Pokémon Designs That Looked Better In The Classic Games

Pokémon Designs That Looked Better In The Classic Games

Pokémon designs from Ruby and Sapphire onward tend to not see any changes moving forward, since the series itself was highly solidified at that point. But some elements of the designs can see big alterations, and the best example of this is the Gen 5 Pokémon Purrloin. In Black and White, Purrloin’s sprite matches its official artwork, sitting down on all four paws. Starting with the Pokémon anime – which rarely overlaps with the games – and in every game starting with X and Y, however, Purrloin is depicted as bipedal, massively changing its primary silhouette and how the Pokémon is generally perceived. 

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Purrloin’s steps into bipedalism admittedly come with a few benefits of its own, including an especially cute animation where it puts its paws up, and its scratching animations read a bit more clearly. But this still doesn’t match the effectiveness of its depiction in the anime, where Purrloin stands with much more swagger compared to the simplistic A-pose of Purrloin in the games. In terms of individual animations, Purrloin’s 2D sprite also puts up its paws, although it’s an idle animation in Pokémon Black and White. This could still translate into 3D, making its bipedalism a choice that wasn’t strictly necessary. 

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It’s possible that Purrloin was originally conceptualized to stand on its hind legs, since it’s meant to be a thieving parallel to the luck and wealth-bringing Meowth. Surprisingly, even Meowth underwent a similar design change, originally featuring much shorter back legs so that it could sit similarly to a fortune-bringing maneki-neko. Although only Team Rocket’s Meowth possessed the ability to walk on two legs, this eventually became the standard for the entire species. 
But regardless of the initial drafts, the choice was made somewhere along the line for Purrloin to sit on all fours in Pokémon Black and White and their sequels. This fits its evolution into Liepard much more, and it also helps hide the fact that Purrloin’s belly is just a single solid shade of purple. If there was some sort of pattern on Purrloin’s stomach similar to the teardrop shape on its back – in addition to more personality in its standing pose – its shift to bipedalness could be much more justified. 

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Gastly Was A More Incorporeal Pokémon Originally

Gastly is a lost Cloyster pearl surrounded by poisonous gas, but it wasn’t always this way. In its most classic appearances, Gastly was an entirely amorphous ball of gas, far more fitting for its spectral design. Starting in Yellow Version, taking from the anime, it was given its Cloyster body, but appropriately maintained wisps of gas surrounding it at all times, keeping the incorporeal look. This is the design Gastly has kept to this day, but it wasn’t helped in the 3D Pokémon games. Starting with Pokémon X and Y, Gastly’s gaseous form feels flatter than in the 2D sprites, which are rendered with more colors and in a way that makes them feel round and almost cloud-like. The flatness makes it lose its gaseous feel – one of the only indicators that it’s part Poison-type. 
Tangela’s Original Pokémon Design Made Better Use Of Its Vines

Tangela is another Cloyster pearl gone rogue, this time in some bright red kicks and covered in vines. The vines don’t have any leaves on them, contributing to its overly simple appearance. Such simple designs were the norm for a large chunk of original Pokémon designs, but they don’t hold up as well today against the large variety of designs the series now sports. Tangela is an especially remarkable example, since it also received some minor but noteworthy changes over the years. Originally, the Pokémon Tangela featured much looser vines that tapered off to more noticeable points. The loose vines give them the appearance of being able to extend, retract, and otherwise be used as limbs. 

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As Tangela’s design was solidified, its vines took on a much more solid, less pliable appearance, and they don’t taper nearly as much, featuring rounded ends rather than pointy ones. This was likely done to give Tangela a friendlier, less monstrous look and broader appeal. Still, modern Tangela looks far more likely to use hidden, extendable vines to interact with its surroundings rather than its visible vines, which isn’t nearly as good a use of its discernible design. Its Gen 4 evolution Pokémon Tangrowth, although keeping the rounded vines, returns to the species’ roots by having clearly evident extendable arms. 
Electrode’s Classic Pokémon Design Is Detachable Like The Original Poké Balls

Electrode’s design has technically never changed, but the way it was meant to be interpreted has. Pocket Monsters was originally conceived as “Capsule Monsters,” and Poké Balls were capsule balls like the ones housing toys in toy vending machines. Although not obvious at first, this was kept in the original Pokémon games as far in as Gold, Silver, and Crystal: when thrown, the top and bottom of Poké Balls separate entirely, just like a capsule ball. Some of the most classic official artwork made by the original series artist Ken Sugimori also shows Poké Balls with the tops and bottoms completely separated, lying on the ground in the midst of battle after its housed Pokémon has been sent out. While some elements of Poké Balls remain mysterious, Poké Balls with hinges were established early in the series’ life through the anime and other art depictions. Despite this, the games still kept the original capsule design for a little bit. 

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Since it’s based on Poké Balls, that means Electrode’s original design is also based on their classic capsule design. Further Sugimori artwork depicts Electrode using Explosion, during which it pops open just like a capsule ball. Although Electrode and its pre-evolution Voltorb are notoriously simple designs with unremarkable silhouettes, the idea that they once had detachable lids and bases gave them a unique trait. Now they don’t even have the hinges of modern Poké Balls, making their original Pokémon series concept inherently more interesting. 

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#Pokémon #Designs #Looked #Classic #Games

Pokémon Designs That Looked Better In The Classic Games

Pokémon designs from Ruby and Sapphire onward tend to not see any changes moving forward, since the series itself was highly solidified at that point. But some elements of the designs can see big alterations, and the best example of this is the Gen 5 Pokémon Purrloin. In Black and White, Purrloin’s sprite matches its official artwork, sitting down on all four paws. Starting with the Pokémon anime – which rarely overlaps with the games – and in every game starting with X and Y, however, Purrloin is depicted as bipedal, massively changing its primary silhouette and how the Pokémon is generally perceived. 

googletag.cmd.push(function() { googletag.display(‘div-gpt-ad-1535570269372-ccr3’); });

Purrloin’s steps into bipedalism admittedly come with a few benefits of its own, including an especially cute animation where it puts its paws up, and its scratching animations read a bit more clearly. But this still doesn’t match the effectiveness of its depiction in the anime, where Purrloin stands with much more swagger compared to the simplistic A-pose of Purrloin in the games. In terms of individual animations, Purrloin’s 2D sprite also puts up its paws, although it’s an idle animation in Pokémon Black and White. This could still translate into 3D, making its bipedalism a choice that wasn’t strictly necessary. 

googletag.cmd.push(function() { googletag.display(‘div-gpt-ad-1535570269372-ccr4’); });

It’s possible that Purrloin was originally conceptualized to stand on its hind legs, since it’s meant to be a thieving parallel to the luck and wealth-bringing Meowth. Surprisingly, even Meowth underwent a similar design change, originally featuring much shorter back legs so that it could sit similarly to a fortune-bringing maneki-neko. Although only Team Rocket’s Meowth possessed the ability to walk on two legs, this eventually became the standard for the entire species. 
But regardless of the initial drafts, the choice was made somewhere along the line for Purrloin to sit on all fours in Pokémon Black and White and their sequels. This fits its evolution into Liepard much more, and it also helps hide the fact that Purrloin’s belly is just a single solid shade of purple. If there was some sort of pattern on Purrloin’s stomach similar to the teardrop shape on its back – in addition to more personality in its standing pose – its shift to bipedalness could be much more justified. 

googletag.cmd.push(function() { googletag.display(‘div-gpt-ad-1535570269372-ccr5’); });

Gastly Was A More Incorporeal Pokémon Originally

Gastly is a lost Cloyster pearl surrounded by poisonous gas, but it wasn’t always this way. In its most classic appearances, Gastly was an entirely amorphous ball of gas, far more fitting for its spectral design. Starting in Yellow Version, taking from the anime, it was given its Cloyster body, but appropriately maintained wisps of gas surrounding it at all times, keeping the incorporeal look. This is the design Gastly has kept to this day, but it wasn’t helped in the 3D Pokémon games. Starting with Pokémon X and Y, Gastly’s gaseous form feels flatter than in the 2D sprites, which are rendered with more colors and in a way that makes them feel round and almost cloud-like. The flatness makes it lose its gaseous feel – one of the only indicators that it’s part Poison-type. 
Tangela’s Original Pokémon Design Made Better Use Of Its Vines

Tangela is another Cloyster pearl gone rogue, this time in some bright red kicks and covered in vines. The vines don’t have any leaves on them, contributing to its overly simple appearance. Such simple designs were the norm for a large chunk of original Pokémon designs, but they don’t hold up as well today against the large variety of designs the series now sports. Tangela is an especially remarkable example, since it also received some minor but noteworthy changes over the years. Originally, the Pokémon Tangela featured much looser vines that tapered off to more noticeable points. The loose vines give them the appearance of being able to extend, retract, and otherwise be used as limbs. 

googletag.cmd.push(function() { googletag.display(‘div-gpt-ad-1535570269372-ccr-REPEAT6’); });

As Tangela’s design was solidified, its vines took on a much more solid, less pliable appearance, and they don’t taper nearly as much, featuring rounded ends rather than pointy ones. This was likely done to give Tangela a friendlier, less monstrous look and broader appeal. Still, modern Tangela looks far more likely to use hidden, extendable vines to interact with its surroundings rather than its visible vines, which isn’t nearly as good a use of its discernible design. Its Gen 4 evolution Pokémon Tangrowth, although keeping the rounded vines, returns to the species’ roots by having clearly evident extendable arms. 
Electrode’s Classic Pokémon Design Is Detachable Like The Original Poké Balls

Electrode’s design has technically never changed, but the way it was meant to be interpreted has. Pocket Monsters was originally conceived as “Capsule Monsters,” and Poké Balls were capsule balls like the ones housing toys in toy vending machines. Although not obvious at first, this was kept in the original Pokémon games as far in as Gold, Silver, and Crystal: when thrown, the top and bottom of Poké Balls separate entirely, just like a capsule ball. Some of the most classic official artwork made by the original series artist Ken Sugimori also shows Poké Balls with the tops and bottoms completely separated, lying on the ground in the midst of battle after its housed Pokémon has been sent out. While some elements of Poké Balls remain mysterious, Poké Balls with hinges were established early in the series’ life through the anime and other art depictions. Despite this, the games still kept the original capsule design for a little bit. 

googletag.cmd.push(function() { googletag.display(‘div-gpt-ad-1535570269372-ccr-REPEAT7’); });

Since it’s based on Poké Balls, that means Electrode’s original design is also based on their classic capsule design. Further Sugimori artwork depicts Electrode using Explosion, during which it pops open just like a capsule ball. Although Electrode and its pre-evolution Voltorb are notoriously simple designs with unremarkable silhouettes, the idea that they once had detachable lids and bases gave them a unique trait. Now they don’t even have the hinges of modern Poké Balls, making their original Pokémon series concept inherently more interesting. 

googletag.cmd.push(function() { googletag.display(‘div-gpt-ad-1550597677810-bta’); });

#Pokémon #Designs #Looked #Classic #Games