Generation I/Comparison

When the games were first released, they were very popular, firmly rooting the Pokémon series as one of Nintendo's mainstays alongside Mario and The Legend of Zelda.

Generation I can be considered the template for every generation since. Many mainstays of the main series games were introduced in Generation I, such as the first five HMs (excluding ) being required for the completion of the game and choosing between three starters that have fire, water, and grass as their primary types. Many storyline aspects harken back to Generation I as well. Each region since Kanto has had a local Pokémon Professor named after a tree who gives the player a starter Pokémon, and an evil team whose goal is to rule the world, among other devices that are now integral to being a core series game.

The games proved popular enough that, eight years after their original release, they received remakes in the form of, as the original versions are incompatible with Generation III and onward.