3 Forgotten Features from Early Pokemon Games that Need to Return In Gen 10

Many Pokemon fans have fond memories of playing the older games, from Pokemon Red and Blue onward. And although there’s a lot to love about the newer games, there’s something to be said for the nostalgia of the pixel art days. Pokemon may be 3D now, and online play has gotten a lot more involved, but many fans say the older games were better in so many ways. Personally, I liked Pokemon Scarlet and Violet a lot more than many fans did, but even I am still mourning the loss of some mechanics from the early Pokemon days.

It feels like the older Pokemon games were more experimental than what we’ve seen in the last few gens. They weren’t afraid to get weird or in-depth with new mechanics, and many of those features were part of what made the games fun to play. Yet some of my favorite elements from these early games have fallen away in recent years. When it comes to making Gen 10 something great, Pokemon really needs to bring back these 3 features from early Pokemon games.

3) Poffin Making

I love a cooking mechanic in games, and the more involved, the better. We had PokeBlocks in Pokemon Ruby and Sapphire, but in my opinion, Poffins really stepped it up. The simple but addictive method for making them in-game was just the right touch of mini-game, and the Poffins had a clear purpose.

Although we’ve had cooking mechanics since then, they just don’t quite feel the same. Currines and sandwiches are all well and good, but I miss the simplicity and fun of the Poffin mini-game. It looks like the donuts in the Legends: Z-A DLC could be similar, and I hope that’s the case. But even so, I’d love to see something like Poffin make a full return to Pokemon in Gen 10, preferably paired with the return of another forgotten mini-game.

2) Pokemon Contests

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Pokemon Contests were such a fun way to compete with your Pokemon outside of battle, and I miss them. This mechanic was tied in with the PokeBlocks/Poffins in Pokemon Ruby and Sapphire and Pokemon Diamond and Pearl. Entering Pokemon in contests required a different kind of strategy compared with battling, as you had to build up specific attributes that didn’t necessarily apply in battle.

Although battling is a core part of Pokemon, the older games had a lot of side content that just hasn’t quite come back in the same way. With the updated graphics and capabilities of newer games, it’s time for Pokemon contests to make their return in Gen 10. Especially after doing so many battles in the Legends: Z-A royale, I’m ready to train up my Pokemon for a different kind of challenge in Gen 10.

1) Secret Bases

If there’s one thing from this list that I miss the most, it’s got to be secret bases. Introduced in Pokemon Ruby and Sapphire, this mechanic let you decorate your own little space within the game world. You could unlock areas to build your secret base, then fill it with all kinds of special items. So there were two layers of fun with this mechanic – finding all the different possible locations and decorating your secret base of choice.

A version of this mechanic returned in Pokemon Diamond and Pearl with underground secret bases, and Omega Ruby and Alpha Sapphire brought us Super Secret Bases. But since then, we haven’t really seen this function return. Given how popular decorating games have become, it just plain doesn’t make sense not to give us a space to call our own in modern Pokemon games. And no, spin-offs like Pokemon Friends and Pokopia are not a valid substitute.

What is an older Pokemon mechanic you want to see make a comeback? Leave a comment below and join the conversation now in the ComicBook Forum!