Pokémon 30th Anniversary Box Art Brawl
Image: Nintendo Life

'!' Whoops! Looks like you've walked into our path. The exclamation mark has already appeared above our heads. We challenge you to a very special edition of Box Art Brawl!

Before we send out this week's competitors, however, let's recap what went down last time. Marking another significant Nintendo anniversary as Zelda turned 40, we matched up two covers for the OG Link's Awakening, and after a weekend of voting, the decision was split! Like, 50/50 split. Congrats to both parties, we guess!

But anywho, back to this week's battle. To celebrate 30 wonderful years of Pokémon, we're matching up the generations this time to find out which is the very best (like no one ever was). While we've included the enhanced 'third' editions for each gen where applicable, we've stuck to just the Western mainline games and removed any remakes or Legends inclusions to keep things fair — naturally, some Gens will have more covers than others, but do they add up to a better picture overall?

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There are the full nine options to choose from this time, so make sure you're stocked up on Potions, and let's get into it.

Gen I - Red, Blue & Yellow

It doesn't get much more iconic than this, eh? While legendaries would go on to take centre stage on the series' box art, Gen I kicked things off with two of its fully-evolved Starters (Venusaur occupies the 'Green' variant in Japan) and the most well-known 'mon of all, Pikachu.

The backgrounds are as simple as they come, but we love the hand-drawn look of the central figures.

Gen II - Gold, Silver & Crystal

The Gen II legendaries are truly some of the best out there. Lugia, Ho-Oh and Suicune adorn this generation's box art, with shiny backgrounds that really sell a 'step-up' for the series. Talk about a touch of class!

Gen III - Ruby, Sapphire & Emerald

By Gen III, you're no doubt spotting a bit of a theme emerging. It's not enough to take away from the three awesome legendary designs in this generation, mind you (heck, they are this writer's favourites). Another good one, all in all.

Gen IV - Diamond, Pearl & Platinum

Pokémon really got off to a great start on the DS with this trio. The legendaries look awesome, the dark backdrop suggested there was some drama underneath, and Platinum's glittery sheen is as eye-catching as they come.

Gen V - Black & White (2)

The fact that Pokémon White had Zekrom and Black had Reshiram never sat well with this writer, but we just know that dragon-obsessed kids all over the world lost their minds at these covers — and rightly so!

The '2' variants simply dial things up to 11, and there's no arguing with that.

Gen VI - X & Y

The series burst into the 3D generation with this pair of covers. The 'Look! New legendaries!' format returns from previous games, but we were always particularly fond of the giant 'X' and 'Y' in the backgrounds.

Gen VII - Sun & Moon (Ultra)

Our apologies to the Sun and Moon fans out there, but we always found Solgaleo and Lunala to be a little bit... boring. The bright sky backgrounds of each help elevate the covers, it's true, and the Ultra variants spice things up even more (much like Black 2 and White 2 before them). But is it enough to stand shoulder-to-shoulder with the others?

Gen VIII - Sword & Shield

New box shape alert! Pokémon covers went portrait in the Switch generation, and how did TPC make use of all that extra space? With two big old legendary dogs, armoured up to the teeth. Fair play.

Gen IX - Scarlet & Violet

And so we arrive at the latest generation. Say what you will about Gen IX's Koraidon and Miraidon, there's something about the art style here that we find really rather appealing. Perhaps it's the splattered background or the gold trim border, but does anyone else find these unexpectedly... classy?

Which Pokémon generation got the best box art?

Thank you for voting! We'll see you next week for another edition of Box Art Brawl!