I have not played Diamond, Pearl, or Platinum and no one has recommended one of those to me so I assume those are bad. Emerald was okay, I forgot most of it, Soul Silver I think is great, but the base game takes a fall for a lack of catchable pokemon and low exp give out. I played Black 2, but I played a hacked version, so I can't judge it on the base, but I loved the speed increase and the addition of triple and rotation battles.