Pokemon Games, Ranked

Added a real-time day/night clock, breeding, held items, two full regions, and 100 new Pokemon, making it the most feature-dense leap the series ever took.

Widely cited as the gold standard of Pokemon remakes, faithfully rebuilding Johto while letting any Pokemon walk behind you via the shipped Pokewalker pedometer.

Delivered the series' most ambitious story with rival N and the eco-terrorist Team Plasma, and used only 156 all-new Pokemon before the postgame, forcing a genuinely fresh playthrough.

The originals that launched a global franchise and sold over 31 million copies, establishing the version-exclusive and trading formula still used today.

The definitive Hoenn game, adding animated battle sprites and the sprawling Battle Frontier that remains a fan-favorite postgame gauntlet.

Fixed Diamond and Pearl's sluggish pace, expanded the story with the Distortion World, and added the Battle Frontier for the definitive Sinnoh experience.

Reinvented the formula with open-zone catching and real-time dodging in ancient Sinnoh, the boldest mechanical shake-up the series had attempted.

Introduced Abilities, Natures, and double battles that permanently reshaped competitive play, though it lacked the day/night clock of Gen 2.

Split moves into physical and special categories based on the move rather than its type, a foundational fix, but was hampered by slow surfing and menus.

Brought the series fully into 3D on the 3DS and introduced Mega Evolution and the Fairy type, though its main campaign was notably easy and short.

The first Pokemon game with animated sprites and a selectable female player character, plus an expanded Suicune storyline over Gold and Silver.

Replaced the standard gym gauntlet with island trials and Totem Pokemon, a refreshing structure, backed by a memorable Alola cast and Lillie's arc.

Competent Kanto remakes that modernized Gen 1 for the GBA and added the Sevii Islands, but play it safe compared to later remakes.

Delivered the series' first true open world and a strong three-path story, but launched with severe frame-rate drops and pop-in that critics widely panned.

An anime-inspired tweak of Red and Blue where Pikachu follows you and refuses to evolve, charming but a minor iteration rather than a real step forward.

The semi-open Wild Area and Dynamax raids were fun, but the games launched amid the 'Dexit' backlash after National Dex Pokemon were cut.

Padded out Alola with extra content and Ultra Wormholes, but retread the same region and story just a year later, frustrating many owners of the originals.

Outsourced remakes that slavishly copied the 2006 originals without Platinum's improvements, drawing heavy criticism for laziness and launch-day bugs.