Well, It certainly wasn’t
as bland or plain as I remembered it being, though most of the ideas the
Pokémon were based on were far simpler and often less outlandish rarely getting
beyond an animal or a plant and the overall style was a little more… down to
earth? A little more woodsy? A little cuter, a little softer, a little more
comforting, the big bastard kaiju and the antisocial fuckers were reduced,
though I think this may have contributed to Johto feeling a nicer place to live
than Kanto and of course this helped balance out the Pokédex but taken on their
own it’s a generation that can seem a little unexciting compared to the madness
of Gen 1 and the bright colours of Gen 3.
There’s also the fact that
there was so many gimmick ‘mons in this line, this of course makes sense if you
think about it – the team had a system set in stone now, a system they could
use and abuse to get across ideas and themes like a living punching bag or an
artist and of course they now had a base from which they could experiment and
build on. Typical sequel stuff really but the number of gimmick and ‘gag’ ‘mons
is still the same number no matter how much you can successful analyse the
thought process of video game development teams.
But I tell you what this
generation also is – consistent in style. Despite having 5 or more people
designing ‘mons and despite being stopped and completely overhauled midway
through development this is a generation of consistency, which only helps them
feel like they’re all native to one reason. Sadly this lot were also consistent
in another, a consistent feeling of incomplete – which is mad when you think
about it as this as the generation being used to complete a lot of Gen 1 ‘mons
and evolutionary lines, it’s a shame they didn’t apply this thought process to
the new sets they were introducing – the generation is awash with two-stage
evolutions that feel like they should be three-stages and single stage Pokémon
that feel like they should be the start of two or three stagers. Of course
Generation 4 came along and rectified a lot of these issues so there’s that.
However this doesn’t mean
that it’s a sucky generation, you’ll notice the distinct lack of 3 ball scores
and below in my reviews? That’s because as far as I’m concerned what we did get
was primarily good enough to not be bad or cause indifference, that may sound
like I’m stating the obvious because, well, I am.
My Gen 2 Favourites
Only six Pokémon from this generation got Gold 6
scores, so this required no thought at all!
My Overall
Favourites
This is the worst thing to do, I really didn’t want to
cut anyone from the last section but someone had to make room for Blissey,
sorry Primeape.
My Gen 2
Least Favourites
*sigh* it begins, this was as easy to populate as the
top spots, there were only six ‘mons to receive a 2 Ball score or under and that
sounds good BUT that number includes 3 1 Ball scores and our first 0 Balls
score chronologically (Hitmontop) that means this is the first generation to
feature Pokémon I not only dislike but flat out can’t stand and it’s only Generation
two *sigh*.
My Overall
Least Favourites
Don’t worry Gen 2 fans, Gen 3 is on the way, that’ll
knock most of these off.
The Cutest
THIS was difficult, Generation 2 is filled with
cuteness! I could probably pick this again tomorrow and only Swinub and Pichu
would appear in that list. So much cute.
The Most
Badasss
In comparison there was a serious lack of badassery
this time around, shame on you Game Freak of 1997-2000, SHAME!
The Most
Creative
More than I first thought, but wait – Pupitar? Sure,
would YOU have thought of a cocoon stage for a kaiju?
Most in Need
of Evolutions
Most in Need
of Mega Evolution
1) the fact that there is a branched evolution and only
one of the two has a Mega makes my brain meats hurt 2) as much as I like them
I’m sorry but the meta game just isn’t ready for a Mega Smeargle, Mega Shuckle
or Mega Wobbuffet - and it may never be.
Gen 2 Pokémon
I’d Most Like to Own
Imagine coming out into your back garden every day and
seeing that weird stag, patting its head and watching as it brain fries random
passing pigeons for being more popular, delightful.
Now, before we go to
Generation 3 there’s a stop we have to make, that stop is (what else)
Nintendo’s Space World ’97 expo…
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