Gaming Pok

[ETJ]

well, anyone play it?

it does appear to have gone out of fashion these days for a variety of reaosns.

if you do play it, just post because i'd like to know how popular it is on these here boards.

*goes off singing with delibird*

[Morpheus]

It really helps to post YOUR opinion to get a topic rolling. But I'll gladly start it:
Pokemon Red and Blue were really fun. The first day that I got them and my GBC, I was up until 3 AM playing (and I was 8). Then yellow came out, and it was really fun, and the fact that you couldn't use cheats made it harder to beat. Once I did, Gold and silver came out, and I got them both. They were both fun, but they were more of the same. The last I got was Crystal, and I didn't even bother beating the second Boss. I realized that they were the same thing again and again and again, and I got bored. Now pokemon is an entry game that you only buy once and enjoy, much like bomberman. That is the sole reason why Nintendo makes them. They attract buyers to a system, and as they mature they will buy Nintendo again because of how much fun they had when they fisrt played Pokemon.

[ETJ]

fair enough

*curses self for n00bish posting*

well, i wasn't allowed to get R/B/Y *curses parents*

and i only ever got gold when it was cheap and preowned, so it doesn't really count.

ruby/sapphire... now that's another story completely....

well, i pwn at it.

i have full dex (exceptions such as mew, celebi, etc.)

and know of EV training etc.

i love the game now.

[Chrono_sm]

I started with red and the original GB Brick, which I feel is the best because: GBA broke with one punch, GBC broke with 3 punches, and GB has been punched dozens and dozens of times but is the only one that remains working, I have literally dropped it on concrete and fallen on top of it (at the time I was arond 100 lbs) without it busting. Of course, I don't really punch my video game systems anymore :laugh:, but I do drop them occasionally.

On my first play through I didn't know how to use poke balls (I was in 4th grade), so I had a Venusaur by the time I hit Rock Tunnel :D . That game file mysteriously corrupted before I got out the tunnel. After much heartache I picked the game back up and played the game as it was meant to be played (caught pokemon). I beat the games 2 more times after that file (full dex), then proceeded to Gameshark everything that could be for around 4 more playthroughs. I ended up falling for the rumors and thus, searched every tile of the Sea Foam Islands for the Mist Stone. Good times indeed.

I bought Yellow on release day and enjoyed it, despite there being little difference between this version and the previous. I spent many hours boosting my Pikachu Surfing record.

I then played Silver and absolutely loved all of the new features. I got all 251 pokemon and even got Pokerus (I pretty sure it is a 1/12000 chance) on an Onix! At this point I had entered 7th grade, so I got all 'cool' and sold it :( .

A few years later (after growing out of the aforementioned phase) I got Ruby and the series was reintroduced to me. I didn't catch all of the Pokemon, because no one plays it. All of the people my age seem to still be in the "7th grade" phase. I still got interested in EVs and did several of those.

I then downloaded Fire Red-J (used 20%english patch), because I couldn't wait any longer and I felt it would be too similar to the original to be worth purchasing. I played it and my foreboding was correct, there was very little difference at all. So much so that I knew exactly what was going on (except the islands) despite not being able to read Japanese. So, it was a mild disappointment, but only if the one playing it has already played the original.

And now I'm anxiously awaiting Emerald. I'm going to wait for the US release this time, as I feel it will truly be a great, original game.

[Desbreko]

[quote name='Morpheus']It really helps to post YOUR opinion to get a topic rolling.[/quote][color=#4B0082]It also really helps to let the moderators do THEIR job. :rolleyes:

But yeah, it is a good idea to start a thread off with your own opinion or whatever, to get the discussion started. I'll rarely close a thread if one is lacking in that regard, provided other decent discussion is happening, but it's always encouraged. Just take a look around the boards for a bit and you'll see what's expected, though -- reading the [url=http://www.otakuboards.com/rules.php?][u]rules[/u][/url] will help a lot, too.

As for my own opinion of Pokémon, I guess my interest in the series has dropped off, but I still consider myself a fan of the games. Pokémon Stadium 2 was the last game I bought, and now I'm just waiting for something to pique my interest again.

My first experience was with the TCG, which I dropped in relatively short order simply because I didn't want to spend tons of money on booster packs just to get a decent deck. Plus, I had very few people to actually play against, which contributed a lot to my dropping the card game.

While I was still having fun with the TCG, though, I heard about Pokémon Yellow version. I already had a GBC with Zelda: Link's Awakening DX, and had heard bits and pieces about Red and Blue before that though I really didn't know much about them. But I decided to get Yellow upon its release anyway, just going off the fact that I liked the TCG. Turned out my blind purchase couldn't have been better -- I instantly fell in love with the game, and probably put in about 150 hours over two play throughs, getting all 250 Pokémon the first time.

Later I got Pokémon Stadium and had fun with it, though I've never enjoyed the stadium games as much as the Game Boy RPGs. Also got Stadium 2 when it was released, though I played it even less than the first one. I kind of regretted its purchase later, especially since none of my friends ended up getting Gold or Silver.

But having loved Yellow to no end, I was absolutely ecstatic about finally getting my hands on Pokémon Gold in October 2000. I swept through Johto and beat the Elite Four, then headed into the classic Kanto area. This is where I started to get kind of bored, since not much had changed in Kanto since the time of R/B/Y. I did get all 16 badges from Kanto and Johto, but still couldn't get into Mt. Silver after doing that, so I just kind of stopped playing. Later I picked the game back up for a bit to capture Lugia, though I never did go through Mt. Silver or get a full Pokédex.

When Ruby and Sapphire were announced for the GBA, I was excited, but only until I started reading reviews. It all sounded like just more of the same, except for a few little tweaks and without the cool clock features in G/S/C. A friend ended up getting Sapphire, but I just didn't think Ruby was worth the money, considering how many other games were higher up on my "most wanted" list. So I skipped R/S, and I have no plans for getting Emerald.

Same with Colosseum and FireRed/LeafGreen, too. Too much of the same stuff, with too few changes that actually interested me.

Right now I'm looking forward to hearing more about Diamond and Pearl versions for the DS. If they make some substantial changes that actually set the games apart from the GB/GBA series, I'll probably end up getting one of them. If it's just more of the same with gimmicks thrown in to use the DS's unique features just for the sake of using them, however, I'll pass. If I spend $30 on a new game, I expect a decent amount of new gameplay. So here's to hoping, I guess.

There's a summary of my experiences with Pokémon, then. So like I said, I'm still a fan of the series -- just not a big enough fan to buy the same thing over and over again.[/color]

[jedite]

Pokemon sparked in interest with me when my friends started to play Pokemon back in middle school. After that, I bought the Blue version of Pokemon and I had countless nights that stayed up all night playing my blue game on Super Game Boy. Soon after, I bought the Red version, and I had two GBs, and I use to trade with myself, and I got all 150 Pokemon in both games. (Actually, I had 151 in my blue game, I used a Gameshark cheat to get Mew). After I beat Red and Blue, my interest basically dropped after that. I bought Yellow, and I was disappointed because you had to have Pikachu follow you around and it was stupid. After Yellow, I stopped playing Pokemon, and it hasn't sparked my interest since.

[Erika]

[size=1][color=royalblue]I've been a faithful fan of Pokemon ever since that fateful summer of 2002, when I finally had my first job, and had got my own Pokemon game: Crystal version.

It all started way back in middle school (I was in 7-8th grade when Pokemon was released in NA). At this point I didn't have money or anything, and was never really a *big* gaming fan like I am now--I just played whatever was around and what my brother rented.

I didn't know about Pokemon until my brother went off about Pocket Monsters (at the time he was 17-18, and was into Japanese games and whatnot), so he got Red/Blue for his GameBoy emulator. He got me interested so I played until the Viridian Forest, then quit for some reason (most likely that he simply occupied his own PC most of the time lol).

Pokemon casually slipped my mind for a few years until my third cousin obtained Blue and Yellow versions (we visited them once a week so I got to see him a lot) when I was in H.S.. He let me borrow Yellow version, and I was happy that I finally got to play it. So, having the Super GameBoy at the time, I played it until I got to Rock Tunnel, and then *GASP* my brother, without asking, played it one day, and [i]saved over my file!!![/i] Good God, I thought he had figured that Pokemon only had one save file. >:O

Anyways, I returned the game to my cousin upon the next visit. That was the same year my best friend let me play his Silver version (and y'know I'm still sure the game hasn't been played since, and my Jigglypuff named Fathead is still in the party). I returned it again after a while, because I wanted my own copy (lol), and all this was the same year I got my copy of Crystal version (2002, I was about 16-17).

So yeah. I love the series. I love the series for what it IS, and I don't hate it for what's it's NOT. People always seem to refer to the anime as the series itself. THAT pisses me off. People see annoying Ash, Pikachu, and the cute stupid Pokemon or whatever they wish to label them as.

But y'know what annoys me most? When it's taken too far, like the card games and Pokemon cars. That's ridiculous. After a while Pokemon WAS the TV show, more than the games.

I never really saw a three-year old enjoying a session of Red or Silver version. Pokemon should never have left the Game Boy screen and the pages of manga. I think they made Pokemon underwear for toddlers even. That's plain wrong. Like Mario and Zelda, Pokemon should'nt be left in the hands of kids and babies, and that punches holes in its rep.

So with that aside, a spark of realization has sprung in my mind. I see Pokemon now, and kinda notice that it's not as kiddy as it was, and I don't see Groudon and Kyogre cereal or whatever in the hell. Maybe it's because the franchise is "dying out"?

Well, yes, I agree with that. But I see it in a different light. Not dying out altogether but just changing. Ah well...in the end it's just an awesome and fun RPG series that I can't condemn. ^_^[/color][/size]

[Nony]

I think the Pokemon series continues to be entertaining, even if it is repetitive.

I've been "involved" in the series since Pokemon Yellow. At the time, I was obsessed with Pokemon, like every other kid. I watched the show, I played the games. Heck, I bought Pokemon Pinball shortly after getting Yellow.

It was a most wonderful time, that it was. And then, when Pokemon Gold and Silver came out, I had a blast with that, too. It was exciting to be playing in a whole different region with new Pokemon. Not only that, but new options too.
I still think my Gold team (Meganium, Xatu, Lanturn, Piloswine, Ho-oh, Umbreon) is the best one I've had out of all the games.

Then, there was Pokemon Crystal. A game where you could [i]finally[/i] be a girl! Oh, how I had waited for such a game to come out! No more having to play a guy with the name "ABBY"! This was a cool game as well, and not just because of the fact that you could play as a girl. There was also a slightly different storyline from that of Gold and Silver, which I thought was neat.

After that, twas Pokemon Ruby and Sapphire's turn. Not much to say about this, really. Sure, there were a few new gadgets and all, but by the time the games were released, it was about the same thing as the others. Still, I played through it and had fun. Still have to finish it, actually.

Finally, Pokemon LeafGreen and FireRed were introduced. Finally, you could go back to the old days of Kanto, fighting against the old gym leaders and such, along with updated graphics and a new islands area. The thought was exciting. I liked playing through the old storyline again. Unfortunately, as soon as I was done with that, I lost interest. I'm at the point where I apparently "need" to train all my Pokemon and evolve them in order to get as many Pokedex entries as possible.

Whatever.

Anywho, I guess you could say I'm still a fan of the series. Heh, I even went to that "Pokemon Rocks America" event in Seattle (which was so cool!). I'll most likely continue to play the games, because they're still good RPGs for the Game Boy.

[Guest Crimson Spider]

I'm still alive, people.

I originally got into pokemon when I heard about the show and stuff from other people in elementry. Next thing I knew I was having "play pokemon fights" with atleast a dozen different people. Got hooked on the show and watched it for a very long time. My mother then bought me a book that had great pics of all the pokes, along with their level up moves, elemental advantages, and evolution stuff. Eventually I bought Pokemon Yellow (WITHOUT A GBC!!!!).

First game I ever played of pokemon was Pokemon Stadium. After about a day of figuring crap out, I was hooked. I played through nearly the entire game with rentals. Eventually I bought pokemon yellow, and played the whole thing in triple speed!

I soon became a tactician, and obtained Pokemon Gold for my birthday. Must've clocked hundreds of hours on that thing. Raised up my team of the strongest fighters I could, eagerly awaiting the challange that Pokemon Stadium 2 was going to offer me.

I met that challange head on, learning about many things, trying many things out. Eventually I got to the skill level where I utterly pwned the competition. I was giving advice to people in school, began to actually battle human opponents (which I would win),, and everything was great!

Soon, Pokemon Sapphire was released, and I played through that thing. Unfortunately that's the point in time where my interest started to decline a bit. I guess it was because of a change in the game mechanics. Was a move setter and tactician for that for awhile, too.

Unfortunately I eventually just plain quit caring about pokemon. I quit making movesets, forgot previous ones, lost some of the ability to make movesets (which I never gained back. Must have been my prime point). Aside from the occasional spark in interest, I had almost lost all touch with pokemon.

Until I got Netbattle. Now I occasionally duke it out with people online. Other than that, I'm not gonna play much pokemon until the stuff for the DS comes out.

[Erika]

[size=1][color=royalblue]Alright, before I head to bed I'll state the reason why I'm so unfalteringly dedicated to the series.

If you know me personally, I enjoy games like Pokemon, Earthbound, Dark Cloud II, etc. I lap up lighthearted adventures with lighthearted graphics like a cat to a puddle of milk. I guess that's why I didn't enjoy Pokemon Colloseum too much, [i]it bored the hell out of me![/i] It wasn't fun and creative enough like the Stadium games. It didn't beckon me with promising fun and innovation with my Game Paks and my own Pokemon. The only light was getting Ho-oh and Pokemon for my Dex (getting all the Pokemon wasn't the problem, but how I got them >_<). And to top it all off, the party rules SUCKED in the 3D games...I got sick of not being able to use a 6-member party in a single battle in 3D.

But as for the series itself, I love playing through the games and training the monsters. Every once in a while I go a long time without playing any of it, but I still get back into it. The only flaw I see personally is the EXP-gaining and stats, and training itself seemed to have slowed down. :(

EXP-gaining was good until they made it to where you don't get extra EXP from the Exp.Share anymore while at the head of the party (Sa/Ru+). Good. Great. Wonderful. Now training has become a lot more slower.

As for the stats, S.DEF. and S.ATK. should've both been pooled into SPECIAL, like back in the old days. It made training easier, and made it less stressful in choosing party members ( get sick of trying to balance out defenses, because I have too much trouble with the special stats--they're a major pain). There's too many Pokemon that're weak against either Ice, Water, or both.

On the plus side, the modern-slash-traditional RPG/Earthbound-like graphics pull me in. It goes very well with the style and theme. :D Stuff like that really gets me going. ^_^ And the PokeDex is the best part of all, imho. You can experiment with a lot of things: moves, breeding, stats, etc. It's very innovative and fun.

It's like the Final Fantasy of portable RPGs, other than Golden Sun. In the gaming world, there's something for everyone, and this series is the series for me. And the graphics should stay true to the spirited theme--it doesn't have to look "realistic" and dull to be good (like Colloseum, and those graphics were pretty damn stupid for the series itself even, despite its story :().

I can't think of a good close for my post (I'm tired and wanna go to bed pretty soon). I'll come back later. =p[/color][/size]

[Semjaza]

[quote name='Dark Serena][size=1][color=royalblue]If you know me personally, I enjoy games like Pokemon, Earthbound, Dark Cloud II, etc. I lap up lighthearted adventures with lighthearted graphics like a cat to a puddle of milk. [/color'][/size][/quote]

I wish there were more people of your persuasion lol.

My first experience with Pokemon in any sense was a magazine article about the original titles. They weren't released here yet, but they were already a big hit in Japan (the show was already out... apparently the game didn't do well till the show hit?). It looked interesting, I thought.

I picked up Pokemon: Blue Version somewhat early on in its release. I enjoyed the game. I didn't think it was the best thing ever, but I enjoyed raising my monsters and running around doing things. No, the story was kind of lacking, but that wasn't why I (or I think anyone) really played it at the time. My cousins had the game too, so trading went on whenever I saw them (which was rarely).

I don't think I realized how popular it was. I saw the show once and thought little of it, mostly because I'm obviously quite a bit older than the age group it's aimed at (and really, the game too -- but a good game is a good game). The fact that it was the number one cartoon at the time was a massive surprise to me.

After that, I kind of just lost touch with it. I completely skipped the next versions, but my interest raised for Ruby/Sapphire. I didn't experience the Gold/Silver versions, so stuff carried over from that game to the GBA versions was new to me. It was nice to play it again and the additions were surprisingly substantial considering how many people claim the series is just milked and never changes (but again, maybe it really didn't since Gold/Silver... I wouldn't know).

I wound up not playing it much though because it just required so much time and energy. I wound up giving it to my little brothers and they've since bought the new versions of Green and Red, which they love.

My personal favorite game in the series is Pokemon Snap. I don't care what people say about that game, I thought it was fun.

[Brasil]

I really enjoyed R/B when they were released. They were fresh and cheeky takes on a style of gameplay that wasn't all that exciting when you thought about it. Pokemon was essentially the Final Fantasy random battles but with, well, Pokemon. The variety of different types was really what hooked me, I think. I would read through the old Strat guide just to see what was in store for me when I traveled to Seafoam Island.

I particularly enjoyed reading about the Stats and Evolution trees, as well. They were interesting stuff. Some Pokemon had three different Evolutions, others needed special items to evolve, and four Pokemon in the game required you to trade to get their final evolution stages.

For what R/B were, they were solid games, and I think they really pushed the Connectivity idea long before it was really being..."suggested," heh. They weren't games like Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles that required the gamer to invest in multiple cables and so forth, just to enjoy the main game on a reasonable level.

One of the great components for Connectivity in R/B was the battling, too. Trading was a nice feature, but head-to-head competition was equally satisfying. I recall battles between me and my friend, Scott, that consisted almost entirely of us switching Pokemon in and out, mainly because of the varied types and the rock-paper-scissors aspect of the combat, in which Fire beat Grass, Grass beat Water, and Water beat Fire. No type was the best, so a varied and balanced team was a must if you were going to play.

But the game wasn't without its faults, though. MewTwo was unstoppable, and very few (if any) types resisted Psychic attacks. Come to think of it, there were no types that could stand up to Psychic types. Ghost type was listed, but Psychic ripped through them due to their Poison secondary type. Tthe addition of Dark type Pokemon in later entries is a godsend, heh.

Actually, even in light of the Psychic domination, the dual-type system was very well-done, and only further required you to think strategically, to assemble a team that could perform well in any given situation. It mainly came down to anticipating, I think.

I don't remember R/B having the Ultra Effective damage, but it's very interesting in FireRed/LeafGreen. I'm looking forward to sending out Pikachu against a Gyarados, because Electric types are Super Effective against both Water and Flying types, so Gyarados being Water/Flying would suffer Ultra Effective damage. It should be fun, muahaha.

As much as people see the franchise as tired and overdone, I really don't think it is. Sure, the gameplay is formulaic (walk around and battle), but I don't think anyone can argue that the enhanced functionality of the new streamlined menus (this is something people really need to see, because it's so much better), the new Dual-type dynamics, latent abilities and so forth aren't giving the series a major boost.

I missed out on Yellow through...whatever the last game was before Ruby/Sapphire. I bought both Ruby and Sapphire, because a new generation of Pokemon games was really appealing, and I wasn't disappointed. FireRed is really the icing on the cake, because it's a next-generation Pokemon game of the originals that originally got me hooked on the series, and that's a very groovy thing.

[Shinmaru]

[quote name='Semjaza Azazel']My personal favorite game in the series is Pokemon Snap. I don't care what people say about that game, I thought it was fun.[/quote]

Hell yeah. It's not my favorite game in the series, but I think it was a pretty fun game. I never bought it, though, I just rented it. Still, I find it enjoyable to take goofy pictures of Pokemon. Probably makes me a bit weird, but it's nothing I wasn't already aware of. :p

My first experience with Pokemon was when the Red and Blue versions were released a few years back. I was in middle school when they came out, [i]and[/i] I was a dedicated gamer, so obviously I was swept up pretty hard by the Pokemon craze. I remember really liking the games a lot when I first played them. The story was nothing special, but this was before I was actually aware that RPGs actually had stories lol. (Super Mario RPG was the only RPG I'd ever played before the Pokemon games, believe it or not.) I only played a copy that one of my friends owned, though, I didn't actually get the game until much later.

Fast forward to Christmas a while later, around the time that Pokemon Gold and Silver came out, and that's when I got my first real big experience with the Pokemon games. My siblings and I got Pokemon Red, Blue, Gold, and Silver for Christmas, and of course, my brother and sister laid claim to Gold and Silver before I could lol. So, I bargained for both Red [i]and[/i] Blue because I rule. I had a blast playing them. Making the perfect Pokemon team can be pretty addictive.

Those are the last Pokemon games in the main series that I've spent any substantive time with. Of the side games in the series, I've only enjoyed Pokemon Snap and Pokemon Pinball, both of which are pretty good. Pokemon Pinball moreso than Pokemon Snap. The Stadium games never really hooked me too much.

[Morpheus]

[quote name='Shinmaru'] Of the side games in the series, I've only enjoyed Pokemon Snap and Pokemon Pinball, both of which are pretty good. Pokemon Pinball moreso than Pokemon Snap. The Stadium games never really hooked me too much.[/quote]
I agree with that. I still own my old copy of pinball and I need to get snap(EB has it for $3.99). I liked the minigames in Stadium 1 so I might get it for only a few dollars.

[Nony]

[quote name='Semjaza Azazel']My personal favorite game in the series is Pokemon Snap. I don't care what people say about that game, I thought it was fun.[/quote]

Ah yes! Pokemon Snap, how could I have forgotten about it?
That was a very fun game. I wish they had made a sequel or something like that to the game.

[Desbreko]

[quote name='Siren']I don't remember R/B having the Ultra Effective damage, but it's very interesting in FireRed/LeafGreen. I'm looking forward to sending out Pikachu against a Gyarados, because Electric types are Super Effective against both Water and Flying types, so Gyarados being Water/Flying would suffer Ultra Effective damage. It should be fun, muahaha.[/quote][color=#4B0082]It doesn't say "ultra effective" in R/B/Y, but you can tell it's still doing 4x damage rather than the normal "super effective" 2x damage when an enemy Pokémon's types are both weak to the attack hitting it. Playing my copy of Yellow, it was wonderfully obvious that this was the case when I had Pikachu use Thunder on Lance's Gyarados for a one hit KO. I still remember grinning at that the first time I did it.

Pokémon Snap, by the way, was tons of fun when I rented it. It didn't stay fun for an incredibly long time, or at least not long enough to make me buy it after renting it, but I really loved trying to get the absolute best shots of the Pokémon. I've always had a bit of an interest in photography, so I thought the game had a really neat concept. I even printed out some of my favorite pictures at one of those little station things they had at Blockbuster Video. One shot of those two Pikachu using Thundershock on the treestumps in the first area, and then one shot of each of the three legendary birds.

But the game I keep hoping they'll make a sequel to is Pokémon Trading Card Game for Game Boy. It was a lot of fun being able to actually use all the rare cards and have free reign for building decks, without having to spend hundreds of dollars on cards. Plus, it let me play the TCG any time I wanted, rather than almost never because only a couple of my friends also had cards. I probably wouldn't hesitate to buy a sequel, were one to be made.[/color]

[Nony]

[quote name='Desbreko][color=#4B0082']But the game I keep hoping they'll make a sequel to is Pokémon Trading Card Game for Game Boy. It was a lot of fun being able to actually use all the rare cards and have free reign for building decks, without having to spend hundreds of dollars on cards. Plus, it let me play the TCG any time I wanted, rather than almost never because only a couple of my friends also had cards. I probably wouldn't hesitate to buy a sequel, were one to be made.[/color][/quote]

Unfortunately, I never played that game, although my brother and my sister both have it. And they did like it. My sister doesn't play many video games, and she played that one at least three times through. I feel like I've missed out on something great. -__-;

Well, if there ever is a sequel, I'll most likely get it as well.