2nd Gen G/S/C is overrated

[Elite Overlord LeSabre™]

Not calling it overrated, but GSC definitely have flaws that many fans of the generation are more than happy to shove under a rug... the poorer TM's, incomplete Kanto, the huge level gap between Blue and Red, the fact that Red's not tough except for his high levels...

I enjoyed the Johto games, but they weren't my favorite generation.

 

[Pokemon Game Fan]

Really? I love GSC, they had so many available old-age Legendaries (Lugia, Ho-Oh, Three Dogs), without the use of a cheat engine or a Pokemon Event. IMO they were totally the best games, but that's just in my opinion.
They were the first games with legitimate color (Yes, Yellow had color, but it looked insanely messed up half the time), their graphics were in the middle of alright and bad, not too old style but not 3-D style.
You take place in Johto AND Kanto, you face the Rival AND Trainer from the first generation (Ash/Red, Gary/Blue), the Rival was awesome in the games, there were MUCH more Pokemon than there were in Red/Blue (151 - 150 Legit if you don't count the Mew glitch), so yeah in my personal opinion, G/S/C > R/B/Y

 

[RHCPlover]

I don't think it's as overrated a generation as Black/White and Diamond/Pearl/Platinum.
But yeah, it is a little bit overrated, especially since it had an incomplete Kanto region. Gold/Silver/Crystal is my second favorite generation though, my first being Red/Green/Blue/Yellow.

 

[~Akiko]

I thought it was the best. The idea of more than 8 gyms in a game was amazing!
I wish they could release a pokemon with all the gyms and regions and increase the level to 200 or 250.

 

[SK3]

I don't believe G/S/C is overrated at all, but that's just my opinion. It may have some flaws but it deserves every bit of credit that it gets. If you look past the "low levels" or "incomplete Kanto", G/S/C are completely awesome games. I love the music, I love the mapping, I love the story. I'm an optimist, so the glass is half full for me, not half empty :p

If anything I think B/W is overrated, but that's a different topic for a different thread.

 

[fyrkant]

I'm playing through Crystal right now after many years of it collecting dust on a shelf, and I'll definitely say I personally don't agree with it being overrated, but that's ONLY because I don't understand why being easy / having low-level Pokémon in many areas makes it overrated?
Like others have mentioned, difficulty is not what makes a game good to every player (even if some players very likely care more about the difficulty challenge than anything else). Although, yes, if you mean that too many people are saying "GSC were the most difficult games ever and thus the best!!" I could see where you'd be coming from ;-)
Hmm, as for me, the main reason I like GSC a lot is because I love the graphics, colours, design, and other stuff like that. I think the plot and world was great and easy to get absorbed in... it might be that people with too much imagination enjoy these games more :-P I think the Pokémon and trainer design in the games past GSC has been going in a different direction than what I originally liked in Pokémon, so it's not strange that RBY/GSC ended up being my favourites. Well, that's all just me though, of course everyone will rate a game differently.

 

[~*!*~Tatsujin Gosuto~*!*~]

I think many people say that GSC is overrated is because you were able to go to Kanto right after. I also believe thats why many people say that "Johto is the best" just because you knew that you were going to Kanto right after. Johto is too plain, that is my opinion.


:t354:TG

 

[Shizz]

I've only been able to stomach the Hoenn region once. I've tried twice every year since to start over, and by the time I'm at the second gym, I...I dunno, I lose interest. I guess I like G/S/C because of the Pokemans you have to look forward to, and G/S/C didn't try to stand on it's own like Hoenn Pokemon; it was an expansion. Not to mention, they took away the Day and Night feature on Hoenn, and I'm a weirdo when it comes to Aesthetics. Although I do love some of the Pokemon from 3rd gen, despite the storyline not being my favorite...

 

[MetalShadowOverlord]

Imma let you finish, but G/S/C was the best generation of all time!

 

[Qin]

I agree that G/S/G aren't the best in the series, but I don't think it was obscenely easy... If you put enough time into it you can walk any of the games.

 

[Butterfree-Charizard]

No one likes it because it's a challenge to beat. They like the Nostalgic feelings they get playing it.

 

[StarkePkMn]

How are they overrated, who overrates them? lol

 

[Mentalii]

G/S/C, overrated? I disagree, these games were awesome, they were the game of the change !
And I don't find them easy at all. The gym leaders were generally rather strong, notably Clair and Whitney, and catching legendary Pokemon was hard. So, for me, G/S/C isn't overrated and is one of the best Pokemon Game ever. :)

 

[Mephodicus]

I don't think they were overrated, but I have to agree that it was rediculously easy compared to R/B/Y. While in Red, I would have to level my whole party to stand against the Elite Four, but it would only take one leveled Pokemon in G/S/C to wipe them out. The Elite Four are just as challenging in G/S/C, but if thier levels were tweaked a bit higher, it would probably be more fun to challenge them.

I can only speculate that their levels were that low because you were eventually heading into Kanto for the second part of the game so they felt there was no need to pose a challenge (which was totally wrong of them IMO)

 

[DowntownDumpling]

Out of all the games that came out after R/B/Y, G/S/C probably had the most older Pokemon that you could legitimately catch. There were only a few that you couldn't, such as the old legendaries and starters. G/S/C were clearly designed to allow nearly-comprehensive completion of the Pokedex with one version of the game. Now you have Black and White with their little three-town area in which you can catch a number of Pokemon that existed in previous generations that probably totals in the double-digits. R/B/Y, in contrast, didn't have any older Pokemon to go back to.

It's possible that G/S/C was actually more revolutionary to the Pokemon series than R/B/Y was. R/B/Y were fairly typical J-RPGs with managing a team, items, and techniques that characters can learn. The main gimmick was the cute monsters - which were still nothing new - and multiplayer connectivity. G/S/C introduced more things that RPGs had not seen before, such as creating new creatures out of nowhere (Day Care), connectivity with older games (R/B/Y), and the essential amalgmation of two games into one (two regions).

Maybe I'm getting too critical and pedantic, though, and should approach the problem from a more personal angle. While G/S/C introduced fewer new Pokemon than any other generation, I think the Pokemon designs were superior overall. For example, the Kanto starters are more classic and well-loved, to be sure, but they also looked more like each other and were all basically based on dragons. Also, some of the creatures like Raticate, Tauros, and Spearow just looked too much like real animals; their designs were not elemental or very creative at all.

One more gripe I have about R/B/Y is the messiness of the Special Attack/Special Defense system. I really think it worked much better when Game Freak decided to completely separate Special into two stats.

I don't think that R/B/Y is a bad game by any means, but I still prefer G/S/C as I believe the game, Pokemon, interface, music, etc. to be simply better designed. If anything, R/B/Y is the overrated one. Many people seem to give the sequels a lot of hate, but I really believe G/S/C to be better games.

 

[Redfire313]

I think that G/S/C is a very overrated generation. This is so because mainly how easy the games were. Although the beginning of the game was actually hard, mainly due to annoying gym leaders like Bugsy and Whitney, as soon as it got to Morty, the game became obscenely easy. While R/B/Y offered a great challenge, G/S/C was quite easy. The trainers were ridiculously underleveled. Just compare the Elite Four in G/S/C to the Elite Four in R/B/Y. While the Champion in R/B/Y had numerous Pokemon well into the 60s, the highest leveled pokemon in the G/S/C elite four was only 50. Plus, the wild Pokemon were at such low levels that you basically had to catch your entire party early into the game if you didn't want to have to work really hard to get your new party member up to a reasonable level. R/B/Y is far superior than G/S/C.

I have to strongly disagree. I found it much easier to beat R/B/Y. Red in G/S/C was a challenge to say the least. And we had twice the badges in G/S/C (While they weren't super tough) so it was definatly more challenging.

 

[Atomic Pirate]

Out of all the games that came out after R/B/Y, G/S/C probably had the most older Pokemon that you could legitimately catch. There were only a few that you couldn't, such as the old legendaries and starters. G/S/C were clearly designed to allow nearly-comprehensive completion of the Pokedex with one version of the game. Now you have Black and White with their little three-town area in which you can catch a number of Pokemon that existed in previous generations that probably totals in the double-digits. R/B/Y, in contrast, didn't have any older Pokemon to go back to.

It's possible that G/S/C was actually more revolutionary to the Pokemon series than R/B/Y was. R/B/Y were fairly typical J-RPGs with managing a team, items, and techniques that characters can learn. The main gimmick was the cute monsters - which were still nothing new - and multiplayer connectivity. G/S/C introduced more things that RPGs had not seen before, such as creating new creatures out of nowhere (Day Care), connectivity with older games (R/B/Y), and the essential amalgmation of two games into one (two regions).

Maybe I'm getting too critical and pedantic, though, and should approach the problem from a more personal angle. While G/S/C introduced fewer new Pokemon than any other generation, I think the Pokemon designs were superior overall. For example, the Kanto starters are more classic and well-loved, to be sure, but they also looked more like each other and were all basically based on dragons. Also, some of the creatures like Raticate, Tauros, and Spearow just looked too much like real animals; their designs were not elemental or very creative at all.

One more gripe I have about R/B/Y is the messiness of the Special Attack/Special Defense system. I really think it worked much better when Game Freak decided to completely separate Special into two stats.

I don't think that R/B/Y is a bad game by any means, but I still prefer G/S/C as I believe the game, Pokemon, interface, music, etc. to be simply better designed. If anything, R/B/Y is the overrated one. Many people seem to give the sequels a lot of hate, but I really believe G/S/C to be better games.

Errmmmm... So frog-dinosaur things and turtles with water cannons are dragons now?
R/B/Y isn't as good as the more recent games (excluding D/P/Pt, they sucked) but it is a revolutionary generation (which is why I like it), contrary to what you say about it. G/S/C, while it had it's share of new innovations, simply didn't have as much competitive potential, which is why I like the newer Pokemon games. Starting in R/S, new things like EV training and Natures came, which changed competitive (and in-game, at least how I play the Pokemon games) battling for the entire series. Now there came a way to make sure your Pokemon were their best: You could catch (or even better, breed) some until you got the nature you wanted, you could EV train a Pokemon in a particular stat, and you could come out with an unstoppable juggernaut which excelled in a certain stat. I even have to give the nod to D/P for introducing the Physical/Special split. The innovations in G/S were more cosmetic changes, while they weren't as groundbreaking as Natures or the Physical/Special split. When playing Pokemon, I favor good technology and competitive potential, not the simplicity of the "good old days". Please remove your nostalgia goggles, nostalgia doesn't make a game amazing.

 

[U.Flame]

The second generation introduced many amazing things about Pokemon! Even if the difficulty is easier, that doesn't mean it's underrated. Difficulty isn't everything. Besides, the second generation gives me an incredible feeling the 1st, 3rd, 4th, 5th generation, and 2nd generation remakes can never give. It's more than nostalgia. But that's just me. If you don't like it, that's okay, but don't try to say the generation doesn't deserve the credit it has.

 

[Syphr]

It's not the level of difficulty that is brought up when referring to g/s/c.
It's the soundtrack, the colors, the entertaining dialogue and how revolutionary it basically was for its time period in terms of handheld games.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lI1DW_ryBMM

 

[Superjub]

Although the beginning of the game was actually hard, mainly due to annoying gym leaders like Bugsy and Whitney, as soon as it got to Morty, the game became obscenely easy.

Personally, I found Morty quite hard with his Gengar, but maybe that's just me. I even found Jasmine quite hard with her Steelix. I see where you're coming from with the levels, but keep in mind they can't make the levels exactly like R/B/Y, or else by the time the player gets to Kanto, the trainers would have very high levelled Pokemon. :\ Not necessarily a bad thing, but it would make the game much harder imo.

While R/B/Y offered a great challenge, G/S/C was quite easy. The trainers were ridiculously underleveled. Just compare the Elite Four in G/S/C to the Elite Four in R/B/Y. While the Champion in R/B/Y had numerous Pokemon well into the 60s, the highest leveled pokemon in the G/S/C elite four was only 50.

Again, the champion couldn't have the exact same levels as in R/B/Y or else Red would basically have to have Pokemon from 90 - 100, which, while it may seem like a good idea, would make the game take much longer to complete. I would have liked a bit of a boost, maybe not as much as R/B/Y. Again, quite a few trainers had their Pokemon boosted in HG/SS :\

Plus, the wild Pokemon were at such low levels that you basically had to catch your entire party early into the game if you didn't want to have to work really hard to get your new party member up to a reasonable level. R/B/Y is far superior than G/S/C.

Again, I agree about the low levels, although I think some low level Pokemon in Kanto are meant to remind the player of R/B/Y, where there were normally lower levelled Pokemon.

Anyway, you have to look at the grand scheme of things. G/S/C were the first games to use day/night, days of the week, breeding, hold items, more emphasis on the mascot and more! Plus, Crystal introduced animations, the abiltiy to play as a female (which should have come earlier, but meh) and the Battle Tower. You just have to think how revolutionary they are. Sure, th levels might be better in R/B/Y, but did it have two region? The only downfall is Kanto is scaled down and some places aren't accessible. But HG/SS rectified a lot of that anyway.