There are a lot of franchises across the videogame landscape that have lasted a long, long time, but none of them have thrived quite the way Pokemon has.
From 1996 until now, it’s turned into not only a staple television show, but also one of the biggest and most versatile gaming franchises of all time. Kids, adults and everyone in between are still playing these games. And, yes, I’m guilty as charged.
There are so many games to go through it’s hard to tell which ones are truly the greatest the franchise has produced. Luckily for you, that’s why we’re here.
Here’s a list of the greatest Pokemon games of all-time.
1. Pokemon Heart Gold/Soul Silver
The original version was already one of the best Pokemon games of all-time. Reboot it with better graphics and a more expansive story in an already large world and you get the best Pokemon game ever.
2. Pokemon Yellow Version
This was a special edition of the first game that really set everything off. It essentially allowed you to play Ash Ketchum's story out and that's all every kid ever wanted to do. Having Pikachu follow you around was also a HUGE plus.
3. Pokemon Red/Blue version
This was the original edition of Yellow version and introduced us to Charmander, Squirtle and Bulbasaur — the greatest starter set Pokemon ever. More than 20 years later and they still haven't been topped.
4. Pokemon Gold/Silver version
This series of games brought groundbreaking changes to the series. To this day, it still has the most expansive universe combining the Kanto and Johto regions with 16 gym challenges. It was also chock full of new Pokemon and brought the concept of night time to the game — ground breaking, I know.
5. Pokemon Crystal version
This was the special edition of Gold and Silver. It built on everything those games brought, but also introduced the choice of being a boy or girl in the series.
6. Pokemon Fire Red/Leaf Green
This was the remake of the original games, which were already great. It also added the twist of the Sevii Islands in the post-game and brought Johto Pokemon to the Kanto region.
7. Pokemon Ruby and Sapphire
These games are probably my absolute favorite. This portion of the series introduced new, compelling storylines for its legendary Pokemon and really put you in the middle of all the action.
8. Pokemon Emerald
Emerald brought everything that Sapphire and Ruby brought except for it added the Battle Frontier at the end of the game which was basically a whole new region to battle in and explore.
9. Pokemon Platinum
Platinum was the special edition of Diamond and Pearl. Those games took a bit of a step back from the immersion that the previous generation had, but Platinum brought that back with the Distortion World and the story of Giratina.
10. Pokemon Sword and Shield
People do have legitimate gripes about the Switch's first iteration of a traditional Pokemon adventure. It doesn't have enough old Pokemon in it and the Pokedex is limited with only a few legendaries around. However, the region's size and the environments you're able to catch Pokemon of all types in makes up for that. Plus, it's cool to battle on a soccer pitch.
11. Pokemon Alpha Sapphire and Omega Ruby
These games were absolutely spectacular because of how large the Pokedex was. There were 32 legendary Pokemon in this game and the Deoxys story was amazing.
12. Pokemon Diamond & Pearl
Again, these games were a slight step back after exploring the Hoenn Region but Diamond and Pearl definitely hold their own when it comes to the main adventure games in the series.
13. Pokemon Sun and Moon
Sun and Moon were probably a bit too easy to play through. The saving grace of the games is that they introduce new regional evolutions for Pokemon, which isn't something we saw before this moment. The concept of Mega evolutions was also pretty cool, too.
14. Pokemon X and Y
The more I think about it, the more I think I'm probably underrating this game. After all, it did bring us Fairy type Pokemon for the first time. The problem is the story just wasn't that compelling.
15. Pokemon UltraSun and UltraMoon
This game just didn't add that much to the original versions. More Pokemon were accessible in the new version and there were more villains that we'd already seen before. That's about it.
16. Pokemon Black and White 2
This game was pretty much an entirely new story based in the same region as Black and White, which was totally necessary because Black and White just weren't that good.
17. Pokemon Black and White
If there's a such thing as a bad Pokemon adventure game, this one is probably it. That might be harsh, but it just didn't add very much to the lore.
17. Pokemon Stadium
This is the first of the non-adventure Pokemon games on this list and it's a classic. There were mini-games, Pokemon battles and just a ton of fun.
18. Pokemon Let's Go Pikachu/Eevee
This game was essentially a walkthrough of Yellow Version, which isn't a bad thing! It was just super easy. It was also the Switch's introduction to Pokemon adventures mixing Pokemon's traditional gaming format with Pokemon Go.
19. Pokemon Colosseum
Most people probably don't remember that game, which is fine. But it was the Nintendo Gamecube's Pokemon Adventure game. The story was solid and plus Umbreon and Espeon were your main partners. That's always cool.
20. Pokemon Snap
Pokemon Snap was just you pretty much going around and taking pictures of Pokemon. It was alright. Kind of boring.
21. Pokemon XD Gale of Darkness
This game should never have existed.
