How do you choose between versions of Pokemon?

[MoldyClay]

I got a question. Iv'e been seeing you guys talking about red and blue lines of games. What is that exactly? Are those connected to red/blue somehow? I never heard of those terms before.

I'm not really sure, but from what I know, It refers to the versions that have a lot of things in common, namely the version-exclusives or (in some particular cases, the "color" they're based), this also applies to remakes. The "special" 3rd versions (Blue (JP), Yellow, Crystal, Emerald, Platinum) and Stadium-esque games aren't accounted on these lines, the formers are more like an inbetween both lines.
As far as I'm concerned.

Red line:
*Red
*Gold
*Ruby
*FireRed
*Pearl
*HeartGold
*White
*White 2

Blue line:
*Green/Blue (INT)
*Silver
*Sapphire
*LeafGreen
*Diamond
*SoulSilver
*Black
*Black 2

This.

Gold/Silver and Black/White are exceptions in that they aren't versions of Red or Blue (Diamond and Pearl aren't either, but they have a lot of blue and pink on the covers).

Ho-oh, however, is Red, and Lugia has blue on him.

Reshiram and Zekrom are odd in that they have both colors present. Reshiram has BLUE eyes and RED seen in the manual/animation (from the Fire); Zekrom has RED eyes and BLUE seen in the manual/animation (from the Electricity).

Black Kyurem is primarily blue, due to electricity, and the 2 on Black 2 is blue. White Kyurem is primarily red, due to fire, and the 2 on White 2 is red.

HeartGold and SoulSilver were weird, because Gold was similar to Red and Silver was similar to Blue (Ho-oh/Lugia aside, the exclusives Mankey/Growlithe and Meowth/Vulpix are shared), but they are influenced heavily by Sapphire and Ruby respectively. HG has Sablete, Kyogre and Latias (Sapphire exclusives) and SS has Mawile, Groudon and Latios (Ruby exclusives), and some of the Gold/Silver exclusives were switched (like Mantine/Phanpy, etc).

[Marine Aquatic]

Since the contents of both versions in a generation are almost the same, it shouldn't matter which you pick. Perhaps it's more a case of "I took SoulSilver 'cause Lugia looked cool on the case!" "I took White because I'd pick Zekrom over Reshiram any day" "Didn't any of you notice how majestic Dialga looked on the case of Diamond?" To me, a bigger concern is filling up the Pokédex. Despite the version I pick, I know I'm not missing out on anything since internet connectivity allows me obtain Pokémon not in my version of the game. Same goes for the starter Pokémon!

[J0RdAnN]

Reshiram and Zekrom are odd in that they have both colors present. Reshiram has BLUE eyes and RED seen in the manual/animation (from the Fire); Zekrom has RED eyes and BLUE seen in the manual/animation (from the Electricity).

Black Kyurem is primarily blue, due to electricity, and the 2 on Black 2 is blue. White Kyurem is primarily red, due to fire, and the 2 on White 2 is red.

That why fans didn't know where to place B/W in those lines.It wasn't until B2/W2 had their Japanese Logo's
shown off that we got confirmation of Black being the Blue line and White the Red Line. Honestly the Lines don't really mater it's more or less just a way hardcore PokéFans can refer to a specific group of games in the series.

[Broken_Cartridge]

When I was younger I would strictly choose the version I got based off of the color. So, out of the first two generations I got Blue and Silver.

I ended up getting both versions for the next generation (Ruby and Sapphire)

With Generation 4, it was based off of the version that my cousin was getting. He wanted Pearl, so I went with Diamond.

For Generation 5 I made my decision solely off of the features and exclusive Pokemon I wanted in the game. I ended up getting White. For the sequels, I ended up getting Black 2 so that I could the Pokemon that I couldn't get with White.

[MoldyClay]

Since the contents of both versions in a generation are almost the same, it shouldn't matter which you pick. Perhaps it's more a case of "I took SoulSilver 'cause Lugia looked cool on the case!" "I took White because I'd pick Zekrom over Reshiram any day" "Didn't any of you notice how majestic Dialga looked on the case of Diamond?" To me, a bigger concern is filling up the Pokédex. Despite the version I pick, I know I'm not missing out on anything since internet connectivity allows me obtain Pokémon not in my version of the game. Same goes for the starter Pokémon!

Up until 4th gen, which version you picked mattered in regards to exclusives. 4th gen brought along online trading and the GTS, which made version exclusives moderately irrelevant. The only thing that really matters is exclusive NEW legendaries (because all past legendaries can just be sent forwards), since people are less likely to just hand over a Zekrom or Reshiram to fill your pokedex.

That why fans didn't know where to place B/W in those lines.It wasn't until B2/W2 had their Japanese Logo's
shown off that we got confirmation of Black being the Blue line and White the Red Line. Honestly the Lines don't really mater it's more or less just a way hardcore PokéFans can refer to a specific group of games in the series.

Yeah, the lines are irrelevant it just makes it easier to reference games in bulk, just like shortening everything to BW, RSE or Gen IV etc.

Some people follow certain 'lines' for consistency, but in all honesty I just happened to luck out that all my games (except Gold) fell in line with being "Blue" games. I hate inconsistency, so the continuation of the pattern just kinda worked out, but had nothing to do with "I NEED THE BLUE GAME".

And like I said about HeartGold, I wound up getting some Blue/Sapphire exclusives in it, which vaguely justified my deviation from the Blue games.

[princessOfHyrule]

I always buy the

[Zanreo]

Version exclusives, mostly. And I've usually kept to the "blue" side, except for White 2. Not really on purpose, it just happened that way because I either preferred the exclusives, or my brother wanted the other one... when he still bought Pokémon games, we'd always get the different versions.

I got:
Crystal (and I know that if I had bought gold or silver, I would have bought silver)
Sapphire
Emerald
Leafgreen
Diamond
Blue (I first got that game way in the 4th gen of games)
Soulsilver
Black
White 2

[thatrandomdude]

I usually get one version, and my brother gets the other. Who gets what version depends on who "calls" it first. For example, I heard about Black and White before my brother, and i "called" black because i though and still think that Reshiram is cooler looking. This of course forced my brother to get White (which turned out to be the one he wanted anyway.)

[mysteria388]

Actually it's easier for me cuz I have a sis. So for the two-part games I just pick one and she picks the other that way we can always trade. We started out sharing Blue (the one for gameboy color) and then stopped playing for a long while before we picked the series back up at Heart Gold (soul silver for her), then White and White 2 (black and black 2 for my sis) We're thinking of getting diamond, pearl and platinum tho just for the dream radar legendaries.

[Yoshistar]

I usually just get the version with the feature Pokémon I like best. I also get the third entry to kinda compensate for not getting the other version. As for the remakes, I try to match them with the original version I got. Here's my history with them:

• Blue (I actually liked Blastoise more than Charizard, those freaking cannons man!)
• Yellow
• Silver (I never really liked birds, Lugia looks more dragon-ish to me)
• Crystal
• Sapphire*
• Emerald
• LeafGreen (Venusaur <3)
• Diamond (Dialga looked cooler, even though it and Palkia look pretty funny)
• Platinum
• SoulSilver
• White (Admittedly, I like both... but Zekrom's an Electric-type, which is one of my favorite types)
• Black 2

* Sapphire was an exception. At the time, I didn't even know Ruby and Sapphire existed, so I was intrigued when I saw a cousin of mine with a copy of Pokémon Sapphire. He didn't know how to play it (mainly due to not understanding English very well), so I offered to trade one of my own games for it (I don't remember which, but I'm sure it was some third-party game I didn't really care for). Didn't regret the decision despite my not liking Kyogre all that much.

[CM30]

Back when I played Pokemon, I chose the versions nearest to the colour red. So I picked Pokemon Red, then Pokemon Gold, and if I'd kept playing I would have picked Pokemon Ruby.

Or maybe it was just the first title mentioned, I don't know.

[cobaltorange]

Blue- Brother had Red, plus I just liked Blastoise and blue more.
Gold- I thought Ho-Oh looked cooler.
Sapphire- Picked only because it was my birthstone.
FireRed- I really dislike Venosaur (Bulba/Ivysaur rock though). Plus I like the color red more than green.
Diamond- Because it was closer to looking blue. Plus, Dialga looked cooler to me.
HeartGold- Because I had Gold.
White- Cooler looking legendary on box
White 2- Really wouldn't make sense to get Black 2 when I have White 1. LOL

Since there's online trading, I don't really pick the version based on what Pokemon it has anymore.

Seeing other posts now. Why did some of you get Black/White and then get the opposite for the 2nd? Just wondering.

[YoshiRider123]

I always buy the

to be continued

[Yoshistar]

Seeing other posts now. Why did some of you get Black/White and then get the opposite for the 2nd? Just wondering.

It's a bit strange, but a friend of mine really wanted to get White 2. Unfortunately, we wanted to have opposite versions. That got in the way of my having a "proper" sequel, but I felt indifferent about it at the time so we settled on which version we each would get with a coin toss. I got Black 2 and he got White 2 as he wanted. He was super happy, so I didn't make a fuss.

[MoldyClay]

We're thinking of getting diamond, pearl and platinum tho just for the dream radar legendaries.

If you don't plan on actually playing them, I wouldn't buy them just for the legendaries (which you can also get 4 of, if you actually play them in addition to using Dream Radar). Just find a friend or someone that has them. You can put the game in, unlock the level, and it stays there until you catch whatever Pokemon. Or you could catch it right there (which makes more sense).

[kntstar]

If you way all the options and still can't decided, do what I do. Flip a coin

[SpAtk154]

I have 3 other Pokefan siblings, so whatever is the majority... I just choose the minority! Though most of the time, I get stuck with exclusives I didn't want, haha.
Sometimes it'll depend on the legendary exclusives, too. The legendaries are fascinating to me, I try to keep an eye on which ones appear in what releases.

[Radiant]

I get the 'first' of the set, as in, in RBY, I got Red, in GSC, I got Gold, etc. etc.

Actually it's funny I mention the first two generations as examples there because they are the only two generations where I got all three of the versions. Ever since I have just got the 'first' and never any of the others.

[HammerGalladeBro]

Adding to the topic of Blue Line and Red Line, the just announced Pokémon X and Pokémon Y seems to have already established to which line they belong, with Pokémon X being the "Blue" game and Pokémon Y the "Red" game, I mean, just look at their logos.

[J0RdAnN]

Note how X&Y drop the "Version" part of the Mainline Name.