What's with all the hate for Kanto?

[SandslashFTW]

I've been reading through a couple threads and noticed a lot of hate for Kanto. How can you guys even think the new Gens are better than this one? No, it's not nostalgia, the new Pokemon are just horrible. They have too much detail and don't even look like Pokemon anymore. More like machines. I thought Pokemon were living creatures, animals. That's why I liked it so much, but the new ones are freakin' robots! I know, I know, HERP DERP DIGLETT HERP DERP VOLTORB, but those ones were simple. Simple designs were so much better, the new Pokemon look more like transformers than Pokemon ; eg. Rhyperior, Metagross, and the Gen 4 and 5 legendaries. Mewtwo was so awesome, it actually looked like a living creature. Wtf is a Dialga? Come on. Kanto and Johto ftw.

/rant
*puts on hoenn and sinnoh flame proof jacket*

 

[Lord_Storm]

On most threads people flame the 3rd and 4th generations and not the 1st and 2nd, but I really dislike some of the 4th gen pokemon, but I really like some of the 3rd gen pokemon like Blaziken and Grovyle, so the only generation that has bad pokemon really is the 4th generation, especially the legends, just look at Giratina.

 

[Timbjerr]

Speaking as a veteran of RBY, I couldn't disagree with you more. Each generation has had its ups and downs, and there are so many facets by which to judge that simplifying it to just looking at the pokemon themselves is folly.

GenI pokemon were memorable and timeless, I'll give you that, but it's not as if later generations didn't have their gems. Even GenIV, which is flooded with half-baked evolved forms for old pokemon, has some genuinely unique concepts like Infernape, Bronzong, Rotom, and Drapion.

Most memorable for me at least is the regions themselves. Kanto and Johto, being designed for relatively weak systems have very little diversity in their landscapes. There's forests, caves, seas, and...that's it. Boring, no? Hoenn and Sinnoh made it obvious that the developers wanted to make them more unique and interesting than their predecessors. Hoenn's volcano and desert and Sinnoh's marshland and snowy northern region are all very appealing and interesting to traverse. :D

There are other things that different people often consider in ranking the generations, such as the plotline, supporting characters, battle system, sidequests available, and legendary pokemon that I'll probably just leave for someone else to rant on. XD

 

[PlatinumDude]

Maybe the Kanto hate could be because people wanted to move on from the old Pokemon to the new ones. I like all of them, though.

 

[Impo]

what are pokemon meant to look like?
i like the variety ^^

 

[Stellar]

I've been reading through a couple threads and noticed a lot of hate for Kanto. How can you guys even think the new Gens are better than this one? No, it's not nostalgia, the new Pokemon are just horrible. They have too much detail and don't even look like Pokemon anymore. More like machines. I thought Pokemon were living creatures, animals. That's why I liked it so much, but the new ones are freakin' robots! I know, I know, HERP DERP DIGLETT HERP DERP VOLTORB, but those ones were simple. Simple designs were so much better, the new Pokemon look more like transformers than Pokemon ; eg. Rhyperior, Metagross, and the Gen 4 and 5 legendaries. Mewtwo was so awesome, it actually looked like a living creature. Wtf is a Dialga? Come on. Kanto and Johto ftw.

/rant
*puts on hoenn and sinnoh flame proof jacket*

Honestly? I don't see your point, and I'm starting to think it really is just nostalgia. No offense meant, it's just that I'm one of those veterans who played R/B/Y back in '98, so I can understand how you might be overly attached to the first 250. Of course the Pokémon of old are going to seem so much more "alive" to us, It's because we have all these memories that have been associated with those familiar designs. But you need to keep an open mind. I mean, this is all just my opinion, but seriously. Stop living in the past and open your eyes, it won't hurt you one bit.

Edit: I couldn't agree with the person above me more.

 

[Percy Thrillington]

I've been reading through a couple threads and noticed a lot of hate for Kanto. How can you guys even think the new Gens are better than this one? No, it's not nostalgia, the new Pokemon are just horrible.

That's subjective and you can't say otherwise.

I played my first Pokemon game in 1998 and it was fun. Kanto will always have a place in my heart because it introduced me to Pokemon but to say it's above every other generation because 'the Pokemon in the rest are just horrible' isn't exactly a reasoned debate, sorry.

 

[Ayselipera]

When it comes to which region had the best designed Pokemon, then I agree with you. I grew up with the first generation and no matter how hard I try looking at the Kanto Pokemon a different way I still love them more then any other new batch that came in.

There are other things that different people often consider in ranking the generations, such as the plotline, supporting characters, battle system, sidequests available, and legendary pokemon that I'll probably just leave for someone else to rant on. XD

That's where I come in!
I thought Legendary Pokemon were very rare and mysterious all through Kanto and Johto. Which made sense as to why there were so few of them. Then Hoenn and Sinnoh came around and put legendaries EVERYWHERE. Sinnoh being the prime offender. For instance I thought Darkrai and Cresselia were very interesting legendaries who had a nice little story to go with them. Unfortunately they weren't even the main legendaries. If anything they should have been saved for the next generation and used to be part of the main story. So when it comes to legendaries then I also think Kanto did a wonderful job of keeping them short and sweet and to the point.

I know everyone likes to mention the evil organization of each region and I'll try to make it short. I loved Team Rocket because what they did made sense and was to a point realistic. Team Magma and Aqua was just an extremely annoying environmentalist group that I had little interest in during the whole plot. While Team Galactic though a step better then Aqua and Magma didn't amaze me either.

As for layouts I won't lie Kanto and Johto have terribly boring layouts. Once you access Lavender in Kanto or Ecruteak in Johto the whole region completely opens up. Making for very little conflicts when traveling to the next town. Even Sinnoh does this to a smaller extent once you get past Hearthome.

Although I have to mention, another point that always comes up in my head is how fair is it to compare Kanto to a region like Sinnoh that came out about 10 years after Kanto. Game wise technology is much different. It's almost like comparing the Game Boy Color to a DS Lite. They both have the same concept, but in truth are almost incomparable due to all the years and new technology that divides them.

So I suppose in a lot of ways I do like Kanto more then the other regions, but that was years ago when things were a lot different and Pokemon was only just starting. If anything I think Kanto should be its own category in some ways.

 

[Subsuck]

Yea. the first gen pokemons where the best. Remember when Diglet evolved into three diglets? or when Magnemite evolved into three Magnemites? THOSE WHERE THE DAYS!

Seriously though. All generations have both good and bad pokemons. It just pisses me of when people say that the newer pokemons look like **** while completely ignoring really crappy looking 1st gen ones like Jynx and Mr. mime (and the ones mentioned earier)

Oh and by the way. Judging pokemons only because of their looks is, and was from the very begining, stupid. Farfetch'd may look cool but other than that it's complete garbage.

 

[#Emochu]

Yea. the first gen pokemons where the best. Remember when Diglet evolved into three diglets? or when Magnemite evolved into three Magnemites? THOSE WHERE THE DAYS!

Seriously though. All generations have both bad and good pokemons. It just pisses me of when people bash the newer pokemons and then ignore really crappy 1st gen ones like Jynx and Mr. mime (and the ones mentioned earier)

Mr. Mime can be crappy but Jynx, no.


Kanto had all the gen 1 pokemon so the reason they all look different is cause the come from different regions.

 

[Subsuck]

Mr. Mime can be crappy but Jynx, no.


Kanto had all the gen 1 pokemon so the reason they all look different is cause the come from different regions.

I decided to edit my post and be more specific. I'm not saying that Mr. Mime and Jynx are bad pokemons. They are actually really good ones. But nothing can ever convince me that that they don't look like crap. Mr. Mime looks like a rejected disney charakter while Jynx just looks like...ugh. I also think that Magnemite and Dugtrio are two of the laziest looking evolutions ever. Yet people completely ignore these when saying that the newer ones look like crap.

Sorry for my little rant there. I can't help it sometimes :(

 

[SandslashFTW]

I decided to edit my post and be more specific. I'm not saying that Mr. Mime and Jynx are bad pokemons. They are actually really good ones. But nothing can ever convince me that that they don't look like crap. Mr. Mime looks like a rejected disney charakter while Jynx just looks like...ugh. I also think that Magnemite and Dugtrio are two of the laziest looking evolutions ever. Yet people completely ignore these when saying that the newer ones look like crap.

Sorry for my little rant there. I can't help it sometimes :(

You're the one with possibly the worst evolution ever created as an avatar... LOL

Speaking as a veteran of RBY, I couldn't disagree with you more. Each generation has had its ups and downs, and there are so many facets by which to judge that simplifying it to just looking at the pokemon themselves is folly.

GenI pokemon were memorable and timeless, I'll give you that, but it's not as if later generations didn't have their gems. Even GenIV, which is flooded with half-baked evolved forms for old pokemon, has some genuinely unique concepts like Infernape, Bronzong, Rotom, and Drapion.

Most memorable for me at least is the regions themselves. Kanto and Johto, being designed for relatively weak systems have very little diversity in their landscapes. There's forests, caves, seas, and...that's it. Boring, no? Hoenn and Sinnoh made it obvious that the developers wanted to make them more unique and interesting than their predecessors. Hoenn's volcano and desert and Sinnoh's marshland and snowy northern region are all very appealing and interesting to traverse. :D

There are other things that different people often consider in ranking the generations, such as the plotline, supporting characters, battle system, sidequests available, and legendary pokemon that I'll probably just leave for someone else to rant on. XD

Infernape is flat out a rip off of Charizard and Blazekin. Fire on it's ass and fire/fighting type? Come on. And it's Pokemon like "Bronzong" I'm talking about when I say they don't even look like Pokemon anymore. It's a floating piece of stone with designs on it? Does it even have a gender? I thought Pokemon were like animals... Rotom is a floating lightbulb. Again, I don't consider that a Pokemon... I guess Drapion looks alright, actually looks like a living creature. Also, some of us would prefer regular cities over strange ones like the one with the treehouses in Hoenn and the island floating on Corsola (I didn't really play through Emerald that well...).

 

[Dopefish7590]

Kanto was the first region I ever played Pokemon on, and I will say that it was great... Addicting, and best of all, fun. But when it's your first experience with something you like to this day, it tends to weigh on you so you would naturally like it more, also nostalgia kicks in making you like it even more. Kanto was fun, not because of the region itself or the art, it was fun because of the gameplay. Everything else was layered ontop of that. But when you look at new games and say "They don't even look like Pokemon anymore", seems really silly. I love a lot of the designs for the new Pokemon, and I try to keep an open mind for when the next installment comes. Granted, there are newer Pokemon that make me shudder, but there are some old ones that do the same. My favorite game in the series has been Emerald, but not because of the region layout or the appearance of the Pokemon. (Although that is a plus) Rather, I like it because it was fun to play and there was much to do.

 

[Ayselipera]

Also, some of us would prefer regular cities over strange ones like the one with the treehouses in Hoenn and the island floating on Corsola (I didn't really play through Emerald that well...).

Regular cities are nice because they are familiar, but I think it's fun and interesting to try something different. I loved Hoenn's approach to cities and towns. Fortree and Pacifidlog being two of the coolest towns/cities in the region. Not to mention Sootopolis which was a volcano crater.

I also want to say that whenever someone gets into a franchise they have to expect changes. Pokemon is a growing and changing franchise with different age groups of people coming into the franchise all the time. Younger players who didn't grow up with Kanto or Johto are going to lean more towards Hoenn or Sinnoh. Since those are the games they most likely played first. If you love Kanto and Johto (just like I do) then that's great, it's nice to have others that agree with me. Everyone has a different opinion on what they like though so if they hate the first two generations and love the last two then that's just the way it is. I will say, the one nice thing about Pokemon is that if you don't want the new Pokemon and features to exist then they don't have to. You could just play the older games or the updated versions of them and forget about the rest.

 

[Timbjerr]

Infernape is flat out a rip off of Charizard and Blazekin. Fire on it's ass and fire/fighting type? Come on. And it's Pokemon like "Bronzong" I'm talking about when I say they don't even look like Pokemon anymore. It's a floating piece of stone with designs on it? Does it even have a gender? I thought Pokemon were like animals... Rotom is a floating lightbulb. Again, I don't consider that a Pokemon... I guess Drapion looks alright, actually looks like a living creature. Also, some of us would prefer regular cities over strange ones like the one with the treehouses in Hoenn and the island floating on Corsola (I didn't really play through Emerald that well...).

I was talking about concept and creation. How can a Sun Wukong be a ripoff of a Salamander and Horus? All of them are fire-elemental beings from Chinese, European, and Egyptian mythology respectively. Pokemon haven't run out of ideas because every single pokemon is based on a different creature, mythological reference, or pop cultural reference, even if they're not outright obvious.

Bronzong is based on a Japanese myth about a possessed bell that haunted a religious temple and Rotom is based on a standard poltergeist.

As for the latter part of your argument, chalk it up to different tastes. I personally thought Pacifidlog Town was brilliant, but I can see how it can grate on other people. :P

 

[Luck]

Lol, you're kidding me right? Kanto and Johto both received the most love, Hoenn and Sinnoh received all of the hate because pokemon don't look like pokemon anymore. THAT SURE MAKES SENSE GUYS.

I'm not going to mess with some of the Kanto and Johto pokemon designs, but the games got undeserved praise. If you're going to be all "OMG THE NEW GAMES SUCK ;A;" then stop supporting a company that makes something you don't even like.

Infernape is flat out a rip off of Charizard and Blazekin. Fire on it's ass and fire/fighting type? Come on. And it's Pokemon like "Bronzong" I'm talking about when I say they don't even look like Pokemon anymore. It's a floating piece of stone with designs on it? Does it even have a gender? I thought Pokemon were like animals... Rotom is a floating lightbulb. Again, I don't consider that a Pokemon... I guess Drapion looks alright, actually looks like a living creature. Also, some of us would prefer regular cities over strange ones like the one with the treehouses in Hoenn and the island floating on Corsola (I didn't really play through Emerald that well...).

Geodude says hi.

(OH RIGHT BECAUSE INFERNAPE HAS WINGS AND IS ABSOLUTELY USELESS IN BATTLE, RIGHT?)

 

[Planetes.]

no one hates kanto , that's like hating coke, but loving diet coke.
Kanto is what started it all. Everyone, including me, LOVES Johto. Hoenn gave us new innovations, although the Pokemon were odd and overdone. Isshu will be the best or at least on par with the other regions, and sinnoh was pure crap. And Bronzong is a "Zhong" a chinese bell. That's not Nostalgia, that's just noob

 

[The Jewel of Life]

Your jacket may be flameproof to Hoenn and Sinnoh, but Isshu has a lot of fire types.

What I'm trying to say is that I hate all of you generation one freaks who rant against new pokemon. Or any pokemon for that matter. Anyone who dislikes any pokemon for reason of design is looking for things to dislike. There are not any pokemon who have anything wrong with their design and thus no one, no matter who you are, can complain about the design of any pokemon for any reason. You may complain about moves, stats, popularity, but not design. Take nosepass for instance. Many people hate it because they don't see the point. Nosepass and probopass are meant to look ugly, like a comic relief pokemon. Mr. Mime was the same way, and no one complained about him. Mijumaru's big nose is what makes it cute. Reshiram has crotch fur, not a penis you pervs. And also, no one can complain that the new pokemon are 'more complicated'. That is the most bogus statement I have heard in forever. Have you seen victini compared to, say, any of the legendary birds or ho-oh? Way simpler. And all of the starters of gen five except for tsutarja are simpler than bulbasaur and totodile. You cannot tell me that the pokemon of the later gens look like machines either. Diglett looks like a whack-a -mole; a machine. Moguryuu looks like a living, breathing, mole. So don't go complaining about a pokemon's appearance, as any attempt at this will bring down my fury. I have never failed to get someone to like or at least accept a pokemon's design before. I will not fail now.

 

[PsychoJigglypuff]

Hate? For Kanto? No, no, you are sadly mistaken. What you're seeing is a hate for people who have a "They changed it, now it sucks" view on Pokemon. Because Gen 1 was the first, and therefore nothing to compare it too. When newer Gens come out, you automatically compare it to what you fondly remember from around 15 years ago. That is a long time. If they just kept the same region and same Pokemon the whole time, they never would have survived. Ever. Who would pay to play the exact same game over and over again?

I'll admit, Johto is my favorite region, because Silver was my first ever video game I didn't have to share with my brother, and I just really like a lot of the Pokemon from that generation. That doesn't mean I don't like the others. In every new generation I can always find a bunch of Pokemon and aspects about the game that I like. Also, when I play them, I have no expectations. I never try to compare them. That way, I enjoy the game more.

And I know this rant is kind of pointless, but whatever. Ranting makes me feel good. c:

 

[The Jewel of Life]

The person above me is amazing. No comparison. That helps, a lot. Brilliant work!