Which Gen had the worst starters?

[LyokoGirl5000]

I think the fourth gen starters are the worst. Empoleon and Torterra's move pools are awful and Infernape has horrible defenses. The starter's move pools in gen five are only slightly better.

[ahmet476]

I was pretty disappointed with gen 2 starters probably because I liked gen 1 starters too much.

[Volcanix769]

Generation IV. Pretty much, some actually look pretty weird, especially their movesets. Empoleon had 1 Steel Type to learn, Torterra knew 1 Ground Type, and Infernape has 2. Total waste.

[DelightedTurk]

This was a very tight decision for me between the fourth and fifth gens. I've used all 6 of the starters from these generations and feel that Gen V had the worst 'in-game.' Serperior and Emboar for me were poor and hard to use towards the end of the game, Emboars speed is appalling and Serperior just seemed below average compared to the rest of my team. Samurott was the best of the three for me but I wasn't impressed with its movepool. I enjoyed using the Sinnoh starters more than the Unova ones, however I preferred Unova's designs. Torterra, Infernape and Empoleon all made the game enjoyable for me and I enjoyed using each of them, so I voted for fifth gen in the end.

[atie]

Gen1: Charizard and Venusaur were both quite the best of their types in there game as for Blastoise(I never choose Squirtle ever) I found there were better water types like Gyarados, Laprass of Vaporeon
Gen2:before HGSS Typhlosion was a beast with thunderpunch, in HGSS Feraligatr was a beast with Dragon dance. Meganium mehh
Gen3: I liked them all in there own way Swampert was a good dual type, as was Blaziken (in the time that there was only gen3), Sceptile was a speedy and had a nice movepool with dragonclaw
Gen4:Empoleon the first water/steel, I liked him very much Torterra the first Grass/Ground was a beast aswell, Infernape made the Unique types of starters perfect :/
Gen5: TBH I didn't like any aspect of it other then Samurot being a Samurai Pokemon....

[Rewy]

Considering gen by gen of which I've liked and which I've actually used all the way. These are just personal preferences.

Gen 1 - I've usually picked Bulbasaur, for the ease of first 2 gyms while catching something reasonable on the way. I never like Charmander's final evolution. (Sorry lizard lovers.) and Squirtle... Oh god, I think this just falls to me having seen the anime episode way back then and thought how annoying they sounded like. So only 1½ points. Mostly because it's the overly hyped one.

Gen2 - Chikorita line went same as Squirtle. Saw the one episode with the possessive-over-trainer selfish Chiko and ditched the leafy dinosaur from my lists. Cyndaquil... well it was pure fire type, it had a cutesy bandwagon, but I didn't like final evo. Totodile I just thought was and enormous troll until I used it on my recent playthrough on HG. Ice Fang (later on Avalanche) and Crunch. 2½ points I guess.

Gen3 - The designs were creepy to me at the beginning. I only really liked Treecko line, because Pursuit. One of the few grass pokemon that I actually liked by looks. Torchic is okay, but I think it's wearing out on me. I've used it too many times that it's not even funny. Mudkip. All the memes. Everywhere. 1½ points.

Gen4 - Turtels. I had thought of using a grass starter at first, but then I went an looked at the stats/moves. So slow at start. ;_; So derpy face. Chimchar and Piplup are tied to me, since I used both on my first ever Diamond game (got the penguin from a trade). Both had their strong points, but the Piplup line survived more in my gaming. 1½ points.

Gen5 - I like using Snivy line. I don't find it really cripling. I'm just patiently waiting for a Contrary Snivy to be released officially. Yes, just for in-game use. I don't do competitive. I used Oshawott on my first game. It was nice, some what bulky to basically solo my E4 tries. I've yet to use Tepig. The design just puts me off. Not to mention the third Fire/Fight typing... 2½ points.

[LMFAO. Word up.]

Gen 5 ruined it for me, Sloppy pokemon, Unimaginative ideas.... Ew...

[Mr Cat Dog]

I guess Unova. Although Johto is a very close runner-up. In both cases, I didn't really like ANY of the final evolutions in terms of their designs, stats and movepools. But I didn't dislike Typholosion in comparison to the others, so that marginally pushes the Johto starters over the edge.

[emberjed]

Unpopular opinion here: I think Gen I did. Gen I, as a whole, wasn't that great in terms of Pokemon - most were just existing animals with contrived elemental motifs (or, worse, without them) and didn't seem that creatively designed. The starters, of course, were no exception. They all had similar-looking faces, which was a little eerie.

I'm surprised that Gen II is getting so many votes and Gen III so few.

[Iceman3317]

Gen 2. I did not like the starters very well in that Gen. The only starters I like are Charizard, all 3 3rd gen, Empoleon, and all 3 5th Gen. Not counting Pignite. I really hate Pignite.

[dbp]

I really can't speak for IV and V. Personally, I think most of the Pokemon from both suffer from being too convoluted in design (5 moreso). That'd be enough to vote 'em down, but I won't do that.

So between the first three, probably Generation III. They're all off to a great start as Treecko, Torchic, and Mudkip, but then they each have some kind of awkward evolution somewhere along the way. Marshtomp looks creepy, Sugimori's intepretation of Combusken appears derpy, and Sceptile doesn't look half as good as Grovyle did. Swampert's a little questionable, too. That's basically 3 and a half strikes.

The only weird evolution in Generation I, to me, is Venusaur and that's because he's so flat looking. Gen II only has one as well, Feraliwhatevertheheckyournameis, it just looks... oddly underfed and disturbing. The Chikorita line manages to stay cute throughout, which has got to be some kind of miracle. That makes up for Gen II's shortcomings alone.

As for the poll, I'm gonna stay out of that since I have no formal knowledge of IV and V.

Edit: Whoooaaa~ Okay, so I don't think Combusken is as bad as I said anymore. Camping Combusken can be cool. It's one of those "depends on the artist" things, though, which honestly can negate negative feelings on any Pokemon, thus making making "worst anything" polls an excercise in futility. Anyway, thanks to Musical Combusken, it is no longer stupid. However, I've edited the above to mention Sugi's design because it's still kind of derpy regardless.

[Arlo]

Much though I love the games, I had to vote for gen V having the worst starters.

Personally, I really dislike the gen II starters, but they're at least not bad. The gen V starters though - the only one that's really late-game viable is Samurott, and a lot of that is due to the shortage of other waters in the Unova dex. Emboar is okay, but it's not even as good as the past Fire/Fighting starters and has a lot of competition in this gen from other, and better, Fire types. And poor Serperior is outclassed almost immediately by either Lilligant or Leavanny, depending on your preferences. Coil helps a bit, but it's too little, too late.

[Toshiro.]

Sinnoh had the worst starters. They were horrid and not even good looking. I really hated them.

[EmberFiraga]

I think Gen IV had the worst starters for me. I don't really know how to work with them in-game. All generations have a starter I don't like but I don't like any of the Sinnoh starters at all. But I guess I don't like Sinnoh as a whole to be honest.

Close 2nd is Johto/Gen II. But they get better over time.

[Isasapiens]

Unfortunately Gen V and III. Though some of the starters get some awesome Dream World Abilities (Speed Boost Blaziken and Contrary Serperior are noteworthy) they don't have much moveset options and end up most of the time outclassed both in-game and metagame.

[P-Sign]

I got to say Gen V. Gen I has Charmander, Squirtle and Bulbasaur, Gen II had Totodile and Cyndaquil, Gen III had Mudkip and Treecko, Gen IV had Piplup and Turtwig and Gen V only has Oshawott and I don't even really like it. Gen V was also the first generation in which I ditched my starter before beating the E4.

[JayTheKing]

Based on appearence Gev V.I only like tepig and snivy their evolutions oshawot and its evolutions NO!

[Lockdown]

Gen V had bad starters. I researched which one I should pick, and ended up taking Snivy, turned out to be a bad decision, restarted and chose Oshawatt, still not that great. Restarted again, and picked Tepig. Still really bad, but I was tired of restarting. My final team in White was this:
Hydreigon
Unfezant
Krookodile
Carracosta
Excadrill
Stoutland
No starter


I think that Gen I, Gen II, and Gen III had the best. Charmander, Squirtle, and Bulbasaur were awesome. Cyndaquil, Totodile (Especially Totodile), and Chikorita were decent. Torchic, Mudkip, and Treeko were really awesome (My personal favorites). Gen IV starters were good, just not good enough, Torterra, Infernape, and Empoleon looked amazing, but were just too susceptible to type disadvantages early in the game. Later on they were really good to have.
All that's just personal preference, though.

[pikakitten]

I say Gen IV with Sinnoh's starters. The design was mainly odd and not as interesting as previous generations to me, I just don't feel anything with them like I do with the other gens, this doesn't mean I hated my little Twiggy though xD

[Sabrewulf238]

Definitely Gen 2. That was the only gen I didn't have a starter I truly loved. I made do with a Chikorita though. (back then I wouldn't throw away a starter) There wasn't even a starter in gen 2 that I disliked, they just seem drab compared to the other starter sets.

Each gen usually has a starter I love, one I don't like and one I'm initially neutral on but grow to like it in time.

[Skylands]

Basing my opinion solely on the starter Pokemon designs, Gen 4 or 5.

[Cerberus87]

Amazingly, it's not 3rd gen.

Worst in battle, I think the 5th gen ones.

[Schwan]

I absolutely cannot stand Charizard and Blastoise. So I'll have to bite the bullet and say first. The only other starters I don't like are Emboar and Torterra.

[Rivvon]

I'm going to dive in head-first and say gen 1 had the worst overall.

Competitively, Blaziken, Infernape, and Empoleon are arguably the best starters to use (not counting Dream World abilities, in which case Blaziken and Serperior sweep the competition away). The gen 1 starters aren't that amazing in terms of stats or movepools. And don't even get me started with Charizard's best friend Stealth Rock. The gen 2 and gen 5 starters aren't much better, though, so that leaves me with design.

Design-wise, gen 1 also happens to be my least favorite. I don't mind when some Pokemon in an evolutionary line look similar, but I think Bulbasaur-Ivysaur and Charmander-Charmeleon were a bit too much in that regard. Out of the three starters, I only like one form from each line (Charizard, Wartortle, and Bulbasaur) in terms of design, whereas each other gen I like the designs of many more.

[Mama-Mamo]

GEN V. Snivy was basically useless. Oshawott's last evolution doesn't even look like it belongs... And Tepig and his evolutions barely learn any fighting moves despite them being half fighting. I didn't really like the designs for any of them and their usefulness wasn't that great either.