Pokemon's greatest hits are stuck on older consoles, and that needs to change

Pokemon It's the most profitable franchise in the world, celebrating its 30th anniversary this year. The catchy and long-running series naturally knows how to work on fans' sense of nostalgia. That's why we've got so many great remakes of classics Pokemon games, but for a series known for how reverently it treats its legacy, it's surprising that Game Freak hasn't capitalized on the most obvious way to sell nostalgia: porting, not remaking, the old Pokemon Games.

Remakes are great, but they're rare and don't always live up to fans' memories of the original. When many fans raised an eyebrow Omega Ruby and Alpha Sapphire removed Pokemon EmeraldBattle Frontier, and people are still wondering why Brilliant diamond and shiny pearl Any material from is almost completely lacking platinum. But more than anything, Pokemon It needs to re-release older games because buying them secondhand costs more than the original used consoles.

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Retro Pokemon games can cost a week's worth of groceries for some

Generation 5 was definitely the best. Pokemon Black 2 and White 2 were very strong, filled with content that expanded on the original (it was the first time that a “third” game was replaced with sequels). They were the first time the main series focused more on story than gameplay, and the animated sprites are still beautiful to look at. For many fans, the Nintendo DS Pokemon The era in general produced some of the series' all-time greats. A copy of is very bad black or white Easily goes for $100 USD online, and that's without a box or manual.

sequels, Black 2 and White 2Sell ​​at double on Amazon. In fact, all mainline titles between Generations 1 and 5 are shockingly expensive right now. Meanwhile, a basic Nintendo Switch Online subscription gives players access to over 100 NES and SNES games to play, all for just $15 a year. Over 100 games, collectively, less than 1/15 the price Pokemon White 2 on Amazon.

There's obviously a supply and demand problem when it comes to older games, and Nintendo knows well that retro titles sell. That's why the Wii has always been the way to pay for retro titles since it came out. It's not like this Pokemon Haven't actually put mainline titles on Virtual Console before, either: red, the blue, yellow, listen, silverand Crystal All 3DS came out on Virtual Console before it was discontinued. But with the closure of the 3DS eShop, players who didn't buy them in time will have to find a working console and shell out for a hugely expensive copy of the original if they want to play any of the pre-Nintendo Switch mainline games.

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While Pokemon While fans have always argued over whether and when games were bad, quality debates reached a fever pitch in the Switch era. the sword and the shield's infamous Pokédex cuts cast a shadow over it that has yet to escape the notice of many older fans. Brilliant diamond and shiny pearl Fans also faced disappointment because they weren't really updated to the standards of the games that came after them, and how content they didn't include. platinum. And little is said about it Pokemon Scarlet and purplePerformance issues, well. Two Legends The titles did well to win over the fandom, but that's still a very low batting average for the past 7 years.

That being said, switch Pokemon Games don't hurt financially or critically. The lowest of them is “Top Critic Average” on OpenCritic Pokemon Scarlet and purple71 out of 100 points. According to Nintendo's sales data, both the Galar and Paldea duos of games have sold more than 25 million copies by December 2025, surpassing system-sellers. The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom. New Pokemon The games aren't bad, and voices saying otherwise make up the vocal minority. But older titles have powers that newer ones don't, and vice versa.

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Nostalgia is not inherently bad

Image via Game Freak

“Back in my day” isn't a great argument for why something is good, but nostalgia is valid as long as it's not blind. every Pokemon The game has a fanbase, so even if the old games aren't old either, there's still value, both financially and game preservation, to keeping the classics on a modern console without changing anything. Pokemon It's also big enough that nostalgia is a really strong incentive for fans to buy, even if they admit their favorite childhood entry might not be as strong as they remember.

Maybe Game Freak hasn't done any ports because it's afraid that easy access to the original games will hurt the sales potential of remakes down the line. But the gaps between original game releases and their remakes are getting longer and longer, so releasing the occasional port shouldn't do much to dampen the hype since remakes take so long anyway. fire red and Leaf green Only came out after 8 years red and green done in japan Heart Gold and Soul Silver It was almost 9 years later listen and silver, Omega Ruby and Alpha Sapphire 12 years away Ruby and Sapphireand Brilliant diamond and shiny pearl It was a full 15 years later diamond and the pearl. black and white Sinnoh's record for the longest remake gap has already been passed, and as of this writing there's no news on that front.

Image via Game Freak

Be it an old game to let new fans see what the old games were like, it's a good old time. Pokemon The games were reissued as close to their original forms as possible. Remakes can still do their job of updating older titles with modern standards, but ports will help appease the crowd that decrees new games a bit and help preserve the game in the process. Nostalgia blindness aside, I miss the Nintendo DS and wouldn't sell my kidneys to get a copy of it. Pokemon Platinum.