(Please keep in mind that everything in this post is just my opinion, so it's perfectly understandable if you disagree with what I say)
While I did like the Gen 2 games, I really don't think of them as the best games in the series. And while I liked being able to go to the Kanto region in those games and seeing how the region had changed, I actually feel that in terms of gameplay, the Kanto region was somewhat of a detriment.
Johto lacks many elements that all other regions have. Most of these omissions are due to both sharing them with Kanto, which could be visited in the same games, and recycling old concepts not being the norm. Therefore, it is the only region without:
- its own set of Fossil Pokémon
- its own Victory Road
- a museum
- an Electric-type Gym
- a Pokémon graveyard
- prior to Generation IV, Johto was also the only region without a true regional Pokédex or a proper Safari Zone.
So, let's start with the Johto region. This is, according to Bulbapedia, a list of all of the features that Johto lacks in Gen 2. There's actually something very significant that is said before the omitted features. Do you see it?
Most of these omissions are due to both sharing them with Kanto, which could be visited in the same games
This. While I guess recycling old concepts not being the norm is a somewhat valid argument, Kanto is the most significant reason as to why Johto lacks several things, and it is partly for this reason why I think of Kanto as detrimental to the Gen 2 games. Face it, Kanto was pretty much added purely for the sake of nostalgia. That I'm fine with. What I'm not fine with is how the inclusion of Kanto came entirely at the expense of what could have been a standalone region with all of the features that Kanto caused it to lack. I understand that some of the features weren't included in both of or even any of regions perhaps due to a lack of space, but then you have to ask yourselves, was adding Kanto really necessary?
When you think about it, Johto could have easily been its own region while remaining that closeness to Kanto. Perhaps some of the text could have established that the Johto region borders Kanto, or have subtle references to aspects of Kanto that players of the Kanto games would recognise, yet wouldn't seem out of place to someone who didn't play the Kanto games. If done correctly, aspects of the story wouldn't be sacrificed - Team Rocket's plan to find Giovanni wouldn't seem too unusual since their plan is still being executed in a region that borders Kanto. Lance would still be able to help you in the Team Rocket HQ since Johto is still bordered by Kanto (and he could use Fly to get to Johto regardless of that, I assume). Professor Oak could still appear at Mr. Pokemon's house and do his radio show in Goldenrod because Johto and Kanto are close regions. And then moving on from the plot, the region itself could be made bigger, it could have more routes, it might have been able to have its own Safari Zone in Gen II, it could have a Victory Road (perhaps one that actually had trainer battles...), and have trainers and wild Pokemon at higher levels since most of them were at ridiculously low levels. Perhaps it could have even have its own Elite 4. These are just
some of what Johto could have had if Kanto wasn't included in the games.
So, moving on from Johto, let's look at Kanto itself. Surely it's good enough to make up for the Johto region seeming rather incomplete, right? Well... not entirely. I will admit that it wasn't terrible considering it was mostly added for the sake of nostalgia, and it was pretty faithful to the original (not including areas absent in Gen II, though since that was most likely due to space limitations). You might recall that I previously stated that I thought the inclusion of the Kanto region was a detriment to the gameplay of the Gen 2 games. Everything in Johto was about 5-10 levels lower than it probably would have been if it weren't for the inclusion of Kanto, but surely Game Freak would make up for that with Kanto, right? Once again... not entirely. The levels of the gym leaders were alright (except for Janine), but the levels of the wild Pokemon were
terrible. Imagine you've just arrived in Vermilion City. You know this gym specialises in Electric Types, so why not head to the good old Diglett's Cave and see if you can catch a high leveled Dugtrio? Problem is, Diglett's Cave is blocked by a Snorlax. So, you come back when you can wake up that Snorlax, and enter Diglett's Cave. And then the highest leveled Pokemon you can catch is a Level 32 Dugtrio. Good luck training that up! Additionally, look at Murkrow and Houndour. oth of them are Johto Pokemon yet are found in Kanto. I don't have a problem with that. What I do have a problem with is the level they're found at - The highest level you can find Murkrow at is Level 29 when Gym Leaders are using Pokemon above Level 50. It's even worse for Houndour, you can only catch it on one Route at a pathetic Level 15. With Blue having Pokemon from Level 52 to Level 60, you'd think that the wild Pokemon around Viridian City would be at a decently high level. Well, they are... If you count Level 7 as a decently high level. And of course, Red. I really liked the idea of battling against the protagonist of the previous game, but this good idea was ruined by a level curve that would make Pokemon Yellow proud. Experienced players could probably beat Red with a team of Level 60 Pokemon, but less experienced players would have to grinding for ages against Level 50 wild Pokemon. I guess the idea of the battle against Red was that it was supposed to be extremely challenging, but in execution, a hard battle in Pokemon just results in players grinding for a while.
However, that's not to say that I think of the Gen 2 games as bad games. While the addition of Kanto may not have worked too well with regards to gameplay, I definitely enjoyed the idea of going back to another region to see how it had changed, and I really think it's a shame that the only other games in the series to do this (not counting HG/SS since they're remakes) are actually my least favourite due to a tedious start. But that's irrelevant. I'll also concede that Gen 2 added some features that are important to this day, such as breeding and of course the split of the Special stat into Special Attack and Special Defense. I think it goes without saying that without these features, the recent Pokemon games would be very different, especially in terms of competitive battling.
Generation 2 also introduced some of my favourite Pokemon (such as Scizor and Crobat) and I actually liked how there were only 100 new Pokemon, most of which were related to Kanto Pokemon - it helped establish that closeness to Kanto, and it didn't do what other generations did, which was adding a large amount of new Pokemon to an already large Pokedex. So while Johto's gameplay was lacking in my opinion, I appreciate some of the mechanics it introduced, the Pokemon that it introduced, and the effects that both of these had on the series.
I suspect you could argue that any generation was the best generation. After all, "best" is very subjective, and there isn't really an objective way to say that "change X" is clearly better/more significant than "change Y." Disclaimer, gen II is my personal favorite, and I'm sure that nostalgia colors my perception of it. But can those who love gen III, or any other gen that they grew attached to during their childhood, genuinely say that their own memories have no bearing on their opinions?
I completely agree with this. I'm very much aware that my favourite game in the series (Fire Red) is rarely considered to be the best game in the series, and even I admit that it is probably the weakest of the three remakes. But regardless of that, I still love it simply because it was the first Pokemon game I played and as such I have a special attachment to it that I don't have with other games in the series, regardless of how much better their plot, mechanics, or gameplay may be. I think it's very likely that if G/S/C were my first games in the series, I wouldn't think of its flaws as such a big problem.
tl;dr: gen 2 games weren't the best, but some of their ideas / mechanics were good
holy crap, 1519 words if you count quoted stuff - i really have too much free time today
