The fifth generation of Pokemon went 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 for Pokemon. Black and White were the first games since the first generation to only have new Pokemon in 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-based Pokemon games before the franchise transitioned to 3D as of the release of Pokemon X and Y.
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 of Pokemon fans were not happy with these installments. However, after Black and White got a sequel and newer generations proved to be just as, if not more divisive, people have been giving Gen 5 more love. With Pokemon Brilliant Diamond and Shining Pearl being released and Gen 9 on the way, requests to remake Gen 5 are inevitable. Despite this, Game Freak should leave this particular generation alone.
Pokemon Black and White Do Not Need Remakes
A lot of video games have been remade, but Pokemon made 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, then a hypothetical Gen 5 remake might come out in half a decade from now at the earliest, but Pokemon’s schedule can be unpredictable.
Although remakes are now expected from Pokemon, 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 Red and Blue were 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, Red and Blue dated themselves as soon as Gold and Silver, and especially Ruby and Sapphire, came out.
FireRed and LeafGreen were made not only to bring back Gen 1 in a more modern way, introducing the classic Pokemon to kids that were unable to experience the “Pokemania” of the 90s and early 2000s properly, but to also make it easier to complete the National Pokedex in the third generation. HeartGold and SoulSilver subscribed to a similar philosophy years later. When Hoenn and Sinnoh got remakes of their own, it was clear that remakes were simply produced to pander to the most recently nostalgic part of the fanbase at the time. Completing the National Pokedex has never been easier, and the Hoenn and Sinnoh games had a much easier time than their predecessors when it came to aging well.
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 of Pokemon’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 remake could kill off part of the generation’s charm, and for that reason, it should be avoided.
Pokemon Black and White are available on Nintendo DS.