1st Gen Bulbasaur, Charmander, or Squirtle? Who is the BEST Kanto starter?

[Imported Cheese]

I know this debate has been done to death, so I decided to approach the issue from an in-game perspective.

Which starter helps you reach the Hall of Fame most easily, and why?

I looked at their stats, their movepools, and their matchups against the gym leaders and Elite Four boss rush.
I went into a lot of detail, like...30 minutes of detail.



Incase you don't have half an hour to dedicate to hearing a grown man rant about a children's video game, I've included a TL;DW of my takes below.

Bulbasaur

Spoiler:

6/10
+Destroys Brock and Misty, the two hardest gym leaders (considering your team is so limited)
+Razor Leaf auto-crits in Gen 1 and completely mows through anything that doesn't resist it
-Poor movepool beyond Razor Leaf
-Grass typing is meh, Poison typing is bad when Psychics reign supreme
-Matches up very poorly against Elite Four Agatha & Lance

Charmander

Spoiler:

3/10
+100 base speed means lots of crits
+Solid movepool in the mid-late game, especially auto-crit Slash
-Atrocious matchup against Brock and Misty
-No special split means special attack stat is still mediocre
-No access to Fly in Red/Blue, making Flying type a liability (Fire doesn't resist Ice yet)

Squirtle

Spoiler:

8/10
+Water typing is objectively better than Grass or Fire (don't @me, Fire is my favorite type)
+Destroys Brock
+Access to Ice coverage and 90% accurate Gen 1 blizzard
+Very few unfavorable matchups overall
- Mediocre stats overall. More than good enough to clear the game, but no real "wow" factor.

 

[Roni]

love the thumbnails fam.

also interesting to see that squirtle was the better option overall over bulbasaur, since i figured the 3 starters were differentiated based on how difficult you wanted the game to be (bulbasaur - easy mode, charmander - hard mode). i figured i never really ran into this since i played the 3rd gen remakes instead and it was a lot more balanced then (no more OP Psychic types & generally better movepools).

all that said, bulbasaur is still and forever will be my top 1.

 

[Alfadør]

I also thought that picking Bulbasaur was the easiest route. Still I've always been Team Squirtle

 

[Imported Cheese]

It might actually be fair to say that Bulbasaur is still the "easy" mode since Bulbasaur sets you up to roll through the most difficult part of the game, the first three gyms.

Squirtle only overtakes Bulbasaur with 25 years of hindsight letting you map out how to cater to Squirtle's strengths and avoid its weaknesses.

Charmander is uh...well, he gets two megas eventually! Hang in there, buddy.

 

[Percy]

competitively, its bulbasaur. but in cuteness its squirtle. no bias here!! none at all 😤

 

[Zeostar]

Squritle > Bulbasaur > Charmander for me

 

[Dragon]

Oooh I have fond memories starting off with Squirtle; I think the evolutionary line is very cool, but I think overall, I looove Bulbasaur the most! I can't say no too an amazing Bulbasaur. c:

 

[Sydian]

i'm a charmander kind of guy if it makes me basic then it's worth it

 

[pkmin3033]

When I was younger I was firmly in the Charmander Camp...then I went through the hell of the first two Gyms. Now I tend to lean more towards Bulbasaur because as cool a concept as Blastoise is he looks derpy and Venusaur was just so much more useful to me with the status powders...which I still occasionally use, for capturing purposes if nothing else.

But we all know who the real king here is:

 

[moon]

Honestly, Squirtle is probably the best to go with. It makes the first gym a breeze, makes sure you don't white out too easily in the second, learns Surf, and also isn't weak to the bane of Gen2 aka Psychic types. If it was Gen3 I'd probably say Bulbasaur is best, for that reason ^^ Slams the first two gyms, resists the next two and is overall good.

 

[Sheep]

Bulbasaur and Squirtle! ❤️ The latter because I love Wartortle so much, and Bulbasaur has always been cute. Charmander is nice too but there is enough Charizard attention around lol.

 

[Raicheot]

I tend to use charmander and is prob my most used starter out of all the gens with squirtle not far behind and it was the first starter I ever used but Ive used a bulbasaur in quite a few runs recently and and become a fan of Venusaur these days but still got nothi g on Charizard

 

[DrawnToast]

I say Bulbasaur! It makes the first two Gyms pretty easy. And, because this is Gen. 1, Venusaur is the only starter to use the Leech Seed / Toxic trick, so there's that to count on. Psychic or Ghost can be an issue, but it and its evolutions can get Sleep Powder, in a game where sleep is pretty OP. At least, to me.

 

[Megan]

If I'm on a nostalgia trip I usually pick Squirtle if I just want a solid playthrough I pick Bulbasaur. They both have their value, but with the overabundance of solid Water types I usually want to try something different for the Water type Pokemon in my party.

Charmander has that weird problem of being Fire type which is very bad in gen 1. Otherwise I might have been more inclined to use it, I suppose.

 

[Figure]

Bulbasaur for me, great typing (even though is isn't hard to get grass/poison types) and you can get plenty of other water types, fire types are kind of cheeks in gen 1 and I'll use Dodrio if I need a flying type.

 

[RadEmpoleon]

I don't really have a favorite of the three, I think equally of them. But most of the time in the Kanto games I pick Charmander, I don't know why.

 

[Meganium]

I normally start with Squirtle or Bulbasaur because I cannot get past through Brock with Charmander (this was 8-year-old meggy we're talking here lol) but I'm too fond of grass types, so Bulbasaur has got me through the gameplay and other Pokemon games, so Bulbasaur is awesomeness.

 

[Bellsprout]

Bulbasaur for a few reasons. Gym wise, only Sabrina and Blaine are real threats to it, but they're both late enough in the game that you should easily have coverage. It reaches its final evolution the earliest. It has access to sleep powder and leech seed along with being able to poison making it able to stall/drain/recover.

 

[Momoro]

In competitive terms, Bulbasaur would be the most optimal choice.

But otherwise, Charizard for me 😄 I love how Charizard was designed!

 

[Squirtlenator]

First off, I think I may be a tad bit biased with one starter over the others but, objectively speaking I think Bulbasaur is the right choice. Especially, when it comes to the later Kanto remakes.

My head says Bulbasaur but, my heart says Squirtle.

#teamsquirtle, #thesquirtlesquad