Pokemon Black & White, and a look back through the generations

ポケモン・歴代主人公 by ムリエのデカパン

Pokemon Black and White, the latest games that begin the franchise’s 5th generation, just had their U.S. release yesterday. Ever since I’ve become an older Poke-fan, when new games come out I tend to reflect on the franchise’s past and how it’s evolved (no pun intended) over the years. Pokemon just recently had its 15th anniversary, and even after all this time, it’s still so popular even outside Japan – the recent mall tours to promote the new games, as well as the fact that there were lines at stores when the games were released yesterday, are just some evidence that Pokemon is certainly more than a passing fad. So how has it gone from the days of Red & Blue to the Black & White of today…

Below I’ll be taking a look at each generation of the Pokemon games, particularly how the fandom has changed along with the games:

Generation I

Years: 1996-1999
Main series games: Red, Blue (GameBoy), Yellow (GameBoyColor), Pokemon Stadium (N64)
Region: Kanto
Total pokemon: 151

The generation that started it all, and naturally the one that people have the most fond and nostalgic memories of. Since it was the first, this generation defined Pokemon’s popularity, especially outside Japan, and it’s the one that nearly everyone around my age has played a bit even if they later lost interest in Pokemon. Sure, since Red and Blue (Green in Japan) were the first games and quite innovative ones for a system like the GameBoy, they had a ton of glitches and limitations, but at the same time that gave them a lot of character that players won’t soon forget. The original 151 pokemon have had the longest amount of time to endear themselves into the hearts of millions, again even those who outgrew actually playing Pokemon. Whether it’s purely for nostalgia or not, from what I’ve seen, the majority of people believe Generation I to be the best.

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Generation II

Years: 1999-2001
Main series games: Gold, Silver, Crystal (GameBoyColor), Pokemon Stadium 2 (N64)
Region: Johto
Total pokemon: 251

Despite being the shortest generation with the fewest new pokemon, many of the nostalgic fans from Generation I continued to follow Pokemon into its second generation. Despite the Johto games having a ton of new features, they still had enough old-school worth (and glitches!) to appeal to fans of the original games since the new things were more of improvements rather than complete overhauls. Nintendo implemented a feature that allowed players to transfer their Generation I pokemon into the Generation II games, as well as putting the Kanto region in the games together with the new Johto region, further increasing the connection between the two generations. Also, Pokemon Crystal become the first game where you could choose to play as a female protagonist, indicating that the creators were finally reaching out to us female fans XD The 100 new Johto pokemon held a lot of charm for fans, though not as much as the original 151.

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Generation III

Years: 2002-2006
Main series games: Ruby, Sapphire, Emerald, FireRed, LeafGreen (GameBoyAdvance), Pokemon Colosseum, Pokemon XD (GameCube)
Region: Hoenn
Total pokemon: 386

The longest and most unpopular of the Pokemon generations. There are many reason why Generation III defined Pokemon’s period of losing its former glory. Even though it introduced a ton of new pokemon and new features by moving up to the GameBoyAdvance system, one of the biggest blows is that there was no way for players to transfer their pokemon from the first two generations into the new games. Fans were outraged that their hard trained pokemon would become useless now. Another major complaint was the designs of the Generation III pokemon, with many fans calling them “ugly” or “unoriginal,” perhaps because Satoshi Tajiri, the original creator of Pokemon, stopped working on the Pokemon designs starting with these games. Yet another blow came from the anime side, with the main female character, Misty, being replaced with a new character. And of course, many fans that grew up with the original games had simply reached an age in these years where all but the most dedicated become too old for Pokemon. None of this affected yours truly however, whose love for Pokemon never wavered, but most fans my age never made it to Generation III. Even the remakes of Red and Blue – FireRed and LeafGreen – weren’t enough to save Generation III from being a let down. And just an FYI, the “Gotta Catch ’em All!” slogan retired in this generation, probably because of the amount of pokemon and inability to catch all of them unless you have many different games.

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Generation IV

Years: 2006-2010
Main series games: Diamond, Pearl, Platinum, HeartGold, SoulSilver (DS), Pokemon Battle Revolution, My Pokemon Ranch (Wii)
Region: Sinnoh
Total pokemon: 493

After four years of Pokemon’s popularity dwindling in Generation III, especially among older fans, the release of Diamond and Pearl rekindled interest in the franchise like never before. I was pleasantly surprised at how many past fans who had cast away Pokemon were compelled to get into it again with the DS games. I believe a couple of things are to thank for this, one being that Nintendo rectified the mistake they made last time and allowed players to transfer pokemon from the previous Generation III games into the Generation IV games. And secondly, the DS’s online capabilities; with these games, fans can now battle and trade with people online, even those in other countries! The 107 new Sihhon pokemon were also better received than the Hoenn ones. Vastly updated graphics and other new features, as well as the DS remakes of the old fan-favorites Gold and Silver – HeartGold and SoulSilver – made the fourth generation a blast for the franchise. The only major complaint here was the lack of a good console game, with Pokemon Battle Revolution being poorly received.

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Generation V

Years: 2010-?
Main series games: Black, White (DS)…and more to come!
Region: Unova
Total pokemon: 649

And here we are now. Rather than give the games a complete overhaul like they did in Generation III, Black and White are still on the DS, and even though they have many new features, it’s not an overwhelming amount. Most of them are just improvements, such as better graphics and new items. Once again you can transfer pokemon from the previous generation into Black and White, and all the online capabilities that made the Generation IV games great are still intact. In fact, there’s even more online features in Black and White, such as the Dream World and C-Gear, that I have yet to explore. So far, Generation V is off to a great start and I hope it continues!

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So what can we conclude? I believe the DS and its online features helped restore Pokemon from a “semi-popular” franchise to a “decently-popular” franchise. The ability to transfer pokemon all the way from Generation III into the new Black and White games are another major plus. Because of this, I’ve been using pokemon I’ve had since 2003 in the current games of 2011. I don’t know of any other game that allows you to keep using characters over the years like that. This obviously makes you become very attached to them, and if I were to lose these old pokes of mine it would be like losing an old friend.

And of course, no matter how much the games have advanced over the generations, their overall style, gameplay, and setting remain the same – a charming and thrilling world where sentient, magical creatures live alongside humans, and the power and mysteries surrounding them are waiting to be discovered – not to mention all the challenging strategy involved in pokemon battles! Despite being marketed as a children’s game, there’s a lot of wisdom, universal, mature messages, and uplifting life lessons in Pokemon games, especially in the later games like Platinum and Black & White. Of course, we all know that Pokemon is an “Everyone” game and not a “Children’s” game ;)