With the 20th anniversary of Pokémon almost upon us, we at Gamasutra have spent the last week revisiting some of our favorite stories about Nintendo’s powerhouse title. While it’s easy to remember Pokémon history as a runaway financial success, it’s also interesting to revisit the core game design pillars that underly its victories. 

With that in mind, we asked our readers on Twitter exactly which systems and design elements were vital to Pokémon success, and got some interesting results.

Remember, if you're interested in participating in these conversations in the future, make sure to follow @Gamasutra on Twitter. The questions usually go out on Fridays in the late morning, Pacific time, alongside Tweets of our regular news, blogs, and original writing.