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Nostalgia. I don't like to use the word "pandering" as it carries too many negative implications, but think of it this way:
- Gen 4, we got HGSS. It had everything good about Platinum, as well as a fully-realised Kanto and Johto. Jump from this to Gen 5, where they couldn't have tried harder to pull away from established continuity. A lot of people didn't like the approach. B2W2 made up for it a bit with the World Tournament, but even that wasn't quite enough nostalgia "pandering".
- Jump to Gen 6. The leap to 3D. The first towns/cities and Santalune Forest couldn't have been more geared to capture the traditional feeling of the games; Santalune Forest is literally Viridian Forest in 3D. You get to choose a Kanto Starter just one badge into the game, and a whole bunch of Kanto Pokémon got Mega Evolutions; favourites like Charizard and Mewtwo even got TWO Mega Evolutions.
From Gen 6 on the nostalgia-pandering hasn't been quite so blatant - not to overlook Let's Go, which are literally "Hey old fans, play this with your kids!" - but it's still there. Mostly-Kanto Pokémon receiving Alolan forms and special Z-Moves, the Kanto starters receiving G-Max forms, and the Kanto starters/Mewtwo getting severe model-updates in SV compared to other Pokemon…
It's little things like that. The games don't suffer from touches like this, and still manage to maintain their own identities, but there's usually going to be a hearty number of Kanto Pokemon in the games to keep the oldest fans engaged if possible, at a bare minimum.
- Gen 4, we got HGSS. It had everything good about Platinum, as well as a fully-realised Kanto and Johto. Jump from this to Gen 5, where they couldn't have tried harder to pull away from established continuity. A lot of people didn't like the approach. B2W2 made up for it a bit with the World Tournament, but even that wasn't quite enough nostalgia "pandering".
- Jump to Gen 6. The leap to 3D. The first towns/cities and Santalune Forest couldn't have been more geared to capture the traditional feeling of the games; Santalune Forest is literally Viridian Forest in 3D. You get to choose a Kanto Starter just one badge into the game, and a whole bunch of Kanto Pokémon got Mega Evolutions; favourites like Charizard and Mewtwo even got TWO Mega Evolutions.
From Gen 6 on the nostalgia-pandering hasn't been quite so blatant - not to overlook Let's Go, which are literally "Hey old fans, play this with your kids!" - but it's still there. Mostly-Kanto Pokémon receiving Alolan forms and special Z-Moves, the Kanto starters receiving G-Max forms, and the Kanto starters/Mewtwo getting severe model-updates in SV compared to other Pokemon…
It's little things like that. The games don't suffer from touches like this, and still manage to maintain their own identities, but there's usually going to be a hearty number of Kanto Pokemon in the games to keep the oldest fans engaged if possible, at a bare minimum.
