The fifth generation ofPokemonwent through one of the more interesting cycles in the series’ history as far as development decisions and fan reception go. This generation,starting with Black and White, was a reset button in many ways forPokemon.BlackandWhitewere the first games since the first generation to only have newPokemonin their setting. They were the first games to take place in a region based on a location outside of Japan. Lastly, they sought to polish the game’s traditional visuals and mechanics as much as they could, serving as a grand finale of sprite-basedPokemongames before the franchise transitioned to 3D as of the release ofPokemon XandY.
When it first came out, Gen 5 was arguably the most controversial generation of them all. Flacked for superficially cutting ties with older regions by only letting the player catch Pokemon that exclusively belonged to newly introduced evolutionary lines before the postgame and accused of representing the series running out of the ideas, among other things, a lot ofPokemonfans were not happy with these installments. However, afterBlackandWhitegot a sequel and newer generations proved to be just as, if not more divisive, people have been giving Gen 5 more love. WithPokemon Brilliant DiamondandShining Pearlbeing released and Gen 9 on the way, requests to remake Gen 5 are inevitable. Despite this, Game Freak should leave this particular generation alone.
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Pokemon Black and White Do Not Need Remakes
A lot of video games have been remade, butPokemonmade remaking older games a tradition. Ever since Gen 4, even-numbered generations have remade the games that represented the current halfway point of the series’ lifespan. Gen 4 saw Johto remakes, Gen 6 saw Hoenn remakes, and Gen 8 recently saw Sinnoh remakes. If the pattern is consistent, thena hypothetical Gen 5 remakemight come out in half a decade from now at the earliest, butPokemon’s schedule can be unpredictable.
Althoughremakes are now expected fromPokemon, they originally had a rather noble purpose. All they originally sought to do was bring back an older generation and fix its flaws, in addition to addressing criticisms of the current generation.Pokemon RedandBluewere remade less than a decade after their release, whether it is the North American one or the original Japanese release. Due to how quickly technology evolved at the time,RedandBluedated themselves as soon asGoldandSilver, and especiallyRubyandSapphire, came out.
Nostalgia for Gen 5 is inevitable, but the generation simply has not aged badly enough to rationalize an upgrade. The expressive animated sprites and the fast-paced gameplay are arguably the peak ofPokemon’s core mechanics. Very few things, like the lack of Fairy types, reliance on HMs, and inability to make in-game EV training easy, would warrant qualifying Gen 5 as outdated. Even then, they are not drastic enough to disrupt the quality of life.A Gen 5 remakecould kill off part of the generation’s charm, and for that reason, it should be avoided.
Pokemon Black and Whiteare available on Nintendo DS.
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