#1. POKEMON GOLD AND SILVER
A bit of an obvious choice, but it’s obvious for a reason. For two decades, the question on everyone’s lips with each new Pokemon game has been- will it be able to top Gold and Silver? And the answer is invariably a resounding “no” (unless you count HeartGold and SoulSilver, of course). This right here is the essence of Pokemon, everything that is great about this series gathered up into one single package.
Excellent music, a great region, solid Pokemon design, great starters and Legendaries, perfectly balanced difficulty- Pokemon Gold and Silver had it all. And best of all was the post-game, which, really, was actually the second half of the game. After beating the Johto Elite 4, players journeyed across Ge 1’s Kanto, battling eight more Gyms before facing off against Red himself. Not only was it great fan service, it was also a great way to provide a deluge of excellent content. Pokemon Gold and Silver are the benchmark this series has been aspiring to for twenty years, and the fact that it’s failed to achieve Gen 2’s heights in all the years since it first came out should tell you something about how stellar it was.
