What is your favourite game from each region?

[Puddle]

If you had to choose just one game from each region, which would they be? I know there isn't a lot of choice for Kalos and Galar, but you can still tell us which version you chose if you like. Here's mine...

Kanto: Let's Go, Pikachu!
I have to admit, I've often found Kanto a little dull, and always used to struggle to finish the older games set in this region. However, I find the Let's Go games really delightful; I feel that they have breathed new life into the region.

Johto: SoulSilver
I have a soft spot for all the Johto games and could have chosen the Virtual Console version of Crystal, which I love because it allows you to catch Celebi. I think HeartGold and SoulSilver are still the best, though, due to the following Pokémon and the fact that they're so jam-packed with content - in many ways they feel like the most "complete" game in the series.

Hoenn: Omega Ruby
The Soaring feature and Deoxys alone are enough to make this the definitive Hoenn game for me.

Sinnoh: Platinum
I don't always like the remastered versions better than the originals, but Platinum is definitely the superior Sinnoh game. The Distortion World is a blast.

Unova: White
For me, Black and White have the best story in any Pokémon game to date, and for this reason, I enjoy them more than the sequels.

Kalos: Y
I had a hard time choosing a version in this generation because Xerneas and Yveltal are, in my opinion, two of the best-designed legendaries to date. I ultimately went with Y because I prefer Charizard and Mewtwo's Mega forms in that version, and I thought Yveltal would be more fun to have on my team.

Alola: Moon
Like in the Unova games, I enjoyed the story in Sun and Moon a lot more than in the Ultra versions. Catching Nebby feels a lot more meaningful in the original story.

Galar: Sword
I got both versions this time around, but Sword is my main version and the one I bought the Expansion Pass for because Zacian is my favourite of the two legendaries.

 

[RK9]

Kanto: Firered
Pretty cool games and brought some nice extra area with the Sevii Islands. Also Arcanine.
Johto: Heartgold.
Sadly didn't fix the biggest issue imo (Bad level curve) but a really good game all together regardless. ALso Arcanine.
Hoenn: Emerald
Soaring was meh, didn't like it. Delta Episode was cool but not enough to carry the remakes over Emerald, who I consider superior in every way. ORAS was very underwhelming.
Sinnoh: Platinum
Still really slow but made some good changes. Giratina Origin Form too.
Unova: Black.
Best games to date, ever. Don't think they'll ever be overtaken too. I could go on on this ages but I won't.
Kalos: Y
Mega Evolution was cool and Yveltal was a really dope design. Even thought I think dooming someone by giving them eternal life like Xerneas could would be a more despair punishment than insta death that Yveltal does.
Alola: None.
All 4 games are hot booty garbage. Areas look the same, easiest game to date, meh Pokémon Designs, rehash of Kyurem's gimmick but worse. Yeah, let's leave it at that. Dark area within Pokémon History.
Galar: Sword.
Zacian is great. I love the design. Then there's also Bea and I think Geordie is pretty cool.

 

[Esserise]

Kanto: FRLG

Much as I appreciate many of the narrative adjustments in Let's Go, and respect their level of experimentalism for the series as a whole, they also have Trace, who I completely abhor. FRLG have Blue and a better soundtrack while still offering largely the same overall experience + the Sevii Islands for a bit extra.

Between FireRed and LeafGreen, I'd go with FireRed, based solely on the exclusives. I like Arbok, Scyther/Scizor, the Oddish family, Cloyster, Electabuzz, and Skarmory a lot.

Johto: Crystal

A T M O S P H E R E

Hoenn: ORAS

I think I'm picking this one mainly for the better storyline and the better Secret Bases, and vibrant graphics.

Omega Ruby has better exclusives in my view, but personally I think the storyline in general works better with Team Aqua at the forefront so I'd go with Alpha Sapphire.

Sinnoh: Platinum

It's not even a choice.

Unova: B2W2

Content makes this an easy decision, even though I love BW almost as much and even though they have the better storyline. Funfest Missions and the White Treehollow were such a great experience that I just can't turn them down. Plus all of the new areas are so nice, and there's many more Pokémon to choose from.

Slight edge to White 2 largely because of its ruined Route 4 aesthetic, jazzy Reversal Mountain track, and prettier White Treehollow.

Kalos: X

Based on exclusives, I slightly prefer X, and also Lysandre's scene at the Café Soleil makes more thematic sense as opposed to him outing himself as an irrational sociopath right then and there, lol

Alola: USUM

I still broadly like the story of the Ultra games even if the one in the originals is better in some ways, and on top of that, there's just a lot more to do in the Ultras, and the Totem battles are better-constructed.

Guess I'd pick Ultra Moon of the two since it comes with Stakataka which is my favorite Pokémon.

Galar: Sword

I really like Hop + Zamazenta as a pair since they're both the "younger siblings."

 

[techitisJ]

Kanto: Let's Go Pikachu/Eevee

I've only briefly played RBY and FRLG on emulator, but I will admit before Let's Go I've always found the Kanto games to be a bit boring. The Team rocket plot is pretty boring, and while the legendary birds and Mewtwo are pretty cool Pokemon, the only one who really gets anything special in the game is Mewtwo, and that's just in the backstory. At least with Let's Go, the capture mechanic was different and was fun (at first, then as Pokemon got harder to catch it got annoying). And I really liked seeing Pokemon in the overworld.

Johto: Crystal

This is definitely partially nostalgia-based, as Crystal was my first Pokemon game. I also really love the Johto Pokemon, and Team Rocket is slightly more interesting here because they are trying to function without a leader, something no other team does till Team Yell (who are less of a Team and more of a bunch of groupies, but still, just makes both the teams even more unique). I also liked how Suicune had more of a story to it, and I loved those surprise encounters with it on my initial run of the game.

Hoenn: ORAS

I only briefly played Emerald on an Emulator, so I can't conclusively say I like ORAS more, but I did really enjoy them. The DexNav was a fun feature, and I had a lot of fun exploring Hoenn together with my two friends (we all bought it day 1 and experienced a lot of the initial adventure together). I don't know about other people, but I actually enjoyed the Delta episode. I hadn't seen any gameplay of it so when Deoxys showed up at the end I was like "OH my gosh what is that thing?!"

Sinnoh: Platinum

I can't really pick, I've only partially made my way through Platinum. But, from what I've heard, the story and the pacing are a lot better in Platinum.

Unova: BW2

Again, I can't really pick because I've only partially made my way through White 2, so I'll just say that. When I was younger I hated the idea of not being able to use other Pokemon besides the new ones, which is why I picked up White 2. These days though, I find the concept pretty cool. But I think I prefer the rival more in BW2 than in BW because I find Bianca pretty annoying. So, it's hard to say what I would actually pick.

Kalos: X

Besides Purrloin and Liepard I prefer the X exclusives more. I also played X a few more times than Y.

Alola: SM

I really like the story in SM, and the characters. SM are my favorite Pokemon games and they are just so fun. It was so wild playing through Sun for the first time and witnessing as Lusamine absolutely lost her mind. And then seeing Lillie stand up to her like she did was amazing. Just overall a lot of fun. USUM have good qualities, but I don't think anything can beat the base games for me.

Galar: Sword

I prefer some of the exclusives more to Sun, and I love Zacian so much. Idk what it is but I feel like Zacian fits in with the whole Slumbering Weald scene at the beginning, and I think it has to do with Zacian and Zamazenta's cries. The SulmberingWeald seemls like this quiet and peaceful, mysterious place, and the hard edge in Zamazenta's cry that it less off when encountering Hop and the protagonist just doesn't seem to fit as well into the whole vibe of the Slumbering Weald as Zacian's does. But that's just a very tiny point. I also just prefer Hop with Zamazenta.

 

[Sheep]

kanto: frlg... these games were really good. the vs seeker made training fun and easy, and it was just a lot of fun to replay for me. I miss when it was new!
johto: crystal. <3 hgss were very good as well but the sluggish battle and PC box animations mean it can't take that top spot.
hoenn: oras! gah I loved these games. spent so much time and dedication doing as much as I could. I pretty much did every possible thing and I was really happy with what the games changed about hoenn, even if there was no battle frontier.
sinnoh: platinum. upgrade from diamond and pearl and a lot of fun.
unova: ahh this is where it gets hard. ;_; bw had the superior story by a long shot, but bw2 had a good postgame with more to do... I'll say bw since that's when my love for Pokémon was near its peak. I had so much fun playing and immersing myself in the story!
kalos: xy is all I can say here. they were fun despite what some others think, and I spent tons of hours playing and enjoying seeing my first main series game in 3D.
alola: usum! others seem to think otherwise, but I preferred the story in those versions.
galar: swsh. I have shield and liked it quite a bit, especially the music. it's not very high on my favorite Pokémon games list, but I enjoy Galar as a region nonetheless.

this was fun \ o /

 

[Nicolas721]

Regions I've only played once.
Kanto: I only played FireRed but I doubt a cute Pikachu would surpass the glorious Sevii Islands + 230 more Pokemon. Exclusives-wise I prefer LeafGreen but during my 1 month playthrough I didn't miss the missing ones.
Johto: I only played HG, and I doubt a Suicune story would surpass the Pokethlon and Following Pokemon. Exclusives-wise Lugia beats Ho-Oh but the Gold ones mostly beat the Silver ones.
Sinnoh: Platinum, its features are worth it and Giratina is cooler than the others.
Unova: White 2. I envy BW because of its more mysterious story and lack of older Pokemon, but the sequels have good features.
Galar: Shield, the non-Galarian exclusives win and the gym leaders are cool.

Regions I've played in multiple games.
Hoenn: Emerald, I love DexNav and Mirage spots but Emerald gives a sightly more rounded experience with the Battle Frontier and a higher difficulty.
Kalos: X, I like Xerneas' aesthethic much more.
Alola: Sun was a more pleasant campaign that Ultra Moon because my team had more varied moves and the story was more coherent, but objectively speaking Ultra Moon has to win because of the optimized trials and the extra features. Version-exclusive wise, US and UM seem like a pain to compare because of all those legendaries (and Stakataka vs Kartana!) so I'm gonna say UM because Dawn wings Necrozma.

 

[toastghost]

Kanto - Leaf Green
Johto - Soul Silver
Hoenn - Emerald
Sinnoh - Platinum
Unova - White 2
Kalos - X
Alola - Ultra Moon
Galar - Shield

 

[Aulos]

Kanto - FireRed/LeafGreen.
These were pretty much quality of life remakes of the originals. And the originals really needed it, so these were fantastic.

Johto - Crystal.
I know that HG/SS did a lot of quality of life improvements like FR/LG, but I just have a special place for Crystal. The first time I could play as my gender in Pokemon.

Hoenn - Omega Ruby/Alpha Sapphire.
I was super disappointed with Ruby, after how solid G/S/C were. When I got Omega Ruby, I was glad to see improvements over the originals like returning the day/night system. Plus that Pokedex feature that shows what Pokemon you have/haven't caught in areas is awesome. OR redeemed Hoenn for me somewhat! (my only disappointment with them being the loss of the abandoned ship, but even the replacement for it was well-implemented)

Sinnoh - Diamond/Pearl(?)
Only played Diamond. Crystal was the last time I got a 'third version'.

Unova - Black/White
Black/White were very refreshing. I choose them over B2/W2 because part of what made them so good was not having any old Pokemon before the Elite 4. Before B/W I continued to use a lot of my favorites from all of the way back in Gen I and didn't really branch out. Black forced me to branch out and I'm better for it.

Kalos - X/Y
Well... There's only one choice here. Lol.

Alola - IDK.
I'm not a huge fan of Gen VIII. I played through Sun, got Ultra Sun as well but haven't been able to play through it.

Galar - Sword/Shield
Again, only one choice.

 

[prog rocker]

Kanto: Either FRLG or LGPE. Possibly LGPE since Blue's role got reduced.

Johto: HGSS. No contest, even though I feel GSC is when Pokémon started getting good.

Hoenn: ORAS. While Sapphire was my first game, the changes that ORAS made were a complete improvement in my opinion. Specially how Maxie and Archie are not sprite swaps anymore, and the Admins were better and definitely not grunts with a special sprite.

Sinnoh: Platinum, although I'm not happy with that choice since it's a third version.

Unova: B2W2. Mostly for the continuity nods that I wish were used in HGSS.

Kalos: XY

Alola: That's a hard choice. I found both of them to be good at certain things.

 

[Pyrax]

Kanto - FRLG
By default since I've never played much of Gen I. I enjoyed the Sevii Islands, quite a shame they never returned in HGSS or LGPE.

Johto - HGSS
It's a very colourful game. Not to mention Ho-Oh's theme is one of my favourite legendary battle themes.

Hoenn - Emerald
DexNav and Sea Mauville were great, but I really appreciate the gym leader rematches.

Sinnoh - Platinum
Pt is faster and actually has fire-types.

Unova - BW
Since the beginning I liked GameFreak's decision to only include Gen V mons before the National Dex. Also has my favourite plot out of any mainline Pokemon game.

Kalos - X
I prefer Xerneas over Yveltal. X also has Clauncher/Clawitzer.

Alola - Ultra SM
The plot was slightly worse than vanilla SM imo, but the Ultra Wormholes were a fun concept.

Galar - N/A
I haven't played SwSh so I'm just going by aesthetics. I prefer Sword's exclusives, specifically Zacian, Bea and Gordie over their Shield counterparts.

 

[nickdt]

Kanto - Red and Blue
Johto - Gold and Silver
Hoenn - ORAS
Sinnoh - Platinum
Unova - BW2
Kalos - X
Alola - Ultra Sun
Galar - Sword

 

[Camille]

Kanto: FireRed, as it was my first Pokemon game and actually has a good postgame.
Johto: SoulSilver, for its amount of content, and I like Lugia better than Ho-oh as far as version mascots go.
Hoenn: Emerald (haven't played OR/AS yet).
Sinnoh: Platinum for its regional Dex and Distortion World.
Unova: White 2, as it isn't as linear as White, and Opelucid City looks much better than its Black 2 counterpart.

 

[Leaf_Ranger]

Let's see:

Kanto: LGreen
I loved the sprites, the new gadgets namely the VS seeker and most of all, the Sevii Islands. They were a nice touch on nostalgia to Gen. II, namely throght the music and Pkmn available. I also love the female protagonist, Leaf.

Johto: HG
PERFECT. I cannot stop praising the game that I play to this very day so that I can take a stroll with Pkmn, enjoy the day/night scenery and public lighting, the music and the smaller sound effects (near a fountain, ocean, etc.), go to Kanto and wet my eyes with the music at Vermilion, thinking on when will S.S. Anne return and how much time has been since Blue and also since playing HG in 2010.

Hoenn: Sapphire
I've played Emerald and AS but I still love the original Sapphire. I was very excited at playing the game and like the whole greenery that the region has and how it feels wilder that the previous. I like the environmental questions that arise from the plot, the music.

Sinnoh: Diamond
Originally I wasn't very fond of Sinnoh but it grew on me over time. I like all the starters, the plot, the new evolutions to older Pkmn and the building housing the Pkmn League. I prefer Diamond over Pt because of Eterna City's tree and Gym, since I prefer the original broader ones than the skinny ones.

Unova: B2
The southwest adition was just great. It gave a broader sense to Isshu by taking advantage of previous explored parts of the region. Humilau is also sweet. Roxie and Marlon are awesome. I also prefer Cheren over Lenora and not having to face the triplets (except for Cilan, since the game version is waaaaay better that the anime Brcok-clone annoying one).

Kalos: still waiting for an expanded and better version of XY. The games didn't attracted me as they are at the moment.

Alola: Hated it to the very core.

Galar: To the void of inexistence with it!

 

[Bolt Strike]

Kanto: FRLG

The only Kanto game to actually improve over the original RBY in a significant way. Even so, the main game is much too samey and I'm still not completely satisfied with it. No Kanto game has really fleshed out Kanto as much as it can be.

Johto: HGSS

Crystal had a few neat improvements, but they were pretty minor. HGSS did a lot more.

Hoenn: Emerald

I love the addition of the Dexnav and Soaring in ORAS, but lacks many of the new areas and features from Emerald. Emerald feels more fleshed out.

Sinnoh: Platinum

Far and away more complete and polished than DP.

Unova: BW2

BW was one step forward and two steps back from 4th gen, so it leaves a sour taste in my mouth despite the amazing storyline. BW2 is more of a return to form and massively expands on BW.

Kalos: XY

XY wins this by default by virtue of being the only Kalos game. There's much, MUCH more that can be done with Kalos in a future game though

Alola: SM

This is a harder decision than it should be and really shows how much they dropped the ball with USUM. Its improvements made almost no impression on me and its storyline was worse, so I'd have to go with the original.

Galar: SwSh

Again, only one set of games so SwSh wins by default. Unlike XY though, SwSh feels more complete thanks to DLC and aside from new features and sidequests there's little else they can do to build on it.

 

[Daenerys]

Kanto - Yellow
Johto - Silver
Hoenn - Sapphire
Sinnoh - Diamond
Unova - White 2
Kalos - Y
Alola - Ultra Sun
Galar - none

 

[mikechuu]

Kanto - Yellow (being able to obtain all three starters is cool)
Johto - Crystal (sprite animations! girl character option!)
Hoenn - Emerald (battle frontier)
Sinnoh - Platinum (basically better than DP in every way)
Unova - BW2 (i prefer the story over the BW story and like being able to use Pokemon from older regions during the playthrough)
Kalos - Y (Yveltal is so cool)
Alola - Sun (Lusamine was a better antagonist in these and I like Solgaleo)
Galar - Shield (shield doggo)