Pokemon: Every Main Game Ranked Worst To Best

Debuting in 1996, Pokemon remains the highest-grossing video game franchise of all time. In fact, Game Freak's pocket monster phenomenon is so lucrative that throughout its lifespan it's earned 90 billion dollars... around three times more than the next biggest selling video game series, Nintendo's flagship Mario titles.

While Pokemon remains popular with kids and adults alike, the series has come under criticism in recent years. Each new installment in the franchise essentially repeats the tried-and-tested gameplay of the titles that preceded them, adding only minor additions for quality of life improvements, with new gimmicks occasionally harming new games rather than improving them.

Pokemon Sword & Shield, the series' first true home console release, in particular, fell under criticism for its inability to advance the franchise, even slashing the number of Pokemon players could collect in the game considerably. For a franchise whose primary concept is catching 'em all, not being able to do so upon Sword & Shield's release (though patches and updates have since increased the number of Pokemon available in these games) seemed to solidify Pokemon's new direction as aiming to appeal to new gamers rather than appeasing old fans.

As in any video game franchise, Pokemon has had its high and low points, but how do the series' games rank?

Even before its release, Pokemon Sword & Shield received a lot of backlash, critics noting, in particular, the games' sub-standard graphics, which seemed more suited for a Wii title than a game released three years into the Switch's lifespan.

While the British-village inspired region of Galar is arguably the most memorable and charming of the series, the games' gorgeous backdrop is undermined by the overwhelming feeling that Sword & Shield were released before they were truly completed.

Large swathes of the map feel empty, with the brand new and initially promising Wild Area falling just shy of the mark.

The integration of Pokemon into the landscape (rather than having them hide in long grass as per previous games) increased immersion and drenched the games in charm, but the lack of true battle animations for regular Pokemon is almost unforgivable for a game on a system that gave us technical masterpieces like Breath Of The Wild.

Even more insultingly, the removal of the National Dex and the inability to catch 'em all represents the franchise turning away from what was once its principal appeal, while also sticking a middle finger up at fans who have been collecting Pokemon and transferring them across games and systems for their entire lives.