Remakes or Originals?

[Camille]

I say remakes, although I really disliked the latest two pairs of remakes (the Let's Go games and Sinnoh remakes). I do greatly prefer FR/LG to R/B/Y, HG/SS to G/S/C and OR/AS to R/S/E, though.

 

[impervious_gakko42]

I preferred the remakes during the DS era but after that they've all just been euggghhhhhh

 

[Norzan]

FRLG over Generation 1 games any day but it's no surprise given how much of an uplift it is (the only bad thing in it is how you can't evolve Golbat and Onix to Crobat and Steelix respectively for such a dumb reason). HGSS is better than the Generation 2 games but they could have added more stuff to Kanto than what they just did, but the Pokeathlon is legit one of the best side activities in the series.

If ORAS had the Emerald story (or at least have the fixes Emerald had to make the plot less stupid) and the original Hoenn Battle Frontier with updated rosters with every pokemon in Generation 6, it could have easily been the best remake. And every other remake after are just not worth it, just basic, barebones remakes that flat out remove conveniences and advancements previous generations had when previous remakes went out of their way to have those changes.

 

[Herbizarre]

I think it depends on which remakes and which original games we're talking about : in terms of remakes, I love FRLG and ORAS. HGSS and BDSP were alright, though the former felt overhyped to me at the time and the latter was too faithful (that and HGSS didn't have the Sevii Islands). Let's Go is great though !

For the original games, I have a fondness for Pokemon Gold, especially its soundtrack. Red and Blue are nice even with how broken they are, RSE got me my favorite Pokémon, DPP made nice changes (and some not-so-nice changes), BW and their sequels brought new things to the table, namely the hidden abilities as well as a poignant storyline. XY brought its own version of France, which is good enough in my book. Sun/Moon and Ultra Sun/Moon... That's where I started to not like the games nearly as much, but I believe it has more to do with these games's constant number of cutscenes that interrupts gameplay, and often for the wrong reasons. I haven't played Sword & Shield, and Legends Arceus is the goat.

 

[Zexy]

FRLG, HGSS and ORAS all felt better gameplay-wise than the originals, even though Emerald had a better story, and Yellow/Crystal some interesting gimmicks that did not stay around

But BDSP feels like a downgrade from Platinum with the exception of maybe postgame League. Way too many glitches too.

Remakes still win 3-1 though, so I voted for that option in the poll. Looking forward to how Unova will be handled since it is the only region to have a sequel version too. Hope the difference does not close in as 3-2 though.

 

[Bolt Strike]

Well, this is a much more interesting topic since it's been revived. Although that's not necessarily a good thing because the quality of remakes has degraded since HGSS. The older remakes are better than the originals, but the newer ones aren't as clearly better, so you have to look at it on a case by case basis. Here are my opinions:

Kanto: FRLG >> RBY > LGPE

Really I'm not satisfied with any Kanto game right now because everything about it has aged poorly and been outdone by newer generations, but FRLG stands as the best Kanto experience by a country mile simply by having an actual post game and Pokemon besides the original 151. LGPE meanwhile added very little and was actually a regression from the original by replacing traditional catching with Go mechanics.

Johto: HGSS >> GSC

Vast improvement over the original in just about every way and should be the standard by which other remakes are judged. Too bad Game Freak never saw it that way, as these have never been surpassed.

Hoenn: ORAS = Emerald > RS

Oof. Game Freak made this one tougher than it needed to be by ignoring Emerald content altogether. If ORAS had the Battle Frontier and Emerald's story as it should've, this wouldn't be close and we could easily throw ORAS in with FRLG and HGSS as clear improvements over the original. As is, both ORAS and Emerald have their strengths and weaknesses and it's tough to pick one over the other.

Sinnoh: Platinum > BDSP > DP

Having not only none of Platinum's expansions but also nothing comparable to the expansions ORAS made for RS, BDSP stands clearly worse than Platinum.

 

[Norzan]

ORAS will be forever be the remake i'm the most frustrated with because it was so close to be arguably one of the best games in the series but the lack of the Battle Frontier really brought things down to me. And it didn't even need to be the exact Battle Frontier from Emerald, i just wanted more than just a copy and pasted Battle Maison. Maybe some new facilities that weren't in previous Frontiers with interesting gimmicks. An Inverse Battle Tower would have been amazing and that stuff is not exactly all that hard to make, or at least i doubt it's harder to make than any of the more odd facilities in other Frontiers.

I say this while having Generation 4 as my favorite generation, but the thing i expected nothing from BDSP. That terrible first trailer legit killed whatever hype i could have muster because Gamefreak, TPCI, whoever, legit thought that trailer was acceptable in any way. ORAS on the other hand was so close and thus makes me far more frustrated than a mediocre remake of my favorite generation.

 

[DigitalGen6]

Like Camille, I prefer remakes to originals except for LGPE and BDSP (I don’t hate them though).

• FRLG are great for several reasons:
  1. first, Hoenn compatibility (ex. You’re playing LeafGreen and you battle this person who’s playing Sapphire)
  2. second, Leaf
  3. third, Sevii Islands (although I don’t know a lot about them)
  4. fourth, accessibility (I don’t own a GB at all)
• HGSS
  1. first, Sinnoh compatibility (I was able to trade all of my previous data HG mons to Pearl so I could delete my data and not lose anything…I sent like most of them (aka Unowns, my team and in-game trades) to Pearl)
  2. second, Lyra (even though I like Kris more and I can play as her in Crystal, which I have) who’s also in the anime (idk if this counts for a reason)
  3. third, you can get other region starter mons
  4. once again accessibility (since I don’t own a GBC)
• ORAS (I’m gonna have a field day with this one)
  1. Once again, compatibility (with Kalos this time)
  2. second, redesigns (oh yeah let’s go, I have too many favorite ones)
  3. third, getting all region starters (Gen 2, 4, and 5 in this, Gen 1 and 6 in XY)
  4. accessibility (I own a GBA but I don’t own any Gen 3 games except LG)
  5. More popular than RSE
  6. Delta Episode (yay Zinnia)
  7. Mega evolution (such as Blaziken (it’s in XY but point being) Swampert, Metagross, Rayquaza, Gardevoir, Gallade, Mawile, Blaziken, Sceptile, etc.
  8. Contests (although they were already a thing back in Gen 3, but ORAS did Hoenn contests a lot better; and also Lisia)

So, yeah.

 

[Tactician Karina]

I like both generally, but in terms of replay value then remakes for sure save for one.

If I were to list my preference, then:

Kanto - FRLG > LGPE >>> RBY

It's actually been a good while since I've replayed FRLG, and it's just recently I've been replaying Let's Go Eevee, but the former is better because of it's post-game and actually having non-Kanto 'mons that you can get. LGPE is a good Yellow remake, especially with the partner Pikachu/Eevee and following Pokemon returning, but otherwise I only really like it for an enhanced RBY experience. If it had other non-Kanto 'mons, I'd rank it higher than FRLG for sure.

Johto - HGSS >> GSC

HGSS has following Pokemon and a few of my favorite Hoenn and Sinnoh 'mons I can use. I also really like the Pokeathlon, the events are just so fun that I usually spend many hours there lol. (plus, HGSS is my favorite remake overall)

Hoenn - ORAS > RSE

I don't really care too much about the Battle Frontier personally, but it would have been a nice thing to have for those who do like it. Aside from that I'm satisfied with the remake and will generally replay that the most for this region. Plus, the gift Latias/Latios is a nice touch as someone who was unable to even catch them in the originals at the time, and flying on them in this game is pretty cool.

Sinnoh - Platinum > BDSP > DP

BDSP is fine for an enhanced DP gameplay if you don't have Platinum, but unfortunately it did not live up to my expectations as a remake and thus did not replace HGSS like I thought it would. I still enjoy it, but it leaves a lot to be desired. Platinum has more to do and still fills in a better DP gameplay.

 

[DigitalGen6]

Hoenn - ORAS > RSE

I don't really care too much about the Battle Frontier personally, but it would have been a nice thing to have for those who do like it. Aside from that I'm satisfied with the remake and will generally replay that the most for this region. Plus, the gift Latias/Latios is a nice touch as someone who was unable to even catch them in the originals at the time, and flying on them in this game is pretty cool.

Yeah, but the worst part is when you try to fly off the map but it won’t let you

Sinnoh - Platinum > BDSP > DP

BDSP is fine for an enhanced DP gameplay if you don't have Platinum, but unfortunately it did not live up to my expectations as a remake and thus did not replace HGSS like I thought it would. I still enjoy it, but it leaves a lot to be desired. Platinum has more to do and still fills in a better DP gameplay.

I like Platinum. My only issue is I can’t get it. Oh yeah and I sent (via HOME) two Eevees from Shield to BDSP (one for each game) and wanted them to be part of my BDSP teams (like Leafeon in BD, Glaceon in SP), then I learned Leafeon and Glaceon weren’t in BDSP so I boxed them.

 

[Okido]

Geez, looking at the poll I didn't realize I was such an outlier... I mainly prefer the originals to the remakes, outside of a few exceptions.

Kanto: FRLG > RBY
This is a tough one, because FRLG may very well be my favorite core series game, but I have a really strong fondness for the Gen 1 titles on their own. FRLG gets points for its lovely spritework and its fantastic postgame, RBY gets points for truly being unlike any other game after it as well as a technological marvel for the hardware. The remakes only slightly get the advantage because they're just a lot easier to go back and play these days.
I liked LGPE quite a bit, but I personally don't count it as a remake of Yellow for a multitude of reasons. It's too different to fairly compare it to either of these.

Johto: GSC > HGSS
I'm sorry, okay?!?! T_T
I think HGSS is a great game, I've played through it multiple times now. Buuut... just because it added a bunch of new features doesn't mean it fixed all of the problems the original Johto games had (the incredibly poor EXP yields come to mind as one). My opinion here really just boils down to the presentation; I have always thought the sound design of GSC was leagues better than the remakes, and many of HGSS's sprites look sort of off in places while GSC has a very refined and colorful look to everything. (Pokéathlons were pretty addictive though.)

Hoenn: RSE >>> ORAS
For me, this actually has nothing to do with anything that happens to rhyme with "Battle Schmontier" — similarly to HGSS, I admittedly just really, really prefer the presentation of RSE over its remake. Gen 6 was... not my favorite, honestly, when it came to the style of its visuals, character designs, and music; and the original games, to me, absolutely excelled in all of those things. No amount of cool new stuff will ever be able to sway me on that, unfortunately. (Side note: I was also not at all a fan of how simplified Pokéblocks and Contests were in ORAS! I get it was technically a quality of life improvement, but man, there are people like me who loved that convoluted junk and found the ease of the new system super dull and boring.)

Sinnoh: Pt > BDSP >> DP
To preface this: I loved my time with BDSP, I think it's underrated and does exactly what it sets out to do. It's just edged out due to some of the missing features from Platinum (e.g. I do actually miss the Battle Factory this time, and again, I don't like how Contests were watered down in BDSP). If not for those things and a few odd bugs, they'd at least be on par with each other in my eyes. Original DP, on the other hand, I just don't see a reason to return to anytime soon, and my opinion on that wasn't really changed before or after BDSP released.

 

[Bolt Strike]

I like Platinum. My only issue is I can’t get it. Oh yeah and I sent (via HOME) two Eevees from Shield to BDSP (one for each game) and wanted them to be part of my BDSP teams (like Leafeon in BD, Glaceon in SP), then I learned Leafeon and Glaceon weren’t in BDSP so I boxed them.

Um what? No, Leafeon and Glaceon are in BDSP, they're just not in the Sinnoh Dex. You can evolve them just fine. The only Eeveelution not in BDSP is Sylveon.

 

[DigitalGen6]

Um what? No, Leafeon and Glaceon are in BDSP, they're just not in the Sinnoh Dex. You can evolve them just fine. The only Eeveelution not in BDSP is Sylveon.

Well thanks for telling me.
I’m probably gonna put the BD (Brilliant Diamond) Eevee in my team and turn it into Leafeon. In SP (Shining Pearl), I can’t do that. My team’s full. (And this is why they should have let you have more than six in your team)
I know Sylveon’s not in there.
(Are you confused about anything else?)

 

[colours]

...hm.

Kanto: FRLG > RBY

i think i'm mostly saying this out of principle given how aged RBY is. i'm not even a huge fan of FRLG, but given the option between both, i'd go for FRLG, thanks. sevii islands are also a nice little addition for exploration's sake.

Johto: GSC = HGSS

idk man, i can't pick between either because they're equally enjoyable to me. HGSS has battle frontier and pokeathlon, and to be honest i'd rather play crystal than either gold or silver simply due the pokemon sprites looking better for me. i don't mind either or, truthfully.

Hoenn: ORAS = Emerald > RS

i can't lie, i had lots of fun with ORAS! i think soaring is a hell of a mechanic that NEEDS to make a comeback in future games. i don't understand how Game Freak fumbled the ball so hard on allowing you to soar through an entire region in gen 6 only for a blackscreen transition the subsequent generation. i really don't get it. i think visitin the different islands via soaring was fun, and although the lack of a battle frontier kinda sucked for me, it was still a fun game regardless. had about as much fun with it as i did with Emerald which was one of my favourite games, so there's that.

Sinnoh: Legends: Arceus > Platinum > BDSP

BDSP were okay.... just okay. i'm not going to say they're terrible games or anything, because i honestly don't think they're that bad, but i also don't think they're the remakes that really lived up to the name of "Sinnoh remakes" that some people were hoping for and i can't help but join the crowd in that disappointment. it's not even about the chibified graphics for me, because i enjoy chibi as an art style, i just don't think the games were thaaaaaaaat fun bar like, exploring around in the grand underground and finding all of the different pokemon environments. that and ramanas park were essentially the biggest overall "changes" if you can call it that (i mean, i'm sure there are QoL changes, but i'm talking about noticeable ones that i remember, at least), and i guess i was hoping for a bit more. for this reason, it falls below Platinum in enjoyability for me because at least with Platinum i knew what i was getting and expected which was essentially a more improved version of Diamond and Pearl which was exactly what was delivered.

i mentioned Legends: Arceus here because i guess it's technically Sinnoh... which is kind of an unfair comparison, because L:A clears Platinum and BDSP with ease, imo. but like, it's kinda wild the the difference in gameplay quality between something like L:A and BDSP which is a more traditional-style pokemon game. L:A really did Sinnoh actual justice, imo.

 

[Bolt Strike]

i mentioned Legends: Arceus here because i guess it's technically Sinnoh... which is kind of an unfair comparison, because L:A clears Platinum and BDSP with ease, imo. but like, it's kinda wild the the difference in gameplay quality between something like L:A and BDSP which is a more traditional-style pokemon game. L:A really did Sinnoh actual justice, imo.

LA is Sinnoh, but can you really call it a remake? Pretty much everything about it is different aside from it taking place in the same region, and a remake would especially need elements such as story, characters, and level design to be the same or at least similar. Remakes are generally retellings of the original, whereas LA is a prequel. So I don't think you can really call it a remake. I would call it a reimagining. It's nominally Sinnoh (and technically not even that because it wasn't even called Sinnoh then), but it's designed from the ground up to be a 3D open zone game instead of a traditional, more linear Pokemon experience.

Now if you do want to throw in reimaginings (or whatever you would classify LA as), I would agree that LA stands far above everything else Sinnoh, I just didn't mention it in my post because I didn't think a reimagining should count for this topic. It's sort of cheating because it's a completely different game and there's not much to compare with DPPt or BDSP.

 

[colours]

LA is Sinnoh, but can you really call it a remake? Pretty much everything about it is different aside from it taking place in the same region, and a remake would especially need elements such as story, characters, and level design to be the same or at least similar. Remakes are generally retellings of the original, whereas LA is a prequel. So I don't think you can really call it a remake. I would call it a reimagining. It's nominally Sinnoh (and technically not even that because it wasn't even called Sinnoh then), but it's designed from the ground up to be a 3D open zone game instead of a traditional, more linear Pokemon experience.

Now if you do want to throw in reimaginings (or whatever you would classify LA as), I would agree that LA stands far above everything else Sinnoh, I just didn't mention it in my post because I didn't think a reimagining should count for this topic. It's sort of cheating because it's a completely different game and there's not much to compare with DPPt or BDSP.

yeah i didn't think it would be entirely fair to include LA in the remake conversation due to how... different it is than your usual style of remakes, but only did so because it technically took place in the "same" region, so to speak.

 

[Ransei]

RBY > FRLG > LGPE

FRLG are better games overall but they didn't enhance Kanto enough nor brought enough substantial quality of life change for me to go back to them over Pokémon's original projects. If I want to experience Kanto, I'd rather explore/re-explore the very first Pokémon games than go through more polished Kanto games I have not found reason to personally care about. I have played FRLG but I have not played LGPE strongly due to this mindset.

HGSS > GSC
Having Pokémon follow you, a Battle Tower enhanced to a Battle Frontier (which I honestly found really boring due to the slow every move was, but it was still an upgrade from what Crystal had), adding the Pokéathalon (something I actually did go out on and completed), and having a noticeably higher variety of great Pokémon to obtain, including all the Kanto legendaries this time, make HGSS take the spot for me here.

ORAS > RSE
I started Pokémon with RSE (Sapphire first, Emerald second, ...I borrowed and completed a Ruby once) and while those games are great, ORAS truly brought forth some insane quality of life mechanics and a higher variety of gameplay features to feasibly play with, alongside having among the best battle mechanics in the series, the most rewarding player interaction system, the most broad exploration of any non-open world Pokémon game, an enhanced super Secret Base system where you can battle any level of any Pokémon from Bulbasaur to Diancie, the ability to obtain many more rare and special Pokémon (Every Gen 3 games individually is very lacking in this), and their postgame episode dropping in some of the most revolutionary pieces of worldbuilding the series has ever had so far. These games were quite revolutionary in other ways as well for setting a precedent for where future remakes could've ideally headed in the future (games featuring new generational mechanic + having an altered story with more fleshed out characters, and lore tied to the generational mechanic) while creating Anything Goes and its community. I haven't explained all the differences but ORAS truly feels like a different game despite it still being Hoenn, and I've almost never seen a mainline Pokémon game in the same way after playing these games.

Also while I'm a fan of battles, I'm not particularly a fan of the Battle Frontier from Emerald for how its facilities were handled. It ultimately felt more quantity than quality for me as a lot of the concepts were quite shallow and even my favorite battle facilities there had notable issues. ORAS doesn't have the Battle Frontier but I can get and even make higher quality battles in those games overall.

BDSP > Platinum > DP
I'm not a fan of Sinnoh. To me the Gen 4 Sinnoh games run very slow and the level curves make grinding last forever if I want a creative team. I also don't really care about the story in these games (it's extremely butchered) and don't appreciate the insane myraid of HMs you are required to use in the story. Even the ones you aren't required to use strongly encourage you to because routes like 210 are the biggest nightmare to go through otherwise. My favorite things about Sinnoh were the Underground, the Elite Four + Champion fights, and the overall lore the region brought over. BDSP is a faster running game that eliminates much of the HM issue, enhances the Underground (mostly), makes grinding no longer a massive hassle, makes the Elite Four + Champion fights more memorable (amped up difficulty), and these games actually released Arceus's Azure Flute Event, which is wild. These games mitigated my least favorite things about Sinnoh while enhancing on the things I liked most about the region. While I get these remakes did not live up to the standards of other remakes at all, I'd still rather personally play these games over Platinum and especially DP.

Legends Arceus is a premake and I'm not sure where that falls here but it would be 1st place for Sinnoh if it counts. Definitely found that way more enjoyable than modern Sinnoh.

 

[CyanLaser]

Kanto: RGBY > FRLG
Unfortunately, all the Kanto games taste to me like American store-bought white bread, but out of all of these, the originals stand out the most in the context of the rest of the franchise due to being the first Pokemon games and for being as archaic as they are. Learning more about jank that Gen 1 came with and using it in battle, plus the novelty factor of Red and Green being the series’ origins is a much bigger draw to me than playing FRLG, which, while probably being less frustrating at times, is not a game that I think has as much to elevate it above the rest of the series. Not speaking for LGPE since I don’t know much of anything about it.

Johto: HGSS > GSC
The graphical capabilities of the DS are something that I really appreciate for Johto, as many locations in Johto have their atmosphere elevated by it quite a bit. I also like the camera spots where you can take photos with your team (and also the following Pokemon, to the shock of nobody). While HGSS is a bit more railroady than GSC and later-game Exp. distribution is still not stellar, HGSS did restore most of the Kanto areas that were truncated in GSC. I mostly mention medium-to-small factors here because I don’t have strong feelings about GSC or HGSS other than “ good video game”, but I prefer HGSS because of said small-ish factors.

Hoenn: ORAS ≥ E > RS
Contrary to what Groudon and Kyogre claim, two legends can coexist! While I have ORAS as my series favorite (Delta Episode, Soaring, Dexnav, Secret Base goodies, redesigns and better writing, Delta Episode), I also really do appreciate Emerald and can acknowledge that it wins in terms of having a modicum of challenge (which ORAS doesn’t really have apart from Steven). I like the individual evil teams more in ORAS than RS, but I also like Emerald’s inclusion of both teams in villain roles than with ORAS only having one. In terms of the Battle Frontier, I only ever care for 2 of the facilities on a good day, and postgame battle facilities in general are not something I view as a fulfilling use of my time, so the Frontier’s exclusion doesn’t bite for me. Both Emerald and ORAS still unfortunately have just a few too many HMs for my liking, but I can still readily come back to both (although in my view ORAS made the original Ruby and Sapphire mostly obsolete).

Sinnoh: Pt > BDSP > DP
I really wanted to put BDSP on equal footing with Platinum, I really did. Character customization (and different player skin tones!!!!!!!!!!) being an actual thing in BDSP is something I see absolutely no downsides for, and I also like the increased difficulty for gym leader rematches, but the reversion to the DP dex over the Platinum dex, as well as the forced affection bonuses and the initial glitchiness makes me just unable to.

While I do prefer an equal amount of originals to remakes, having ORAS be my favorite Pokemon games made this an easy vote for Team Remake overall.

 

[Boss1708]

This is a complicated question, because it really depends which originals and which remakes we're talking about.

For Kanto, I definitely prefer the remakes. LGPE > FRLG > RGBY

For Johto, the remakes win once again. HGSS > GSC

For Hoenn, Emerald wins. Emerald > ORAS > RS

For Sinnoh, I'd say it's a draw. I like both Platinum and BDSP very much. Platinum = BDSP > DP

And that's all the remakes we have sofar!