I've also been gaming for over 30 years, and have never played a Pokemon game. I'll be watching the thread as well.

X/Y is a really easy pokemon game to start, but I think it's too easy imo.

I personally think Diamond/Pearl was the best gen, but the others are pretty solid.

As a Pokemon veteran who's owned every main entry and played (most) of the spin-offs I'd really recommend any of the remakes.

FireRed/LeafGreen are remakes of the original for the GBA. Very accessible and has the best add-on content of any of the remakes in the series. The game plays faster and the sprites are very well done compared to the original R/B sprites, which were, pretty ugly

HeartGold/SoulSilver for the DS is probably the most definitive Pokemon game to date. Two regions, the direct sequel to the originals and the previously mentioned games -as well as having the longest campaign & being more of a remake of Crystal than the original G/S makes it an amazing starting game. It has some of the most beloved features of the entire series such as the Battle Frontier, rematches, GB Sounds, and of course having Pokemon follow you around.

OmegaRuby/AlphaSapphire are the most recent Pokemon games and the most recent remakes. While the content isn't is as much as the last two -it does take everything from X/Y and fix them. The game is very pretty for a 3DS game (imo) and the 3D models for the Pokemon are very well done. The game suffers from having little to no post-game content (well besides the legendary hunting and Delta Episode) but other than that a very solid entry to the series.

I also recommend Emerald. It's like ORAS but with more content -but limited due to being produced on GBA hardware

StarOcean said: As a Pokemon veteran who's owned every main entry and played (most) of the spin-offs I'd really recommend any of the remakes. FireRed/LeafGreen are remakes of the original for the GBA. Very accessible and has the best add-on content of any of the remakes in the series. The game plays faster and the sprites are very well done compared to the original R/B sprites, which were, pretty ugly HeartGold/SoulSilver for the DS is probably the most definitive Pokemon game to date. Two regions, the direct sequel to the originals and the previously mentioned games -as well as having the longest campaign & being more of a remake of Crystal than the original G/S makes it an amazing starting game. It has some of the most beloved features of the entire series such as the Battle Frontier, rematches, GB Sounds, and of course having Pokemon follow you around. OmegaRuby/AlphaSapphire are the most recent Pokemon games and the most recent remakes. While the content isn't is as much as the last two -it does take everything from X/Y and fix them. The game is very pretty for a 3DS game (imo) and the 3D models for the Pokemon are very well done. The game suffers from having little to no post-game content (well besides the legendary hunting and Delta Episode) but other than that a very solid entry to the series. I also recommend Emerald. It's like ORAS but with more content -but limited due to being produced on GBA hardware

Awesome post, thank you. Quick question, are any of the spin offs worth getting?. There are some Pokemon Ranger games for DS on the Wii U virtual console, any good?

zippy said: StarOcean said: As a Pokemon veteran who's owned every main entry and played (most) of the spin-offs I'd really recommend any of the remakes. FireRed/LeafGreen are remakes of the original for the GBA. Very accessible and has the best add-on content of any of the remakes in the series. The game plays faster and the sprites are very well done compared to the original R/B sprites, which were, pretty ugly HeartGold/SoulSilver for the DS is probably the most definitive Pokemon game to date. Two regions, the direct sequel to the originals and the previously mentioned games -as well as having the longest campaign & being more of a remake of Crystal than the original G/S makes it an amazing starting game. It has some of the most beloved features of the entire series such as the Battle Frontier, rematches, GB Sounds, and of course having Pokemon follow you around. OmegaRuby/AlphaSapphire are the most recent Pokemon games and the most recent remakes. While the content isn't is as much as the last two -it does take everything from X/Y and fix them. The game is very pretty for a 3DS game (imo) and the 3D models for the Pokemon are very well done. The game suffers from having little to no post-game content (well besides the legendary hunting and Delta Episode) but other than that a very solid entry to the series. I also recommend Emerald. It's like ORAS but with more content -but limited due to being produced on GBA hardware Awesome post, thank you. Quick question, are any of the spin offs worth getting?. There are some Pokemon Ranger games for DS on the Wii U virtual console, any good?

Oh definitely. The Ranger games can be quite frusterating but are worth checking out if you like touch screen games. But the spin-offs I highly recommend are Pokemon Snap, Pokemon Stadium, and Pokemon Mystery Dungeon: Explorers of Time. Snap is a short on rails spin-off that is unique to the genre and super fun (however short). Stadium is basically a battle sim on the N64 but is fun if you have multple people play at once -it's a great party game. Explorers of Time probably has the deepest Pokemon story ever o.o I friggin love it. Other noteworthy spin-offs are the Gamecube RPGs, TCG for the Gameboy, and PokePark series which are all pretty solid games

I am right there with you. I started during vic20/c64 days and my NES nostalgic memories are not pokemon. I've never played it. 

Now, if I can use my phone to hunt ducks that's different. 

I recommend you get Pokémon Yellow in the 3DS eShop. I also recommend getting a physical copy of Pokémon X/Y and Omega Ruby/Alpha Sapphire. Make sure you download the latest updates for the last 2 Pokémon games I mentioned before you play them.

Either X and Y or OR/AS for sure. It wouldn't make sense to start with an older gen, they will feel too outdated at this point and obviously won't hold any nostalgia for you. But if you were going to go older than gen 6, HeartGold/SoulSilver all the way.

I hadn't played a Pokemon game until this year and I've been gaming longer than you. I'd start with Red like I did since it gives you a great understanding of where this whole thing started, it's super cheap digitally and it's fairly basic so you don't get overwhelmed.

Pokemon? What is this?