Personally, I really, truly hate the Tepig line with a passion. It's bland, has no right to exist, and brings down an otherwise outstanding trio of starters, the likes of which were cleverly designed, had unique niches, and actual personality. If I might list the problems I have with this disgrace of a starter:
1. Its typing. Yes, I know it's an overused argument, but honestly, what was Game Freak thinking, putting three Fire/Fighting starters in a row? Furthermore, neither Serperior or Samurott had dual typing, so why should Emboar prove to be the exception, only to have the same boring type we've seen done to death? Not to mention that with its typing, it's forced to compete with Infernape and Blaziken, two unique, interesting starters in both design and stats, and quite frankly, it doesn't hold up.
2. Its role in battling. To be frank, Emboar has one job, to click Flare Blitz/Superpower until it/the opponent dies, and it can't even do that well enough to justify its use in-game. Once you reach the desert in BW, you'll be tripping over Darumaka, which evolve into a stronger, faster Emboar. The only even remotely valid reasons to use Emboar over Darmanitan are STAB Superpower, which matters very little when you're comparing 123 Base Attack to 140, and Wild Charge coverage, for all the two water types bulky enough to withstand even a resisted hit from the monster that is Darmanitan.
3. Its design. Lets compare, if you will, the evolutionary stages of Tepig with its predecessors, and see if we can figure out where it goes wrong. In its first stage, Tepig is a pig. It has a ball on its tail (much like Spoink, now that I think about it) but that's about it. Similarly, Chimchar is a monkey that discovered matches a bit too soon, and Torchic is a chick that went to a Jamiroquai concert. Nothing much out of the ordinary. In their second stages, Monferno gets a bit baggier, gets some stripe tattoos, and really starts to get behind the "my behind is a fire hazard to both myself and my immediate surroundings" movement. Combusken grows an...oddly proportioned body, some sick claws, and learns the art of Tae Kwon Do. Pignite puts on weight...a lot of it, and wears a mankini. An unusual choice, admittedly, but certainly one that can be fixed in its final evolution, right? Well, for final evolutions, Infernape goes from "that one kid in your neighborhood who tips over the trash bins when he thinks no one is looking" to "gritty Planet of the Apes reboot", and I'm saying that knowing that there have already been a number of gritty Planet of the Apes reboots. After years of waving an open flame around, Infernape's head has flat-out burst into flame, and he doesn't even care. Infernape just wants to punch things with his various golden accessories, and who are we to stand in his way? All this, and he still has the guts to wear white after Labor Day. Blaziken undergoes a similar transformation, becoming the Pokemon equivalent of a '90s cartoon action hero. His talons move up to his arms...somehow, and he grows out his hair to resemble his favorite Gundam. He also puts on some pretty neat looking jeans, because what would a cartoon action hero be without his signature sexy pants? And now to Emboar, who went from fat pig in a mankini, to fatter pig wearing nothing at all except an oversized belt thing and some gloves. His neck is on fire, probably because his muscles have combusted after lugging around all that weight, and his round tail has turned into a spiky tail. All this, and he's still smiling, desperately trying to not let his fragile facade drop for a second. Emboar knows what a failure it is, and so do you.
Ultimately, the Tepig line seems unfinished. It's a shame, because I feel like they really could have done something unique with a burly, wrestling mammal. And they did, in Gen VII. Unfortunately, I'm not a cat person.