Haven't played Gen 6 yet, but Gen 5 is, in my opinion, the best Pokemon gen ever. Easily. Hands down.
It's the first gen since Gold/Silver where they all sat down and said "Hey, instead of making a game that's exactly like the last games but with the prerequisite number of new creatures and some cursory features to let the player know we're running on new hardware, what if we actually fucking TRIED?
What if the battle scenes were lively and animated, instead of static images on a static background (In 2006! Come the fuck ON, gamefreak.)
What if we expanded the real-time feature, and also actually made it matter to the gameplay, instead of thrown in there just so Eevee can evolve like in the last two gens?
What if we had a pokemon game with some actual semblance of STORY?
What if we fostered a legitimate online community?
What if we ditched some of the obtuse bullshit like disposable TMs and HMs necessary for advancement, and made previously opaque parts of the game slightly more apparent to the player (IVs)?
And what if the player could go through every cave up until the Elite 4 without running into a single Zubat or Geodude?
Black and White felt absolutely refreshing in the best ways.
Ruby and Sapphire felt like blatant, half-assed cash-ins, and Diamond and Pearl just felt like Ruby2 And Sapphire2. (Static battle scenes in fucking 2006? What the fuck, man)
But Black and White felt legitimately fresh and new and exciting. They were great.
