Gen 5 Is The Best Pokemon Generation

Pokemon fans have been debating one thing for the last 30 years: what is the best generation in the franchise? Truth be told, choosing just one is immensely difficult because every single one of them has introduced a vast array of cool-looking Pokemon, memorable characters, innovative mechanics, and unique regions. And with Generation 10 quickly approaching, this decades-long debate is only going to get even more heated.

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Nevertheless, a huge portion of the Pokemon fan base agrees that Generation 5 is the absolute best one of the entire franchise (myself included). Every single aspect of it is nearly perfect, from the risks it took to breathe new air into a 14-year-old game series to its amazing roster of over 150 Unovan Pokemon and even the emotional narrative it managed to tell across two full games. The fifth Pokemon generation is the superior one for various reasons, and this list will delve into the most important ones.

GameRant Quiz

Easy (15s)Medium (10s)Hard (5s)Permadeath (5s)

It Did Something New With Its PokeDex

Forces You To Catch And Train Brand-New Pokemon

When Pokemon Black and White came out back in 2010, they were met with a bit of controversy due to a polarizing creative decision: the Unovan Pokedex is made up solely of brand-new Gen 5 Pokemon, and none from previous generations are available in the wild until the player completes the story and reaches the post-game.

While it had a few detractors, this change in the classic Pokemon formula was brilliant because it forced players to actually engage with the new Pokemon that Game Freak worked so hard to conceptualize and design, instead of relying on the likes of Pikachu, Charizard, Gyarados, and/or Lucario. Unfortunately, this will most likely never happen again, as neither Game Freak nor The Pokemon Company will risk putting out another mainline game that doesn’t have any of the franchise’s most recognizable creatures.

A Collection Of 150+ New Pokemon With Brilliant Designs

A Reboot Done Right

But, of course, Game Freak’s gamble of making older Pokemon unavailable until the post-game would never have worked if the Unova region didn’t offer a collection of good-looking and powerful Pokemon to collect. Fortunately, that wasn’t the case, because Black and White introduced over 156 new Pokemon (the most in any mainline game), all of which have become incredibly popular among fans.

Generation Five is supposed to be a reboot of Generation One, which is why many of Unova’s Pokemon feel like counterparts to classic Kantonian creatures (Gigalith and Golem, Conkeldurr and Machamp, Audino and Chansey, and so on and so forth). Even the ones that were once lambasted for being based on food or objects (like Garbodor or Vanilluxe) managed to overcome initial judgment and are much more beloved and appreciated today. Lastly, Generation Five boasts some of the best-designed Starter Pokemon and Legendary Pokemon in the history of the franchise, so even those two major groups did not disappoint.

The Peak Of 2D Pokemon

The Perfect Blend Of 2D Sprites And 3D Models

Nowadays, you’ll often see Pokemon fans complaining about the franchise’s current 3D models and claiming that they miss the “2D era”. However, that criticism becomes very questionable the moment you take a look at the older games, since most of them actually had static and dull sprites. That’s because most fans are actually referring to the fifth generation when they talk about how good 2D Pokemon looked.

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Black and White (and their sequels) came out at the tail end of the Nintendo DS’s lifespan, which allowed Game Freak to take advantage of the handheld’s full power. These are the only mainline Pokemon games with full-body Pokemon sprites that actually move around in battle, which adds a lot of personality to the experience and makes their designs stand out a lot more. Additionally, the environments are surprisingly large and feature buildings and structures made with 3D graphics, which added some much-needed depth and sense of scope to the non-battling areas. While modern 3D Pokemon games still look great, it’s safe to say that this was the high point of the franchise’s visuals.

The Best Soundtrack In The Pokemon Franchise

A Collection Of Catchy Songs You Won’t Want To Stop Listening To

Every single Pokémon game—ever since the franchise’s very inception—has had incredible music, without exception, but Black and White and Black 2 and White 2 undoubtedly have the best soundtracks so far. Both of them feature a collection of unforgettable songs that were brought to life by the combined efforts of Shota Kageyama, Junichi Masuda, Hitomi Sato, Go Ichinose, Morikazu Aoki, Minako Adachi, and Satoshi Nohara.

This soundtrack ticks all the boxes: Battle tracks like the Trainer and Gym Leader themes are dynamic, fast-paced, and add tension to each match, while environmental tracks like Driftveil City or Route 10 are super catchy and help give each locale its own sense of identity. On top of all that, plot-related songs like Emotion or N’s Farewell are absolutely beautiful and have made more than one player shed a tear. There’s a reason Pokemon fans are always extremely happy to hear Generation Five songs in more recent games.

It Told A Nuanced, Emotional, And Cinematic Story

The First Time A Mainline Pokemon Game Took Its Storytelling Seriously

Thanks to the advancements in the evolution of technology (especially in the handheld gaming market), Game Freak has been able to make each Pokemon game’s story more complex and captivating than the last. Nevertheless, most fans agree that Generation Five has the best-written and most nuanced plot in the franchise, one that not even the most recent installments have been able to surpass.

Black and White had a gripping premise from the get-go, as it poses a question most people have been asking for over a decade: What if the region’s evil team convinces people that catching and training Pokemon is actually abusive, thus forcing them to free their battle partners? But, of course, this story wouldn’t be as beloved as it is if it weren’t for both N, who’s both a complex character and a deeply fascinating antagonist that goes through a surprisingly emotional development, and Ghetsis, who is highly regarded as one of the franchise’s most terrifying main villains. Fortunately, Black 2 and White 2 kept that momentum going by showing players what happened to all of Unova’s memorable inhabitants two whole years after the events of the first game, which was nothing short of satisfying.

It Introduced Many Crucial Mechanics And Quality-Of-Life Changes

The Competitive Scene Would Not Be The Same Without Hidden Abilities

Every Pokemon generation is meant to make the franchise evolve (no pun intended) by introducing mechanics and quality-of-life changes that make the gameplay even more approachable than the previous one. Generation Five is obviously no exception to this rule, as it boasts a slew of excellent new additions, with the most important arguably being Hidden Abilities.

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Via the now-defunct Dream World, Pokemon get access to a third ability, which is usually better and more useful than their regular ones. Fortunately, Hidden Abilities have stuck around and have successfully changed the franchise’s entire competitive scene, and they are not even the only convenient mechanic introduced in Generation Five: Triple and Rotation battles added even more depth to Pokemon matches, seasons made the Unova region feel even more realistic and lively (not to mention they affected the appearance of Pokemon like Sawsbuck), and the betterment of Wi-Fi connectivity made online battling and trading much more accessible than ever before.

A Sequel Instead Of A Third Version

Black 2 And White 2 Are NOT Rehashes With A Few Minor Additions

Generation Five obviously broke the mold in various ways, with the most important and innovative one being the introduction of the concept of a mainline Pokemon sequel. Previous generations were split into two dual games (like Ruby & Sapphire or Diamond & Pearl) that were quickly followed up by a third, enhanced version (like Emerald or Platinum) that basically told the same story and had the same collection of Gym Leaders, but with a few minor additions and changes. Pokemon fans were basically forced to buy a game for the second (or third, in some cases) time in order to get the generation’s definitive experience.

Fortunately, Generation Five ignored and basically killed that terrible practice by having a sequel instead of a third version, in the form of Pokemon Black 2 and White 2. These are two completely different games that take place two whole years after the events of Black and White, and, as a result, the entire Unova region has changed drastically, complete with new Gym Leaders and locations. If that wasn’t enough, they also introduced their own collection of unique mechanics and side activities that elevated the gameplay even further, like difficulty settings, the Medal Box, PokeStar Studios, and the Pokemon World Tournament. After taking all of that into consideration, it should be no surprise to learn that most Generation Five fans can’t even decide on which game is better: Black and White or Black 2 and White 2.

The Pokemon World Tournament

The Best Post-Game Battle Facility In The Franchise

Pokemon fans (especially those who play these games for combat) always love a good battle facility, like the Battle Frontier from Generations Three and Four and the Battle Subway from the original Black and White. Nevertheless, Black 2 and White 2 introduced the aforementioned Pokemon World Tournament, which is the #1 best battle facility in the franchise and has yet to be topped by any of its successors.

In the PWT, trainers can participate in a bunch of tournaments wherein they are able to confront every single gym leader and champion from all five generations. These fights are far from easy and will require the same level of strategy and skill needed for a competitive PvP match. Overall, the Pokemon World Tournament feels like a love letter to the entire franchise, and it can grant players countless hours of fun, even after they have completed every other aspect of Black 2 and White 2. Unfortunately, we’ll most likely never see the PWT in a modern Pokemon game, as the mobile spin-off Pokemon Masters EX accomplishes the same goal but with gacha mechanics.