I wouldn't call the games gems at all. In fact, I'd call them subpar, even for non-Nintendo games. But as Pokemon games, they were just inexcusable. Missing entire game mechanics that normal Pokemon games did. As well as tons of glitches, slow animations and loading times. As has been the history of the 3D Pokemon games aside from the Stadium games on the N64.
A 'darker storyline' and 3D graphics can't cover up missing features and bad game design. Which those games had in spades. And frankly, a console Pokemon game should just allow you to either connect Pokemon to the game and battle them in 3D or be something completely different than the handheld games. Yet the string of console based Pokemon games we have gotten has failed this on all counts. With the the most recent Pokemon Battle Colosseum being the weakest and most watered-down of all the console based Pokemon games.
Six upcoming games you should look into:
