystal only)
Most people who know about the origins of Pokémon know that the first games were very much a first attempt. As a result, they had numerous bugs, odd design choices, and a lot of Pokémon that were cut from the final game. Once it became clear that they were going to have enough money to make a sequel, Game Freak began development on Pokémon Gold and Silver. The main purpose here was to fix most of the bugs that were prevalent in the first games, and to add in some of that cut content. However, those two games happened to establish some major franchise staples on their own alongside even more features in Crystal.
These were the games that fixed an obvious wrong from the first releases and added a playable female character. It also made some great presentation changes by giving sprites little animations upon exiting their Pokéball. A case can be made that all the second generation really accomplishes is giving the first-gen some much-needed polish, but this feels like it’s missing the forest for the trees. Not only did the second series of games start the trend of adding new Pokemon to every mainline title, but with the addition of breeding and eggs, it laid the foundation of what would become the competitive scene.
Pokémon Ruby, Sapphire, and Emerald (2002-2004), Game Boy Advanced
- Pokémon Contests
- Abilities
- Double Battles
The third generation of games is a mixed bag for a lot of fans. They moved away from the continuous plot and world that had been established in the first two games, introduced many different Pokémon to the world, and for a brief period of time, didn’t feature any way to connect to the first two generations. This would eventually be fixed with the release of Fire Red and Leaf Green — both remakes of the original games — but this was the first time in the series we saw them really take a risk and move away from its established formula.
Alongside those changes, this is the generation that really put an emphasis on each individual Pokémon feeling unique with abilities and personality values. No playthrough ever feels the same, even with the same exact team of Pokémon, and that’s thanks to these changes. We also saw the introduction of a new battle system with double battles and a heavier emphasis on pushing the player through the world with a plot, and they’re the first games to not directly state the player’s main goal as completing the Pokédex. They’re instead more about collecting the gym badges and accomplishing personal goals, such as surpassing your father. Plus there’s also a side mode, Pokémon Contests.
Pokémon Diamond, Pearl, and Platinum (2006-2008), Nintendo DS
- Physical/Special Split
- Nintendo Wi-Fi
- 3D Environments
While the fourth generation of Pokémon games saw some of the greatest advances for the series, it’s also when we saw Pokémon start to move away from a lot of its longstanding traditions. The Pokédex is handed to the player, not as an afterthought, but with less emphasis than ever. It’s viewed as a favor to the Professor and not considered an integral part of the journey, because the plot of the game involving the villainous Team Platinum takes on a much larger role. As a result, these games do a lot of cool stuff with expanding the lore of the Pokémon universe and explaining to us how it all works. Alongside this are some really excellent 3D models that the world will sporadically use to help it feel more open.
On the game side, we saw the battle system dive even deeper into enhancing the competitive aspects. For every game up until this point, a move being considered a “special” attack or a “physical” attack was based entirely on the type of the move — Fire Punch is special because it’s a fire-type move, but Hyper Beam is considered physical because it’s a normal-type move. In this generation, and every game after it, moves are instead categorized by the type of attack. Now, Fire Punch is a physical move because it’s a punch while Hyper Beam is a special move since it’s a beam. This, mixed with the addition of online battling at the time through Nintendo Wi-Fi, made the competitive scene for the games explode.
Pokémon Black and White (2010), Nintendo DS
- 156 new Pokémon
- No old Pokémon in the main story
- Dynamic camera angles
Pokémon Black and White took the most daring risks of the entire franchise up to this point. Not only did they build the games around a plot involving the villainous Team Plasma, and its main antagonist N, but they didn’t allow players access to any of the previous 493 Pokémon in the main story. The only ones available were 156 new Pokémon. This drastic new direction for the series shocked and upset many players, but the result is genuinely the best plot in the entire franchise. This is the only time they would ever put that kind of emphasis on the game’s story and it’s a shame because it really was well done.
We also saw a gigantic presentation improvement in Black and White: dynamic camera angles, more use of 3D environments, and the best game speed the franchise has ever had. Battles are lightning quick and the best music in the entire series is in these games. From this point on, the games become less focused on the original experiences of collecting gym badges and capturing Pokémon.
Pokémon Black 2 and White 2 (2012), Nintendo DS
- Recurring characters
- Back to previous gen Pokémon appearing
- Impossible to complete the Pokédex without transferring Pokémon from a previous generation
Pokémon Black 2 and White 2 are the first time the series ever had a direct sequel. Don’t confuse them with the third “definitive versions” that the previous games all had, these games has a new plot, recurring characters from the previous game, and a new theme of relationships with one another. While they’re not drastically different from the previous games, we did see them go back to allowing more previous generation Pokémon to appear.
Black 2 and White 2 made it impossible to complete the Pokédex with only this generation of games. To complete it, someone has to transfer previous generation Pokémon into their copy of Black, White, Black 2, or White 2. The very first goal the player ever given in any Pokémon was to complete the Pokédex. The fifth-generation made it very clear that the games were no longer about that.
Pokémon X and Y (2013), Nintendo 3DS
- Fully 3D
- Fairy Type
- Customizable characters
- Experience share overhaul
The first game on the 3DS didn’t just mean an opportunity for Pokémon to show up on new hardware, but also the chance for it to take what was, at the time, a huge artistic step. Pokémon X and Y was when the franchise finally took the full jump into 3D. Previous games mainly used sprites with the occasional 3D environment, but the entirety of X and Y is set in a 3D world to be explored. Alongside this are many new cosmetic improvements, such as finally allowing us the ability to customize our characters, and every battle is far more stylish than previous entries.
With the franchise itself deciding to go in a more plot-focused direction, this also meant allowing the player to advance through the story at a quicker pace. The experience share item received a major overhaul in this entry, giving every Pokémon in the player’s party experience upon winning battles and capturing Pokémon. This makes it easier to keep an entire party of six trained up throughout a play-through and helps avoid roadblocks due to level disadvantage. On the downside, this now makes the main story almost a little too easy. The games do encourage repeat play-throughs though for anyone that is trying to reach the endgame content faster.
Pokemon Sun, Moon, Ultra Sun, and Ultra Moon (2016-2017), Nintendo 3DS
- New Gym structure
- No more field HM’s
- No National Pokédex
Pokémon Sun, Moon, Ultra Sun, and Ultra Moon made some huge changes to core aspects of the series that were present since the very first game. For starters, the gyms are gone. In these games, every gym is instead a trial that the player goes through. Complete the seven trials and the player will gain the chance to do the traditional Elite Four and Champion battle challenge at the end. While not a complete change from the formula, this is the first time the game moved away from making players collect eight badges. These are also the games that removed field use HM’s. Players now accomplish on-field puzzles through “Ride Pokémon,” which saves them the use of an HM slot in their party.
The most drastic change in this generation, however, is the removal of the National Pokédex. Finally, while the player is free to use Pokémon not natural to the Alola Region, it will not show up in the normal Pokédex. This means there’s no actual reason for the first time in the series to “catch ’em all.” This makes Sun and Moon the first games in the series to buck the traditions that were established all the way back in those original releases.
Pokemon Sword and Shield (2019), Nintendo Switch
- An open world area
- First mainline game on a home console
- First game to have DLC
Pokémon has entered modern gaming. The first games to ever come to a home console, the Nintendo Switch, are Pokémon Sword and Shield, which boast plenty of the touches that come with modern gaming: DLC, improvement patches, and potential for a bigger world. Sword and Shield experimented with this by not being completely open-world games, but having an “open-world area” that the player could explore.
Sword and Shield are also the games that finally made the decision to make it impossible to catch them all. There are 898 Pokémon across the entire series as of the “Crown Tundra” DLC, but only 664 are usable in the games themselves. There is no possible way to bring the other 234 Pokémon into the games. The franchise decided that it wanted to be about the adventure the player went on above anything else. We saw this with more focus on the plots involving villainous teams and saving the world.
Source: https://uproxx.com/edge/pokemon-series-evolved/