Pokémon Sun and Moon / Pokémon Ultra Sun and Ultra Moon

While X and Y brought the best gameplay gimmick, Sun and Moon bring probably the least memorable one with Z-Moves. Other mechanical twists like Mega Evolution and Gigantamaxing have the benefit of form changes and battle-long impact, whereas Z-Moves haven’t had the same impact on the community because they’re just more powerful moves you get to use once, then they’re over. But while Sun and Moon’s battle mechanics aren’t quite as flashy as other games on this list, the tropical region of Alola is fascinating in its distinct culture, shift in format away from the typical eight gym battles, and introduction to new concepts like regional variants.

These new takes on old ‘mons illustrate how real world phenomena like speciation can occur in distinct regions, and Alolan’s Hawaii-inspired setting is a great place to debut the concept and add new layers to the franchise moving forward. Ultra Sun and Ultra Moon iterate on the original games’ systems, and add new content to further the story of the Ultra Beasts, but even to this day it can be confusing to decide which one you should actually play and what the benefits are to playing either (or both). Alola was a great era of experimentation in Pokémon, and its strides have helped inform further shifts from old formulas and form distinct regions and culture within the universe.