>>12101821Funnily enough, I never really had that much trouble with the more difficult gym leaders. Plus, Johto has Falkner and Bugsy, who are probably the easiest gym leaders of all time.
As for criticisms, Kanto is really sparse and disappointing, and the level curve once you're finished with Kanto is terrible. Red's pokemon are all in their 70's and 80's while the highest wild pokemon you can reliably encounter are in their 40's, so the grind is awful.
That doesn't change that G/S/C were my favorite games until Gen V, but hey.