#7. Pokemon Emerald (GBA)
Pokemon Emerald is amazing- it is one of those rare times that Game Freak held nothing back, went all out, and delivered a Pokemon game that well and truly transcends the limitations that being a Pokemon game would ordinarily impose upon it. With Emerald, Game Freak delivered to us the definitive edition of the Hoenn saga, and they also gave us the most convincing third game yet- Emerald arguably does more to justify its existence than many full fledged generation entries, such as Diamond and Pearl, ever did.
Everything about Ruby and Sapphire was reworked for a more pleasant and generally better experience, from the distribution of wild Pokemon, to the story, which is now a much more sensible retelling rather than the ridiculous, plothole riddled yarn that Ruby and Sapphire tried to present, to even the font, which was made a whole lot more readable than the illegible script Ruby and Sapphire used.
Emerald also adds to the post game content of Ruby and Sapphire, changing it from the most anemic showing in the franchise to one of the most robust ones, with the Battle Frontier, and the most extensive Battle Frontier seen in the series till date, ten years later, at that.
Emerald was basically absolutely great. If you were to play only one Pokemon game, and Emerald was it, you would see the best that the Pokemon series has to offer. Really, the only thing it lacks are the mechanical improvements that subsequent Pokemon generations would bring with them, such as the Physical/Special split. The only thing I can hold against Emerald is that it was not an original entry- it was basically a reissue of Ruby and Sapphire, and it was what Ruby and Sapphire should have been in the first place.
