Whats the deal with Pokemon?

[JustLikeHeaven1]

Alright I've never played these games and I'm wondering if they are any good.  They always get rave reviews and I'm sure the upcoming DS games (Pearl and Diamond) will be no different.  I have always enjoyed the Monster Rancher games for the PS1 & 2, and Pokemon seems to be awfully similar.  Am I fool for passing up on these games for many many years?

Who is man enough to admit to playing Pokemon?  Better yet who is man enough to admit they even like it?  Is it worth the cash or is it all hype, zero gameplay and just a fad that crazy ass kids enjoy.  Just because a game has a childish tone/theme doesn't stop me from playing it...if its good its good regardless of content.  I am really curious to hear your thoughts on this.

[Alienblue]

Alienblue don't do RPGs or Strategy games. AB Don't like cutesy wootsy peek - eek -chew. But AB LOVED Pokemon: Blue! When I purchased a gameboy color (Wow! LONNNNG time ago!) that was the FIRST cart I bought for it. It is long but the cast of hundreds , both people and pokemon, keeps you glued to the screen! On the older GB ones the graphics suck, but the play rulez.

I never tried any others, like SAPHIRE. I wish I still had my GBASP (I gave it to a freind in need) so I could COLLECT EM ALLLLLL!

[feilong801]

I feel the same way about these games as I do Mega Man Battle Network, which is, while they may be good.... "meh."

Not for me.

-Rob

[Steerforth]

I have an instinctive dislike of Pokemon, but I admit I have never tried their games. If you get it be sure to post back your impressions.

[Paul Campbell]

I'd be curious too.  I've always hated everything Pokemon, mostly because I sometimes caught a glimpse of the animated series.  But never played a game.

[JustLikeHeaven1]

[QUOTE=Paul Campbell]I'd be curious too.  I've always hated everything Pokemon, mostly because I sometimes caught a glimpse of the animated series.  But never played a game.


[/QUOTE]

Exactly...that damn animated series was enough to make me want to toss a lamp through my TV. It was all sorts of annoying. 

So far we have one person that claims it fun and the nobody else seems to know...hmmm.  I'll wait a little while longer to see if anybody has something positive to say about these games.

[Adamant1]

Aw, I like the anime. It's fun most of the times, it just had a fairly long run of really bad episodes 5 or so years ago.

But yeah, the games - there IS a lot more to them than you'd think. The basic gameplay revolves around creating a team of 6 monsters who can defeat all other monster teams. Each species of monster has one or two "elemental" types, which grants them protection against attacks of certain element, but makes them weak against others. If a monster has two elements, the weaknesses and resistances are added together - a weakness and resistance towards the same element cancels itself out, while wakness/resistance against the same element twice grants double weakness/resistance (the monster Kingdra has the combination Water/Dragon, which grants it a single weakness, making it a popular addition to the team) - and to succeed in the game, one must learn the element of every single monster, and how to handle it (it's usually easy enough to figure out by it's looks, however - you recognize a Fire elemental when you see one). Each monster also has it's particular base stats, determining how well it performs in various fields. The stats can then also be manipulated in various, increasingly complex manners.
As mentioned, attacks have their specific element, and if this element corresponds to the element of the monster using it, the attack will be more powerful. Since each monster can have four moves (not only attacks, but also stat increasing/decreasing moves, status inflicting moves and moves affecting the battle in various ways), it takes a lot of work to come up with the perfect moveset/monster combination for an entire team. It's one of the deepest strategic games ever made, and something that shouldn't be dismissed by any serious gamer. You still play Mario games, games about a fat man jumping on walking mushrooms, right?

[a1]

I recommend just picking up the original Red version of Pokemon JLH. If you have a system to play original GB games that is (if not there is a remake for the GBA). I played the original one quite a few times, and it even held up after I grew out of the Pokemon craze. The GBA games are- and I imagine the DS games will also be-about the same only with a bunch of added monsters. I played the GBA pokemon and all of the added things just felt excessive; I'd go with the Red version because in this case simple is better.

[Anayo1]

This is coming from a guy who was a VERY embrassing pokemon nerd at the age of 10 (seven years ago - do the math), but in spite of that I still say the Pokemon is a classic gameboy game. The Gameboy Color was such a weak handheld - it's basically obsolete now, in light of the GBA and DS - yet Pokemon somehow transcended that low-res screen, limited color palette, and beep-boop 8-bit music to create an incredibly engaging game - albeit a somewhat childish one. The things I remember best were the game's maddeningly ADDICTIVE gameplay and catchy music. Excuse me while I go hum the main title screen music now.

[Koopa W.]

Pokemon is my favorite franchise of all time. I love this whole series. I play the cards, watch the anime and movies religiously, play the hell out of the games, and obsess over it. I love Pokemon.

Favorite Evolution Group- Pichu/Pikachu/Raichu
Top 5 Favorite Pokemon

1. Pikachu
2. Mewtwo
3. Squirtle
4. Jiriachi
5. Raichu

Favorite Games- Pokemon Yellow and Pokemon Emerald

PIKAAAAAAAAAAAA...CHUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUU!!!!