The fan Pokémon project features original art styles with Arceus-style gameplay

Longtime fans of the Pokémon franchise may remember the early retro art style of Ken Sugimori, illustrator of the graphics used for the original Pokémon games. Sugimori’s art style is much less bold, vibrant, and polished than the work in early games. Nevertheless, it has its very own charm and is still fondly remembered today. For example, fans still love the original chubby Pikachu. But what if we revisited that pen and marker style for a modern Pokémon title? Fans have solved this mystery and the result is stunning.

A fan account has posted images of what a Sugimori-inspired Pokémon game could look like; The bio, which is in Japanese, explains that they create fan art of Pokémon from another era. It’s a way to see characters and creatures from the original games from a new perspective, or to bring the potential of an old title to life with modern upgrades. The theme of the account is that they produce lost titles from a space-time distortion; It’s a fun way to explore a long-lived and well-loved franchise.

Imagining what a game looks like is definitely fascinating Pokémon Legends: Arceus could look like it was done through this super nostalgic lens. The colors are muted and soft, and the creatures Red encounters are downright adorable. It’s worth watching the clip in 3D for the chubby PIkachu alone, although there are plenty of other recognizable mons roaming free.

The report also shares a look at other intriguing alternate realities, such as a sword and Sign-Take over era Pokémon Stadium

With such an extensive backlog of games across multiple systems and generations, it’s no surprise that fans enjoy mixing and matching the different styles from all ages. While many of us have long since left the Kanto region behind, a video like this gives a huge boost of nostalgia – and fans are already itching to see what an official version of this concept might look like.