meanspartan
Member
Hey guys, just a reminder.
This is what Pokemon actually looked like back then.
Still not FireRed.
Here's Firered Charizard.
Bingo. This is what I mean with a more "monster" like, less anime look. I miss it.
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Anyone Miss the Old 1st Generation Pokemon Art Style?
- Thread starter lordchompy
- Start date
Bingo. This is what I mean with a more "monster" like, less anime look. I miss it.
MetroidPrimeRib
Banned
Yeah, Sugimori's art is really classic and I like it.
But I don't think it'd fit very well with the new spritework and isn't eternal like Toriyama's
But I don't think it'd fit very well with the new spritework and isn't eternal like Toriyama's
Super Stardust
Member
Damn you google image search lol similar enough I guessStill not FireRed.
Here's Firered Charizard.
ArchedThunder
Banned
I miss the old Sugimori artwork. I'd love to see Haxorus in that style.
I miss fat pikachu too.
not this monstrosity it has turned into
Man, new Pikachu looks totally fine. I really don't see anything wrong with it. This feels like people hating a thing just because it's different from what they grew up with.
HAVING SAID THAT, yes, a lot of the old pokemon art was really cool and I miss the watercolor style.
Next time just try serebii or bulbapedia,
MetroidPrimeRib
Banned
What the hell does anime look even mean?
Anime and manga looked different back in the 90s too. And in the 00's, and it looks different now.
It's not like it was going to stick to Tezuka and Nagai style forever.
Well yeah, very few Pokemon have actually seen a change in a design...the series is pretty consistent. But the watercolour style and a lot of the poses of some of the Pokemon gave so much life to the pictures. By "Nowadays it's just a standard pink blob" I meant because the art style of the series has changed it's never anything more than near solid pink, with a more standard pose. No "tail things" or anything.
I mean, with the original picture you've got shades of blue in there...it just seems more interesting to me. Most of the artwork captures my imagination more. I don't do art at college or anything, and I can't draw very well since I haven't drawn in years so I don't feel I can critique it. I just prefer the way it looks. The Pidgeot some guy linked further up is a great picture too. I guess the point I was trying to make is that even though Ditto has a really simple design, the change in art style is really noticeable.
Unrelated, but I found these alternate pieces of artwork for all the original 151 pokemon by Sugimori: http://imgur.com/a/usM2N
Check out that Golem exploding! And Weepinbell hurling up sludge...some of those are pretty odd. It's cool how some of them show other Pokemon getting beat up.
Super Stardust
Member
Wow never knew bulbapedia had sprites, just checked it out now has every single one
And_Gignac
Member
What is this chibi blasphemy?
I really liked that old watercolor artstyle. The poses the pokemon had seemed a lot more charismatic as well.
This old art-style brings me some memories.
Gengar as boss as ever.
foxuzamaki
Doesn't read OPs, especially not his own
Lapras went from being fierce looking to being.. well, why is he smirking?
Thing is you think of lapras as a he, I always associate Lapras with the female gender.
Spring-Loaded
Member
That artwork didn't translate to the game. The pokemon sprites were hideous even at the time.
Robin64
Member
The new one is definitely feminine.
D
Deleted member 231381
Unconfirmed Member
This is true for RGB. Yellow actually has some really good translations of Sugimori's early art. For example, Yellow still has the best in-game portrayal of Charizard in the whole series.
KeeSomething
Banned
I liked the old art better since it was more distinct. You could see that it took inspiration from Dragonball, but it ended up being it's own thing entirely (the watercolor really helped give it its own identity).
Pokemon, today, looks like generic anime. I think they are drawn better (the hands of the humans in Blue/Red look bad), but they are more generic.
Pokemon, today, looks like generic anime. I think they are drawn better (the hands of the humans in Blue/Red look bad), but they are more generic.
Although I agree, the OP is being extremely selective. You show pictures with Pokémon on all of them along with promotional artwork, and then show just the player characters for the argument?
The new lead designer since Gen V, Yusuke Ohmura, makes the worst designs in my opinion. Even in Gen V, Sugimori still made some human characters like Ghetsis and N, both of which are great designs in my opinion.
I really do think that Gen III was the perfect period when it came to Sugimori designs. Here are some examples:
Sugimori's new art is really cool too, but he rarely does this anymore:
This is a good way of telling what is Sugimori art and what's done by Ohmura. The bottom-right is actually not Sugimori's style, but rather Ohmura's.
Although I feel that concept art and art direction of Pokémon got worse in the transition to Gen V (loved Sinnoh's art direction -- best in the series in my opinion) the in-game art has gotten a lot better in Gen VI.
The new lead designer since Gen V, Yusuke Ohmura, makes the worst designs in my opinion. Even in Gen V, Sugimori still made some human characters like Ghetsis and N, both of which are great designs in my opinion.
I really do think that Gen III was the perfect period when it came to Sugimori designs. Here are some examples:
(The Lucario one is really nice since it has that recognizable watercolour look)
Sugimori's new art is really cool too, but he rarely does this anymore:
This is a good way of telling what is Sugimori art and what's done by Ohmura. The bottom-right is actually not Sugimori's style, but rather Ohmura's.
Although I feel that concept art and art direction of Pokémon got worse in the transition to Gen V (loved Sinnoh's art direction -- best in the series in my opinion) the in-game art has gotten a lot better in Gen VI.
ComputerMKII
Banned
I do and I don't even play Pokemon.
WrenchNinja
Member
Really is the stuff of nightmareAhhh never forget this magical golbat
Dion Blaster
Member
I honestly don't get that, either.
I don't see how the poses there have any less personality or are any less generic than those above.
I guess it really is super subjective, but those look much blander in poses and facial expressions to me (not to mention the gen 1 water colors that I love). Not saying the art you posted is bad though.
Amazeballs
Member
Fun fact they had to adapt the style of Yellow's sprites to look like the anime because the latter was the more appealing style at the time.
D
Deleted member 231381
Unconfirmed Member
I only partially buy this line, because a fair few of Yellow's sprites are obviously closer to their Sugimori equivalents than to the anime.
Not75Drops
Member
Remember when Dragonite looked bad ass?
Still one of my all-time favorite Pokesprites.
I always thought that was one of the worst Dragonite sprites.
Still, it beats the Green sprite (like many others) by a mile
i don't really mind both types of artwork. they're the product of a different era and have different strengths. i'd be intesresting to see how many people prefer the old NES-era Mario style vs the styles of the following decades.
but in-game, no contest. the newer games look miles better. some of the old sprites were so bad and looked so different that it caused some sort of disconnect. i was happy when the pokes began resembling their artwork with each sucessive gen more and more.
but in-game, no contest. the newer games look miles better. some of the old sprites were so bad and looked so different that it caused some sort of disconnect. i was happy when the pokes began resembling their artwork with each sucessive gen more and more.
foxuzamaki
Doesn't read OPs, especially not his own
Remember when Dragonite looked bad ass?
Still one of my all-time favorite Pokesprites.
No, I remember the distinct thing about dragonite was how not badass it looked yet it was a monster.
tiggerkiddo
Member
First and Second generation art style was the best, I loved how he colored them.
I miss fat pikachu too.
Fat Pikachu looks absolutely terrible. I can't believe anyone would actually like this. He looks like he's incapable of movement.
WrenchNinja
Member
That's what explosion is supposed to look like? That's horrifying
Off-Kilter
Banned
strangedopamine
Member
Still, it beats the Green sprite (like many others) by a mile
That's Dragonite after about 10 shots of vodka.
Glittering Crux
Banned
I think his trainer art has gotten A LOT better.
There isn't much of a difference between the watercolor and digital Pokemon art. A lot of the poses are identical or mirrored. There are Gen 1 Pokemon with more dynamic traditional art and Gen 1 Pokemon with more dynamic digital art. That said I definitely would like to see Sugimori draw the newer Pokemon traditionally because I enjoy traditional art. I think his art style has improved immensely since Gen 1 overall.
It'd be cool to see him do more illustrations like the ones below.
There isn't much of a difference between the watercolor and digital Pokemon art. A lot of the poses are identical or mirrored. There are Gen 1 Pokemon with more dynamic traditional art and Gen 1 Pokemon with more dynamic digital art. That said I definitely would like to see Sugimori draw the newer Pokemon traditionally because I enjoy traditional art. I think his art style has improved immensely since Gen 1 overall.
It'd be cool to see him do more illustrations like the ones below.
Yeah.
There were some other pretty freaky ones. I didn't want to post them for the children's sake.
Like Ditto and Eggsecutor especially. (Eggsecutor looks like an Attack on Titan guy. Stomping on things with that facial expression...)
Freeman
Banned
G1 was where Pokemon peaked for me, FireRed being the best version of Pokemon for me.
If you went back in time and showed my young self how Pokemon games are today you would get punched in the mouth. The way this series evolved is completely disappointing.
I still dream with a fully realized Pokemon world, rendered with awesome graphics, where rare pokemons are really rare (your mind would explode if you ever encountered a Legendary pokemon), player could organize and compete on leagues for prizes, you could challenge other player you encountered, pokemon would have dynamic personality and their appearance would have slight variations according to their stats. I would buy two WiiUs for a game like this.
If you went back in time and showed my young self how Pokemon games are today you would get punched in the mouth. The way this series evolved is completely disappointing.
I still dream with a fully realized Pokemon world, rendered with awesome graphics, where rare pokemons are really rare (your mind would explode if you ever encountered a Legendary pokemon), player could organize and compete on leagues for prizes, you could challenge other player you encountered, pokemon would have dynamic personality and their appearance would have slight variations according to their stats. I would buy two WiiUs for a game like this.
I always thought that was one of the worst Dragonite sprites.
Still, it beats the Green sprite (like many others) by a mile
Wow.... I forgot how bad that green sprite really was.
My nostalgia demands you take back those words about Red/Blue Dragonite!
foxuzamaki
Doesn't read OPs, especially not his own
I think his trainer art has gotten A LOT better.
There isn't much of a difference between the watercolor and digital Pokemon art. A lot of the poses are identical or mirrored. There are Gen 1 Pokemon with more dynamic traditional art and Gen 1 Pokemon with more dynamic digital art. That said I definitely would like to see Sugimori draw the newer Pokemon traditionally because I enjoy traditional art. I think his art style has improved immensely since Gen 1 overall.
It'd be cool to see him do more illustrations like the ones below.
I had X and Y legendaries as my desktop background for a long while cause the art looked so good lol
Looking at that, I think what's bothered me the most about pokémon art is the human themselves, I prefer the old character designs ala the upper left corner way more than the latest ones. It's definitely gone downhill from 4th gen onwards
foxuzamaki
Doesn't read OPs, especially not his own
BTW, why did the original koffing sprite change from
to
No, you got it wrong, it was always suppose to be on the bottom but they had to put it at the top because of sprite limitations
Yaphett Kotto
Member
The thread is about appreciation towards the art style back then and how it still holds up to this day, rivaling the modern art style.
Somehow, it has turned into "omg keychains."
lmao
btw poliwrath was an og back then
Somehow, it has turned into "omg keychains."
lmao
btw poliwrath was an og back then
Every gen 1 thread in a nutshell.
It followed the Red and Green sprite instead.BTW, why did the original koffing sprite change from
to
