What old generation looked the best to you?

[Sweet Serenity]

Generation 7 easily had the better visuals in my opinion. They had the better character models, 3D textures, better looking animations, better Pokémon models, and smoother and more polished textures compared to generation 6. Alola as an environment also looked great with the textures, as a tropical paradise is a great place for a Pokémon region.

 

[ambam]

So so so so biased when I say this but gen 5. Moving sprites are just so cool. Hell, my PFP is a gen 5 sprite, so it would be kinda wrong to say anything else lol

 

[Sweet Serenity]

So so so so biased when I say this but gen 5. Moving sprites are just so cool. Hell, my PFP is a gen 5 sprite, so it would be kinda wrong to say anything else lol

Generation 5 is my all-time favorite generation and I agree that it looks great, definitely a big improvement over generation 4. The moving sprites were cool too, but to be honest, some of them were annoying. However, I just happened to think that it wasn't better looking than future generations.

 

[moon]

ngl, hgss looked pretty good, and gen 3's Kanto games were when things started to get really neat. But I will always feel intense love for the pixly colorful gen 2 aesthetics.

 

[CZL]

i love gen 5's visuals, i'm sooo crazy about the 3d/2d blend thing and it does it sooo beautifully. gen 4 too, especially hgss. theyre both super atmospheric. i imagine bw and hgss were probably being made at the same time by the same people and they did suuuch a good job

 

[Mimicking Mimikyu]

Gen 2 is so iconic. It might just be nostalgia talking but the sprites are so expressive and well done. I love the entire vibe of Crystal, hence why I pretty much only play ROM hacks of it haha

 

[virtualpet]

It's probably a toss up between HGSS and RSE for us, both of their overworlds just look so appealing visually and still something we'll boot up just to vibe in.

 

[forg]

I can honestly chalk it up to nostalgia, but in terms of battles and sprites I nominate the generation five games; I have heard the HGSS are the better ones for this but I am ashamed to say I've never given them a shot haha. Yet.

As for the over world and everything else I'm a sucker for Emerald. Generation three, then, I suppose. Definitely blaming this one on nostalgia. I was a wee tween.

 

[sabrina_diamond]

I always liked Pokemon Crystal's charming 'pokemon sprite' animations, because it added a bit of life to an otherwise static Pokedex image!

 

[blondsie.]

Oldest, Crystal! But more recent would have to be HGSS, the colors are very vibrant with the palette! Johto felt very warm ^^

 

[Hashimi]

I have nice memories concerning the second generation. The simplicity surrounding most of Pokémon Silver's mechanics are hard to top in my book.
If we're talking about the graphics then I'd give the edge to the fifth generation, since Unova's sceneries, towns and moving sprites are absolutely beautiful.

 

[Ace Trainer Slash]

The best looking games imo definitely go to Pokemon HGSS, Pokemon Black/White/Black 2/White 2, Pokemon Ultra Sun/Moon and Let's Go Pikachu/Eevee.

Pokemon HGSS is the prettiest of the Gen 4 games with very clean tilesets, as well as many of the Pokemon sprites being remade and looking lovely. Not to mention of course the 3D visuals being nice too.

Pokemon BW/BW2 stylistically are definitely the most appealing, the mix of 2D and 3D elements from the backgrounds alongside overworld sprites to in-battle 2D sprites (one of the reasons why the game has aged so well visually compared to other DS games of the time) on contrast with the 3D battle grass below the Pokemon is very lovely to look at. One of the most visually appealing DS games too!! Does what HGSS but amplifies it by 10! :D

Gen 7 was imo where Pokemons 3D design was done consistently well. The environments felt real, for the first time they were also to scale and it was nice seeing all the Pokemon with their big 3D models unlike XY where most of the time their model was cut a little because of battle perspective. The battle backgrounds in USUM are also super gorgeous, the Route 1 one with flowers is definitely a highlight!

In terms of graphical fidelity Let's Go is the prettiest because of how consistent it's graphics are, as well as how much the colours pop and the nice animations concerning flowers in the background and the water!! This isn't to mention the following Pokemon which were also done nicely in terms of graphics (thinking of Snorlax ride hehe).

 

[Amore]

In terms of graphical fidelity Let's Go is the prettiest because of how consistent it's graphics are, as well as how much the colours pop and the nice animations concerning flowers in the background and the water!! This isn't to mention the following Pokemon which were also done nicely in terms of graphics (thinking of Snorlax ride hehe).

This^^

I bought all of the Switch games at once, playing Sword first as it was the only non-remake I had at the time. It blew me away compared to Gen V on a tiny DSi screen, but LGPE just look so nice! When I got my OLED Switch my eyes soon adjusted, but I jump back into that to use Go Park and it still looks fresh! (Just a shame there's no way to use my Pro Controller with it).

I'm actually a huge fan of how BDSP's Water areas look, particularly outside at sunset. Its completely unnatural and weirdly (given there is absolutely no similarity) makes me think of the Gerry Anderson puppet shows. Also, like LGPE the battle backgrounds are so much better than SwSh and its not even close (even if iirc sometimes Mt. Coronet is clearly in the East even when you're to the West of it)

 

[Dastr95]

DPPt is my favorite, I think. I adooooooooored the look especially when I was younger. Night time/evening time was gorgeous with the dark blue tint.

I also love how gens 1-3 look. I love the basic style of gen 1, the colors and sprites look nostalgic in gen 2, gen 3 has some great looking tiles.

 

[Janp]

I love Gen II pixel art. It's so iconic.

But I enjoy the overall Gen VI world more. I love how it slowly changes from spring to summer to autumn and winter. Some of the early Kalos locations are some of the most memorable locations in the whole franchise.

 

[Duck]

The best would be Let's Go, or maybe XY/ORAS. I like the chibi and colorful aesthetic they were going for, and while I also love SM I don't like that they unchibified the characters. Boo for more realistic proportions.

The best 2D would be DPPt, I liked it a lot and it has a very special place in my heart (I never did care for the graphics of BW though. They always felt weird to me).

The most iconic / memorable would probably be Gen 2. I played a lot of Gen 2 and I appreciate a lot of the artistic decisions it did.

 

[Alex_Among_Foxes]

I played Crystal fairly recently and was blown away at how good the game looked.
I never grew up with it so no nostalgia goggles here, it was just a really beautiful game.
( not to mention how much quicker the game was in comparison to HG/SS)

 

[Rock_Salazar]

Gens 2 and 4 were my favorites in terms of how the sprites looked. Gen 2 perfected the old school style of how the sprites should look on gameboy, and in one of the games (Crystal I think) they even animate. That's so cool for a gameboy color game. Since I grew up with the DS titles I would say Gen 4 is my favorite in terms of aesthetic and how all the sprites look like. When I think of pokemon I think of Gen 4 and how the trainers and pokemon looked. I do like Gen 5's animated sprites, but something about the constant movement can sometimes appear awkward. Also all the sprites look more pixelated than they need to in my opinion.