An artist went viral online after re-creating Pokémon Scarlet and Violet's trailer using the classic art style of the Pokémon Manga. After months of silence, Game Freak gave players a deeper look at Gen 9 with a Pokémon Scarlet and Violet gameplay trailer in June. The footage revealed several of the game's features such as an online co-op mode and version-exclusive Pokémon Professors. A talented artist made waves online after reimagining the gameplay trailer in the 90's art style of Game Freak's Ken Sugimori.
When the Pokémon franchise was launched in 1996, many of the 151 Gen 1 Pokémon were designed by Japanese artist Ken Sugimori. In 2022, the Pokémon Manga illustrator is now one of the main artists for the Pokémon Trading Card Game. Although his work on the Kanto region RPGs is now over 26 years old, many fans have wondered what the Game Freak games would look like if they still used the classic artwork.
Pokémon artist pokeyugami answered the question with a video they shared on Twitter, which re-created Pokémon Scarlet and Violet in the Gen 1 Pokémon Red and Blue art style. The fan took the June gameplay footage and transformed it into a new trailer using Ken Sugimori's signature art direction.
The 30-second video is an incredible shot-for-shot re-creation of the gameplay trailer from June. In the clip, the artist depicts the Pokémon Scarlet and Violet protagonist walking through the Gen 9 region with a 3D engine that looks just like the classic Pokémon Manga from the 90s. Below is a breakdown of how the classic-manga trailer compares to the official Pokémon Scarlet and Violet trailer from June.
Pokémon Scarlet and Violet Gen 9 Starter Battle
In the second Pokémon Scarlet and Violet trailer, players are introduced to a new trainer named Nemona. According to the Game Freak, the young trainer will act as an assistant in the Gen 9 RPGs and will teach players the game's basic battle mechanics. Although not confirmed, many fans have theorized that she may also end up being one of the rivals in Pokémon Scarlet and Violet.
In one sequence, Nemona can be seen battling the protagonist early in the game with the new Pokémon Pawmi. Pokeyugami accurately mirrors the scene in their manga reimagining, by showing the protagonist throwing out Gen 9 Pokémon Scarlet and Violet Starter Sprigatito into battle against the young trainer.
The Pokémon Scarlet and Violet scene is also the first time players get to see the Gen 9 Starters Fuecoco, Quaxly, and Sprigatito in battle. While players still don't know what their final evolutions will be, the fan-made trailer gives players a look at what the Gen 9 Starters would have looked like if Pokémon Scarlet and Violet had been designed by Ken Sugimori in the 90s instead.
Pokémon Scarlet and Violet Gen 9 Pokédex
The June Pokémon Scarlet and Violet trailer also gave players their first look at a handful of new Gen 9 Pokémon. Throughout the 3-minute update, players are introduced to Pawmi, Smoliv, and Lechonk. However, the star of the second trailer was the Scarlet and Violet Legendary Pokémon Koraidon and Miraidon, which were revealed alongside the game's box art.
Although the Pokémon Scarlet and Violet Legendaries were the most important thing revealed in the June update, a scene with Smoliv has been a big hit with fans. In the sequence, the Gen 9 protagonist can be seen sneaking up behind the grape Pokémon, before startling it with a Poké Ball.
Pokeyugami re-creates the adorable moment in their viral trailer, by depicting the timid grape Pokémon wandering through the grass. Staying with the themes of the 90s art style, the trailer makes the moment even better by having Smoliv chatting with a chubby version of Pikachu from the Kanto mangas.
Pokémon Scarlet and Violet Co-Op Mode
Another major moment in the Gen 9 trailer is the reveal of a new Pokémon Scarlet and Violet Co-Op Mode which allows up to four players to explore areas of the map together. In the three-minute video, we can see multiple players meeting up in the overworld with their first partner Pokémon by their side. Because the RPG is an open-world title that can be tackled in any order, it's unclear how expansive the co-op mode is going to actually be.
The fan-made Manga trailer by Pokeyugami gave a nod to this new multiplayer feature in a scene that shows a Pokémon Scarlet protagonist speaking to another Pokémon Violet player. Seeing the two protagonists in the Ken Sugimori art style is really impressive, and shows the great lengths the artist went to faithfully match most of the gameplay trailer with the retro manga remake.
Incredibly, this isn't the first time that Pokeyugami has re-created popular Pokémon games using the retro Gen 1 art style. In May, the artist went viral for their Pokémon Red and Blue Manga remake video which reimagined the classic Game Boy games with a 3D version of Kanto region created in the style of Ken Sugimori.
Although the Pokémon series has made major leaps after launching decades ago, every generation always honors the past. For instance, the Scarlet and Violet Gen 9 Pokédex has already been confirmed to have many Kanto Pokémon in it. So while the artwork from Pokémon Red and Blue is now seen as a retro, many fans still feel nostalgic about Ken Sugimori's work from the Kanto region even with Gen 9's release on the horizon.
Pokémon Scarlet and Violet will officially release on Friday, November 18th, and will mark the debut of Gen 9. Based on the two trailers released so far, the Nintendo Switch RPGs look to be Game Freak's most ambitious projects to date. From its seamless-open world map that can be tackled in any order to the online co-op mode, Gen 9 might end up being the series' biggest game ever released.
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Source: pokeyugami/Twitter