First, these Pokemon games sold enough copies to be on Wikipedia's list of best selling video games.
RBY: 47,440,000
GSC: 30,120,000
SV: 28,080,000
SwSh: 27,080,000
SMUSUM: 25,590,000
DPPt: 25,500,000
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I'll be using Metacritic and Opencritic as my sources for critic reviews and Backloggd as my source for player reviews. (if there's a ".5" it's because the critic scores were 1 apart and I averaged them) Here's what some of the reviews have to say about each game.
RBY
Player score: 3.6/5 (RB)
Its battle mechanics, balancing, and quality of life features are often considered worse than the newer Pokemon games and even the older RPGs, like Final Fantasy 6 or Chrono Trigger. However, the original Pokemon games are still notable for their massive impact on gaming and pop culture, which is why they're the top ranking Pokemon games in most of the "best games of all time" lists.
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GSC
Player score: 4.0/5 (C)
Players liked GSC's new types, time-based mechanics, the inclusion of 2 whole regions in each of the games, and all the changes in Kanto and Team Rocket that reference RBY's lore. However, the games are still held back by hardware limitations, bad player guidance, and balance issues, and players have mixed opinions about the level curve.
(I have very little information about game journalists in the 1990s, and modern journalists rarely review old games)
RSE
Critic score: 82/100 (RS)
Player score: 4.1/5 (E)
People liked the new mechanics, such as abilities and double battles, and new GBA hardware allowed gen 3 to massively improve its music and environmental art. Compared to the older games, RSE's antagonists and legendary Pokemon also have more lore attached to them. They did, in fact, complain about the numerous poorly designed water routes. RSE has the highest player score relative to its critic score, and it also happens to be the oldest Pokemon game that has a critic score. Is it nostalgia? No, it's probably just a coincidence.
FRLG
Critic score: 81/100
Player score: 3.9/5
People seem to agree that FRLG was an improvement from the originals, and many think it's still the best Kanto game. They liked the combination of RSE's new mechanics and RBY's setting and Pokemon, and also the new Sevii Islands. However, it still felt repetitive to some of the people who already played RBY.
DPPt
Critic score: 85/100 (DP)
Player score: 4.1/5 (Pt)
People liked the physical/special split and how it finally made a lot of older Pokemon usable. The plot events in Spear Pillar and the Distortion World were more cinematic than anything in the older games. They also liked the new touchscreen UI, more difficult boss battles, and the new multiplayer elements, such as the GTS and the Underground. Pt was considered a significant improvement from DP.
HGSS
Critic score: 87/100
Player score: 4.3/5
HGSS and BW seem to be the only Pokemon games that the critics and fans both liked. Besides the many improvements from gen 4, people liked the Pokemon following them around, the Pokewalker, the improved Pokegear, and the new post-game content that wasn't in GSC or DPPt.
BWB2W2
Critic score: 87/100 (BW)
Player score: 4.3/5 (B2W2)
B2W2 is currently the top rated main series Pokemon game on Backloggd, and BW is rated only a bit lower. People liked the animated sprites, improved environmental art in both cities and routes, antagonists with actual personalities (obligatory "the writing is still not that great compared to other video games of the time"), the Dream World, and infinite use TMs. Many of them also liked the 156 new Pokemon, the most of any generation.
XY
Critic score: 87/100
Player score: 3.4/5
Critics and players seem to have very different opinions on XY. Critics liked how the exp. all made the game less grindy, and also the new online features like Player Search System and Friend Safari. Players complained that XY were easier than the other games, because of mega evolutions and bad enemy AI, and the boring dialogue from both supporting characters and antagonists. They also had more mixed opinions on the exp. all.
ORAS
Critic score: 82/100
Player score: 3.9/5
People liked the improved graphics (compared to XY, not just RSE), Dexnav, and the new post-game content, such as soaring and the Delta Episode. However, some complained about the game being too easy like XY or the removal of Emerald's Battle Frontier.
SMUSUM
Critic score: 87/100 (SM)
Player score: 3.5/5 (USUM)
Gen 7 is another generation that the critics seemed to like a lot more than the players. Critics liked Pokemon Refresh, the Poke Pelago, the lack of HMs, and the Hawaii-inspired environmental art. Players complained about the numerous long cutscenes, linear progression, and boring optional and post-game content.
LGPE
Critic score: 80/100
Player score: 3.1/5
People complained about the new catching mechanics, the simplified battle mechanics that made battles more boring, and the art style.
SwSh
Critic score: 80/100
Player score: 3.0/5
People complained about the poorly designed Dynamax mechanic, forced exp. share, bad enemy AI, too much (boring) dialogue, having to pay extra for online features, and bad world design and environmental art (especially the Wild Area).
BDSP
Critic score: 73.5/100
Player score: 2.7/5
BDSP currently has the lowest Backloggd score of any main series game, and the most common complaint seems to be the removal of many of the improvements from both Platinum and the newer Pokemon games. They also complained about the worse art style and things that made the game easier, like the Grand Underground and new TMs.
LA
Critic score: 83/100
Player score: 3.7/5
Many people appreciated this game for trying things the series has never done before. They liked the world design and the way wild Pokemon behave outside of battle, allowing players to get every Pokemon without trading or events, and the new quality of life changes. There were still complaints, like the agile/strong mechanics, bad graphics, a few technical issues, and repetitive optional content.
SV
Critic score: 71/100
Player score: 3.2/5
SV currently has the lowest critic scores of any main series game, and the players seemed to dislike it even more. The games had many technical issues (on an AAA console game, of all things). People also complained about bad world design compared to LA, the lack of level scaling, and how the Pokemon and environmental art both looked like plastic.
LZA
Critic score: 78.5/100
Player score: 3.5/5
People complained about the flat textures on buildings and how wild Pokemon are limited to small wild zones. They also complained about damage sponge boss battles, boring sidequests and optional content, and bad character writing.
Tldr critics hate newer Pokemon games and players hate them even more. Also I know that Pokemon games have a pretty big Japanese audience and I have no idea what they think.
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You can sort the Backloggd list by average rating if you want.
