Not a bad game, it's just Johto. The region is rife with problems this remake did very little to assuage.
However, let's check the positives first: Pokémon follow you!! Very cute! The addition of the Safari Zone would have solved the problem of some Johto pokémon not being available until postgame if it hadn't been the most confusing Safari Zone ever. The PokéAthlon is a fun minigame, and the graphical update is nothing to scoff at! The inclusion of some Crystal elements with Eusine and Suicune is a very nice touch too! The touch screen is certainly an improvement, and some mechanics regarding the Pokégear are also quite better than the original were.
However, it still suffers from many of the problems the original had, including (but not limited to): awful level scaling, disjointed story, terrible Pokémon distribution (and it doesn't add the new gen 4 additions to the gen 2 roster to the regional Pokédex except for a very specific case, which is just awkward), strange gym leader teams... All of this results in teams being picked from the same roster of 10 Pokémon, with no variety whatsoever and a strange sense of progression.
All in all, a decent game, a decent remake, but it still does not solve the awful problems that plagued Johto from the start and suffers greatly from it.
However, let's check the positives first: Pokémon follow you!! Very cute! The addition of the Safari Zone would have solved the problem of some Johto pokémon not being available until postgame if it hadn't been the most confusing Safari Zone ever. The PokéAthlon is a fun minigame, and the graphical update is nothing to scoff at! The inclusion of some Crystal elements with Eusine and Suicune is a very nice touch too! The touch screen is certainly an improvement, and some mechanics regarding the Pokégear are also quite better than the original were.
However, it still suffers from many of the problems the original had, including (but not limited to): awful level scaling, disjointed story, terrible Pokémon distribution (and it doesn't add the new gen 4 additions to the gen 2 roster to the regional Pokédex except for a very specific case, which is just awkward), strange gym leader teams... All of this results in teams being picked from the same roster of 10 Pokémon, with no variety whatsoever and a strange sense of progression.
All in all, a decent game, a decent remake, but it still does not solve the awful problems that plagued Johto from the start and suffers greatly from it.