Would you believe....

[Tupin]

That I had never played a Pokémon game before today, and the game I played was Pokémon Snap? The weird thing is that it's actually pretty fun, but obviously not at all like the series it was spun off from.

So yeah, where should I go from here, I have about ten years of options and no idea what to play.

[Light]

Pokemon Silver/Gold/Crystal/HeartGold/SoulSilver. You get the original experience plus 8 other gyms, so I think it's the best deal. Or, if you want to, start chronologically (Red/Blue/Yellow/FireRed/LeafGreen).

[Macawmoses]

No no no no.

Start with Diamond/Pearl, then do Ruby/Sapphire, then jump into some Pokemon Pinball (any version), then to Yellow, and then Heart Gold/Soul Silver. That way you maximize enjoyment and wow factor. Except, you know, as you go backwards (in a sense) there will be less Pokemon.

[RX-78-2]

It depends on what you're looking for. If you're looking for the story, history, and lore of Pokémon, you should start with the Kanto games (i.e. FireRed/LeafGreen) and chronologically go from there to Johto, Hoenn, and Sinnoh. You really only need to play the main series of games and don't have to play the originals (i.e. Red, Blue, etc.); the remakes more than suffice. For this path of Pokémon introduction, I'd recommend playing these games in this order: FR/LG, HG/SS, Emerald, Platinum.

If you're looking for gameplay alone, you--again--only need to play the newer ones. For this path of Pokémon introduction, I'd recommend playing these games in this order: Emerald, FR/LG, Platinum, HG/SS.

If you just want a good overall experience of the recent "happenings" in the Pokémon universe and its fanbase, you only need to play Platinum and then HG/SS. Getting the new game when it comes out next spring wouldn't hurt either.

By the way, in any of these "path" things, you can replace all of the Platinums with Diamond or Pearl if you want, as I'm pretty sure that they're actually a good deal different in the storyline, as opposed to Ruby and Sapphire's storyline and Emerald (which basically only added the Battle Frontier--which is awesome nonetheless). I just recommended Platinum and Emerald over the others because each added great new features to their counterparts.

Anyway, the Pokémon series is one of my favorite series of games, so I'm curious and excited to hear what you have to say about them! Emerald is so far my favorite game, but SoulSliver is slowly taking second place to tie with Pearl (and by extension, Platinum, though I haven't finished that one yet).

Good luck and have fun! ;) :)

"Welcome to the world of Pokémon..."

[JrDude]

In my opinion, it doesn't matter what you start with really. They are all pretty much the same game with some differences. It doesn't matter if there's more Pokémon in one game than the other because, until you beat the game, you can't get much more than you can in every other gen (unless you cheat and trade to get what you want early on), well except for G/S/C/HG/SS, which has more. Not sure if it's the best to start with though, since once you've tried the best, nothing else seems very good (not that way for everyone, but for some)

[Mikoyan]

No no no no.

Start with Diamond/Pearl, then do Ruby/Sapphire, then jump into some Pokemon Pinball (any version), then to Yellow, and then Heart Gold/Soul Silver. That way you maximize enjoyment and wow factor. Except, you know, as you go backwards (in a sense) there will be less Pokemon.

The unspoken advantage of this is that you will enjoy the games more and more as you play them; the reverse is true if you go Red/Blue/Yellow upwards.

[tibar21]

i'd start with fire red or leaf green.

[Allegory]

Go with the original and work up from there

[Macawmoses]

The unspoken advantage of this is that you will enjoy the games more and more as you play them; the reverse is true if you go Red/Blue/Yellow upwards.

Exactly. With the exception of HG/SS, which is killer, the games largely faced a decline in originality after G/S. No, I'm not being an elitist fag (you can all shut up about it now) that only likes the first two...I just think that Gen IV was a disappointment (it's tech is great), Gen III was underwhelming, and Gen II was the pinnacle.

Also, seeing as you're a puzzle person, you might like playing some Pokemon Puzzle League. Not bad for a game with Pokemon slapped on it.

[RX-78-2]

Exactly. With the exception of HG/SS, which is killer, the games largely faced a decline in originality after G/S. No, I'm not being an elitist fag (you can all shut up about it now) that only likes the first two...I just think that Gen IV was a disappointment (it's tech is great), Gen III was underwhelming, and Gen II was the pinnacle.

Also, seeing as you're a puzzle person, you might like playing some Pokemon Puzzle League. Not bad for a game with Pokemon slapped on it.

Now that I think about it, the originality did eventually decline, but I think Generation III was still pretty good about it. Some Pokémon were very unique. Some examples are (assumes that the evolutions and pre-evolutions are included):

• Sableye
• Baltoy
• Solrock
• Lunatone
• Nosepass
• Flygon
• Jirachi
• Deoxys
• Metagross
• Gardevoir

Even the storyline was good. The novel addition of two rival crime teams was very interesting, as well as the three main elemental legendaries' roles in the plot. Maybe it's just because Generation III is my favorite, but as for originality alone, I don't think the overall decline started here.

I don't know about Generation II being the pinnacle though. What I mean by that is that I'm literally not informed on the matter (as I haven't finished a Johto journey), so I don't have an opinion on it yet. I must say that since playing SoulSilver though, Generation II is becoming a close second favorite.