>>58262155I would assume money + filling the wait time between the release of other main games. GameFreak had the philosophy of "1 game per year" back then. Pokemon were not that familiar with DLCs in those years too.
>>58264443If you want an honest discussion:
>EmeraldI personally only consider Emerald superior to RS due to better font and Battle Frontier but even then the difference is not that big to me. There are more double battles and the storyline is slightly changed in Emerald too but whatever.
>PlatinumThis one improves a lot over its predecessors. It noticeably speeds up battles and extends regional Pokedex, making campaign a vastly more enjoyable experience. Aside from that, you have some graphical improvements and tons of stuff added to postgame (storyline with Heatran, gym leader rematches and Battle Frontier to name a few).
>UltraI enjoy the addition of Mantine Surfing, move tutors, Ultra Warp Ride and bigger number of legendaries available but that's about it. Battle Agency and Rainbow Rocket postgame are ill-conceived - the former requiring tons of grinding and friends while the latter is just boringly made. Alola Photo Club, everything else you mentioned as well as gigaton of side quests you forgot to mention add very little value to overall experience.
I consider Ultra a worse game than their predecessors for a very simple reason - the main strength of Sun and Moon is their interesting story and region. Ultra messed that up HARD, ruining the whole plot about Nebby, Lusamine, Guzma, Lillie and Gladion while shoehorning Ultra Recon Squad and Necrozma who do very little themselves.
I felt extreme satisfaction from the ending of Sun and Moon - the whole festival at the end, battle with Tapu Koko and the touching segment with photos. You know what I felt during Ultra's credits which were clearly based on GSC? Disappointment.
