Pokemon Generations Ranked from Worst to Best

Sometimes I wake up and think, boy, I sure haven’t fanned out my opinions into the abyss of the Internet enough, and surely not enough people care about them yet. Upon thinking this for the umpteenth time, I decided, yes, THIS will be something people care to read and surely won’t disagree with me at all. Jokes aside, here’s a list of the Pokemon generations ranked!

READ MORE: Weird Pokemon Evolutions and Methods

As a small disclaimer, this list is obviously (heavily) opinionated. As such, it will also be biased by things like nostalgia and gut feelings which is heresy on the Internet. Regardless, I felt it important to mention. Also, despite being a Pokemon superfan, I haven’t gotten around to playing Sword and Shield yet as tons of other games have been fighting for my attention, and as such, it won’t be ranked. I’m also only counting the new region games and not remakes. With that all stated, here’s the Pokemon generations ranked!

7. Generation 6 (X and Y)

Y’know, upon thinking about this I’m not sure how controversial it is to have X and Y at the lowest end of it all. I know some people got back into the series with Generation 6, and I won’t tell you not to like something, but its personally my least favorite in the series. The move to 3D models made the Pokemon less expressive and charming and the 3DS’s technological limitations didn’t help either.

To me, X and Y were the beginning of two downward trends in Pokemon, Gen 1 pandering and a loss in difficulty. The amount of references to Gen 1, through its Not Viridian Forest, reuseal of move sound effects, Kanto starters, free Lapras, and the legendary birds/Mewtwo really hurt X and Y in trying to have its own identity. I can name nearly every other Gym Leader in the franchise, and yet many of the ones from Gen 6 escape me, partially due to the pacing problems where Gyms 1 and 2 feel like well over a third of the playtime of the game.

Again, this isn’t to say that these games are objectively bad. I merely think they’re the weakest in the franchise with less than charming looks, an underwhelming roster of new Pokemon, and an identity crisis.

6. Generation 1 (Red and Blue)

Okay, NOW I’m going to be killed. If I could give one of the best participation trophies in the world, it’d be to these two games. Kanto is a memorable region, the original 151 have numerous iconic Pokemon, and the music was stellar, but playing the Game Boy versions of these titles nowadays, one can see a lot of issues.

The sheer bugginess of the games is hard to overstate with random elements affecting entirely different areas of the game. While the level curve is fairly well done, the horrid AI makes the game dreadfully easy. The infamous example is sending out a poison or fighting type to fight the Elite Four when a Pokemon has Agility, as the AI will consider it super effective and spam the move. Knowledge like this absolutely breaks the difficulty of the game.

Also, this is very much a “in hindsight” sort of thing, but Pokemon movepools feel extremely stale in early generations. Enemy movesets tend to just be one (or even no) same type attack moves, and your own Pokemon tend to just have mediocre same type moves and then the occasional normal type move. And with TMs being… odd in their choices and one time use, it leads to many Pokemon merely using one move and offering little in type coverage besides normal types.

I have huge respect for Gen 1 and what it did for Pokemon and gaming as a whole, but revisiting it years later feels underwhelming.

5. Generation 2 (Gold and Silver)

In a fitting continuation, Gen 2 feels slightly better than the first generation, but still flounders a bit before Pokemon managed to hit its stride. As a preface, much of what made Gen 1 literally broken has been fixed, and as such the albeit low difficulty still feels more notable as you can’t break the game as easily. The new roster of Pokemon also has quite a number of great monsters, but some like the babies are underwhelming and less memorable than the prior generation.

Onto the positives, though, Johto as a region is much more distinct and memorable than Kanto, at least in my opinion. With a fairly consistent musical style and cultural theming, it feels like Johto is a very connected region with a distinct culture that I couldn’t really see from Kanto. Note some of this may be indirectly influenced from the Gen 4 remakes, which leaned more into the oriental themes.

To address the elephant in the room: yes the difficulty curve does suck. In an attempt to balance the open endedness of the latter half of the region, the level curve is absolutely abysmal and leads to a champion with an ace Pokemon at level 50, as opposed to the 56 minimum of most other generations.

Even so, due to many of Gen 2’s quality of life improvements like breeding, move tutors, a comfy region, and tons of side content, I feel it edges out the more memorable first generation.

4. Generation 7 (Sun and Moon)

And upon reaching the middle of the pack, we start reaching the Pokemon games I don’t merely like, but love. Gen 7 improved on Gen 6 in a ton of ways such as more streamlined difficulty, a (in my opinion) more memorable and unique group of Pokemon, a new graphical style that fits 3D much more, and a story which is more interesting than most of its predecessors.

Yes, the earlygame is slow with its abundance of cutscenes, and this does pervade even into the late game at times, though I feel its an issue that isn’t very notable in a first playthrough, and characters like Lillie and Lusamine are more than fun and interesting enough to make up for slowing the gameplay progression.

The idea of the Trial system as opposed to Gyms was an interesting one and one that presented a different difficulty than just using a type advantage or good movepool. Many trials had unique gimmicks that, even if they weren’t too hard, felt like a refreshing change of pace. With them also being Pokemon as the head of the domain, it also felt like Alola was a region much more dominated by its unique landscapes and Pokemon, and not just cities connected by routes.

While there are a few problems such as a lackluster postgame, low replayability, and still low-ish difficulty, Gen 7 gave me near everything I expect out of a good Pokemon game. I got neat Pokemon, a fun new region to explore, and a charming cast of characters to push me onwards.

3. Generation 3 (Ruby and Sapphire)

And now we hit the holy trinity of Pokemon to me. Gen 3 is where I felt Pokemon began to hits its stride that it kept for nearly a decade of releases where each game was an absolute banger. Gen 3 offers another great cast of Pokemon, a distinct and memorable region, a great soundtrack, and a good difficulty level to keep players engaged.

While the story is likely one of the weaker entries, and Aqua/Magma are less memorable teams, I think Gen 3 shines despite that. The region is fun to explore with numerous optional routes and caves to discover and a bevy of side content. Side content to me in Pokemon is hugely important as it helps freshen the gameplay loop beyond route > Gym > route > evil team > Gym. Many routes in Hoenn are entirely optional to explore, such as the southern water routes, Route 113, and others, which reward the player with neat items and merely the satisfaction of discovery.

Gen 3 also felt like its difficulty was just right. Gym Leaders had ace Pokemon which were unique and difficult to face, beginning to have moves to counter their most prominent weaknesses, causing the player to need to strategize more. Perhaps every Pokemon game is “easy” but it feels like Gens 3-5 have a nice balance of ease of accessibility and hurdles to throw the player’s way.

2. Generation 5 (Black and White/2)

If I were removing nostalgia from the equation, Gen 5 would probably be ranked number 1 but a part of my Pokemon loving self simply can’t put it that high. The Pokemon, while not as worthy of hate as many gave it, do admittedly have a number of Pokemon that are clearly redos of Gen 1 mons. I understand Gen 5 was meant to be a soft reboot, where old Pokemon wouldn’t appear in the first games, but it doesn’t make Woobat or Roggenrola not feel like a less memorable Zubat or Geodude. When added to trends that pervade every game, such as early mammal Pokemon, the dragon type line, and others, it leads to an overall less memorable group.

What I can’t complain about, however is the story and characters. Gen 5 easily has the best story of all the Pokemon games, only slightly hampered by Black and White 2’s less interesting narrative. N is an extremely interesting character who manages to not outstay his welcome while having a satisfying arc for a Pokemon antagonist. Unova is another great region with tons of side content and postgame material to work with, giving the game much more longevity than its normal formula.

All in all, Gen 5 has everything I would want out of a Pokemon entry, and especially its sequels which give more story and a notably more fun and challenging main game experience, as well as tons of fun callbacks in the Pokemon World Tournament.

1. Generation 4 (Diamond and Pearl)

Wow, who would have thought another “reviewer” put their first generation as their favorite? Well, I really can’t force myself to put anything else in number 1. Gen 4, especially Platinum, holds a special place in my heart that tics off everything I want from a Pokemon game. A memorable set of monsters, a fun and unique region to explore, great music, fun characters, a decent story, and tons of replayability.

I know Gen 4 is slammed for its slow speed, and I’ll admit its a problem even in the definitive edition: Platinum. If you can bear the speed, though, everything else falls into place. Sinnoh feels incredibly distinct being the first DS entry, and the piano and bass focus of much of Gen 4’s soundtrack further identifies its setting.

The story isn’t anything to write home about, but Cyrus suffices as a main antagonist who isn’t entirely boring, and the creation mythos Gen 4 added is a nice touch to the overall series lore.

My favorite aspect by far though, aside from the cast of monsters, is the difficulty. Even now, if I aim to not grind at all, some Gym Leaders are still rough encounters which turn into nightmares into imposed challenges such as Nuzlockes. Every major battle feels like it has the significance it deserves with well balanced teams that cover their weaknesses and show off their strengths.

READ MORE: How to Play Pyra/Mythra in Smash Ultimate

All in all, I know this list is extremely opinionated, and perhaps in a shorter form thing like a single article, its hard to go into all the details I’d like. Even so, I hope these justifications make enough sense and target key points of each Generation.

Please don’t kill me for my Pokemon generations ranked, they’re all super fun games. Tell me your favorites and least favorites down below!