Worst Pokemon Sprites?

I was in the search of bad Conquest sprites... when I found this.
Spr_3e_008.png
This is not a shiny.
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This is the shiny. EMERALD WHAT DID YOU DO?! YOU HAD IT RIGHT IN RS!
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And the trend continues.
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FRLG.
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Not as bad, but still very purple.
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At last.
 
So I was bored and browsing Bulbapedia today, and came across Lugia's page. Came down to the sprites page and...

Spr_2g_249.png

Gold: It has a "finger" sticking out kinda weird.

Spr_2s_249.png

Silver: The game it's the mascot of, and it looks like it's doing a bellyflop. Ocean dweller, yeah, but still.

Spr_2c_249.png

Crystal: *wags tail, types invisible keyboard* Nope.

Spr_3e_249.png

Gen 3: I've covered some oddly angled sprites before, but this one takes the cake for how weird it looks. Emerald's animation, too.

Spr_4d_249.png

DPP: Not bad while still, although, that's not how wings work.

Spr_4h_249.png

HGSS: Fixed the wings issue, but still looks like some turbulent flying.

lugia.gif

Gen 5: You know when you are in the pool and try to clap your hands underwater, only to have your arms move slowly? That's what Lugia's wings are doing here.

lugia.gif

Gen 6: Got the wing motion right, but that pose... I'm no expert on the subject, but that does not look very aerodynamic.
 
michaeloche said:
Spr_4h_249.png

HGSS: Fixed the wings issue, but still looks like some turbulent flying.
Click to expand...

I wouldn't expect Lugia to fly perfectly with that structure anyways.

Moving on...

rhydon.gif
This model bugs me. They didn't have to have its tail raised like that.
Spr_4h_112_m.png
Spr_4p_112_m.png
These sprites still look good enough and while these sprites have some issues, the lack of the Kung-Fu pose kinda makes up for it.
They could've gone for a sprite with the tail on the ground, being a burden for it and give Rhydon a simpler battle-ready pose, like this
poliwrath.gif
, of course without the leg movements.
 
OneManFreakShow said:
I wouldn't expect Lugia to fly perfectly with that structure anyways.

Moving on...

View attachment 50227 This model bugs me. They didn't have to have its tail raised like that. View attachment 50228 View attachment 50229 These sprites still look good enough and while these sprites have some issues, the lack of the Kung-Fu pose kinda makes up for it.
They could've gone for a sprite with the tail on the ground, being a burden for it and give Rhydon a simpler battle-ready pose, like thisView attachment 50230, of course without the leg movements.
Click to expand...
Talking about moaning on 3D sprites, I don't like that Hitmontop's 3D model is not upside-down.
I mean, all other Hitmontop sprites have it upside-down, even including PBR, so why is it suddenly right side up now?
Spr_6x_237.png

Hitmontop--screenshot_large.jpg
 
Came across this little gem the other day: FRLG Blastoise.

Spr_3f_009.png


You have to look a little close to see it, but that face is really derpy. That eyebrow and the goofy smile gives a rather dump appearance. Especially disappointing considering this was the sprite of the starter one third of the players would choose, one would think they'd have put a little more work into it.

Also, in the same game, we have this Blastoise sprite in the credits:
Spr_3f_Blastoise_credits.png

Why not use that one instead?
 
Speaking of Kanto starters, I am a proud member of Team Bulbasaur...which means spending the last third of a FRLG run looking at this:
003.png

Not terrible, although it could be a lot better. As with so many others, however, the cake-taker is the shiny sprite:
003.png

Yet another puke-green sprite.
Fortunately, by Gen VI, both have improved:
003.gif

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I very much like the teal and softer shade of puke green better.
 
Codraroll said:
Came across this little gem the other day: FRLG Blastoise.

Spr_3f_009.png


You have to look a little close to see it, but that face is really derpy. That eyebrow and the goofy smile gives a rather dump appearance. Especially disappointing considering this was the sprite of the starter one third of the players would choose, one would think they'd have put a little more work into it.

Also, in the same game, we have this Blastoise sprite in the credits:
Spr_3f_Blastoise_credits.png

Why not use that one instead?
Click to expand...
I dislike almost every Blastoise sprite there is, and maybe even its design in general. The Blastoise FRLG credits sprite looks cooler than its usual sprite, but it seems its head is ill-proportioned to its body. Either that or it's sticking out too much. It makes the shell look like a hunchback. I don't think it's much of an improvement, though I'm glad it just looks cool, and not annoyed or like a bully anymore. This is more like a 'realistic' kind of anger.

But like I said, those aren't the only Blastoise sprites I dislike.
009.png
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These look awful, especially the first and second (Geen and Red/Blue). Yellow is a little better. No, I will have to rephrase that. It's slightly less horrible. The faces, the poses, everything is off about these three.

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I think these are better, even though you've pointed out the FRLG one specifically because you find it bad. I just really dislike how annoyed, sadistic and mean these look. Like it has become a bully or something. Its mouth has opened weirdly as well.

009.png
009.png

In DPPt it sort of looks cool, but again with that annoyingly smug face. At least it also looks determined, and if I try hard enough I might be able to appreciate it. But then HGSS destroys any hopes I had for Blastoise by really making it look like a mean prick. Squirtle's innocence has been forever lost...

009.gif

Can the 5th Generation remedy this? Well, at least it drew inspiration from the DPPt pose, and not HGSS. Thank God for that. It still looks sort of mean though...

009.gif

The XY model doesn't improve in that sense either. Now it just looks full of itself and arrogant.

So up until now I had been thinking that I just disliked Blastoise design and that was it. That was unfortunate, but at least it seemed like Blastoise was meant to be a bully from the start. I could accept it. But you might wonder why I left out the 2nd Generation. That is, because I looked it up after seeing your post. And I actually liked those Blastoise sprites.

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In first sprite (Gold) it looks both kind and determined, and in the second one (Silver) it mostly looks determined, but I don't get any mean vibes from it. In the third sprite (Crystal) it playfully wiggles its tail to show you affection/happiness, and then pulls its cool and determined face to show the enemy that it's time for business, time to get serious. That's not a bully at all. That's your best friend, your companion, the tough monster that will fight for you to protect you and save the world, but will joke around and be fun and even sweet just for you!

Too bad it's not even naturally available in GSC...

Now that I have seen these 2nd Generation sprites, I'm having difficulty accepting Blastoise as a bully. But that would contradict the trend that has been present in every Generation after it.
-sigh-
 
^Looking through that post, I realized that most of the Gen. VI textures don't do the designs much justice. Was Blastoise ever meant to be so pale? Vibrant colours have been the way to go in all previous generations with the hardware to support it, but the models almost look washed-out and grey. I hope the textures are touched up a little in future games.
 
Codraroll said:
^Looking through that post, I realized that most of the Gen. VI textures don't do the designs much justice. Was Blastoise ever meant to be so pale? Vibrant colours have been the way to go in all previous generations with the hardware to support it, but the models almost look washed-out and grey. I hope the textures are touched up a little in future games.
Click to expand...
It works wonders for some things, such as the puke-green shinies, which do look a fair bit better with a paler texture.
 
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The Gen 6 models are mixed to me, since all the colors are a touch washed-out (I posted this before but Gengar and Shiny Gengar are now practically identical when it used to be easy to tell them apart) and the Sky Battle forced flying makes for some awkward (or hilarious, aka the Xatu missle) poses. It also exposed some design weaknesses in pokemon that are easier to look cool as sprites (like all of the gassy pokemon like Koffing). Some more complicated designs (like Magmortar) didn't translate very well into a 3D model either. Although the only decent Magmortar sprite is the HG/SS one.

But at the same time I've got to give the animation team props. The "standby" poses don't do them justice, they really come to life when attacking, taking a hit, or giving a victory roar. I was surprised on how many little details they snuck into the attack animations, and most pokemon have more than one (Greninj's judo chop vs. his ninja-art pose for example). Even the tiny details like going to sleep or that backwards glace the give the trainer when their affection level is high.
 
I think the colours of the 3D-models fit better with the in-game colours now that everything has a more 'realistic' look to it. Real life isn't that saturated either, and it adds to the feel of realism. The washed-out colours only sort of bother me when I see them in direct comparison to saturated ones. In-game I like them just fine.
 
BlubBlobbery said:
I think the colours of the 3D-models fit better with the in-game colours now that everything has a more 'realistic' look to it. Real life isn't that saturated either, and it adds to the feel of realism. The washed-out colours only sort of bother me when I see them in direct comparison to saturated ones. In-game I like them just fine.
Click to expand...
Same here. I remember a while ago someone posted the reasoning behind this 'washed out' brighter coloring. It had to do with the 3D modeling, and there was basically no other option, if I understood it correctly.
 
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Been a while since I last posted in this thread.

michaeloche said:
Spr_3e_249.png

Gen 3: I've covered some oddly angled sprites before, but this one takes the cake for how weird it looks. Emerald's animation, too.
Click to expand...
About that... I think the pose was more meant to be less in motion and more as a cool pose. Maybe the Emerald animation is a bit weird, but I can tolerate it.

What I can't tolerate, however, is that they fucked up the scale colors, which are supposed to be a navy blue. It looks cooler, sure, but it's the 3rd generation! How can you screw up the colors like this?!

And before you say that was Lugia's original coloration, or something like that, the anime, 2nd gen official artwork, and early sprites showcased Lugia with the normally-colored blue scales.

Also:

Spr_4d_472.png


What the hell IS this abomination?

Also, the reason the XY models' colors are more fleshed-out is because of the 3DS's hardware limitations. Pokemon X and Y was pushing the 3DS fairly hard, hence why.
 
Fluke said:
Looks a bit like this disgusting smiley face:
smile-teeth-black.png
Click to expand...


This is probably how Glalie's smile would look like without its hockey mask welded on its face
362.gif
.

Moving on...
Dewgong isn't the most creatively designed pokémon but these two sprites in particular look like they could be used on an ice-cream brands logo:
dewgong.png
and
dewgong (1).png
.

Also it's sad how Seel got uglier in Gen1 games.
seel (1).png
---->
seel (2).png
---->
seel.png


Well, at least it looked cute in Pokémon Pinball.
 
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Spr_1y_052.png


The Blue and even Japanese Green (albeit it did look a bit fat) sprites made Meowth look pretty good, so WHY did Yellow have to screw him over?
 
Yellow was my first Pokemon game. I skipped Red and Blue, so I had no idea how absolutely atrocious the Pokemon looked in those games. Of course, that might have been due to my bias, since those games were apparently released before the anime that redesigned them (thank god). So of course, when I first played Yellow, I was shocked at how poor the back sprites looked. I had no idea that they were somewhat more logical if you take the front sprites of Red/Blue into consideration (and even then, still not really, because the smallest square is a cluster of 2x2 pixels of the same color). The sprites don't match up at all, but now I realize that it was just because they were too lazy to update the sprites.

So why didn't they update the sprites? I've always been wondering.. Did I just answer my own question by saying that they were too lazy? Or were they perhaps short on time, and they had to rush to get Yellow out as soon as possible to rake in all the cash? At least if they didn't redesign the sprites, they slightly recolored them. Come to think of it, why were the back sprites so pixelated in the first place? I guess I can accept and understand how they looked vastly different from how they did in the anime, but that doesn't exactly justify how each back sprite is an ugly blob of color. Was it simply somehow due to the lack of memory in the technologically-limited Game Boy at the time?
 
Fluke said:
Yellow was my first Pokemon game. I skipped Red and Blue, so I had no idea how absolutely atrocious the Pokemon looked in those games. Of course, that might have been due to my bias, since those games were apparently released before the anime that redesigned them (thank god). So of course, when I first played Yellow, I was shocked at how poor the back sprites looked. I had no idea that they were somewhat more logical if you take the front sprites of Red/Blue into consideration (and even then, still not really, because the smallest square is a cluster of 2x2 pixels of the same color). The sprites don't match up at all, but now I realize that it was just because they were too lazy to update the sprites.

So why didn't they update the sprites? I've always been wondering.. Did I just answer my own question by saying that they were too lazy? Or were they perhaps short on time, and they had to rush to get Yellow out as soon as possible to rake in all the cash? At least if they didn't redesign the sprites, they slightly recolored them. Come to think of it, why were the back sprites so pixelated in the first place? I guess I can accept and understand how they looked vastly different from how they did in the anime, but that doesn't exactly justify how each back sprite is an ugly blob of color. Was it simply somehow due to the lack of memory in the technologically-limited Game Boy at the time?
Click to expand...
Back Sprites are unfortunately never updated throughout the entire series for the most part; aside from a few exceptions in FRLG. Alakazam has 3 different sprites between DP, Platinum and HGSS but it's back sprite stays the same.
 
Fluke said:
Yellow was my first Pokemon game. I skipped Red and Blue, so I had no idea how absolutely atrocious the Pokemon looked in those games. Of course, that might have been due to my bias, since those games were apparently released before the anime that redesigned them (thank god).
Click to expand...
The anime did nothing. The original Ken Sugimori art (made during the creation of Red and Green) show all 151 Pokémon looking like you think they would (baring some minor things like Pikachu being chubbier).
 
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