>>36350962What makes the sprites work in the GB games is that (most) were meant to be at least somewhat threatening looking, evoking enemies from other RPGs like Wizardry.
Though as in Dragon Quest V there was an emphasis that these were your partners once you tamed them, it was still a given that on the battlefield they were trying to kill you, and so when you see the sprites on the other side they need to be threatening.
With the unexpected popularity of Pokemon due to the collectible aspect, the need for them to have more monster-esque sprites went away, and they settled into the more familiar form.
I don't think either approach is "better", but it's my belief that this is why some people prefer the GB sprites to all subsequent ones and some hate them for looking weird.
