1st Gen Our favorite sprites and official arts of Gen I era

[Itcheeee]

I'm glad I'm not the only one who noticed how adoreable Squirtle is there xD
I personally like the actuall 1st gen art and sprites, kinda wish they had retained those details.

 

[Precious Tears]

I'm a fan of Nidoking's for sure.

Exeggcute always made me laugh, giant egg takeover!

Wigglytuff, those eyes stare into your soul.

Believe it or not, it's my first time seeing that Nidoking sprite! I haven't caught or seen a Nidoking in Gen I games. There were only three Moon Stones back then and four Pokemon needed that stone to evolve.

That giant Exeggcute, screams 'boss,' don't you think so? ;)

If only Wigglytuff has a great metagame stat to compliment those charming eyes... >:)

I'm glad I'm not the only one who noticed how adoreable Squirtle is there xD
I personally like the actuall 1st gen art and sprites, kinda wish they had retained those details.

I agree. The modern sprites are actually beautiful. But a bit too beautiful, too formal, a bit too perfect that they lose that spunk and edginess.

 

[Hikamaru]

Ah, I actually love the sprites from Pokemon Yellow most of all, from Gen I! Some of my personal favourites:

Love Lapras's sprite. So majestic!

Chansey's is so adorable! I love the detail of the shading in this!

Such majestic wings Butterfree has...

These are my faves, mainly because I like the colouring and the fact I find them adorable. Butterfree in particular was definitely an all-time fave of mine.

 

[Mawa]

The Yellow's Dragonair!



Yellow's Sandslash!




Yellow Arbok!


Red/blue ninetails


There is something I always liked about Paras :3


And take a look at this Yellow's Rapidash!


Back in the days Cloyster looked Badass


And Haunter was the real creepy thing!

I mean, look at this!


And don't forget my little baby :3


Oh and I always loved this one!


And no wonder why Flareon was my favorite Eeveelution!


Yellow has some great Sprites !! I left some other out!

 

[TheBaconToastie]

 

[curiousnathan]

I always loved Hitmonlee's sprite! It looks so dynamic.

 

[Sun]

The Yellow's Dragonair!



Yellow Arbok!


And Haunter was the real creepy thing!

I mean, look at this!

While I personally prefer

The sprite from Yellow looks great as well!

Th Yellow Arbok is one of my favorites, it perfectly depicts Arbok's scariness and elegance.

The Yellow Haunter is friendly and refined but I prefer the one from Blue.

That Hitmonlee is hella good.

 

[Eruption]

I could literally post all of the original Sugimori art, it all looks so nostalgic. I love how dated they look. I think it helps that many were used on trading cards.

My favourite of those was Pidgeot who looks cool and menacing, but I really liked Mewtwo and Lapras' art too.

As for sprites, my favourite was the Arcanine one posted on the first page.

I also quite like Charizard's back sprite, but that is pure nostalgia from seeing it so much. I mean this is hardly the best sprite in the world.

 

[Hikamaru]

I always loved Hitmonlee's sprite! It looks so dynamic.

As they say, Hitmonlee sprites aren't what they are without showing it kicking.

 

[TheBaconToastie]

As they say, Hitmonlee sprites aren't what they are without showing it kicking.

Indeed. I think the last time it had a good sprite was Pokemon Emerald.

 

[kingkaiultraron]

Gotta say these

 

[Rivvon]

Go compare at Red and Nate's character art style, you wouldn't believe they were drawn by the same person!

Actually, they are not. Nate (and most of the human characters from gen 5) were drawn by Yusuke Ohmura, not Ken Sugimori. Starting from HGSS, there were always some, if not most, human characters drawn by someone other than Sugimori. The Pokémon are always drawn by him, though.



I know everyone likes to talk about "chubby Pikachu," and...well, I'm one of those people who loves chubby Pikachu, too! But I'm gonna be honest here, I think RG's chubby Pidgey is the best sprite, along with Blue's chubby Nidoran F.

A lot of Pokémon from gen 1 have very round silhouettes (is that a Poké Ball, a Voltorb, an Electrode, or ... a Jigglypuff as seen from above?), and some of the ones that we think of today like Nidoran or Pikachu who have more unique silhouettes happened to be more rounded back in gen 1. It's super interesting to see how those things change. I'm generally not a huge fan of gen 1's sprites because a lot of them are really...frightening... But some are really fun, I must admit. Another one I love is Blue's Sandshrew, who looks a lot more like a pangolin in terms of his scale texture:

 

[Sun]

Actually, they are not. Nate (and most of the human characters from gen 5) were drawn by Yusuke Ohmura, not Ken Sugimori. Starting from HGSS, there were always some, if not most, human characters drawn by someone other than Sugimori. The Pokémon are always drawn by him, though.

Thanks for clarifying this part! No wonder those eyes stare into my soul!

I take it that Hilbert and Hilda were still drawn by Sugimori? (:

 

[curiousnathan]

I forgot how different Sandshrew looked! Wow, the memories.

 

[Rivvon]

Thanks for clarifying this part! No wonder those eyes stare into my soul!

I take it that Hilbert and Hilda were still drawn by Sugimori? (:

Yup, they were indeed! So was N (in BW, not in B2W2), Ghetsis (also in BW, not B2W2), and the Juniper family.

 

[Sun]

I know everyone likes to talk about "chubby Pikachu," and...well, I'm one of those people who loves chubby Pikachu, too! But I'm gonna be honest here, I think RG's chubby Pidgey is the best sprite, along with Blue's chubby Nidoran F.

A lot of Pokémon from gen 1 have very round silhouettes (is that a Poké Ball, a Voltorb, an Electrode, or ... a Jigglypuff as seen from above?), and some of the ones that we think of today like Nidoran or Pikachu who have more unique silhouettes happened to be more rounded back in gen 1. It's super interesting to see how those things change. I'm generally not a huge fan of gen 1's sprites because a lot of them are really...frightening... But some are really fun, I must admit. Another one I love is Blue's Sandshrew, who looks a lot more like a pangolin in terms of his scale texture:

Yes, yes I know my response for the main course is late. :P
Nidoran F though, dang that brings a lot of memory. I used to love that round bunny-like design. (: I do admit that once they refined the sprites in Yellow version, I just lost my interest.

Pidgeot's Red/Blue and Red/Green sprites are amusing. :B You'd like to look at those eyes of it. :D

Yup, they were indeed! So was N (in BW, not in B2W2), Ghetsis (also in BW, not B2W2), and the Juniper family.

Thanks for the informative knowledge, I had no idea about Nate and Rosa were drawn by Ohmura. :o

 

[kingkaiultraron]

Could say something about Golbat and Mew but everyone else has probably covered those.

.
But then there is moltres.

There is just something weird about these sprites.

Surprised not many people bring up pidgeot, something about its eyes just looks strange.

Articuno speaks for itself really, I am not sure what to say to this other then it terrified me as a child along with its cry sending shivers down my spine when I first encountered it.
https://youtu.be/mp0zSqYHWkw

 

[Sun]

Could say something about Golbat and Mew but everyone else has probably covered those.

.

Grrrr my creativity is tempting me to add that tongue and those wings to that Mew sprite.

But then there is moltres.

There is just something weird about these sprites.

I love the Red/Blue Moltres, it looks like an art piece tbh. The Red/Green one... Hmm this is what I have to say about it.

Spoiler:

Surprised not many people bring up pidgeot, something about its eyes just looks strange.

C'mon, it looks sweet! ;)

Articuno speaks for itself really, I am not sure what to say to this other then it terrified me as a child along with its cry sending shivers down my spine when I first encountered it.

That Articuno is like a frozen chicken. Now let the chicken chill in the sink!

 

[kingkaiultraron]

Pidgeot is actually my favorite sprite from the games, I would always train Pidgeotto in Digletts cave to level 36.
That sprite easily has the most nostalgia behind it for me since I had it every game because I always found it strange without the more aggressive eyes it usually has.
As for Pokemon green there is something about all the sprites eyes in that game that creep me out.

.
The gen 1 sprites have charm that I just do not see in any other games.

Articuno was definitely the one that scared me the most as a child, even more then Golbat

In green Articuno looks way less strange but it looks like an alternate Togetic evolution

 

[Sun]

In green Articuno looks way less strange but it looks like an alternate Togetic evolution

I will never see the Togepi family in the same way again!