Discussion Do you really want those old Pokémon games or are you just nostalgic for them?

[Hocot8]

I said in another thread that I probably couldn't bare to replay gen 1 unless it's FireRed and LeafGreen. QOL and graphic changes are much needed for me.

I do think it's absolutely insane and pretty asinine to not have them on the service but I'm not surprised. But yeah, while I have nostalgia for the old games the only ones I'll play are the GBA ones.

 

[grobla123]

I mean, I would certainly prefer a port of the more recent games than the older ones. Like gen 3/4/5 any day of the week, over 1/2. But you'd lucky to even get gen 1/2/3. That's just how it is for Gamefreak/TPC, it's not worth asking for more for older titles.

Given sales differences, there are straight up more people familiar with gen 1/2 than anything until gen 8, so you see more people asking for games they know about.

That said, there are some little things I prefer from RBY over FRLG and lets go, some fun glitches and mechanic changes/skips, arguably better in some ways but certainly weirder difficulty curve and in game balancing. Also the funky older sprites and visuals have their own appeal.

Not to mention the difference in price that would eventuate. Gen 1-2 would probably be 10-13 USD, Gen 3, probably like 17-25, Gen 4/5 like 30 at minimum, more if the remastering is halfway decent. And then HGSS or BW or later gens would probably be held back for later remakes, or slightly higher investment remasters (for at or near full price).

 

[Semi Lazy Gamer]

I probably will never personally go back to the old games, but I would like the option plus other folks can go back.

 

[Catsylvania]

I do, and I have no nostalgia for Pokémon at all.

I just want to play through every generation up to Platinum at least once. I snagged legitimate physical copies of the following:

• Blue
• Yellow
• Crystal
• Emerald
• FireRed
• Platinum

I tried getting SoulSilver with the Pokéwalker, but it’s going for $LOL on eBay. I may play some ROM hacks instead (i.e. colorized Gen 1, RTC changer etc.) which makes the hundreds of dollars spent on the above cartridges hit harder, but at least it’s with a clear conscience.

 

[Anxious Absol]

I do, and I have no nostalgia for Pokémon at all.

I just want to play through every generation up to Platinum at least once. I snagged legitimate physical copies of the following:

• Blue
• Yellow
• Crystal
• Emerald
• FireRed
• Platinum

I tried getting SoulSilver with the Pokéwalker, but it’s going for $LOL on eBay. I may play some ROM hacks instead (i.e. colorized Gen 1, RTC changer etc.) which makes the hundreds of dollars spent on the above cartridges hit harder, but at least it’s with a clear conscience.

You really don't need the Pokéwalker to have a good time with HGSS. Lots of Pokémon to choose from without it. Just the cartridge is all you need.

 

[Dizzle]

The only Pokemon games I've truly loved are Gen 1 and Gen 2. Since then, I try playing one every couple of Gens and I always bounce off. Not sure I could even go back to Red or Gold though. They were the right games at the right time.

 

[MisterSpo]

I think they should be on NSO because they're a critical part of the GameBoy's library. I'd be more interested in playing gens 3, 4 and 5 over time, but gens 1 and 2 should be there simply because they're iconic first party games. Out of the original 2 gens, I'd be more likely to replay 2; Gold is an all time favourite of mine and I've never played Crystal.

I get Game Freak and TPC seemingly have qualms with emulation features, but I wish they'd get over that and get the games on NSO. So sure, I want them re-released, but primarily for the sake of having a more representative GB library that we already have.

 

[Shiny]

A lot of folks in here should really look up romhacks, especially if you're fond of rby or gsc. They modernize the experience with a lot of QoL features, like always running, boosting opposing trainer AI, exp share, bug fixes, and so much more.

Pokemon Polished Crystal is one of my fave romhacks, made one of my all-time favorite games a joy to revisit and play to this day:

GitHub - Rangi42/polishedcrystal: An upgrade to Pokémon Crystal. Brings features and content up to date, and adds some original content.

An upgrade to Pokémon Crystal. Brings features and content up to date, and adds some original content. - Rangi42/polishedcrystal

github.com

There's a lot of popular ones, often focusing on difficulty/nuzlocke features and others that just recreate the vanilla experience with modern amenities. There's something for every type of Pokemon experience you're looking for.

 

[TreIII]

A lot of folks in here should really look up romhacks, especially if you're fond of rby or gsc. They modernize the experience with a lot of QoL features, like always running, boosting opposing trainer AI, exp share, bug fixes, and so much more.

Pokemon Polished Crystal is one of my fave romhacks, made one of my all-time favorite games a joy to revisit and play to this day:

GitHub - Rangi42/polishedcrystal: An upgrade to Pokémon Crystal. Brings features and content up to date, and adds some original content.

An upgrade to Pokémon Crystal. Brings features and content up to date, and adds some original content. - Rangi42/polishedcrystal

github.com

There's a lot of popular ones, often focusing on difficulty/nuzlocke features and others that just recreate the vanilla experience with modern amenities. There's something for every type of Pokemon experience you're looking for.

This this this.

Playing through some of these on my Analogue Pocket has been really fun.

 

[HotelDrink]

I'm very nostalgic for the first three gens but I imagine it would be hard to go back. I haven't played them in years and I've read about how grindy the games are. I like how in the modern games your whole party gains experience after battles.

 

[Leo]

I've replayed gen 1 a few years ago and I did get tired halfway through, the random encounters in caves, the strict inventory limit, having to check the menu to know when the Pokémon is leveling up... But I still had a lot of fun for the most part, the vibes of the game are very unique. I was surprised by how creepy it was a lot of times, the soundtrack has some weird dissonant pieces that we just don't see anymore in the franchise. The Pokémon sprites are very different from what they look nowdays and it's always fun seeing some of those cool monstrosities. It does get a bit exhausting, but it's very short anyway, so it isn't a huge problem.

Gen 2 already hits the spot for me and it feels as modern as an 8bit game possibly could, I don't think it's dated at all and I always have a blast playing it.

 

[Leo]

A lot of folks in here should really look up romhacks, especially if you're fond of rby or gsc. They modernize the experience with a lot of QoL features, like always running, boosting opposing trainer AI, exp share, bug fixes, and so much more.

Pokemon Polished Crystal is one of my fave romhacks, made one of my all-time favorite games a joy to revisit and play to this day:

GitHub - Rangi42/polishedcrystal: An upgrade to Pokémon Crystal. Brings features and content up to date, and adds some original content.

An upgrade to Pokémon Crystal. Brings features and content up to date, and adds some original content. - Rangi42/polishedcrystal

github.com

There's a lot of popular ones, often focusing on difficulty/nuzlocke features and others that just recreate the vanilla experience with modern amenities. There's something for every type of Pokemon experience you're looking for.

I really want to try those, but I absolutely hate emulating stuff. I wish Nintendo had released a Game Boy Classic so I could hack it (I own several copies of each gen btw, so not advocating for piracy).

 

[Serif]

GitHub - Vortyne/pureRGB: Pokemon PureRed / PureBlue / PureGreen: A purist's enhancement of Pokemon Red/Blue/Green based on the pokered decompilation.

Pokemon PureRed / PureBlue / PureGreen: A purist's enhancement of Pokemon Red/Blue/Green based on the pokered decompilation. - Vortyne/pureRGB

github.com

Playing through Blue right now with this romhack. It has the absolute game changers of the overworld graphics updating at 60 FPS, instant text, and letting you select sprites / palettes from the menu, among other changes. All I really need.

I really want to try those, but I absolutely hate emulating stuff. I wish Nintendo had released a Game Boy Classic so I could hack it (I own several copies of each gen btw, so not advocating for piracy).

If you have native hardware, these hacks (PureRGB, Polished Crystal) work on a Game Boy flashcart like the EZ Flash / Everdrive. Not sure about other hacks.

A bonus, unlocked FPS hacks for Gen IV work on native DSi / 3DS hardware. Thank God. (And you can configure it so only battles are unlocked)

 

[silkysmooth]

I've been doing some mono type runs of earlier games and have played Gen 1-3 including LeafGreen.

While there are some mechanics that I absolutely hate (item space in bags) they are still fun games to go back to, especially being able to play Silver on a physical cart while using a Flying type themed team and catching Lugia. The older games were filled with horrible movepools, stat spreads that don't match really what a pokemon is supposed to do, etc. Newer games smooth all of that out so basically everything is usable. That feeling of putting together a solid squad of 4-5 pokemon by midgame of varying types doesn't have the same feel as newer gens where availability is just high from the get go.

I think they should be on NSO. Put gen 1-3 up. On the flip side, I think I would probably still stick with my carts like I am with Golden Sun when that got put on NSO not too long ago.

 

[switchum]

I have never played the original Gen 1-3 titles

I would love to play the original Gen 1-3 titles on NSO

 

[KingSlowpokebro]

I want Gold/Silver/Crystal. I love gen 2. I would be able to replay the gen 1 games no problem if I had the desire to.

 

[Razgriz]

I'm gonna take an odd limb and say that, outside of RBY (which work quite well as RPGs in their own right and they're so buggy that they're arguably also artpieces in how broken they are), Pokemon always has been much more of an "experience" than the individual games themselves. Basically you can put RBY on NSO or any of the later games but... it's not the same experience as getting a chunky Gameboy with its heavy grip and playing gen 1 or 2 on those.

Gen 1 and 2 especially were the center points of the Pokemon "craze" that will make actually recapturing the magic from back then functionally impossible. There's no Pokemon anime airing - they moved to streaming services and Ash has been retired as a protagonist.

I'd rather want to see them do a remake of these games than I'd want to just see a rerelease. We had rereleases on the 3DS and they came and went, with the most notable results being that it became super easy to flood the GTS with hacked Pokemon because of ACE and the GS Ball being released in English. They didn't revitalize discussions of Kanto and Johto or anything, they just... existed.

In general, gen 1 and 2 especially tend to be pretty barebones and unfocused in terms of region design compared to later games (gen 1 particular just has dozens of open route maps with nothing interesting on them after you make it to Saffron city). They are in heavy need of overhauls if they're ever rereleased. LGPE was a step in the right direction and I wouldn't mind to see an equivalent of that with Johto.

 

[Weiss]

Who would ever play video games that old???

Ew.