Poll: What’s The Best Pokémon Game Ever?

This week brings the launch of Pokémon Brilliant Diamond and Shining Pearl, the 4th-gen remasters/re-imaginings that add a Chibi-style and some quality of life tweaks compared to the DS originals. Naturally it’s got us thinking a little about the long history of the series, especially as we only gave the newest release a modest recommendation — over the course 25 years, at which point has the Pokémon franchise been at its gaming peak?

Our views are a matter of record, but we want your views on the best Pokémon games. We should stress we’re focused on mainline entries; the Pokémon franchise has had more spin-off games than this writer’s had hot dinners, so we thought it’d be best to keep it focused. But which generation and entry is the best in your view? Are you driven by nostalgia and a certain purity to the older games, or do you enjoy more modern entries with all the online functionality and 3D worlds? It’s time to give your own review scores and celebrate the best Pokémon games ever.

Similar to our other reader-ranked polls, registered Nintendo Life users can simply click on the stars next to the titles listed below and give the Pokémon games you’ve played a rating out of 10. The resulting ranking, which we’ll publish soon, is created from those fluid NL User Ratings and is therefore subject to change, even after publication.

If you’ve previously rated these games in our database — which many of you have over the years — thank you! If not, you can add your score to the game at any time, present or future, and it will still count and potentially influence the order.

Rate every Pokémon game you’ve played:

Click the stars below to rate out of 10 each Pokémon game you’ve played:

Thanks for rating! We’ll be finding out the results in the near future, but remember: much like our platform Top 50s, the list here is fluid, so even if you miss out on voting before the results are revealed, you can still influence the ranking after publication.