Ever played Gold, Silver or Crystal? It was the same but with 16 badges instead. Aside from the Ice Cavern, Sprout Tower, Radio Tower and Rocket Base (which are all incredibly short) all other dungeons are side-quests.
Gen 2 is the most overrated pokemon generation, closely followed by Gen 1. Piss easy gyms, low level league, very little plot, and a barely there villain team and literally nothing to do in Kanto. The games probably would have been much better if they didn't include Kanto. There wasn't enough space left over to do much with both areas on a GB Cart. Gen 3 was a big step forward in a lot of ways.