When it comes to retro gaming, Nintendo is the biggest name around. That’s no surprise considering how long the company has been a household name in the industry. It knows how to use that history to its advantage, with regular remakes and ports ofNintendo’s classic games. But thePokemongames of the past seem to get the least love when it comes to preserving their legacy, even with how often the franchise is updated with new additions.
Pokemonis the highest-grossing video game franchise of all time, so it’s no surprise Nintendo is so consistent with new releases into the series. But one area that seems to be getting ignored is the huge potential of revisiting its classic entries. WithScarletandVioletright around the corner, it’ll likely be a few years until the next mainline game after those. With that in mind, it could be the perfect time to give the older games a new life.
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Classic Pokemon Deserves More Love
Of the retro games from Nintendo’s three biggest franchises,Pokemonseems to get the least attention from the company. ClassicMariotitles have recently gotten ports in the form of theSuper Mario 3D All-Starscollection, as well as even older games likeSuper Mario Bros.andSuper Mario Worldbeing available through the Nintendo Switch Online classic consoles. Likewise, the originalLegend of Zeldagame andOcarina of Timeare among the retroZeldatitles available on the service. OlderZeldagames also get some great remakes faithful to the originals, like 2019’sLink’s Awakeningand therumoredWind Wakerremake.
The same can’t be said aboutPokemon.The availability of previous generations ofPokemongames on the Nintendo Switch is limited toBrilliant DiamondandShining Pearl,which were poorly received remakes of their 2006 originals. Meanwhile, games from the same era as theMarioandZeldaports and remakes on Switch have no availability on Nintendo’s current console, and that doesn’t seem to be changing any time soon. Only thePokemon Stadiumspinoffs will be making their way to the Nintendo Switch Online service, with no mainline games on the way since none of theNintendo handheld consolesare available.
Nintendo Should Focus on Pokemon Ports Over Remakes
Of course, these early games have been revisited before, but even these were so long ago that they’ve become pretty hard to come by as Nintendo’s hardware has moved on. Gen 1 and 2 are available on the soon-to-beclosed Nintendo 3DS eShop. Gen 1 was also remade for the Game Boy Advance, while Gen 2 and 3 were remade for DS. However, the point still remains that none of these earliest generations ofPokemonare playable on the Switch. What’s more, the fact that the remake schedule follows the same order as the original releases means that there’s no indication of them being revisited a second time.
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