The series has definitely progressed since R/B/G/Y; shiny Pokemon didn't exist, Natures and Abilities were created, better graphics made, more complex plots, a divided bag...lots of stuff. Too many things to name. Things were changed, like Magnemite and Bite's type once Dark and Steel were introduced. Even Gust changed types--it used to be Normal. It thoroughly confused me when I was replaying the games, but that's because I'm used to the new.
In any case, I think the original games were the best. The sprites contained an originality that hasn't been matched at all since those games. Now the sprites look great, but something about them almost bores me a bit. You never get bored of the original sprites. The music of the original games was also, in my opinion, the best music yet. The music of the Silph Co. in particular was REALLY memorable and awesome. I bet it'd sound really great if someone did a metal remix of it. The music all perfectly matched the situation, and the cries of the Pokemon are still being used today. Thank god they haven't changed. While they could update them since they're still Gameboy quality, (especially for the 3D games) the cries are good enough that, while it would be nice to have them upgraded simply so they sound better (same exact cry with better quality, in other words), it's not necessary.
As for [the argument of] competitivity...for a game like Pokemon where single player is the majority of the game, I say bah to any sort of regards to competitivity. It's great if you want to compete and have tournamnets for it, but you can't say a game is worse for not being something it's not supposed to be. And if the first game in the series wasn't competitively viable, that should've set the standard, and the addition of that ability for newer games should be an
addition. For the topic of Smash Bros, it was viable competitively for the first two games, and now in Brawl, it is no longer because Sakurai didn't want us to play that way. Not to start that debate here, but as a counter-example; Pokemon is competitive as an extra, Smash Bros is not.
Plus, as you may or may not know about me, I am a retro gaming type of guy. I almost always love the original better, or at least one of the older games. I like A Link to the Past best for Zelda, Super Metroid best for Metroid, and Donkey Kong 64 best for the Donkey Kong games. On that topic, I'll quote myself from another thread:
New games have killed video games forever. It's doubtful that the same concept of just having a game to play to have fun will ever come back; now we NEED a text-heavy plot, amazing graphics, a million and one additions, and games have to have a purpose; Wii Fit so you can become fit, the whole Wii to "bring families together". Whatever happened to the days of the NES, SNES, and Sega Genesis where games like Sonic & Knuckles needed only brief cutscenes that showed you that Knuckles is your enemy and then that Robotnik betrayed him and he's on your side now, or Super Metroid in which an intro cutscene with text was all that was necessary?
Old games will forever hold a magic that can never be obtained again, unless video game developers end their blind creation of so-called "innovation". I used to have the mindset of "new games are better". For about a month after Brawl came out, I thought it was the best thing since sliced bread. But I came on these boards and had my eyes opened to what gaming has become, and while it ruined some games for me, it gave a new life to old games and I wouldn't go back to my old mindset for the world.
As I say, out with the new, in with the old.
To top it off we have the best mascot ever, my buddy.....GIRATINA!!!!
