Pokémon Sprite Discussion [from RBYG to XY]

[Flamboyant]

^ HAHAHAHA. Laughed so hard there xDD

Brown Porygon anyone?
KWAK! I didn't know Ekans had a duck beak.
LOL
WHAT THE--
Waaaay to scary!
Hurr Hurr! Big and hairy Gengar
Tentacles!

And of course, for the 11111th time... GOLBAT.

[CaptKirby]

(sorry for the lack of sprites, but no images allowed under 15 posts; an understandable rule to prevent trolling I guess!)

I have never been quite so randomly bemused as accidentally stumbling onto this thread. Except Sydian, none of you understand the slightest bit about the humor of the game that the sprites represent (absurd, expressive, free flowing at times), let alone the fact that the game was made to be about monsters. That word was included in the name of the game for a reason! There is a reason that sprites here are wicked looking, and also often laughing/amused. That this changed is not because the sprites became better, but rather because the games after GSC were solely, 100% guaranteed about preserving the series and the money flowing in, not about presenting anything fun or good looking. I am not saying every sprite in RB is good (probably around 80%?), nor in GSC (probably around 60-70%?), but it goes down to 10% or less in every game afterward.

Especially puzzling is people calling out Blastoise, Golbat, Haunter, and Kangaskhan in particular. Haunter is one of the few very best sprites ever made in any video game!

Blastoise is not pointlessly fat in the way that any monsters were in DP (Magmortar, Electivire, Rhyperior, Tangrowth, et cetera). The huge bulk is to make it an absolute bully, as you can see from its very well designed eyes. The mouth adds a bit of meanness, but also completes the absurdity and humor of it all. Even without reading into all that, one look tells you that this sprite looks good, unless you need a sprite to look "slick" or something.

Golbat is absolutely monstrous. The long teeth, the oversized tongue wagging out so ridiculously far, and the incredible length of its mouth...all completed by anime cat styled eyes, making the whole affair just a bit more absurd. The reason you are all so attracted to it is not because it is bad, but because you seem to think it needs to look "good" and slick again...
Haunter is the perfect combination of the humor and monstrous effects that the creators of this game were in love with. The wicked eyes, the intensely curled, clutching fingers, the sharpness of the whole creature, all with an obvious sense of Haunter having the laughing time of its life. The last part is lost by the next game (Yellow), and the sharpness goes nearly as quickly afterward. The effect is that one of the best sprites in video game history turns into the most generic rubbish it possibly could.

(Kangaskhan) "Oh my gosh, you're so cute, yes you are, yes youuuu are!" should be the reaction of anyone to these sprites. The eagerly excited mouth and eyes, the baby (especially when it is calling for mommy!), the cuddly largeness, and the awesomely clear detail of all the texture makes it so this sprite really stands out. After these games, that was lost, and Kangaskhan just looks like a clumsy bear like beast, kind of like an even uglier Ursaring.

Not every sprite is good in GRB, but there was a detail, a free flowing humor, and a sense of wickedness that was completely lost. In GSC, they substituted that with cuteness while retaining some of the humor. In ADV, it was completely sold out. In fact, a lot of monsters seemed to be purposely ugly in ways like coloring. Technology made it easy to use whatever colors they wanted, and it also made it easy to throw out sprite designs with absolutely no effort at all, so they just made everything possible generic and totally lacking expression. Apparently you all think this is a good trend, but technology is no substitution for creativity. HGSS is the absolute bottom, evidenced by sprites like Jolteon...we really cannot go much lower than this.

[Sydian]

Hey! I like you, kid. ;) While I won't say I hate all newer sprites, I can't agree with you more on the HGSS Jolteon. That's the one reason I don't even want one in HGSS. It just looks horrendous. RGBY Jolteon looks great. I can't explain why, though. It's just got a charm that I really like. Golbat used to scare me, but hey, was that not the point?

Just remember, this thread is for fun. Nothing too serious. But it's good to see someone else digs old sprites. :P

[CaptKirby]

I know it is not "too serious", but everyone is getting their kicks endlessly insulting good sprites...it is really annoying!

Definitely not just Jolteon though....Hoot Hoot and Noctowl are two of the worst sprites I have ever seen (not topping ADV Haunter ). "Dear God" status to Gengar and Electrode ;____; The shading is off on a lot of stuff too (even Gyarados mentioned below, but the rest of that one is so hilarious and powerfully posed that it is fine).

The only ones I can really say I liked from all of HGSS are Raikou, Muk, Lugia, Raticate, and Gyarados. Those are all really positive designs...which makes it all the more frustrating that they do not care to put that effort in on every monster.

[Myles]

I think you're confusing 'so bad it's good' and just plain 'good'. Haunter is one of the most simple sprites ever. A black zig-zag with a white outline and face. And I don't think the theme was suppose to be humor.

[CaptKirby]

I do not see where I could possibly be confusing so bad it is good with anything, since I never called anything bad good. Haunter's RB sprite is not simple - you can tell the designers paid attention to the body design, the mouth, the eyes, the hands, the overall posing, and they even kept the Gastly styled texturing going despite evolving it from a poofball. Even if none of these were true, simplicity is not bad and can very much breed elegance. Simplicity is only bad when it is sloppy and lazy, which is what Haunter unarguably becomes afterward (if not GSC, ADV+).

[560cool.]

CaptKirby , I am saying these for good : I LOVE YOU !!!

You just stumbled in our lauggh of good stuff . In our stupidity and broke it . Pokemon is Pocket MONSTERS !! M-O-N-S-T-E-R-S are scary . Supposed at least ...

Now I love the Green Charizard the yellow Mewtwo the Green Dragonite and the Golbat . Yep , you just changed my way of seeing sprites .

Now this will take up a BUNCH of space but I need proper thanking :

THANK YOU VERY MUCH FOR CHANGING MY SPRITE UNDERSTANDING , CAPTKIRBY ! HONESTLY !

Sorry , it ain't actually spam ...

[Aureol]

Here are just some oddities I've noticed in Red and Blue:



His skull is ABOVE his eyes...



Looking good as ever. Poor guy, not much room for upgrade?


OMG, Venonat->Butterfree??? Just kidding...


He looks like he's running out of air in that box he's making.


You're a round little guy, aren't you?


I might be blind, but if it wasn't for the fact it was my Pokemon, I would have no idea what the heck that thing was.


AND we've got a bit of a head/wing proportion issue here.

[Kon~]

The thing I always hated was Mankey's backsprites. Every Kanto game I play, I chose Charmander and then caught Mankey to beat Brock.

This does not look good.
"It's fun to stay at the... Y! M-C-A!"
This looks even worse:
I'm sorry. Are those antennae? Tentacles? Whatever they are, they're lanky and misshaped. o.0

And then we skip ahead to FR/LG (the next place I caught Mankey early on)
"It's fun to stay at the... Y! M-C-A!"
And the backsprite:
Now THAT looks like a Mankey!

In all, my favourite Mankey sprite is Gold's:

Oh yeah. He looks like a fighting type. Just look at that Low Kick in action. :D

And while I'm on R/B playthough,

Wow. His beady little eyes are... burning into my soul...

[Thingula]

Has anyone ever noticed the discoloring of Pokémon sprites? For example, Bulbasaur's flower on its back should be blue, but when in viewing its 16x16 sprite, the bud is green, which is the coloring for a shiny Bulbasaur. As most of you may know, Turtwig's face should be green, but when he's following you on HG/SS, his face is turquoise.

Any thoughts about this?

[Sydian]

Yeah, HGSS Espeon and RSE Espeon are different colors. HGSS's is a lighter pink color whild RSE looks more purple. I'd post pictures, but I'm really lazy. :<

[560cool.]

I was also intriguided by Bulbasaur issue .
In his PMD facesprite it is also blue and in the OW he's green .
I just tried turqoise Turtwig too and it's a modern sprite oddity . 0_O
I'll probably email Nintendo about it, but now I'm pure lazy ... :I

~`!|900th POST|!'~

[king wtch]

okay in firered and leafgreen give new sprites at all kanto pokemon but also they give from jotho only to eddiursa why???????/

[musesum626]

I really wish they'd go back to actual more-than-2-frame animations like they had in Crystal. I mean really, what's up with all the sprites in Emerald shrinking/stretching as part of their animation?

[coconutberry]

It's not the same sprite from Johto. It looks similar, but it's still redesigned. What are you talking about?

[Bluerang1]

As much as I dislike Johto's Pokemon (the first ones) I must admit, the sprites are absolutely awesome!! Really animated and real.

[Heart's Soul]

I took a look and the following sprites are weird (too lazy and tired to post pictures)

Kakuna (why does it have claws if it can barely attack)
Pidgey family (okay...)
Wigglytuff is a perv
Golbat (for the 11112nd time!)
Vileplume (it must have stopped eating)
Diglett and Dugtrio were made by MS Paint
Machop family (all of them look bad)
Graveler (it has 4 arms and legs, it's standing on it's arms!)
Slowbro (think about it, us pervs)
Gastly has no body (but Haunter is awesome)
Exeggcute (steroids)
Chansey is too thin
Mewtwo is not the "most epic pokemon you'll ever face"

[NickofTime]

Just no registeel.... no heiling.....

[Muffin™]

^ Yea, they had to remove it in Europe because it looked like Hitler's salute.

[Kon~]

I'mma post some more, because I love sprites:

Is it just me, or does Venonat look really... emo-ish here? His hair is black and lanky, and he seems more subdued than, say...
...this, where he's all happy and jumpy.

I recently noticed Salamence's backsprite has turned into a giraffe:
Normal, dragon-ish, you can see his wing...
WOAH! Where did THAT neck come from?!

This is just for fun. Lugia is playing a piano. :D
That is all.

[Fire Wolf]

"I guess I should do exercises regularly so I'm not that fat..."

[Koratah]

I'll be checking out Houndoom + Tauros. I wanted to do Girafarig and Stantler too, but the post became too long and it's getting late.
HOUNDOOM

Spoiler:

(G) Where did his back leg go?
(S) ..Why is he red? His body is awkward, too.
(C)This is more like the traditional Houndoom we know today. Its howling looks a bit like it's going "MOOOOOOO."
(R/S) I find this awkward. He looks kind of cross-eyed. D:
(E) I like the frame when he's howling, and if he didn't do that weird shaky-rumble thing, it'd be cool.
(DP)This...I don't like this. But it's better than the HGSS one.
(Plt) What.. is this? It's so boring!

TAUROS

Spoiler:

(RB) -gigglesnort-
(G) Better, but it's still quite wonky.
(Y)- Colors were murdered. Pose is alright, but the shading is off..
(G)- I really like this one. It's very light, though.
(S)- Colors fixed(a bit bright), but I like the pose of Gold's better.
(C)- I liked this one a lot. Good animation. :> colors go back to light again.
(RS)-It's kind of.. fat?
(FRLG) I always lol at this one. Tiny feets!
(E) Nothing to report here. Just bad animation and fatness.
(DPPT) I have to say, I don't like this sprite much. Awkward.

[ggctuk]

Originally Posted by 560cool.

Y : Oh yeah ! Yazz got smaller heads !!!

G : Hah ! I am more righteous than you loser !!

They cheated! Gold's sprite is just a recolour of Yellow's!

[Eeohnex]

Originally Posted by Fire Wolf

"I guess I should do exercises regularly so I'm not that fat..."

Haha seriously, I don't know how Pikachu gets that fatty after it evolves, he really needs to go on a diet and exercise a little bit more.

[Mongo]

Two best sprites ever...