PokémonDiamond&Pearlare definitely having a moment. Speculation surrounding an unannouncedremakeand a recent beta sprite leak have both contributed to buzz that is putting the Sinnoh region back on the map.
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The leaked beta sprites were just early sketches of their eventual selves, but they served as a reminder of the awesomeness of the fourth generation, and of just how much fun that first trip to Sinnoh was. In honor ofGiratina’s glow-up, let’s take a look at the two-dimensional glory ofPokémonDiamond & Pearl, and decide which sprites we love, and which ones are lame.
10Love: Turtwig
Sure, Turtwig is cute, but so are the other starting Pokémon. What makes this littlegrass-typegreat is the fact that he is both cute and tough at the same time. He may have stubby little legs, but they are clearly going to grow into the limbs of a giant earth-bending reptile. He may have a boyish smile, but his lips are also the jaws of a snapping turtle. And to top it all off, the two little leaves on his head make it look like he’s wearing a tiny green propeller hat. Which is justthe best.
9Lame: Sudowoodo
With the appearance of a slowly melting, wooden hot dog with grapes for fingers and a haunting smile for a face, Sudowoodo’s sprite is hard to take seriously. If the player looks for too long, it can actually become horrifying.
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This oddly shaped rock-type is actually a stalwart combatant, and a rather difficult find in the wild. It is also the third pokémon Brock catches in the show’s Hoenn episodes, and a familiar face from two previous games.
8Love: Toxicroak
Toxicroak makes this list mainly because it looks like a cool sci-fi villain. This poison andfighting-typehas velociraptor claws for hands, a shark’s fin for a forehead, a giant red gullet, and a devilish smirk that just looks like bad news. And it is bad news, especially when players face a very poison-happy version of this sprite in the battle against Saturn, a Team Galactic higher up. Alas, no one can really blame Toxicroak for a life of crime. When someone looks like a poison dart frog that knows krav maga, they don’t have many other options.
7Lame: Bronzong
Pokémondesigner Mana Ibehas dreamt up designs for some of the coolest characters from the last 25 years. She also dreamt up Bronzong, which may be one of the more outlandish things gamers have ever laid eyes on. It looks like a manatee, a gong, and a metallic octopus were all melted into a pot and then given prison tattoos. Its proportions make zero sense. Also, how is it floating, and where is the mouth? And holy cow, where are the eyes?!
6Love: Infernape
For many young Pokémon players, thefire-typestarter can be hard to resist. After all, fire is awesome, and the fire-type usually evolves into the coolest looking beast of the three starting options.The fourth generationwas no exception to this trend. If eager players went online and researched what the starters would level into, they found that the cute little Chimchar would evolve into an armored karate-ape with wise eyes and a crown of flames. Not only was this fire/fighting hybrid the coolest looking monster inDiamond & Pearl(arguably), it was also one of the strongest. Which makes this sprite pretty lit.
5Lame: Golem
Golem isn’t nearly as lame as some of the other sprites on this list. It’s not painful to look at, and at least it makes sense. But that’s sort of Golem’s problem: it makes a little too much sense. The sprite is just a big rock with arms, legs, and a little nubby head. That’s kind of it. At a glance, it looks almost like an angry meatball or a slightly crushed cluster of oats, which is definitely not ideal. A rock-type clobber-monster should not be making anyone hungry.
4Love: Drifloon
Not only does Drifloon have an adorable little wisp of cloud for a hat, it also has a super fun combination of abilities as both a flying and aghost-typePokémon.
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Drifloon’s sprite is a fun realization of the whimsical idea: what if a balloon came alive? And it raises some interesting questions. For example: how fast can this thing float? If it pops, can it fix itself? Is that a nose, or a patched up rip? Do Drifloons like hugs, or do they stress them out? And how hot is the air inside?
3Lame: Mr. Mime
While many pokémon havechanged considerably since their beta designs, Mr. Mime has always been lame and quite creepy. Perhaps it is because he’s just too human looking. Perhaps it’s because he wears a blank, psychopathic smile while beating other pokémon into submission. Or maybe, it is because mimes represent a dark and repressed part of the human psyche that calls upon the dark urges of mortality. Who’s to say, exactly? But what’s for sure is that Mr. Mime’s sprite was lame, andstill is.
2Love: Palkia
Palkia’s sprite looks just as hardcore as the lord of the spatial dimension should. Giant shoulder plate complete with a shiny gem? Check. Blade-like wings that may or may not serve a purpose? Double check. An oblong neck with a face that promises decimation to all enemies of truth and justice? Yeah, Palkia looks pretty darn cool.
1Lame: Dialga
The real issue with Dialga’s sprite is the head. There is just too much going on. It’s shaped like an ovular, pointy egg, and it has… how many horns? Four? And why are they all pointing in different directions? And why is there a giant fan over the hindquarters? And how does any of this costuming fit inside thePokéball? This is the lord of time here folks, not a mechanized unicorn. If only Dialga could roar back in time to get his sprite redesigned into something other than a steam-punk brontosaurus.
