The Best Pokémon Games, Ranked

Every Western mainline release from Red & Blue to Scarlet & Violet, you ranked them.
Special thanks to Chris Wallace
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#NintendoSwitch #Pokemon #Pokémon

[@L.Drizzle]

Never seen a list video before where the comment section is more interested in debating the bottom of the list and not the top 😂

[@battlep0t]

I think people generally are a bit more universal in their love for the Gen 1 - 5 games compared to the 3DS/Switch titles. I never really see heated discussion over whether someone prefers Ruby/Sapphire to Gold/Silver people seem to be able to put that down to personal preference. But I definitely see discussions get heated over the later games. 😅

[@arturolopez7593]

Well yeah because we all seem to agree that the top of the list is correct, but that the bottom of the list is a little wonky 😂😅

[@haroldnecmann7040]

​@@arturolopez7593sv is wonky games

[@enthused7591]

Yeah, definitely recency bias. Let's go and even Scarlet and Violet are excellent.

[@chuckec]

It’s just switch owners in denial. Pokemon on the Switch has proven to be a joke, and the sole exception, Legends, wasn’t actually that great either.

[@Globalastral5]

Anyone still suffer PTSD from Miltank’s rollout in Gold/Silver?

[@NinjaKIngAce]

If by PTSD, you mean it lives rent-free in my head, then yes

[@juleeO6183]

It was a great wake up call that you can't just rush the game with a slightly over leveled quilava

[@RBGolbat]

Nah, My Bro Geodude as my back every time.

[@acuforia]

Always. I recently replayed Gold for the first time since first playing as a kid in the 90's, and it still took me three tries to beat Whitney lol

[@michaelfellner9822]

@@acuforia same haha. got it on my 3ds some years ago, recently started playing it again and whitney is just a mess to deal with.

[@PlayableTengu]

Sun/Moon ranking higher than US/UM is actually insane lol

[@ajayredonkulus6628]

US/UM just has so much more talking. Its a god damn chat simulator.

[@slandergames9494]

I actually liked the story in sun and moon but I hated the rival with a passion and the enemy team was sooo ass. Plus most of the aloan Pokémon were mid to me

[@Tethloach1]

Not really since I threw US/UM in the trash without playing any of them. Brand new copies 50$ each in the trash 2017

[@chrizchanang]

The switch era of mainline Pokemon games were so rough. Here’s hoping things improve with the Switch’s successor

[@pokemigas6049]

In terms of performance, for sure. But in terms of quality? It started rough but Arceus and Scarlet/Violet were the best games since gen 5 and showed that Game Freak still has the capability of making amazing games. The problem is that they have zero time to make them, unfortunately

[@ViciousFirearms]

Next pokemon games will literally have 5 fps with over 50,000+ bugs and glitches and blind pokemon fans will call it extremely innovative and the best pokemon game ever.

[@klebyell]

@@pokemigas6049 amazing and some good ideas but materialized badly are not the same thing.

[@stevesteve0521]

Performance wise scarlet and violet belongs in the worse, actual gameplay and content definitely not. I’m an old head, gen 2 will always be my favorite but I still appreciate the direction pokemon is heading it’s just I would like the games to actually look and perform good as well

[@haroldnecmann7040]

​@@stevesteve0521sv is the tip of the iceberg of how inept gamefreak is

[@cwega2463]

gamefreak should be embarrassed knowing the worst two mainline pokémon generations are both on nintendo’s current system. especially scarlet and violet. they’re just cynical.

[@czar17_28]

Honestly Scarlet and Violet aren’t the best, but by no means are they that bad. For a child’s game, the story is solid, especially Arven’s story which made people feel for the first time in a while. The animations could be better, but a lot of the Pokemon look absolutely amazing. Open world is a massive step for the franchise but no interiors is god awful. Not everyone struggled with massive bugs, glitches and FPS issues… Competitive is the best it’s been in 3 generations.

[@carquest3748]

Scarlet and Violet were some of my favorite pokemon games, team star was disappointing but the open world was sick

[@MaxH0ward]

Its so funny how wrong you are

[@cwega2463]

@@MaxH0wardhow am i wrong when it’s an opinion? also my clarification of why that’s my opinion is literally only based on facts from the games performance and content. and my opinion is like the most common opinion towards this game outside of pokémon die hards who defend anything game freak gives them.

[@hidden_name7469]

Based on this list doesn't mean anything haha

[@gabrielaleactus9932]

Next time when making a video like this plz consider giving timestamps. I tried my best, 21. Scarlet & violet 1:03 20. BDSP 1:39 19. let's go pikachu&evee 2:23 18. Sword & shield 3:04 17. Ultra sun & moon 3:45 16. Sun & moon 4:23 15. D&P 5:13 14. XY 6:14 13. Ruby & sapphire 7:37 12. Red & blue 8:34 11. Yellow 9:39 10. Omega ruby & alpha sapphire 10:46 9. Firered & leafgreen 11:40 8. BW 12:32 7. Legends arceus 13:36 6. Crystal 14:56 5. Gold&silver 16:12 4. BW2 17:19 3. Emerald 18:35 2. Platinum 19:37 1. Heartgold & soulsilver 20:34

[@pokemontas8025]

💅Slay!

[@philipross9219]

crystal under gold and silver is INSANE

[@daniellavanier539]

Not having Mareep honestly really brings it down

[@eatereater6312]

THATS WHAT I WAS THINKING

[@thedoodoobrain8944]

Crystal is my all time favorite but that is most likely nostalgia

[@parkerbrandner9428]

It’s actually probably cause most skipped Crystal after playing the originals. I had the same opinion until I actually play Crystal on the virtual console for 3ds

[@thedoodoobrain8944]

@@parkerbrandner9428 I got a second-hand copy in April 2005, it broke down eventually. A couple of years ago, I walked into the back of a thrift store and found a brand new, completely mint edition, in box. It sits on my shelf and I'm proud of it. One day I'll put a new battery in my crystal edition, and I'll boot up the ol' gameboy advance sp, and maybe, just maybe, I'll manage to get a lvl 100 of every starter again.

[@Didden]

All I want are Heart Gold and Soul Silver HD-2D remakes😭

[@Leo-pd4fc]

Heartgold and Soulsilver also are Remakes itself, but I would love to see those on Switch as Let's Go Johto versions

[@macewindu9100]

@@Leo-pd4fc no,

[@benm1889]

This would be an instant pre order and I would very likely buy both. They’re so damn good!

[@haroldnecmann7040]

​@@Leo-pd4fclet's go games sucks

[@Leo-pd4fc]

@@haroldnecmann7040 but are better looking than BDSP or Scarlet and Violet in my opinion.

[@jamiemorgan3649]

Black 2 and White 2 are the goats for me. The amount of content, game mechanics, and replayability stacked into these two games is insane.

[@propheticrain-maker1486]

Agreed

[@MichaelSevilla97]

exactly they're definitely even better than heartgold and soulsilver

[@debatablefootballopinions]

I’m playing white for the first time. Do you think i should play white 2 right after or is it not worth it? Is it a direct sequel story wise or what’s the whole deal behind it?

[@propheticrain-maker1486]

@@debatablefootballopinions most definitely. They are direct sequels and even though you are exploring Unova again the changes are drastic, it feels very unique and it’s interesting to explore the differences.

[@ell1cs]

@@MichaelSevilla97can’t agree, heartgold soulsilver has pokewalker, pokeathelon, battle frontier (way more replayability than PWT), can catch the most amount of legendaries of any game up until that point, cross generation trading so you can literally have every legendary up until that point, 2 regions, gym leader rematches, pal park, all previous gen starters, non linear region design and I’m still missing loads. Only complaint is the level curve literally.

[@minislayer3241]

This video is going to upset A LOT of people Well, any ranking video about mainline Pokemon game is going to be.... complicated

[@hieinh]

Not upset but it is head scratching why BDSP is rated higher than Scarlet and Violet

[@minislayer3241]

@@hieinh Well, I can see why While I think that S/V should be at least higher than Sw/Sh, the game still has atrocious technical issues and they're tolerable only if you really really really love the rest of the game While BDSP is an overpriced disappointment and a waste of potential, it's still a fine game that's good for what it is - "faithful" recreation of Diamond and Pearl with quality of life improvements

[@hieinh]

@@minislayer3241 I guess. The list is good and I’m a Gen 2 person so.

[@xavierramirez6194]

This is actually the best list I’ve seen 😂

[@tsukasahirragi1957]

​@@hieinh I loved bdsp 😭

[@Linkfin]

Need to thank Satoru Iwata for Kanto in the gen two games. RIP you legend

[@HMMadsen]

Did You Know Gaming actually proved that the story of Satoru Iwata freeing up space to allow Kanto in Gen 2 is actually false. Iwata helped GameFreak by developing an algorithm that allowed battles in Gen 2 to run faster, but he isn't responsible for putting Kanto in Gen 2

[@pablofmc]

​@@HMMadsen thank god this false rumor started to die out

[@netweed09]

@@HMMadsen Thank you. I mean, for sure everyone should Respect a Great and indeed We all loved Iwata. But one of the most disrespectful things is unchecked false information.

[@sdj0914]

I would rate pokemon Scarlet/Violet higher than bdsp and sw/sh. It may have technical difficulties, but the story, music and the well-detailed models of pokemon(especially the steel types) slaps

[@AbdFattah]

SwSh definitely trumps SV. For me it's because DA - one of the best way to get previous legendaries on Switch plus they are not shiny locked.

[@Raphtor13]

I agree S/V are far far better than SwSh. For me SwSh is down at the bottom and I really enjoyed S/V.

[@mosquitopyjamas9048]

Swish is better. Never played Bidetsp

[@guitarhero38633]

Pkmn SV clears SwSh by a mile

[@lulukomadori9651]

100% Agree, why are people forgetting that SWSH set that expectation and plummet, taking away mons, the timer, and has the worst animation/story despite being the first on the switch.

[@MegaInferGoku19617]

one of my biggest issue with the 3D games is that the models of the pokemon and people look incredibly robotic and soulless. While the sprite art was not the most expressive thing ever either, they just had so much personality to them.

[@randomperson8991]

I hella agree!!!

[@MasonOfLife]

The community needs to put some respec on Ultra Sun and Ultra Moon Sure they were cash grabs with not a lot of changes, but if Sun and Moon are good (which they are) then by default these games are good And yea Sun and Moon are great idc what anyone says, they are super fun and full of charm, great story, great vibes, great enemy team Gets more hate than it deserves

[@rayflyers]

Soul Silver is the first game where I actually completed the national pokedex. I finished literally 1 day before Black came out, and it was so worth all the time and effort!

[@thedoodoobrain8944]

I finally finished the national dex for diamond a couple of years ago, I might just do the same on heartgold, shouldn't be too hard now I have all the mythic and legendaries

[@KashiwaDaisuke]

Can't believe Scarlet/Violet was rated lower than Sword/Shield. Performance issues aside, the game is so much better at its core

[@majinpain5563]

The game is actually good outside of the performance issues which are not so hard to see through anyways

[@HeyoChris]

I like it aside from the open world concept… Unless you look for it online, you’ll be fighting gyms and trainers with levels so far off from yours, which is so aggravating.

[@Synostra]

Definitely not

[@trevorflake7854]

I freaking agree!!!! The only game with full COOP game play!! I played the entire game with my son and we have freaking loads of fun!! No other Pokemon game out right now has that option other than the stupid fake coop on Pokemon lets go.

[@zoonk1ng]

agree

[@Grosvenor77]

1. B2/W2. 2. HG/SS(though very close to #1 3. Emerald 4. Crystal 5. Firered/Leaf Green 6. Legends Arceus/ LGE/LGP tied. Im a gen 1er, so none of these games are from only nostalgia. I recently have been replaying all of them again and I believe this is the right ranking. #6 is so underrated, They were both sooo much fun. And Lets go was so polished. B2/W2 felt like the most packed with great content, Polished, Good story by Pokemon's standards, Best 2D art by far, Just well done all around.

[@dragonsigner]

USUM. I did like the extras after the main story. Like Ultra Necrozma. And battles of Team rocket .

[@midi5467]

I think we're due for a reassessment of Sun/Moon. They're excellent and fun games

[@Garde_Mystik]

and the Ultra versions

[@jocheme2062]

I actually loved Sun & Moon. The first game i 100%''ed after the first three. Loved the whole Hawaii setting. How the pokedex was devided over the islands. How the islands still had their island charm while still feeling different. LOVED the regional versions of the mons. The best story together with Black/White (closedly followed by scarlet/violet). Missed the gyms from time to time, but loved the idea that there was a new challenge every time and how they would fill that in (in most of the mainlines, gym 6-8 werent that interesting anymore). The GTS worked fantastic. The ''really rare pokemon'' such as feebas were still rare, but there was a slightly higher chance to get one which motivated me more to collect them all.

[@pa5666]

TOTALLY agre! Ultra Sun and Moon was amazing and almost the perfect game in my opinion!

[@PixelPikmin]

My favorite pokemon games are Crystal and SM. Crystal because of all of the lore for the legendary beasts and having all of Kanto. SM because of how unique it is with the trial system, Alolan forms, Z moves, and just some of my favorite Pokemon overall.

[@tombobwilkinson]

You have excellent taste

[@LivinSober]

Y’all crazy for ranking the Lets Go games BELOW the Sword/Shield games. The lets go games are mad fun. Yes they are very easy, but so fun and beautiful to look at. Also Crystal should be at number 2, let alone ABOVE gold and silver.

[@Aronia55]

I would be inclined to defend the Let's Go games if the 'postgame' wasn't so terrible. Otherwise yeah they turned out to be the most polished Switch pokemon games (not including Snap).

[@juleeO6183]

I didn't like the catching aspect of let's go. Sure it was fun the first few times, but got old fast, and there are no wild Pokemon battles because of that (with a few exceptions) Also while there certainly are things I don't like about SS, they have fantastic music So yeah SS>let's go

[@propheticrain-maker1486]

Agreed. I don’t see how Lets Go is so hated

[@Adamtendo_player_1]

It’s crazy that let’s go Pikachu is down there but then this is my bias talking. It’s the only Pokémon game I’ve played today but it will be a special one because it’s connected to the anime for me which I watched at the time when I wasn’t interested in Pokémon let’s go Pikachu. Everything was familiar to me because of the anime which helped me and also the game mechanics were great..

[@LivinSober]

@@Aronia55 honestly fair, the post game is pretty weak. I’m glad you can have rematches against the gym leaders, and you can battle Red. But I wish you could fight ALL the trainers in the region over and over again, since you can’t battle wild Pokemon.

[@lukeaquino7141]

Having heart gold and soul silver on top ranked by us is a sign of unity, proud of all of you.

[@Kneevirus]

The og ds era is unrivaled

[@-locke-6051]

Yeah, DS era Pokemon was incredible. Gen IV started with good games in Diamond and Pearl, but Platinum took those games to another level. Gen II remakes were peak Pokemon. Gen V used to be underrated, but in the recent times people have started to understand how great Black and White are. Their sequels are really, really good, too. Overall the best console for Pokemon. Easily.

[@FTChomp9980]

DS era is peak Platinum was my 1st entry into the franchise and Soulsilver is my favorite remake.

[@lennycrew3]

The only people that say this started with the DS era. Blinded by nostalgia. Diamond and Pearl are terrible.

[@-locke-6051]

@@lennycrew3 Terrible is a strong word. I wouldn't call them that, but yeah, those games had some issues. Luckily Platinum came and fixed a lot of things. It is the best Sinnoh game by far.

[@rece5232]

⁠@@lennycrew3that’s one out of like 4 games bro, plus they fixed everything in platinum stoopid ass and the other games were arguably the best games in the entire series so how is the ds era terrible?

[@oscarzxn4067]

10:45 Amiga Ruby

[@ironcheese4736]

Alfa saphiya

[@knightyknight2]

Megger Evolutions

[@luxxt.3408]

I did enjoy that Sword/Shield gave you a gym experience in an actual stadium like the anime.

[@lumine1623]

This!! I actually had a lot of fun in Shield bc it actually gave me the atmosphere that the gym challenge had always meant to feel

[@masteronepiece6559]

No way, this is the real list 100%. I always say that SoulSilver is the best pokemon game ever made. The story is 100% perfect and the fights, music, everything is perfect. Thank you Sir for this ranking, it made my day and I wasn't expecting to see a video that ranks SoulSilver as #1 because all those stupid youtubers claim that they play pokemon and they're all liars and they just play 10minutes of it, not like us how spent hundereds of hours enjoying the real storyline and the game. Great job Sir you're a true honest content creator here in KZbin. Edit: After watching the last part, I knew that this list was made by the fans not YOU sir, so this is normal and not shocking because Pokemon fans are the best. I was happy at first cuz I thought you did this list and as for all KZbinrs I've never seen none knows Pokemon for real. I'm sorry to say that but you're not different of them a bit. Great job fans for this epic list, you all made my day, so thank you. And for you Sir, please make your own content and don't steal other ideas (fans ideas), it's not ok and the fans must have more credit of your video.

[@adrianleonce455]

As time goes on, rankings for some franchises tends to feel less important since somewhere in the future, the opinions of some games will change completely due to the context of a current game or the series itself. The Sonic franchise has definently taught me this the most. I wonder if we will eventually end up in a timeline where Pokemon fans will look back on some games more fondly or negatively.

[@samedz3966]

Let's Go were awesome remakes!

[@AlefSousa017]

Just started watching the video and seeing Scarlet and Violet in last is already a travesty when BDSP literally exists. SV were the most fun recent Pokémon games (aside from Legends, obviously). Great story, great characters, an amazing open world to explore... People just placed it in last because of the bugs/glitches. They even updated models and textures for a lot of Pokémons instead of just using the same ones we've been seeing since XY.

[@GothamPaladin]

I'm gonna say that Let's go Pikachu and Eevee are underrated. I can still go back to those games and have a good time. Especially since you can really have a diverse team due to the variety of Pokemon to get throughout the game!

[@theshadow3286]

Totally agree. They do exactly what they set out to do. Nice visuals and the Go-style catching works quite well. The best way to play through Kanto imo and the best Pokémon game on switch.

[@bestbigbros1102]

@@theshadow3286definitely the best Pokémon game on switch. This is my second play through since it first came out and I’m loving every minute of it as a die hard OG Pokémon fan

[@czar17_28]

I will hold firm that Generation 5 is the pinnacle of the series as of now. A massive Dex with amazing designs and many powerful staples, first moving battle art, some of the best themes and music, involved Gym Leaders, an amazing cast of Rivals, a solid villain Team, a solid competitive scene, a solid Sequel… 10 years ago, I would’ve been clowned on the Internet for saying that but recently the entire fandom seems to have switched up.

[@cwega2463]

which generation? 😭😭

[@czar17_28]

@@cwega2463 Lol 5, whoops.

[@jaretco6423]

I can agree. Not to mentioned it's so much faster & well paste compared to Gen. 4. Even HGSS suffers some of the slow downs.

[@farishalims]

​@@jaretco6423 i replayed both White 2 and Soulsilver at the same time and i remember being so annoyed at how slower the battles in Soulsilver were compared to White 2 😂

[@jaretco6423]

@farishalims Same. But Platinum is far worst though. At least HGSS made an few tweaks on the battle animation with the walking Pokemons being summoned. Which is something I do miss and love to see it return.

[@pandawithanorange]

My copy of Pokemon Platinum got stolen out of my DS that I left in my duffel bag at a soccer game and I'm still not over it 😭

[@JsYTA]

Obviously the reason Pokémon hasn't progressed as a series is because every game is just a diffrent version and there is no Pokémon 2.

[@Gameboyreaper]

Been playing one of older games on my phone now. Going to have to pick up Pokémon legends later this year.

[@pokemontas8025]

I highkey enjoyed Brilliant Diamond :3 But I never got to play the OG one, so maybe that's why I enjoyed it. But I notice even the OG one is rated low here. I don't know why people are not liking it.

[@biolov3333]

I've played Pokemon since the OG days with Red/Blue, and I can easily say that Scarlet/Violet are the most fun I've had since probably Omega Ruby and Alpha Sapphire. I really don't understand the hate that S/V get. Yes it runs poorly, but that's more of a Switch problem than a Game Freak problem. The story is great, the concept is great, and I had zero issue with the over/under leveling. I mainly stuck to the inner circle and then worked my way out, so I was about on level each time.

[@lloydirving6209]

How is it more of a switch problem than a Game Freak problem? have you seen the things monolith soft is able to do with the switch hardware?

[@pokemontas8025]

The mon and gimmicks are really really bad tho

[@goldmemberpb]

Bw2 was released well after the 3ds. Both japan and ww releases was in 2012 while 3ds came out in 2011.

[@Poyomini]

In fact, B2/W2 not only took your 3DS Wi-Fi settings directly, instead of using the seperate DS/DSi Wi-Fi settings for all other DS/DSi games on 3DS, but it also had direct connectivity with Pokémon Dream Radar, a 3DS only E-shop game. So these two seem to be the only DS games (to my knowledge) that were made with 3DS exclusive features.

[@homunculus6410]

Pokemon adventure red chapter is Underrated. It is what i wished pokemon was. First game that was actually quite dark

[@ChengHorn9]

I'm curious where colosseum and xd would have ranked if included

[@kiwi40238]

Whoever compiled this list is nuts dude

[@dukemon6163]

Surprisingly close to how I would rank them. It's just that I would put Black/White 2 above Emerald and Platinum.

[@burke817]

Who had the light attachments for game boy advance and color?

[@frishdaw]

Soul Silver got me back into the series after I hadn't been playing the games since Gen 2. Definitely agree with this list, great video!

[@preston_s.]

Say what you will about Scarlet and Violet (it's probably deserved); it's the first mainline Pokemon game since the 2nd gen that has a story I could actually care about.

[@ManectricReturns]

I haven't played Scarlet and Violet but I did watch a video of the story summarised and yeah it seemed pretty interesting I won't lie. If only they added some voice acting, more natural expression etc. to make it more engaging.

[@preston_s.]

@@ManectricReturns Agreed. Written dialogue has its place, but I think Pokemon would definitely benefit from voice acting.

[@JD-fi4nk]

Agreed. Scarlet and Violet are fantastic games that are mired down by a metric ton of bugs and performance issues. I still had fun with them.

[@matgreen4789]

With you man 👍 I think it is just ‘cool’ to hate on it, when actually it’s a good game.

[@haroldnecmann7040]

​@@matgreen4789"good games"😂

[@ericd1022]

I love so many of the pokemon games, but for me Gen 1 and 2 will always have a special place in my heart because I grew up with them.

[@ValerianSnow]

I’m on my first playthrough of white 2 right now and OMG ITS INCREDIBLE

[@Geekosification]

Where can I get that Gengar and Nidorino battle merch you have there in the back? 👀

[@eatereater6312]

Can we sit down and talk about how much content HG/SS really had? I mean we got -National Pokédex -Most of the Legendary Pokémon - walking with your Partner Pokémon -AN ENTIRE OTHER REGION -16 Gym Leaders -Pokémon Trainer Red -Trainer Rematches -Daily & Weekly Events - THE FREAKIN BATTLE FRONTIER -The PokéWalker -Wi-Fi Events (like the celebi event) JUST TO NAME A FEW

[@netweed09]

Well yes, it's a re-Make lol they really shouldn't count as the situation vs the base games will be obviously very different and Hindsight means they can add so much more. That said, the Original G/S were probably one of the Best games ever made. Thing is, I always dislike how they change the OG tunes in remakes to something always more jazzy.

[@solomondesigns1155]

I just bought soulsilver yesterday and I’m playing for the first time! I had original Gold when it first came out. Surprisingly soulsilver was ten bucks cheaper than heart gold. Maybe cuz it didn’t have the box.

[@ToraMinamino]

I actually think I agree with this list for the most part. I remember playing gold for the first time, and the in game clock allowing me to catch different pokemon based on whether it was day or night blew my mind. I loved it. And then heartgold came along, and really recaptured the excitement and wonder I felt as a kid.

[@jonathanlafevor450]

Emerald is the best Pokémon game and here’s why: 1) Gen 3 is the best Pokémon games have ever looked! The sprites and pixel art looks phenomenal compared to the 3D stuff we have now. 2) The battle frontier is probably the best post game content out of all the games. Crazy good idea and wish they’d bring it back! 3) Gen 3 probably has the best line of starter Pokémon that are all equally as fun to play through with. 4) Rayquaza… enough said! 😅

[@laggalot1012]

Oh, SV gets a haaaard disagree from me here. Y'all (the audience voting on this list) are crazy. Not to ignore its very apparent problems - the technical problems in particular absolutely are eggregious and the balance is certainly a letdown with the open world in mind - but I really do think it's a genuinely good game in spite of that. The freedom of movement is honestly really liberating, controlling Kor/Mir-aidon feels uncharacteristically polished for the most part, I thought the more central characters were very compelling and memorable and the endgame is actually a series-wide standout without a doubt. Another more understated feature I really appreciate is adaptive music for areas and battles past the first routes. Having the area music transition into a battle version is so much nicer than the standard Wild Battle theme you hear at first cutting in with every battle. Furthermore, if we all complained so hard with Sword and Shield about things like model and animation quality (nobody can tell me we didn't collectively meme that to death), it needs to be acknowledged that these games actually pick up the pace a fair bit in this area by comparison. Personally I'd put it among the upper half of the video, but at the very least, Rock-bottom is wildly disproportional to its successes and failings. ...Sword and Shield on however... I know it's not that much higher, but I honestly struggle to see what it does well that SV doesn't... Sun/Moon are kinda middle of the pack for me, I think. I genuinely enjoyed my first playthrough of them, I thought it stuck the landing pretty well in most areas. ...But boy is it sorely unreplayable. Seriously, it's the kind of slog that's exponentionally harder to endure on a repeat playthrough than on the first. And that's a little bit sad. For XY, since it did not get mentioned, that game's highlight for me was always the PSS. Seriously, they created one of the best online connectivity features/mediums I've seen in a game, and then they just... killed it. I will never understand that. It was XY's best feature by a landslide. Legends Arceus is great. We need more Legends Arceus. I'd have put it even higher myself and I've got high hopes for Legends Z-A, too.

[@Wavecheckfoo]

Xy online went crazy it’s the only game I’ve really played online tbh

[@why3994]

I've been playing all the games in order and I have to say... Black 2 kinda blows the others out of the water... It has the best routes (They're actually fun to explore and have interesting secrets to find) the battles are fast (looking at you gen 4) and the postgame... oh man the postgame is the best out of any game in the franchise. Also props to the story, it felt much more grand compsred to other games. It's still a pokemon story but I loved it regardless. Love black 2, I'd say it's the best in the franchise.

[@BryanSchultzitis]

Caveat: I didn't really play any of the DS/3DS games (and I doubt they'd be quite the same now anyways), but I think I would have ranked S/V higher. Yeah, the performance wasn't great, but I typically don't play switch games (or pokemon games) because they're notoriously good performers. I thought a lot of the parts of the story were much, much more interesting that almost all of the other pokemon games, and I like the new pokemon. I also think that terastalization is my favorite of the battle gimmicks so far (I did not like dynamax and didn't think mega evolution or z moves were broad enough). I do wish that the difficulty scaled based on the order you completed it (and also that the wild pokemon were a little more like Archeus), but for me at least those aren't deal-breakers. I totally get that a lot of people don't like it though, which is totally fair.

[@TacohandsPvP]

I would agree those some of these don't need any more remakes, but what I would like to see is one big collector's edition we can buy for the current/next gen system that either has each version currently unavailable on platforms, or two collections with one versions from each gen and you can trade with all the original functionality.

[@FlipHappens]

I was thinking something similar, like what final fantasy did with their pixel collection game on switch

[@TacohandsPvP]

@@FlipHappens yes, exactly!

[@YanSay]

Legends arceus is phenomenal.

[@GalacticPoisonX]

I honestly don’t really know what mine is they’re all pretty similar

[@Greyshadow511]

The difficulty spike when it came to the battlefrontier or any post game battle facilities in the early days comes from the fact that we didn't have the sheer amount of customization that we have for a pokémon's competitive capabilities that we do now. The reason we're screaming for a new battle frontier is because the one time we had a chance to play it before we had no idea what we were doing. But now most of us remember that experience and could do it easily today with the things like mints, Ev and iv training.

[@garyoak8247]

I’m surprised that Pokémon Black/White2 came in at 4th place lol.

[@1992compactdisk]

you can clearly see the decline in quality in Gamefreaks pokemon games. I think almost more than half of the recent 3DS and switch games are bottom half ranked.

[@sparkypack]

It's sad state. I abandoned the bandwagon with the release of Sword & Shield.

[@pokemigas6049]

Scarlet and Violet (performance aside) and Legends Arceus are some of the best Pokemon games ever made. This held true before them but now? Nah. If Game Freak gets enough time to make their games (looking at you Pokemon Company), they can have another golden era like the DS. They have finally figured out the winning formula

[@1992compactdisk]

@@pokemigas6049 agree. i love legends. but for SV, gamefreak should've just waited for the next gen switch.

[@nightwing2032]

@@pokemigas6049 pokemon technically have a winning formula that most franchises and companies would want or dream of. Pokémon doesn’t really have to change their battle system. The turn based combat and somewhat of the legends system if they fix up the legends system like they did with the turn based system throughout the years. With natures and abilities in gen 3, the physical and special split in gen 4, the split of the special defense and defense stat in gen 2, the bottle caps for gen 7, changing natures and abilities in gen 8, and other things for the turn based system that they’ve had for years. I think all they need is to change how moves that boost stats are used in the animations and change how multi hit moves are used in the animations. Of course some of the changes in the types in pokemon as well throughout the generations and years.

[@oyeh8908]

@@pokemigas6049 It doesn't matter how much time Game Freak gets if they refuse to make the most of it. Deadlines (which they set themselves, by the way) aren't their biggest problem, but genuine lack of talent and passion.

[@DrViperVideos]

Still waiting on the gen 2 sprite review with jon, grab him from gvg and bring him back to do gen 2

[@AbdFattah]

sprite review? that seems like gvg's kind of videos.

[@DaniKuruKuru]

What's the song starting at 11:31???????

[@Oscarsome]

Ducktales moon theme

[@DaniKuruKuru]

@@Oscarsome THANK YOU

[@user-bk6uu5hu6o]

Who ever put Gold/Silver above Crystal is crazy!!!!!!!

[@dave9515]

The pokewalker was such a fun gimmick with Gen 4. I used mine so much. Here's to looking forward to Legends ZA.

[@thousandyeargems4360]

Im so disappointed people think sword and shield is better then scarlet and violet, legends arceus. An opinion is an opinion i guess 😅

[@Viviorkogaming]

You have to understand. A lot of Pokémon fans are mean spirited and boomers.

[@user-zi8ui6yi7d]

Sword and Shield + DLC is substantially better than scarlet violet. Base Sword Shield may not be better than scarlet violet. Shows how pathetic scarlet and violet are. First game to make me nauseous due to the terrible frame rates and constant flickering of lights and clipping graphics. Garbage game. Shameful for Nintendo, TPC, and GameFreak.

[@ilysensei2867]

what is the diff with pokemon moon and ultra moon?

[@PogueSquadron]

I just hope that Arceus isn’t the basis for every game moving forward. I think there’s something to be said about moving through dungeons, battling trainers, and just having a more passive style of gameplay. Gen 5 proved you can have a plenty fast paced turn based game. Was also the last Pokemon game that had any kind of challenge to it since there was no Exp Share.

[@ubercow6611]

Who were the people responsible for putting Scarlet and Violet below BDSP? I just wanna talk

[@Vivian-wj6yw]

I really do feel like a lot of these are on this list as high as they are because of nostalgia

[@lugasalexander4852]

That’s what I’ve been saying… this list is a nostalgia blind crap shoot

[@cantdestroyher7245]

Just played og blue again the other day and it was the most fun I've had with pokemon in a long time.

[@ateddybear1392]

Surprised Violet/Scarlet and Sword/Shield are so low. I’d have Brilliant Diamond, and Sun/Moon bottom. I love how you get rid of random encounters cuz I can see and get what I want. No more buying 250 repels just to get through caves without getting stopped every other step -_-

[@nullgator8073]

the pokemon company should just alternate yearly between a big 3d game and a classic 2d game

[@Moonstrider]

Johto❤

[@willcooper8028]

Scarlet and Violet are the first imaginative and innovative entries since Black and White, they should be in the top half.

[@kyngou]

Now that games can update and DLC I don’t see why there are multiple versions of a game I would love it if they just had an expansion that you could buy

[@clothieredward5248]

I'm really surprised that Scarlet and Violet were at the very bottom of the list. Like I knew Scarlet and Violet had some very mixed reception and plenty of issues but I didn't expect it to be at the bottom of the barrel.

[@lordmolag45000]

Because it isn't. The games have their issues, but being under BDSP and Sword and Shield is a sin towards humanity, especially since they're worse games in almost every regard.

[@aintthatapotofeffluck8926]

The performance issues are just too rough. They sour literally everything else about the game. Something being really really bad can legit ruin a whole game, even if it has good mechanics - Doesn’t matter if the performance being ass-bad makes me not wanna play the game lmao.

[@DonDondozo]

I would loveeee if the player characters eventually got a health bar in the Legends games.

[@daltonsikhosana8275]

So happy with the top 2 I’ve never been as satisfied watching a ranking video

[@hdzzj6925]

Ultra Sun/Moon tell the story in a different way. Think of it as a different timeline, if you like. In the original games, Lusamine was a clear and cutthroat villain. That was not the case in Ultra versions.

[@alidashti2633]

For me its pokemon legends arceus .

[@tora_scrolls]

Can’t we all just agree that Carrots is the perfect nickname for OG Cyndaquil?

[@DennyPiza]

I stopped at black&white but for sure soul silver is still my favorite.

[@youvegot]

my favorite mainline pokemon games are emerald, then hgss, and then b2w2 all cleared by pokemon conquest though

[@itsturniptime3699]

HGSS being the top is an extremely hot take for me. Johto has such a large number of issues that the remake didn’t fix, like the intense level curve during the Kanto section, weird wild Pokémon placements, and the lack of new Pokémon representation early game, and no easy way to grind out levels to deal with the level curve mentioned previously. I understand the original GS were meant to be an extension of the Kanto games but the remake had the opportunity to change things since people were more familiar with Pokémon as a whole by that point. This placement feels like a lot of nostalgia rather than actually criticizing the game.

[@spam9826]

honestly, the only issue worth mentioning is the level curve. But i considered kanto to be postgame content, so like the battles were challenging in a sense too.

[@jaretco6423]

Yeah. I agree. I like HGSS. But man. But they did not fixed everything the remake could've done and combined of having the same engine as Gen. 4 has, it is almost unplayable for me. I would swapped HGSS and B2W2. But that's just me.

[@ColonialSun-mg6tq]

This list is about to be a blood bath

[@RogerWazup007]

I think another remake of RBY would be worth doing because of the physical/special split that happened after FRLG. In FRLG, Pokemon like Rapidash and Kingler can't really shine because they're physically strong but bound to special attack STAB moves.

[@mudyeet_]

I had just started playing HeartGold and I was thinking "why wasn't it popping in this list" until well, I got to #1, glad I'm going to enjoy this game.

[@fatseal9999]

Let’s be real scarlet and violet are leagues better than BDSP and even sword and shield

[@veterangamer955]

Disagree

[@AltevBaka]

Scarlet/Violet has one of the best stories of any game. People just like to hate it because they can’t make their own opinions

[@Sitskier123]

Growing up my brother and I had Pokémon platinum and Pokémon heart gold that we shared between the two of us and over time he took platinum and I took heart gold and so they have always held special places in my heart as the two of my childhood and as soon as I saw this I knew they would be the top of the list because they were both and still are spectacular

[@0Akeldama0]

i wish you had mentioned the platform for the games

[@droycon]

Legends arceus arceus should be lower imo, it’s a just felt like ‘task list: the game’. Open fields with nothing to explore and no points of interest. The only thing you do in that game is catch Pokémon over and over and over. That was never the reason why I personally played Pokémon games. The game had potential but it felt like they forgot about the rest of the game once they came up with a good catching mechanic.

[@majamystic256]

I feel like an outcast for saying this but I just didn't really like Legends Arceus that much, its one of few games I just didn't really feel like finishing

[@droycon]

@@majamystic256yeah, this game felt like an attempt to recreate botw while failing to understand what made it so good and ruining the traditional Pokémon formula in the process. Open worlds are about exploration but there is nothing interesting to explore in this game, no interesting structures to find and only one village to see. This game also has no interesting puzzles like previous Pokémon games or botw, just open fields where all you do is catch pokemon. Now I’ve also grown a bit tired of traditional Pokémon games and am very open for change, but one thing regular Pokémon games got right was the diversity of content: catching, battling, exploring, puzzling and all, but this game only has one of those. Basically, open world Pokemon has a TON of potential, but this ain’t it. Honestly I could go on an even bigger tangent but this comment is already long enough haha

[@mattmoon3865]

Gen 4 is where pokemon peaked and it’s not close

[@earlymedia3301]

HEARTGOLD/SOULSILVER SUPREMACY LETS GO

[@Dan-rh2pv]

Great list. I agreed with almost everything. I'm so glad that Legends Arceus aren't in the Top 5

[@user-zi8ui6yi7d]

Best to worst: 1. Silver/Gold/Crystal 2. Diamond/Pearl/Platinum 3. Ruby/Sapphire/Emerald 4. Black/White/2 5. X/Y 6. Red/Blue/Yellow 7. Sun/Moon/Ultra 8. Sword/Shield 9. Scarlet/Violet/🗑️

[@Stratilex]

The Pokemon games on switch look meh and run even meher? How?

[@haroldnecmann7040]

Cuz gamefreak is a game reseller not a game developer

[@threeswordssama]

I know it won't happen but the Switch games are making me wish that there is a return to the top down 2d style game but with modern graphics and quality of life.

[@joemurray]

Soul silver and leaf green are my favourites