I'm trying to understand why gen 2 is so popular. I played

I don't really get it either OP.

I thought the following pokemon thing was really good though. Toggle-run and custom menu screens were great too.

>>31449484
agreed on the following pokemon + UI changes. Overworld graphics in general were really nice too. But it's not enough to make the game stand out for me

>>31449464
Nostalgia is pretty significant reason why i like it, plus going to kanto was pretty hype even if it did fuck with the level curve. As a kid I remember feeling like there was so much to discover in the games. The lapras in union cave, figuring out the slab puzzles, finding tyrogue in mt. mortar, the whirl islands, ho-oh's tower, and of course the big one, Red. Sure every game has dungeons, but a combination of having child-like wonder and the fact that the internet wasn't really well known to me at the time made for a very pure experience. I don't know if it's my very favorite, but it's near the top for sure.

>>31449464
As Gen 2 fan, I'll tell you why:
- Mainly because is an improvement over RBY and that is the only time you visit two regions.
- It was the first region to have an actual story unlike RBY and Mewtwo creation or Team Rocket invading Silph Co.
- Of all the existant regions it looks more Japanese.
- The Pokémon available during the game is very well balanced.
- Team Rocket has its own Theme unlike RBY.
- Graphics with actual colors unlike RBY.
- Fire starter is a safe option unlike Charmander during the first two gyms.
- Even in 2017 Gen 2 and its remakes are the only games which allow you to catch both cover legendary in the same game, and in Gen 2 it is optional instead of mandatory.

>>31449464
It's purely nostalgia. They're pretty much Gen 1.5.

>>31449532
>>31449610
maybe I would have appreciated it more if played when it first came out. Improvements over RBY and stuff we take for granted now seem to be a big part of why people like it

>>31449464
Get off newfag

>>31449464
Gen 2 is the only gen where literally everything is better than previous.

>>31449464
A lot of the slice of life changes that made Gen 4 HGSS were great, and so was GB sounds and following pokemon. Almost as awesome as reusable tms in gen 5. What kills me is that people have gen 2 as their favourite. Gen 2 is just gen 1 lite, with gym leaders using mostly gen 1 pokemon, and pokemon like houndoom not even available till post game. It introduced a lot of unusable garbage, an awful level curve, and Kanto was an empty shell of the past region.

>>31449647
Definately so. I absolute loved GS when it first came out and no gen since has been such a massive improvement (gen 4 does come close). The singleplayer mode is kinda fucked, though I do like Johto as a region.

>>31449704
> a lot of unusable garbage
Are you talking about the gen 2 mons?
Honestly the may suck competitivly, but as a kid I didn't really cared about that.

>>31449745
Many of them also suck ingame. Meganium, Ledian, Ariados, Stantler. There's also very little choice to build your team if you don't want to use gen1 pokes.

Gen 2 overlapped with the pokemania

I lived Gen 2 because it was the first english pokemon game i had. Before was a japanese version of red

>>31449464
Two regions and excellent music.

Although Kanto sucks, even in HGSS the gyms feel like a non-event, despite having the best gym battle theme in the series.

I remember loving Crystal so much as a kid and my first playthrough of Heart Gold was a blast.

Played it again and the flaws were much more visible and annoying.

>>31449464
it's nostalgia. Helped that it came out right after gen 1 so most people lump the two generations together and you can praise it without being called a genwunner. They're easy games that played it safe by keeping tons of Kantomons in Johto while also being able to go back to Kanto. Most of the new editions didn't hinder the experience like they do now because gen 1 was so flawed all you could do was improve it. Basically just gen 1 but better.

>>31449638
nice meme
you can say it about any gen except 6 and 7 because they are recent

Gen II was the only Pokemon game that is unanimously better than its predecessor; it improved upon Gen I in every possible way.

Gen III added a lot of features but also removed a few, and the lack of backwards compatibility was a deal breaker for some people.

HGSS are popular because even though it shares flaws with GSC, it added a lot more new features than any other region to date and expanded the original game's lore significantly.

>>31449464
HGSS isn't gen 2

Silver and Gold are tho

Generation are time periods

>>31449948
Gen 2 is full of Gen 1 rejects, shares an evil team with Gen 1, and etc.

>>31450055
Gen 1 introduced better Pokemon but mechanic wise Gen 2 was overall better.

>>31450055
Did Gen 4 remove anything big from gen 3?

>>31449610
But Emerald lets you get the entire Weather trio, all optional.

>>31450511
Several contest and base mechanics that m!Ade them fun. Then it cut a chunk of the BF out.

>>31450472
Not even
-Adds two types
-Adds a new stat
-Adds held items
-Adds new catching method
-Added state dependent capture (Ruins of Alph)
-Expanded evolution methods
-Adds breeding
-Baby Pokemon
-Added time and time based events.
-Pokegear
-Adds new item acquisition methods (Kurt, berries)
-Adds shiny Pokemon
-Added pokemon forms
-Animated sprites (Crystal)
-Battle Tower (Crystal)
-GTS (Crystal)

The list goes on. Gen II adds a bunch of shit.

>>31450581
So how many are actually beneficial and not a total waste of dev time.
There's a correct answer here anon so don't fuck up.

>>31450604
All of them.
I get that autists don't appreciate asthetics of active sprites and varied appearances, but I won't hold it against you.

>>31450604
lots of things actually
crystal is probably the best pokemon game in terms of story and atmosphere

>>31450554
>contest and base features
meh
no opinion on BF, because I only care about battle factory myself

>>31450581
It also added the female MC, weather, and location names showing up when you enter them. And minigames (Bug Catching Contest, Buena's Password.)

>>31449464
Nostalgia mainly; even though Pearl was the first Pokemon game I played, I played Crystal immediately after completing that and I had an absolute blast with it; I was pretty much a novice to Pokémon games at that point and I vividly recall spending countless hours soft-resetting to fight Red at the very end with my Level ~70 Feraligatr.
And considering I was fairly old at that time and I learnt everything I knew at the time from Pearl and Crystal, when HGSS came out they just improved nigh on everything about Gen II.

>>31449464
I've been considering replaying soul silver but whenever i start to plan out out a team i always find that everything i want to use doesn't appear until kanto. So i either have to accept fighting through 8 gyms and the elite four(the most challenging part of the game) with an incomplete team only to pick up the rest of the team later only to use them for the much easier kanto gyms, probably severely unleveled to start with to boot, or i have to accept one of the weakest regional dexes in the whole series. I can't believe that while many of the new mons were tucked into some obscure part of kanto, they thought it necessary to include the pidgey, spearow, rattata, caterpie and weedle lines even though new pokemon filled the exact roles these did in Kanto.

>>31450626
Wrong answer.
Only four weren't straight up shit pointless additions.

Aesthetically not much actually changed between the two gens especially when factoring yellow into things. Basically it was Kanto with a degree of details lost.

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>>31450627
>in terms of story

>>31449745
It's that they're both. The good new pokemon are almost unobtainable, like larvitar, ursaring, donphan, houndoom, all of them come at like the end of the game, and the rest of the early ones suck so much. And even then some are super rare, like Yanma.

>>31449464
Its a mix of both nostalgia and "90s kids" merging it into gen 1. As games they were far from spectacular by any means especially given how many new features were a detriment to the player.

For example, babie, time based events and friendship evolutions in general. I've also seen a few people talk about its "Japanese theme" but honestly outside of the three towers its just not there. The remake is what added that theme.

itt: sumo players try to take down older games to the level of their hopeless game

>>31449464
I liked Gen 2 as a kid cause it was two regions, but HGSS are such a vast improvement over the first two gens that there's really no point to playing the originals.

As for HGSS, it's mostly nostalgia, and the little things. Pokemon following you is great, the auto run was a god send for gen 4, and the pokewalker is fun. Overall it's no where near my favorite, but that's more due to the gen 4 engine being awful.

>>31450772
GSC was already SM tier for the exact same reasons.

>>31449610
Emerald is basically a DX version of Ruby and Sapphire. Therefore, you can't catch "both cover legendaries", as Emerald doesn't have a sister game.

>>31450808
Lol shit, wrong post. Inline quotes are fun.
>>31450535
(You)

I liked HGSS, but I won't pretend that Johto isn't a mess. It had great music, though.

>I'm trying to understand why gen 2 is so popular.

If we're talking about gen 2 (and not about HGSS), I'd say:

-Traditional Japan setting and the soundtrack create a relaxing atmosphere;
- The sprites' style is amazing. For some reason the colors in this game are melancholic, which matches the atmosphere. I know this is a subjective point, but I'm definitely not the only person who think it. Many players remember how the nights in this game made you feel alone with your pokemon;
- It's the only gen that's superior to the past gen in every way. GSC introduced many important aspects to the series. New types, held items, breeding, you know what I'm talking about.
- It has the best postgame area to explore. Even though GSC Kanto isn't as big as some people make it seem, others pokemon games don't have a bigger postgame area. Also, the idea of seeing what happened with Kanto after RBY is really interesting, because interacting with many characters again creates a sense of continuity in the pokemon world. I'm so happy that GF did the same thing with Unova in B2W2.
- Whereas many gen 2 pokemon are weak, many of them have really cool design inspirations.

The best thing about HGSS imo is that you could challenge all Gym Leaders to a rematch and the E4 with updated current gen teams. It added more to the Gym Leaders by revealing things you may or may not have known about them (Surge somehow got a French Pikachu), and I really wanted to see that again. But the best attempt since then is that one shitty Battle Mansion in XY that made some of the Leaders and E4 weaker than their previous battles.

>>31450712
It has a better story than BW and SM.

>>31449464
Original gen II:
Nostalgia, I personally loved the color palettes and spritework (ESPECIALLY when compared to gen I), good music, a decent attempt at balancing from gen I (Special became two stats and Dark and Steel were introduced), day/night added as well as daily and weekly events, shinies became a thing, being able to travel to Kanto AND battle Red was AMAZING and you have to remember, this was what, 1999? This game gave you a lot of bang for your buck.

My problems with HGSS are that they accentuated most of GSC's original issues by not fixing them, and in some cases added their own problems. Pokemon distribution was still bad (a flaw I overlooked in gen II since a lot of gen II pokemon were supposed to be ~mysterious~ and hard to find), level curve never got fixed, and they didn't really add much to Kanto (which, I know was pretty barren in gen II, but I forgave it on the basis of hardware limitations as well as being in shock that I was back in the first place). The UI and following pokemon was good, however I hated most of the remixed music (HGSS Goldenrod is the worst song in the series by far), Lyra is an ugly character design, Pokeathlon was a chore for stones, the Safari Zone was shit and I would have preferred it just returning to Fuschia City with more pokemon, etc.

I think the distribution may have in fact been better in Crystal, since Crystal added Teddiursa and Phanpy early game and gave you a baby pokemon egg that had a high chance of shininess. I always would use whatever I got. My last shiny Electabuzz wrecked that game.

>>31451296
Oh, I just wanted to add, I absolutely HATED the gen 4 engine and how slow and tedious it made everything seem, so my nostalgic fave gen being remade during my least favorite gen did make me a bit salty. If gen 2 was made during gen 5, I would've been much happier. Then it'd have reusable TMs and battles that don't take 100 years.

>>31451296
>a lot of bang for your buck
True. I remember being so disappointed in RS years later as there didn't seem to be as much to do as a game three years older and on a less powerful piece of hardware.

However, I like the pokethalon. It's easily the best side objective in the series. Stones aren't a big deal as I can transfer from my Platinum copy to HGSS using my 3DS and DS. The safari zone was a nice addition as I can get a few more mons much earlier than in the GSC days which adds some replay-ability. Also, the rare safari zone mons I can transfer from Plat, so that's never been one of my complaints. I will also disagree on Kanto and the music. The new Kanto dungeons add a few more hours of exploration that were a nice touch.
However, yes, I do wish they would have upped the difficulty on Gym teams in HGSS a little and the Johto remakes in a much faster Gen 5 engine would make these the best games bar none.

>>31449464
>but nothing special or memorable

are you insane?
the towns were iconic. the legendaries were iconic. Red Gyarados was iconic, team rocket base in Johto was iconic, Radio Tower as well, the following pkmn gimmick was iconic.
fighting trainers on the ship and then reaching kanto was iconic, finding the pokedoll for that Duplica girl in Saffron City was iconic, revisiting all of Kanto was iconic. All the revamped gyms in Johto and Kanto were iconic because the old versions didn't do any of the labyrinth and puzzle stuff so much. like, what the fuck else do you want?

>>31451629
>all that shit is iconic

Red Gyarados, following pokemon and revisiting Kanto are the only 'iconic' things.

>>31451629
The only iconic town in gsc was goldenrod city

All other cities were extremely nondescript

>>31451658
>has a mystical rainbow phoenix bird with stunning colors on the cover who sits on top of an japanese styled tower with autumn leaves and what not around that place
>strange but mesmerizing silver colored diving and flying creature who lives behind a waterfall in a complex of caves that can only be reached if you cross whirlpools and shit
>somehow not iconic

>>31449532
This exactly. Gen II was my favorite as a kid for these reasons, and I had fun playing HG later on when I was older.

Problem is, with that magic gone, I really don't like Gen II that much. Nostalgia is really it.

>>31451658
GSC didn't have following pokemon until the remakes.

Did you fucks even play gen 2?

Shinies, Pokegear, Breeding/Eggs, new types, happiness evolutions, wandering legendaries, mystery gifts, and the battle tower are the iconic gen 2 additions to the franchise.

>>31451676
dude, did you ever play Platinum?
those towns are mostly nondescript and faceless as all fuck. at least they are kinda big.

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>>31449464
Yeah Kanto was pretty much a shit show. Imagine if Johto all the wild pokemon levels never went past 20(ok you don't even have to imagine that part) and Team rocket at azeala town was the only mandatory event that had to be done and it could be done at any point between your 1st badge and your 6th badge. And there was only 1 rival fight at burned tower and it was optional and could be done at any time. Thats what Kanto was in gen 2/4, it was the second half the fucking game dolled up and treated as as a post game. The fact that hgss didn't fix this shit cemented them as joke status devs

Outside of slugma and houndour, there was no point to walk in the grass because everything was at babby levels and was probably already caught over in johto.

Where the fuck were the sevii islands GF? could have just retcon them to being full of hoenn pokemon because of the little ruby sapphire quest in fr/lg

>>31451135
The PWT in bw2 sounds right up your alley

>>31451720
The fact that the Kanto wild pokemon weren't around your level pisses me off and keeps G/S from being in my top three games.

As much as I hate to say it, it's "comfy". The music is wonderful, the spritework is beautiful, the landscapes are pretty, the cities make you want to live in them. The region is rather small but has a few little secrets here and there that are nice to find. And all the little extra things it had over RBY which were pretty barebones in the end, like the bug catching contest, the phone, the radio, the ruins of alph, made it really enjoyable.
Honestly, "comfy" might've become a buzzword at this point, but GSC is still the top notch definition of it to me. It feels like an actual journey with your pokémon buddies without world threatening issues, where you explore pretty places. Seeing Goldenrod at night is the best thing that can happen to any child tbqh

>>31449772
Meganium works just as well as Venusaur, and Stantler has early game Stomp from 95 base attack and gets STAB Strength and a couple of other things, it's godly ingame. Literally anything works fine, honestly. Yes, even Ledian, It won't OHKO shit but if you're not too retarded it can beat stuff with elemental punches 4x weaknesses.

>31451194
Nice bait, but you forgot X, Y, Diamond, Pearl, and Platinum.

>>31451135
>Surge got a French pikachu
Is that supposed to be a reference to France helping during the American Revolution or something?
I wonder if the reshiram and zekrom statues in kalos were supposed to be a reference to something too?

>>31449464
Soulsilver is gen 4, anon. Gen 2 is popular solely due to nostalgia.

>>31450740
teddiursa in dark cave
phanpy on the route above the first route in the grass where you catch geodude and endless rattatta and spearow (morning only)

>>31453103
> Cross Route 1 during RB, level 2-5 mons
> 2 years later, all of them are suddenly level 45-50
How would you explain that lore wise?

>>31454338
>How would you explain that lore wise?

Why would it have to be explained? Levels are a gameplay aspect not a lore aspect.

>>31449464
There's a lot of good.
It's a far less bugged game than R/B/Y (would be even less if it weren't for "lol coin case"), it's got a large main game, seeing the previous region at all was pretty good. The game's mechanics are significantly better (there's nothing as dumb as Gen 1 Wrap, you get items, now you can breed Pokemon, etc). Having time actually take place in-game was pretty cool too.
It's a direct improvement to R/B/Y in nearly every way, and most of the people who played those games moved on to Gen 2 and can wax nostalgia over it.

there's also easy as shit cloning, had loads of fun doing shit like getting all three starters and infinite items without a gameshark

The biggest issue it had at the time is that they spent absolutely zero time balancing Kanto, but that was pretty much considered bonus content for years, rather than a part of the main game.
also, Pokemon locations were kind of naff, there's a bunch of Gen 2 Pokemon I thought were introduced in Gen 3 because you didn't really see them at all in Gen 2

as a side note, HG/SS retain too many problems from G/S/C for their own good, but they're just filled with little quality-of-life things like auto-run and the touch-screen driven UI and the dev team just seemed like it was focused on making the most enjoyable Pokemon experience, even with the missteps they made

>>31449532
This.

It's nostalgia, plus the fact that it came out right after gen1. Also, before gen3, which I also find myself remembering more fondly as of late, despite it's many, many faults.

I understand that they wanted to keep the feeling of the game almost exactly the same but damn, the level curve and distribution of exp is so retarded. otherwise HGSS would be a near perfect game.

reminder that HGSS are gen 4

>>31449464
Gen 2 introduced a ton of new features that likely don't impress you just because they've become standard. Breeding, genders, shiny Pokémon, held items, day/night, all originated in Gen 2.

It's also the only direct sequel in the franchise besides the Unova games. Going back to Kanto comes out of nowhere and as a kid it fucking blew my mind when I entered Vermillion (I didn't know the region was called Kanto so Route 26 being Kanto didn't register to me). Kanto is definitely lacking compared to RBY, but when you're a kid the concept means much more than the execution for something like this.

It was also 100% backwards compatible with RBY, something that we have never seen since. You can trade back-and-forth, and even battle if you have Stadium 2. I think Stadium 2 itself also contributes to Gen 2's popularity, it's the best of the console spinoffs (though I can see an argument being made for people preferring the Genius Sorority games) and basically fills in for the "Frontier" spot for Gen 2 with all its content.


The remake is also the best done of the three. It doesn't fix all of the original's flaws, but all of the original's good spots are kept in, nothing is removed besides the localizations removing the old Game Corner games (unless you're a big fan of decorating your room I guess), and things like Kanto's size are improved with new areas like a proper Viridian Forest, Seafoam Island, Cerulean Cave, etc.

GSC, and by extension HGSS, are not at all flawless games, but they have great concepts and were revolutionary for their time. They left huge impacts in the people who grew up playing them, and the things GSC had that RSE doesn't is why there's such a large hatebase for those games (though I like RSE a lot as well personally). It set a high standard and high expectations for the future.

>>31454338
I admittedly did think that was a bit silly when you go back to Numeva Town in BW2, but it's better to have something weird lore-wise but good gameplay-wise than the other way around.

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>>31450627
>>31451194