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'Extra' Games

Pokemon games usually come in a set of two, for example: Red and Blue, Gold and Silver, Ruby and Sapphire, and Pearl and Diamond. The first two Pokemon games released (with the exception of the remakes Fire Red and Leaf Green) always have an 'extra' game associated with it. It has Pokemon differences, like between the first two, but it always has something extra~

For Red and Blue, Yellow is the new kid in town. It follows the anime (show) closely, and Jessie and James even appear more frequently than regular Rocket Grunts. You can get all the starters, and Gary's Pokemon change too: He gets an Eevee that evolves according to whether or not you beat him. You start off with a Pikachu that follows you around, a very nice concept that I adore, and I wish for it to be added on to future Pokemon games (a similar feature is available in Diamond/Pearl in that park in Hearthrome.).

The only downside, if you consider it a downside, is that the Missingno Glitch won't work, but, the mew Glitch and Glitch City still work, and Missingno can be accessed via the Mew Glitch.

Pokemon Yellow:

Pros:
Starts you off with Pikachu that follows you everywhere
Lets you battle Jessie and James
Gary gets an eevee
You can get all three starters!

Cons:
Missingno Glitch won't work
Some Gym Leaders are harder to beat, since you can't choose your starter

Overall, yellow's a cool game with awesome extra features, but it's really rather similar to Red/Blue. I'd reccomend it over Red/Blue unless it really bothers you that you can't choose your starter.

Gold and Silver are brothers in the Pokemon world, but Crystal is the long-awaited Sister. For the first time, you are allowed to play as a girl, and it also lets Suicune steal the show by having a backstory and it becomes easier to catch. Something almost everyone loved was the addition of day and night. The day care center will give you an egg (don't boil it, hatch it!), and Suicune is easier to catch. Also, there's a deal with Crystal and the last gym, the Dragon Gym: you get the badge by answering questions, if they are all right, you get Dratini with Extremespeed! The radio tower gives you a new thing: a show that, if you tune in, and get the right answer at the tower, will win you points to get stuff like protein and rare candy. The Pokemon are animated (and I mean animated with thought put into them, not the two-frame tweening of Emerald.)

Unfortunetly, Crystal has some sad downsides: you can't get Lugia until you reach Pewter city, and Ho-oh's pretty much pushed out of the game! You have to catch all 3 legendary beasts, and you have to have all the badges - it's much more annoying. Then you have to stumble through the standard city of mazes to reach the top.

Pokemon Crystal

Pros

Cons

The pros of Crystal definetly outweigh the cons, and you should get it, especially over Gold and Silver (unless, again, the lack of certain Pokemon and the changing of Lugia's and Ho-oh's movesets really bothers you.) Crystal was my first Pokemon gameboy game, and it is really great. Words can't describe it anymore.

Pokemon Emerald:

I don't like Pokemon Emerald's name because, originally, before Ruby and Sapphire were even being sold, I made up a fake game called Pokemon Emerald, and it had weather, and the mascot looked like Rayquaza, I didn't want it to, no idea what a Rayquaza was back then, and there was a problem with the mascot and other Pokemon that involved weather. Sounds familiar to the real Emerald....

Ignore my ranting about Emerald's name. Ruby and Sapphire had an unexpected addition, Emerald, and it is chock full of new features. The gyms are different, trainers are placed differently, there's a battle Frontier, and the Plot has improved in so many ways. Team Aqua apparently, are the good guys, sometimes the bad guys, and they and Tem Magma awaken Groudon and Kyogre, and they duke it out in the city. You must awaken Rayquaza to defeat them all, and yadda yadda yadda, cool plot. Also, there are animations, but they are nowhere near as cool as the Crystal ones.

The problem is, really, Emerald is bloated with new features, and I felt as if though my knowledge of R/ S was of no use in Emerald. They did not bring back wanted features, and Slateport marketplace is crowded with ugly balloons. That really bothered me. Blegh.

Pros:

Cons

Emerald is a wonderful game, and although it comes with too many extra features, it got me interested in battle strategies and EVs and IVs. Of course, that was me, but... yeah, try it out.

Platinum, the latest addition! Ooh, what are the differences and pros and cons? Well, I don't have it yet. At the time of writing, it's not even released. It seems to have more involvement with Giratina, but you can't tell anything now.