An extremely talented artist has transformed all of the Pokémon Sword & Shield Gen 8 additions into Game Boy sprites, and the result is a predictable but potent mixture of appeal and nostalgia. Pokémon Sword & Shield, which release in 2019 to widespread critical praise despite a rough build-up to its launch due to controversy, introduced a slew of new Pokémon to the game at the cost of reducing the overall number of creatures available for capture.
While Pokémon Sword & Shield brought the mainline series to a console for the first time and thus stepped up the game's environmental design, the franchise as a whole has a storied history of memorable art styles. For long-time fans, the most memorable is likely the oldest - Pokémon Red & Blue Game Boy sprites are immediately recognizable, even if they're a far cry from how Pokémon are depicted now, and they carry with them decades of game design changes and shifts in art direction. For some, the idea of a new Pokémon game being ported into sprite form has a lot of appeal, though the effort alone means it's an unlikely dream.
That's why art from talented creators like Pat Ackerman - patackart on Twitter - is so important, as it gives fans of the franchise a window into the past while treading new ground. The art, which was tweeted out by Ackerman earlier this week (reported on by Go Nintendo), covers the entirety of the Generation 8 Pokémon that were introduced in Sword & Shield (at least, it does after a few tries - Ackerman humorously excluded a few in his first few tweets). Some standouts include the starters and the Galarian Legendary Bird Pokémon, who are great points of comparison since their original forms already have official sprite art from the Game Boy era.
It's clear while looking through Ackerman's art that a lot of the designs port surprisingly well to a Game Boy sprite design, with some of them creating some remarkable visual distinctions in tight space and even looking better than their 3D counterparts. Fan response has been positive too, with many expressing a similar level of surprise regarding the quality of the designs while being ported into such a confined art style.
While Ackerman's compelling take on Pokémon Sword & Shield sprite art is fun to peruse, it's also a reminder of how far the series has come. With 3D models the norm, however, it does raise the question of whether or not a Game Boy sprite retro take on a new Pokémon title would be worth consideration from Game Freak and Nintendo. There's clearly a lot of room for designs to shine even through the lens of nostalgia, and given how many adult Pokémon fans have stuck with the series for years, there's likely a market for that kind of retro approach. If that never happens, though, at least talented artists like Ackerman are taking the time to hit the sweet spot between nostalgia and modernity for the die-hard Pokémon fans out there.
Source: Patrick Ackerman/Twitter (via Go Nintendo)