The Pokémon franchise has come a long way since its early days on the Nintendo Game Boy, but a new fan art animation shows off what the upcoming Pokémon Scarlet and Violet would have looked like as one of the series’ older, more pixelated installments. Nintendo and developer Game Freak finally unveiled the ninth generation of their long-running monster-wrangling RPG franchise back in February after months of speculation, showing off Pokémon Scarlet and Violet’s new Starter trio and confirming that the new games will shift the series toward a full open-world format.
Ever since that original announcement, Pokémon fans have been busy creating interesting fan art of the new Generation Nine, especially of new Starters Sprigatito (Grass-type), Fuecoco (Fire), and Quaxly (Water). These cuddly creatures have been featured in cute fan animations and homemade LED lamps in the months following their debut, even as Pokémon players continue to speculate on the direction that their respective evolutionary lines could go in. Some fans have even crafted 2D artwork of the Pokémon Scarlet and Violet Starters in the style of the original Pokémon Red and Blue, leaving others to wonder what a fully pixelized version of Generation Nine’s European-style world would look like.
Twitter user and online pixel artist sindorman realized this concept in their latest Pokémon fan animation, which features the player character, Sprigatito, Fuecoco, Quaxly, and the newly revealed Grass-type Smoliv in a colorful 2D overworld that would feel right at home on the Game Boy Color. The small, animated sprites and chiptune music (which is the Viridian City theme from the original Pokémon Gold and Silver) capture the feel of the older Pokémon generations quite well, with plenty of other Twitter users in the comment section praising sindorman’s post and wishing that it could be a full game.
There have been several interesting Pokémon Scarlet and Violet developments since the initial reveal announcement, such as even more new Pokémon (including the two new Pokémon Legendaries Koraidon and Miraidon) and official confirmation of Scarlet and Violet’s November release date. The recent Pokémon Scarlet and Violet trailer also teased four-player co-op, introduced fans to the two new Professors that will be helping them on their journey to collect every species of Pokémon, and even contained a brief look inside one of the franchise’s trademark Poké Balls.
Pokémon Scarlet and Violet seem like an evolution for the long-running Pokémon series, but fans will always have nostalgia for the simpler 2D entries that originally took the world by storm in the late 90s. Sindorman’s latest fan animation does an impressive job of translating the new world of Pokémon Scarlet and Violet into the art style of these older Pokémon games, giving players a taste of how Generation Nine could have looked during the Game Boy era. Fans will be able to jump into the next generation of Pokémon when Pokémon Scarlet and Violet launch on the Nintendo Switch later this year.
Source: sindorman/Twitter