People have been begging me. “Joe, what’s your ranking from worst to best of every main series Pokémon game?” Well, wait no longer.

16. X/Y - They’re so boring, you guys
15. Sword/Shield - Good DLC does not a good game make.
14. Diamond/Pearl - Some cool stuff but I don’t like most Pokémon from this gen, despite it being the one I grew up with! More pertinently, the games are really slow

13. Red/Blue/Yellow - Cool games that need work. Excellent canvas for a child’s imagination
12. Firered/Leafgreen - The same games as above but with nicer graphics. Sevii Islands are neat

11. Omega Ruby/Alpha Sapphire - Some good ideas here but it so often chooses to do the least possible. Everything good about these are arguably done better elsewhere. OTOH, a solid remake is a solid remake
10. Platinum - nicer UI and faster gameplay takes you surprisingly far

9. Gold/Silver - I dig these ones!
8. Crystal - Same game but with some improvements that go a pretty long way
7. Ruby/Sapphire - Great world design, even with the water routes. Lovely set of new Pokémon.
6. Emerald - Same game but with even more stuff!

5. Ultra Sun/Ultra Moon - I love the gameplay additions, hate the story changes
4. Sun/Moon - Better story wins out for me over the gameplay changes, just barely.

3. Black/White - Best story in a Pokémon game. (Still not great, tbh) Does the more urban exploration thing better than any of the other recent generations.

2. Heartgold/Soulsilver - you know why. These games rule!
1. Black 2/White 2 - Improves on the few problems I have with the map from the first games, and gives you so much fun stuff to do. Iterates perfectly on the 2D style of Pokémon games