>>42093601incredible games for their time. almost no other gameboy games at the time boasted such a long and involved rpg story mode with as many collectible characters, striking character designs, an accompanying TV show, merch, etc and few games utilized link cable play to allow you to connect with other gameboys to battle and trade.
the games had some bugs and internal balance issues, but not noticably more than most games of the times, and most didnt make the game unplayable. a few internal balance issues between types or gym leader orders and such wouldnt be an issue at the time until later games in the series with more balance became something to compare them to. 151 unique character designs just for the monsters on top of a host of memorable gym leaders and supporting cast stood head and shoulders above the competition.
as someone who was actually present for the whole initial launch and craze trust me, no other games even held a candle to the pokemon series, as much as digimon and monster rancher tried
