1st Gen Are the older Gens losing popularity?

[BettyNewbie]

...At least, online?

Just 6-7 years ago, it was very common to see people at fansites like this praise the first two Generations as being the best and consider Kanto and Johto to be their favorite regions and storylines. The idea of Gen 2 remakes was very popular, and HGSS were well-received and brought a lot of older fans back into the franchise after nearly a decade.

On the flip-side, Gen 3 was strongly hated and widely considered to be the "Death of Pokémon." Many people openly admitted to skipping the GBA games (even FRLG, which unlike HGSS, were widely considered to be inferior to the originals), and were proud of it. There was a little less hatred for Gen 4, but DPP were still considered to be inferior to RBY/GSC.

Things have changed since then. While many people would've recoiled at the thought of RSE remakes in 2008, it was a hot trending topic throughout the past 2-3 years, and many people jumped for joy when ORAS were announced last May. It's now very common to see people call Gen 3 (well, RSE... FRLG are still pretty hated) the best Generation and consider Hoenn to be their favorite region and storyline.

On the flip-side, it's the thought of revisiting either Kanto or Johto again that makes people recoil. It's now very common to see the first two Gens get bashed for being "boring" and for a certain G-word to get tossed around whenever someone professes to liking either. The idea of new Gen 1 remakes seems to be far more controversial than the idea of Gen 2 remakes was 7 years ago.

(Gen 4, on the other hand, has since taken Gen 3's title as the "Death of Pokémon," although like Gen 3, it seems to be gradually rising in popularity.)

What changed? I think a lot of it has to do with the passage of time. Most of the original fans were in their late teens and early twenties 6-7 years ago, so they were extremely active online and were overflowing with nostalgia for their favorite childhood games. Nowadays, those same people are in their mid-late twenties and have started to become busy with things like work and adulthood, in general. It's the younger group who came of age with RSE who are now the very active and nostalgic late teen/early twenty-somethings.

Another (smaller) part of it may be backlash. Gen 3 fans are simply hating on the first two Gens (and to a lesser extent, Gen 4) the same way older fans were trashing Gen 3 back in 2008, which is understandable. (Although, two wrongs don't make a right.)

What do you think? Do you think that the first two Gens are fading out of popularity? Do you actually feel nervous or ashamed to consider either your favorite? Could this trend ever be reversed, or is it simply as inevitable as time, itself?

 

[Zehn]

I think nostalgia is the cause. Back in R/S/E times, a remake 2 year after would be hated since the originals are still fresh in people's minds. But then in about 10 years, people have since moved on from those game and most don't even have the console to play them on. This also means just when R/S/E begain to fade completly from memory, they are reborn. With OrAs now being out many people realise what the games tried to be. Also the critisism of that gen dies since many people think "well that was 10 years ago, what did we realy expect". This also brings me back to my first point, since 10 years have pasted people feel very nostalgic about the games and don't what to be critical as it what they enjoyed. Also the critism goes away with time. Do you remember what level your pokemon were at the 3rd gym? No? Well all you really remember is the happy feelings when they first played the games. And Fr/Lg will always be hated since people will still sore over the cut off of gen 1/2, just to have there favourite remade. It was way too early for a remake of gen 1 but game freak were just trying to help ease the blow of the cut off. Also many fans where upset to see gen 1 remade to not the greatest features. Since the only main difference was the graphics and breeding. Breeding got introduced in gen 2 so Fr/Lg got no credit. Also with game freak cheaping out with the day/night, many players only saw what could of been, not what was. And this is the game today. When people think of another remake of gen 1, they think, well Fr/Lg were crap so should we even let them try it again? They might ruin it more

Hope you enjoy ^_^

 

[BettyNewbie]

I think nostalgia is the cause. Back in R/S/E times, a remake 2 year after would be hated since the originals are still fresh in people's minds. But then in about 10 years, people have since moved on from those game and most don't even have the console to play them on. This also means just when R/S/E begain to fade completly from memory, they are reborn. With OrAs now being out many people realise what the games tried to be. Also the critisism of that gen dies since many people think "well that was 10 years ago, what did we realy expect". This also brings me back to my first point, since 10 years have pasted people feel very nostalgic about the games and don't what to be critical as it what they enjoyed. Also the critism goes away with time. Do you remember what level your pokemon were at the 3rd gym? No? Well all you really remember is the happy feelings when they first played the games.

Oh, definitely. Hoenn is a lot more nostalgic now than it was in 2008, because its fans are older and more time has passed. Plus, many of the things that people hated RSE for to begin with, such as the lack of connectivity or Day/Night, are no longer an issue with the games (including RSE's own remakes).

And Fr/Lg will always be hated since people will still sore over the cut off of gen 1/2, just to have there favourite remade. It was way too early for a remake of gen 1 but game freak were just trying to help ease the blow of the cut off. Also many fans where upset to see gen 1 remade to not the greatest features. Since the only main difference was the graphics and breeding. Breeding got introduced in gen 2 so Fr/Lg got no credit. Also with game freak cheaping out with the day/night, many players only saw what could of been, not what was. And this is the game today. When people think of another remake of gen 1, they think, well Fr/Lg were crap so should we even let them try it again? They might ruin it more.

Alas, hatred of FRLG may be the one thing that unites older and younger fans, now. Older fans hate it for being a crappy, lazy remake of great games, and younger fans hate it for having "boring Kanto" and nothing but Gen 1 Pokémon in the National Dex.

You especially nailed it with this: "And this is the game today. When people think of another remake of gen 1, they think, well Fr/Lg were crap so should we even let them try it again? They might ruin it more." For many younger fans, their first taste of Gen 1 was the blah remakes and not the originals, no it's no wonder that they grew to hate Kanto and Gen 1 (especially if they played FRLG right after RSE or worse, DPP and saw just how much the games were missing).

Of course, it's even more of a reason to remake Gen 1 again, to repair the wrongs done by the earlier remake and finally allow Gen 1 to live up to its fullest potential with modern graphics and mechanics.

Suffice to say, there's a reason why most Gen 1 fans are those who started with the original RBY and not FRLG. (And, probably why my own Gen 1 remake ideas refer back to the original games--especially, Yellow--much more than FRLG. I don't want to see FRLG remade; I want to see RBY remade again and much better this time around.)

 

[TheSpud]

...At least, online?
What changed? I think a lot of it has to do with the passage of time. Most of the original fans were in their late teens and early twenties 6-7 years ago, so they were extremely active online and were overflowing with nostalgia for their favorite childhood games. Nowadays, those same people are in their mid-late twenties and have started to become busy with things like work and adulthood, in general. It's the younger group who came of age with RSE who are now the very active and nostalgic late teen/early twenty-somethings.

I think it's almost entirely this. At a certain point (around early college age, 20ish), most people I know get a severe nostalgia trip. For me it was stuff like Beast Wars, the original Pokémon games, etc. Along that same vein, most people I know (including myself) stopped after Gold/Silver. The idea of "catch 'em all" had become laughable, it was on a new system that not everyone had, and nothing recognizable was available early. Combine that with how we were at that time 13 or so, and started trying super hard to be "cool" with the age group 3-5 years above us (which Pokémon wasn't) and it's easy to see why those games weren't very liked. It wasn't until X/Y that I even picked up a "new" Pokémon game (although part of that was lack of system), and no one I knew even considered it until Black/White, when we were old enough to not care about appearing cool.


But now who is in that early college age? Kids who were 5 years younger, that grew up with those games (and who we laughed at for still playing Pokémon). I would say that's the biggest reason for both the increased interest in Gen 3 and increased animosity towards the earlier games. Also, if any of them actually went back and played the first games for example, it would be extremely underwhelming. No nature, no ability, no alternate battle types, no eggs, no holding items, objectively awful (although I love them) sprites, Psychic superiority... should I go on? I can see why they wouldn't be fans of it, because it wasn't super-new groundbreaking stuff for them like it was for us.

 

[Mega_Kris]

Honestly i still consider gen 1-4 as true pokemon as the next. Gen 3 just didn't expand as much and gen 4 did some expansion.

overall i still put strong value to gen 2 more so than gen 1. its entertaining and still provides a lot of fun for me...to me i just tend to get overwhelmed with the latest games...their are features i just don't want to get into. gen 5 especially felt unnecessarily excess in features.

 

[BettyNewbie]

I think it's almost entirely this. At a certain point (around early college age, 20ish), most people I know get a severe nostalgia trip. For me it was stuff like Beast Wars, the original Pokémon games, etc. Along that same vein, most people I know (including myself) stopped after Gold/Silver. The idea of "catch 'em all" had become laughable, it was on a new system that not everyone had, and nothing recognizable was available early. Combine that with how we were at that time 13 or so, and started trying super hard to be "cool" with the age group 3-5 years above us (which Pokémon wasn't) and it's easy to see why those games weren't very liked. It wasn't until X/Y that I even picked up a "new" Pokémon game (although part of that was lack of system), and no one I knew even considered it until Black/White, when we were old enough to not care about appearing cool.

That's how I was. I shunned Pokémon around the time I entered middle school (which was, conveniently, in 2002, the same year RS came out), and started getting into The Sims more. It was only about a decade later, when I was in my early 20s, that I started coming back, and even then, it was pretty much limited to RBY/GSC, aka. the ones I grew up with. None of the later Gens ever really caught my eye as much as the first two, and that probably won't change anytime soon.

Also, if any of them actually went back and played the first games for example, it would be extremely underwhelming. No nature, no ability, no alternate battle types, no eggs, no holding items, objectively awful (although I love them) sprites, Psychic superiority... should I go on? I can see why they wouldn't be fans of it, because it wasn't super-new groundbreaking stuff for them like it was for us.

Or, more likely, they played FRLG shortly after RS and were greatly underwhelmed by all of the missing features the games had in comparison (yes, even to Ruby and Sapphire). And, if they first played FRLG after Emerald or especially, DP, well... I can see why they think Kanto is a "boring," "sucky" region. HGSS might have helped things a little bit, but not by a whole lot.

It's sad that these fans are so repelled by Kanto (especially its Gen 1 incarnation), because they're probably the ones who could benefit the most from a new remake. RBY are good games, but they're extremely outdated, while FRLG are both (less) outdated *and* bad. A brand new, fully-featured Gen 1 with all of the latest bells and whistles is what it would take for them to, at least, appreciate Kanto. (Like how many gained a new appreciation for Hoenn from ORAS.)

overall i still put strong value to gen 2 more so than gen 1. its entertaining and still provides a lot of fun for me...to me i just tend to get overwhelmed with the latest games...their are features i just don't want to get into. gen 5 especially felt unnecessarily excess in features.

I feel you on that. I'll still always prefer the simple, easy-to-understand stat system of RBY/GSC to the (over) complicated Natures/EVs mess of later Gens.

 

[Hiatus]

They are definitely not as popular as they used to be, no.

Today, we have a variety of titles available, and are not limited to first and second generation of games. Games we do have access to (at least in our current gen, which would be sixth) are much, much more advanced in terms of graphics, features, mechanics, game-play, and so forth; with things that are this better, I don't precisely see a reason as to how older games could maintain their popularity, unfortunately.

However, some people do still go back into them every now and again, including myself. One, huge reason behind this, as stated before, would likely have to be nostalgia; they help bring memories back to us.

 

[Leonhart54]

interesting post!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

[Stormerbuzz35]

I've never been ashamed to say that I loved gen 1-3. Sapphire was my first Pokemon game I could play and I spent alot of my childhood wishing I could get the games when Gold and Silver came out. The old games will never die. Not when people keep using them for various challenges. I myself am doing a Monotype challenge on Blue.

 

[mew_nani]

It has to do with younger fans supplanting the older ones. The old guard grew up with Gen 1 and Gen 2, and thus view them as the best Pokemon games ever made, and hate Gen 3 because it's much more underwhelming when compared to Johto. The people liking Gen 3 and possibly 4 grew up with those games, and they've never played Pokemon Red, Blue, Yellow, Gold, Silver or Crystal and just don't understand why anybody likes them. The fact it's all about graphics more than anything isn't helping; I knew a guy who wouldn't even play the games because they were 8 bit and didn't look as pretty as the newer games. I personally like all the Pokemon generations except for Gen 6. Those have been by far the most underwhelming to me.

 

[Mega_Kris]

I met someone too who also wouldn't play a game that was 8bit. Honestly though, Pokémon during the gameboy and gameboy color era has always been the most impressive games on the gameboy. No one will find that many gameboy games as packed as pokemon.

I especially have a deep fondness for Pokemon Crystal and Yellow.

 

[kyuubi93]

I don't believe they are. Even though they don't have advanced features like soaring, or cool events like the Delta Episode, I will still choose to play RBGY/GSC games over any of the modern games. It has the cool feel of nostalgia that I grew up with, and I never cease to have fun building different teams every time around. I find the simplicity to actually be quite dynamic to my interests.

 

[jbernardocard]

Well i stoped playing when gen IV came out because i din't want to buy a ds and i didn't like the look of new pokemon. several years later i played a platinum rom and i must say i liked the game. Last year a friend of mine borrowed me his Dsi and pokemon white and i'm not sure if i liked it or not. When ORAS was anounced i became really excited and ibought a 3ds and the game this christmas. So after 6 generations i still think that hoenn and johto are my favourite ones. Hoenn because is the region i spent more time playing back in the days and johto because it has a special feeling. I really liked jhoto overall design and pokemons, the soundtrack is amazing, and the cartridge color also had something to say about my love for johto too. i don't know i think nostalgia is the main reason why people like some regions better than others.

I would really love to see a new remake of GSC, i know it won't happen in a short future but it is something that i would like see.

 

[BettyNewbie]

Well i stoped playing when gen IV came out because i din't want to buy a ds and i didn't like the look of new pokemon. several years later i played a platinum rom and i must say i liked the game. Last year a friend of mine borrowed me his Dsi and pokemon white and i'm not sure if i liked it or not. When ORAS was anounced i became really excited and ibought a 3ds and the game this christmas. So after 6 generations i still think that hoenn and johto are my favourite ones. Hoenn because is the region i spent more time playing back in the days and johto because it has a special feeling. I really liked jhoto overall design and pokemons, the soundtrack is amazing, and the cartridge color also had something to say about my love for johto too. i don't know i think nostalgia is the main reason why people like some regions better than others.

Interesting. You don't see too many people who consider both GSC and RSE to be their favorite games, as the games couldn't be any different from one another. Which was your first, by any chance?

I would really love to see a new remake of GSC, i know it won't happen in a short future but it is something that i would like see.

Yeah, sadly, it probably won't happen for a while (as HGSS can still be played on a 3DS). However, if GF ends up going with my idea of remaking Yellow and Crystal as a prequel/sequel pair, it might happen sooner than you think (as Gen 1 is in dire need of a remake right now... neither RBY or FRLG can be played on a 3DS).

 

[Morfium]

If I had to choose my favorite generation it would be the second and their remakes.
I had gold and crystal back then and loved them to death. :D
Also liked my blue version, but I guess it was the giant leap the second gen games made.
The most awesome things about gen2 for me were:
2 whole Regions, morning/day/night, cool additional pokemon and evolutions to existing, breeding, shinyness, bug contest (loved it xD), roaming legendaries, teak city (omg I love this town), trading with another generation, color! :D, happiness, craftable pokeballs and later with crystal finally a heroine.
I never felt like any other generation delivered so much cool new stuff. But probably they all did and it's just nostalgia getting the better of me.
And then the remakes brought one of my favorite features, a pokemon following you around. I was super sad when they removed that in later gens and not even pokemon ami fixed it for me. :(
Plus I love Johto as a region. It has this ... dunno.... "home"-feeling to it. XD
Gen 3 was nice too, I loved emerald and my cute male gardevoir. :,D
FR/LG were kinda... meh. Why did they remove so much stuff? :/ I kinda hoped they'd add Johto or at least the borders to the old map to play the story the other way round and get a feeling of the Jotho before gsc. Those little islands were not really what I expected.
Gen4,5 (HG/SS excluded) were the weakest in my opinion. I didn't like the story nor the setting. And the pokemon started looking weird.
I didn't finish a single game from those gens... Except for HG which was super awesome.
X/Y/OR/AS were good too, I like my Y more than my OR though. While OR clearly has cool features like facials expressions, it's lacking some cool features again. D:
Why can't I dress up pretty anymore? D,: And a fat yellow rat in a dress doesn't make up for that. :( That's like removing day/night from FRLG or following pokemon from BW.

 

[Mega_Kris]

The biggest complaint that i have for gen 1 is that the sprites were "HORRIBLE" when it came to the Pokemon. Some of them looked really off, and the back-view off the Pokemon you used, look even worst. And they didn't need to look bad. There was definitely room to make the sprites for the most part look "decent".

 

[BettyNewbie]

The biggest complaint that i have for gen 1 is that the sprites were "HORRIBLE" when it came to the Pokemon. Some of them looked really off, and the back-view off the Pokemon you used, look even worst. And they didn't need to look bad. There was definitely room to make the sprites for the most part look "decent".

Well, Yellow, at least, had better-looking front sprites, but Red and Blue on the other hand...

GSC, on the other hand, had very nice sprites for the time, especially Crystal. Many people still prefer Crystal's animations to the more generic animations of later Gens.
https://i.imgur.com/5bEKt.png

 

[jbernardocard]

Interesting. You don't see too many people who consider both GSC and RSE to be their favorite games, as the games couldn't be any different from one another. Which was your first, by any chance?



Yeah, sadly, it probably won't happen for a while (as HGSS can still be played on a 3DS). However, if GF ends up going with my idea of remaking Yellow and Crystal as a prequel/sequel pair, it might happen sooner than you think (as Gen 1 is in dire need of a remake right now... neither RBY or FRLG can be played on a 3DS).

The really first pokemon game i got was leaf green, next i got emerald, and then crystal.
I think that GSC have some kind of ''mystery'' surrounding. I can't even explain you how i feel when i hear lake of rage theme, i feel like i'm on my backyard with my friends, it's summer and the sun is going down, the air is warm!! Ohhhhh life is good!! I'm feeling so nostalgic now, i'm sorry ahah I kinda miss those 8 bit songs.

What do you think about a new option in future remakes that would allow you to switch between 'classic soundtrack' and 'remasterd soundtrack'? I think it could make the adventure much more enjoyable for older players. Just adding extra nostalgia to the game.

 

[BettyNewbie]

The really first pokemon game i got was leaf green, next i got emerald, and then crystal.

Ah, so you started with the "meh" FRLG? Did you ever go back and play the original RBY? What did you think? Better or worse (outdated graphics/mechanics, notwithstanding)?

I think that GSC have some kind of ''mystery'' surrounding. I can't even explain you how i feel when i hear lake of rage theme, i feel like i'm on my backyard with my friends, it's summer and the sun is going down, the air is warm!! Ohhhhh life is good!! I'm feeling so nostalgic now, i'm sorry ahah I kinda miss those 8 bit songs.

Yeah, GSC had a really good soundtrack, even with the 8-bit sound effects. Very nostalgic. {<3}

What do you think about a new option in future remakes that would allow you to switch between 'classic soundtrack' and 'remasterd soundtrack'? I think it could make the adventure much more enjoyable for older players. Just adding extra nostalgia to the game.

Well, HGSS sort of allowed you to do that, but the option came way too late in the game, and the songs weren't perfect recreations. The next Gen 1 remake should implement this feature to the fullest.

 

[Mega_Kris]

Well, Yellow, at least, had better-looking front sprites, but Red and Blue on the other hand...

GSC, on the other hand, had very nice sprites for the time, especially Crystal. Many people still prefer Crystal's animations to the more generic animations of later Gens.
https://i.imgur.com/5bEKt.png

If I recall, the only other Pokemon game (not including spin offs) with animation was Emerald. That one was mostly morphing and moving the sprites, but not having the sprites animate.anything in particular. If they did, it was barely noticeable. With crystal they definitely took the time and care to animate them carefully. For a GBC game, I have never seen so much life. I'm not exaggerating.