Personally i’d say XY and gen 6 in general, mega evolutions are excellent and they made an actual effort putting lore into the games (plus i’m french so i may be biased because kalos), ORAS were imo the best remakes ever and are exactly what a remake should aim to be.
OG gen 2 or 3 are tied for first, but if I had to pick one, it’d be 3. The remakes were decent but felt off.
3 is probably my favorite, too, and the one I played the most as a kid. I stopped paying attention to Pokemon for a while and missed when the remakes came out. I played them a few months ago and really loved all the content they added. I went in blind and was blown away.
3 is the GOAT. I’m pretty sure that FireRed/LeafGreen are included in that list. The games just felt so complete and independent. I really feel like gens 1-3 were the “Classic” pokemon, 4-5 was the “renaissance” and anything onward is just modern Pokemon. The only downsides I can think of to Gen 3 is a lack of fairy type and a lack of ability to fully complete the National Dex. (I love Fairy type.)
og gen 2 is my favorite so far, but I need to replay gen 5 to see if that stays true.
So far for me its like:
Gen 2 > Gen 4 > Gen 1 > Gen 3
No hate towards gen 3, I just enjoyed it the least lol
Funny part is that I played gen 3 the most.
Gen IV solely because of the GS remakes. HGSS are phenomenal games because gen II was so solid. Getting to revisit Kanto after Johto is always so cool. Seeing how it’s changed in the years between RB and GSC. Gen IV also made the best decision to have the special split. They’re pretty much how I remember Gen II being when I played it back in the day, but the quality of life changes modernized the experience. Like the controls actually utilized the DS screen well, being able to run, and having online for battling and trading.
Gen VI is also a very good contestant. Lots of love for the megas and some of the quality of life changes. the music is great and the new pokemon are a lot of fun too. Only issues were with the rivals.ORAS is also solid. I did not care for gen III until ORAS.
I probably need to go back and replay to make a more objective opinion, but I remember the feeling of Gen 2 with the day/night cycle, breeding and baby Pokémon, and then when Pokémon Crystal came out with animated sprites during battle. Definitely my favorite.
