Pokémon is one of the largest franchises in the world of gaming. Ever since Game Freak built the foundation for the series by releasing Pokémon Red and Green (which would be released in the west as Blue) way back in 1996.
What started with 151 Pokémon exploded over the past 25 years into a world-spanning phenomena with 898 Pokémon with over 100 different games and spinoffs. But which games are the most popular? Here are the top 5 games that sold the best.
5. Pokémon X & Y: 16.5 million units sold
X & Y are the sixth generation of the Pokémon main series. They were released in 2013 for Nintendo 3DS. They also marked the first time the fictional regions in Pokémon moved to Europe. The Kalos region is inspired by France and also has familiar landmarks like the Eiffel Tower.
They gave the game a modern graphical overhaul with 3D being introduced to the series. The new mega evolution also brought a new dimension into the battle system as some Pokémon gain new abilities in fights over a short period of time.
4. Pokémon Diamond & Pearl: 17.6 million units sold
The fourth generation was released in 2007 in the west for Nintendo DS. Optically a lot of things changed to properly utilize the dual screens. The top screen showed animations, while the bottom screen contained the menus in which to choose actions. Diamon & Pearl had 493 Pokémon to collect and was the first game utilizing Wi-Fi for trading with Pokémon trainers from around the world.
3. Pokémon Sword & Shield: 21.1 millionen units sold
Pokémon Schword and Shield was the 8th main series game and is the most recent one from 2019. Released for the Switch, they have stormed into the top 3 of the list. The region Galar was based on Great Britain. Besides new Pokémon Sword & Shield also introduced Dynamax, which allowed your Pokémon to gain boosts to their strengths and unlock special attack.
2. Pokémon Gold & Silver: 23.7 million units sold
After the very first generation shook the world, fans were waiting for the next game. Gold and Silver released in 1999 in Japan, before first coming to North America in 2000 and finally to Europe in 2001. The new Johto region offered 251 Pokémon to catch, 100 more than the first games.
If you wanted to truly catch them all you needed to connect your Game Boy to another one with the old Red and Blue editions. While the gameplay was very similar to the first title, Gold & Silver also introduced a day and night cycle with different Pokémon showing up at different times.
1. Pokémon Red and Blue: 31 millionen units sold
Uncontested on first place are the first generation games. Released in 1996 in Japan as Red and Green, it also got re-releases with Blue and a special edition with Pikachu titled Yellow.
It took two years for Nintendo to bring them game to North America and another year to ship it to Europe. Even now players still have heated debates over the legendary three starters in the very first game: Bulbasaur, Charmander and Squirtle.
Read more:
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