What do you miss most about the older games?

[Usagi-Zakura]

That about trading.. who in their right mind trades away a level 100 Mew for a Rattata? Why do they even bother putting that up? >.< You're basically just asking for hacks..

Back on topic:
- My Shiny Raticate from Gold. Not a feature per se but I miss him all the same
- WALKING POKèMON! Is there any reason not to have this really?
- The meny system of HGSS. I didn't even touch the buttons in that game. Also being able to trigger running instead of having to press B all the time. Again, was there ever a reason to take this out? C-gear? The C-gear can die in a fire:/
- Contests. Okay they weren't great but it was nice having something to do with the Pokèmon you don't use in battle without having to train them like crazy.

 

[Jenneta]

Like most people on this thread, I too, also miss the walking Pokemon. I would LOVE to walk with my Darkrai on my Black 2 game, or my Giratina in my Platinum, OR my Blaziken in Emerald. You feel more closer to the Pokemon, you know? Not to mention the fact that when you turn around and talk to them, they do cute things. x3.
I miss the Underground, too. That was SO fun! You had an unlimited resource for evolutionary stones and such! I wish they would do that again. I would love to mine Gems in my Black 2 games. It would be fun. ;D
That's all I really miss, I guess. :3

 

[Icy Angel]

I miss the fact that the music was so much better in the R/B/Y series than in the newer ones. They have more melody to it, because the music from those times were crappy and they had to work hard to make it good. The music in B/W and Pt was okay, but the older series win. I also miss the fact that, like other other people described, you can walk Pikachu around in Yellow. It'd be nice to have a Pokemon walking beside you. Sure, it kind of happened in SS/HG, but...

 

[Team Gaara]

I miss the 8-bit music. The music is great now, and a love a lot of the themes for villains and routes and major battles, but I just love the simple 8-bit music accompanied by simple 8-bit sprites.

Blastoise's Yellow sprite; that was great.

 

[spatterdock]

The feeling of when you're playing something for the first time. Everything was new and fresh. Now that I've experienced some more, it doesn't have that same feel as it did when I was younger. Sometimes I wish I can rewind that and experience that one more time. I also miss the popularity of it, the fact that everyone talked about pokemon, and discussing urban legends like mewthree. Now that there's the internet, discussions of urban legends like that don't really happen, and a lot of people dropped out of the pokemon bandwagon years ago.

 

[Dr. Buni]

The "static" sprites. Yeah, call me weird, but I didn't like the animated sprites from Generation V. I really hope the 3D modeled animations look better in Generation VI, judging by the trailers, they do, but who knows? I also miss the Pokétch from DPPt and that awesome musical style of RSE soundtrack. I want trumpets back in Pokémon music!! ♥

 

[Phijkchu]

I liked and miss the music. And the Underground. Both of those would make the games better. Yes, the music is more advanced, but 8-bit is classic.

 

[phantomness]

I miss so many things that have already been mentioned in this thread - Not having to worry about Natures, IVs, EVs, and Abilities, among other things. I miss the walking Pokemon so badly and I hoped they would put it in Black/White2, but no luck T.T I miss how in the FRLG remakes you had a slightly larger circle of light so you wouldn't have to use Flash to navigate caves because I still hate that move. I miss Sabrina's old character design with the whip - that was awesome. I miss being able to use old generation Pokemon in the new games until you beat the Elite Four, even in BW2 I didn't like the updated Dex that much. (I liked HGSS because at least they had all the Kanto/Johto Pokemon, which are my favorites anyway). I miss being able to find older generation Pokemon at nice, low levels, from 1-30ish, in new areas that are available after you beat the game because who wants a Level 50 pidgey?

 

[Te-em]

I miss so many things that have already been mentioned in this thread - Not having to worry about Natures, IVs, EVs, and Abilities, among other things. I miss the walking Pokemon so badly and I hoped they would put it in Black/White2, but no luck T.T I miss how in the FRLG remakes you had a slightly larger circle of light so you wouldn't have to use Flash to navigate caves because I still hate that move. I miss Sabrina's old character design with the whip - that was awesome. I miss being able to use old generation Pokemon in the new games until you beat the Elite Four, even in BW2 I didn't like the updated Dex that much. (I liked HGSS because at least they had all the Kanto/Johto Pokemon, which are my favorites anyway). I miss being able to find older generation Pokemon at nice, low levels, from 1-30ish, in new areas that are available after you beat the game because who wants a Level 50 pidgey?

Low-level Pokemon always ruin my training, so they are rather annoying. But you can always breed the level 50 Pidgey and get one on low level. Good thing in Johto is that you can easily get a Metamon right outside the breeding place for this purpose. Even though its appearance is region-based rather than based on which game it is, I miss getting Metamon in such a convenient area. If the Pidgey is shiny though, you will have trouble. But thinking about it, a level 50 isn't that bad, because in the new games there are ways to relearn old techniques for Pokemon and you have time to EV train it. It's going to be level 100 one day anyway.

I miss the compatibility of the first two generations, because they were almost like the same generation except that you couldn't trade new stuff backwards. Nowadays, GF only think about money and want you to buy new games as quickly as possible, so they don't like you trading with friends who have newer games than yourself.

I miss the old Rocket sprite, because he didn't look like a kid and he held a whip in his hand. Bad guys are supposed to look evil after all. I wonder how the sprites would have looked today, with the new graphics, if they had retain the original design.

 

[HoppytheCourier]

What I miss most about the older generation of games is their simplicity.
I love Pokemon Gold/Silver/Crystal for that very reason; and the fact that Johto is my favorite region and it has my favorite Pokemon. I miss just picking a starter Pokemon and going on an adventure; visiting different cities to gain experience and grow stronger; overcoming the Elite Four and becoming Champion; going to Kanto and defeating some familiar faces; and discovering a hidden super boss.
Like I said before, simplicity is what made the first two generations great. Now all people are concerned about is EV training Pokemon so they can fight competitively. I really don't see the appeal and I hope that Pokemon X and Y will be a nice back-to-basics game that I feel the series needs right now.

 

[Te-em]

Yes, please replace the EV system with Seiken Densetsu's or Diablo's level up system, GF!

 

[Almonds]

RSE's music - trumpets everywhere XDD. I also miss having to team up with Steven. I miss Steven in general even though he's in B2W2
The Underground. I had once buried over 50 spheres in one area and the walls were glittering with treasure over-load after a few weeks. I miss that feeling of touching the screen and EVERYTHING shines XDD
Stat trainers. They were fun to have around.

And like some of you said, the feeling of having no idea on what you're doing. The Internet wasn't good as now, so I was on my own. I talked to the Rocket grunt in front of Saffron Gym for over a month because he wouldn't move and I didn't know I had to go to Silph Co. I also skipped Vermillion Gym because I gave up on the trash can puzzle. I didn't know anything about types and advantages, and I only raised my starter. I also didn't know much about evolution either. I remember once that a friend asked me how to evolve Togepi because her's was at level 60 and it didn't evolve. Mine evolved around level 40, so we were both clueless and speculated on how to evolve Togepi. I tried to catch the Marowak Ghost, and I killed Entei because I didn't know it was a legendary. I never visited Cianwood Island because I was afraid the Shuckle Guy would ask for his pokemon. I kept Kenya the Spearow and even used him in gym battles. Ah, those memories...

 

[Seba]

To me, it'd be the sense of mystery everything had (as a I lacked consistent internet connection and the awareness that everything possible in regards to information existed there in when I first started).

Exactly. I remember wanting to have some legendaries, but I didn't know they were event-exclusive. It was really weird and I thought I could get them in the game without internet. It was so mysterious... but fun.

 

[Beth Pavell]

Most of what I miss about the older generations is really more about me being younger. Back then Pokémon was such an escape I could play for hours on end and never think "Oh, Rattatas, I have to start work now". If there is anything I can pinpoint, I suppose it would be Seals. Even though they're not all that old, I enjoyed messing around with them and having a bit of a surprise to show off in my battles with people

 

[bangbronze]

Everybody who is anybody at least was amused by the Seals.

I miss the feeling of mystery, you don't know what the heck you're doing. The first time I ever played a Pokemon game, in fact, the first time I ever played a video game, it took me a half hour to get out of the player's room. It also took my entire family three months to get past Goldenrod City because we couldn't get the Squirtbottle. I was the first one in my family to get through Viridian Forest. I also miss being able to play with everyone in my family, where 'Pokemon' is a universal phrase. My dad only recently left the series, and my big sis left around Pearl. I realy wish I could have wireless battles with them again...

 

[turtlekid]

For me I think I would have to say the 8 bit music of Gen I&II. I'm not saying the in game music now is bad, it has improoved vastly. Just I think as a kid I thought that kind of what I called "video game music" was really cool and has stuck with me I can still remember a lot of it. I played white2 with the sound on trying to listen but nothing stuck out as much I can't remember any of the newer music from the games.

 

[Qwertoligy]

You know what I miss the pokemon platinum underground and heart gold's safari zone

 

[GabrielBR]

Well, I think @shiny celebi just said it all, but sometimes what I really miss is the joy oh that epoch of my life... And of course, the storylines, despite by now only the Hoenn region doesn't have a remake

 

[Isaac Gravity]

Having the power to store excess goods you don't need in the PC. Unlimited space be damned.

Even jumping to present time where we have the power to auto sort the bag, I'd still like to be able to evade the excess clutter in the first place by simply placing the stuff I don't immediately need in the PC.

 

[Bolt Strike]

Well, it depends what you define as the "older games". I don't really have much of a problem with what Gens 1-4 did, but IMO 5th gen did a lot of things wrong in terms of level design, game mechanics, and gameplay features (horrendous linear region design, gameplay is made too easy in favor of making it more accessible to newbies, fan favorite gameplay mechanics like trainer rematches and Secret Bases removed for no real reason and makes the games feel shallower than 4th gen).