Red and Blue aren't exactly my favorite games, but it's definitely fair to say they did story WAY better than anything else in the series, arguably equal with Gold and Silver. It didn't shove major plot points down the players throat, a big part of what made it a game instead of an interactive story. They simply happened instead of being forced. There was a criminal occupation of Saffron City, leaving everything but the hospitals and markets shut down, and forcing the only remaining resistance to hide out in the dojo, and it's something you might not even be able to pick up on the first time around, or at least not fully appreciate it. The characters were more unique and subtle, the little touches can still be appreciated years later, and it's easy to see why so many people consider them the best, regardless of whether or not they actually are.