Safari Zone

[Sun]

Safari Zone is a place where one can access a region's rare Pokémon, most of them offers a different capturing experience than the normal wild battles out there. They are available in the Kanto, Hoenn, Sinnoh, Johto and Kalos regions. While most of them are variants of the Kanto Safari Zone, there are mechanics that set them apart.

Kanto - The most basic of all Safari Zone. It introduced us the concept of different capturing method from the usual wild battles in Gen I. Rocks and Baits can be thrown and they alter a wild Pokémon's capture rate. This Safari Zone is available in FireRed and LeafGreen.
Hoenn - In the original GBA versions, Pokéblocks are used in place of Baits and Go Near acts the same as Throw Rocks. Pokéblock feeders have an effect that is connected to the PokéBlock's flavor. Safari Zone is exclusively expanded during Emerald's post-game. In the remakes, you can capture Pokémon normally like the usual wild battles.
Sinnoh - Known as Great Marsh, the Pokémon at Sinnoh Safari Zone changes daily, which can be viewed by the binoculars from the entrance's second floor. Mud is used in place of Rocks. Dual-slot from FireRed version mode triggers Arbok. Additionally a Pal Park is introduced in Diamond and Pearl which sort of acts like a Safari, where you can capture your Pokémon from the GBA games.
Johto - First introduced in the Johto remakes, located near Cianwood City. It offers abundant of Pokémon species. While the capturing mechanics isn't anything new, this is the only Safari Zone that offers customization: Decorations encourages higher level and non-Johto natives to appear, one can also customize the layouts as they desire, each environment houses different kinds of Pokémon. While absent in Generation II games, during that time Bug Catching Contest was seen as a spiritual successor to Safari Zone by some fans.
Kalos - Kalos' Safari Zone is known as Friend Safari. It can be accessed after the players have recorded their victory at the region's Hall of Fame. While the capturing mechanic is akin to the generic Pokémon wild battles, what makes this special is our friends from the 3DS Friend list as well as the access to Pokémon with Hidden Ability.

Tell us your favorite Safari, capturing methods and mechanics, environment and music and so on.~

 

[esperance]

I've always thought that the Safari Zones are neat little ways to catch Pokémon, so I always make sure to play them at least once a game. I guess my favorite is probably the Johto one, because of how much you could do with it. My least favorite is the Kalos one, because you can't play it until after the Hall of Fame and you need to add friends to your 3DS.

 

[kingdenas]

First of all, I'm not really a fan of Safari Zones, the concept is cool but never liked them to much! I don't hate Safari Zones, please don't say that, it's just ... I don't go there to much, that annoys me a little! But I always check them at least one time!
My favourite Safari Zone may be the Sinnoh one! As I said in some threads, I loooove Sinnoh, it's my favourite region, so I think that's why I love Sinnoh's Safari Zone!
My least favourite Safari Zone might be the Kalos one! I know it's cool because of the Friend Code feature, but I don't like the Safari Zone itself! It's just a square where you can only find 3 different pokémon of the same type ... nah :/

 

[tokyodrift]

I actually really enjoy the Safari Zone. I usually try and catch one of everything whenever I visit. My favorite would have to be between Johto And Hoenn. I remember the only reason I went into the ones in Kanto was because I was told Mewtwo was there in R/B/Y. My least favorite would have to be Kalos since it's only accessible post-hall of fame.

 

[Sopheria]

First of all, I'm not really a fan of Safari Zones, the concept is cool but never liked them to much! I don't hate Safari Zones, please don't say that, it's just ... I don't go there to much, that annoys me a little! But I always check them at least one time!
My favourite Safari Zone may be the Sinnoh one! As I said in some threads, I loooove Sinnoh, it's my favourite region, so I think that's why I love Sinnoh's Safari Zone!
My least favourite Safari Zone might be the Kalos one! I know it's cool because of the Friend Code feature, but I don't like the Safari Zone itself! It's just a square where you can only find 3 different pokémon of the same type ... nah :/

I always thought the Kalos Friend Safari was kinda lame too, at least compared to the other safaris. That one little fenced in patch of grass feels more like a backyard than a safari :c At the same time though, I can't deny that it's useful as heck, because of the variety of different Pokes you can potentially get out of it.

My favorite so far is the Johto safari. Besides the fact that Johto is my favorite region, I love the ability to customize it, and it's fun figuring out which customizations yield which Pokemon :)

 

[`Rse]

During my first run through of Diamond I was trying to catch a Skorupi and I found a shiny Marill and was unable to catch it. It was the first second shiny i've ever seen (first was my friends shiny Mightyena back on Emerald). Since that moment i've never gone to any safari zone ever again in case I encounter a shiny which I won't ever be able to obtain :(.

 

[Hikamaru]

My fave Safari Zone in terms of mechanics is well... none of them actually. Each one has flaws that are easily seen, but if I had to choose I'd probably pick Sinnoh's Great Marsh because it does at least have Pokemon I like in it. Same for the Hoenn Safari Zone, which also has Pokemon I like being catchable there.

Can't comment on music since I rarely explore them, but my fave environment might have to be Johto's in HG/SS. I liked how there was different areas with different Pokemon in each one.

 

[Retro Bug]

I don't really like the Safari Zone's in the newer games, I feel like it's gotten a bit too complicated. I liked the simple idea of going in and capturing various Pokemon without having to worry about various mechanics. I can see the appeal, of course, but for a lazy individual like me I like the simplicity of the first Safari Zone.

 

[Drayton]

I enjoy Kanto, Hoen and Sinnoh safari zone, but most unique one is Sinnoh's great marsh. I'm not a huge fan of Kalos because only accessible after becoming the champion, the pokemon you get there is really depends on your 3DS friend code and it's very limited on the species, but the good thing is great IV and HA which is different than your typical friend safari with battles added

 

[Sun]

Wow, the dislike for the Kalos Safari is overwhelming! {XD} I like Johto's, as Sopheria says, the customization feature is cool as it alters the Pokémon that can be found. You can also link with other players to share your Safari Zone. :)

I agree with the comments on Friend Safari! The Kalos one is lackluster, it has potential. But it's obvious why the mechanics aren't introduce. Most likely they can't programmer that code, this is sort of evident from the lack of Hoenn Safari in OrAs.

 

[Pendraflare]

The only Safari Zone I honestly cared for in the long run was that of HGSS, where you could put those items and affect the Pokémon that were available in the area. But even at that, the mechanics were still a little weird with having to wait a while for certain Pokémon to show up.

 

[Sun]

The only Safari Zone I honestly cared for in the long run was that of HGSS, where you could put those items and affect the Pokémon that were available in the area. But even at that, the mechanics were still a little weird with having to wait a while for certain Pokémon to show up.

I agree, some Pokémon even takes more than half a month to show! :/ Otherwise, HGSS' is nearly flawless.

 

[DraconianWing]

I've never really grown fond of Safari Zones with the exception of Emerald's and HG/SS. The Pokeblock Feeder made it easier to manipulate the nature of the Pokemon that you were looking for, and having the ability to customize the zone itself gave Johto's a very unique feel as well.

The Friend Safari to me doesn't really feel like a Safari, but it's different in it's own way I guess.

 

[Lycanthropy]

I like safari zones. They provide an alternate mechanism for catching Pokémon than through regular wild battles. My favorite is Pastoria City's Great Marsh. The marshy area, a rare land type in the Pokémon world, in there felt like you've suddenly come to another place. Add that with other mechanics for an entirely different experience. Every day other Pokémon available prevent the player from moving through the zone in one try and never revisiting it again.
Second favorite is Hoenn's Zone, which has four areas accessible at first, but only either area 3 or 4 at the time, depending on the type of bike you were carrying. In Emerald it was a special place as the only area that had additional Pokémon available outside of the regional Dex upon defeating the Champion.

 

[Hiatus]

I'm a lot fond of the Friend Safari system in X and Y.

At Friend Safari, we initially start off with a limited number of encounterable Pokémon, but as soon as we begin exchanging friend codes and add more people to our friends list, we start gaining access to more and more Pokémon. It's nice to see them put their friend code system into a use like this.

Regular Safari Zones, I have nothing against, but unfortunately, not many of them provide us with as much Pokémon.

 

[Sun]

I'm a lot fond of the Friend Safari system in X and Y.

At Friend Safari, we initially start off with a limited number of encounterable Pokémon, but as soon as we begin exchanging friend codes and add more people to our friends list, we start gaining access to more and more Pokémon. It's nice to see them put their friend code system into a use like this.

Regular Safari Zones, I have nothing against, but unfortunately, not many of them provide us with as much Pokémon.

I haven't no real statistics data, but I believe Johto's Safari Zone offers more variety than Friend Safari? xD

 

[Sopheria]

I haven't no real statistics data, but I believe Johto's Safari Zone offers more variety than Friend Safari? xD

The Friend Safari has about 12 Pokemon for each type (some have a few less though), so that's about 216 Pokemon. Definitely more than what the Johto Safari has available, but I still feel like I get more variety out of the Johto Safari since it's less work to unlock them all :P

 

[Drayton]

I'm a lot fond of the Friend Safari system in X and Y.

At Friend Safari, we initially start off with a limited number of encounterable Pokémon, but as soon as we begin exchanging friend codes and add more people to our friends list, we start gaining access to more and more Pokémon. It's nice to see them put their friend code system into a use like this.

Regular Safari Zones, I have nothing against, but unfortunately, not many of them provide us with as much Pokémon.

Well, It's true. The more people added to the friend list, the more pokemon we can get. but what if the more may encounter same pokemon as previously added friend. Does it make it bit lackluster?

 

[Sun]

Well, It's true. The more people added to the friend list, the more pokemon we can get. but what if the more may encounter same pokemon as previously added friend. Does it make it bit lackluster?

That is a great question! I guess it goes two ways -- it's lackluster if you have a repeated Safari, but perfect if you have a wide variety? :)

 

[Caite-chan]

I would have to say the Kalos version would have to be my favorite so far. It was different without being to much. Although I think I would like a Safari Zone that was a mix of Kanto and Kalos. Or maybe something where you could pick the type you want and then you get a handful of that type you can go after and the same for each type.