1st Gen Using pokémon with gen 1 mechanics

VisionofMilotic

VisionofMilotic

  • Love Ball Moon Ball Master Ball Wonderful Gifts of Surprise
    • 10,331
    Posts
    8
    Years
    What are some Pokemon that you have fun using in RBY? I pose this question because Gen 1 mechanics are so old, quirky and unique that they can be an opportunity to use Pokemon in a different way, than you might otherwise today.

    I am a Gyarados lover, and have used this Pokemon in a playthrough at some point in pretty much every gen, and while there are things I miss having on it when I replay through Gen 1 like the move dragon dance and it's ability intimidate, it still has other virtues. Since special attack and special defense are one special stat in Gen 1, with Gyarados' being 100, it's exciting to me that I can use strong stab moves on it here like surf, even though the physical special split hadn't happened yet. All sorts of special coverage moves like thunderbolt are now viable options, and do as much damage as a Starmie. Blizzard is nice on it too with the 90% accuracy in gen 1, and freeze being a permanent status if inflicted. So I like unleashing a mixed attacking Gyarados, and missed that playing with Gyarados in Gen 2. Another thing that was pretty great was not having to recharge on your hyperbeam when it ko.ed something.

    That's just a quick example to get the ball rolling. What are some ways that you made use of pokenon against a backdrop of the older mechanics?

    Gen 1 is like it's own faraway, strange, exotic land, a place where fire does not resist ice, fighting moves can hit ghosts, crits are calculated by speed, Pokemon couldn't attack when afflicted by trapping moves like wrap, sleep took a full turn to wake up from, and many more pleasant or nasty surprises, depending on your point of view.
     
    Last edited:
    There's something satisfying in one-shotting your rival's Charizard with an Onix using Rock Slide that's like 20 levels below. In general: people love pointing out how powerfull Psychic types are. But the game is so broken that you can have a good time with even the weakest Pokemon around.
     
    I remember when I defeated a Rhyhorn using a low level Gastly just to see how many levels it would gain. In Gen 1 Rhyhorn has only normal attacks, so he could do nothing against a ghost type. But it took me a lot of "licks" to defeat him haha
     
    I'm pretty sure I grinded for a Dratini at the Game Corner in one the gen 1 games.
    It went on my team and was unstoppable from when it became a dragonair and onward.

    I don't really remember much else that felt broken at the time.
    My gen 1 playthroughs are too long ago to remember much detail tbh xD
     
    Gen 1 mechanics had some many bugs. What I hated the most was missing attacks frequently. Psychic types were OP because the only moves with advantage over them were Lick, Twineedle and Pin Missile, which were weak and didn't have much attention
     
    Tauros was one of the most broken Pokémon in Gen 1 alongside Starmie, Mewtwo, and Jolteon... if you managed to catch one in the Safari zone... With a special attack base of 70 and access to the beam+bolt combo, plus being one of the fastest Pokémon back then it could hit hard and fast with both special and physical attacks, with perfect coverage:

    Earthquake, Ice Beam/Blizzard, Thunderbolt, Body Slam. This thing could singlehandely one-shot the entire game without effort, even better than Starmie since it couldn't be potentially challenged by Pokémon with high special def.
     
    Last edited:
    i was going to mention Taurus, but i got late
    damn thing was too op back in gen 1, but was damn hard to catch in safari zone
    i had a Starmie on my team, but Body Slam was a savage move, and still is with its 30% paralyze chance
     
    i like that you pose this question bc it appeals to how i enjoy the games aha. when i decide on a pokemon game to play, it's usually dependent on the 1. mechanics i want to play with and 2. the pokemon i want to use.

    for gen 1, i really like any pokemon that can get leech seed and toxic bc the moves work together iirc with a glitch where leech seed builds up damage like toxic does when they're both going at once. also wrap is cheap but kind of fun...sue me!!! also dugtrio is a fun pokemon no matter what, but it's so fun in gen 1. any pokemon with slash really, but dugtrio especially since crit ratio is based on speed and slash already has a higher ratio. dugtrio the goat. oh and anything that gets amnesia to boost the entire special stat, that's fun too. even just playing with the badge boost glitch in general can be fun.

    i totally get that gen 1 is a broken mess, but at the same time, i just see it as a different way to play. you have to factor in that brokenness to use to your advantage and i find that fun to do. i don't have a hard time returning to older mechanics for this reason, it just gives all the games more variety when you really think about it. that's one of the joys of pokemon for me and that's become especially apparent in the last year since i've been replaying lots of pokemon games.
     
    VisionofMilotic said:
    What are some Pokemon that you have fun using in RBY? I pose this question because Gen 1 mechanics are so old, quirky and unique that they can be an opportunity to use Pokemon in a different way, than you might otherwise today.

    I am a Gyarados lover, and have used this Pokemon in a playthrough at some point in pretty much every gen, and while there are things I miss having on it when I replay through Gen 1 like the move dragon dance and it's ability intimidate, it still has other virtues. Since special attack and special defense are one special stat in Gen 1, with Gyarados' being 100, it's exciting to me that I can use strong stab moves on it here like surf, even though the physical special split hadn't happened yet. All sorts of special coverage moves like thunderbolt are now viable options, and do as much damage as a Starmie. Blizzard is nice on it too with the 90% accuracy in gen 1, and freeze being a permanent status if inflicted. So I like unleashing a mixed attacking Gyarados, and missed that playing with Gyarados in Gen 2. Another thing that was pretty great was not having to recharge on your hyperbeam when it ko.ed something.

    That's just a quick example to get the ball rolling. What are some ways that you made use of pokenon against a backdrop of the older mechanics?

    Gen 1 is like it's own faraway, strange, exotic land, a place where fire does not resist ice, fighting moves can hit ghosts, crits are calculated by speed, Pokemon couldn't attack when afflicted by trapping moves like wrap, sleep took a full turn to wake up from, and many more pleasant or nasty surprises, depending on your point of view.
    Click to expand...

    I think maybe the lack of function such as abilities, more types, special attack split, etc is kinda good at times too? Haha
     
    I recommend using Beedrill in Gen. I, I had lots of fun with it especially when the bug moves were used to defeat Sabrina. Also slightly higher crit chance.
     
    d4rk said:
    I recommend using Beedrill in Gen. I, I had lots of fun with it especially when the bug moves were used to defeat Sabrina. Also slightly higher crit chance.
    Click to expand...

    Seconded. And any rom hack that fixes Focus Energy turns Beedrill into a mid-game beast. It just rips through Erika, Koga, and Sabrina.
     
    You must log in or register to reply here.
    Back
    Top