Pokémon Battle Revolution by developer Genius Sorority was not an incredible recreation. Launched in North America in 2007, it served as Pokémon’s Wii debut, however was roughly an extension of the DS video games Pokémon Diamond and Pearl. Successfully a 3D battle simulator, it made aggressive fights extra compelling to observe, however as a online game, it was an absolute nothing burger. It has no actual story content material, and far of the sport is spent pitting your groups, made in one other recreation, in opposition to pre-set challenges. Nonetheless, it provided essentially the most detailed fight animations the sequence had ever seen. And now, whereas the sport has been largely forgotten by most of the people, in mild of conversations surrounding the animation high quality of the Pokémon sequence, followers are wanting again at Battle Revolution with kinder eyes.
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To be honest to everybody concerned, Battle Revolution being so barebones is probably going why it could put a lot love into animating all of the Pokémon in its simulated battles. It helps all of the Pokémon from the primary 4 generations, from Bulbasaur to Arceus, and since there’s not a lot recreation surrounding these battles, plenty of work went into capturing the essence of almost 500 monsters.
A number of the finest examples are within the fainting animations. On the time, all most Pokémon video games had had been sprites that disappeared from the display screen when a monster was knocked out. Just like Pokémon Stadium earlier than it (a number of of the sport’s animations iterate on what Stadium and its sequel did on the Nintendo 64), Battle Revolution has authentic animations for every Pokémon once they faint, they usually vary from a critter merely falling unconscious to one thing rather more theatrical.
For instance, take Honchkrow. The darkish/flying-type chook wears a fedora, and when it falls in battle, it dramatically flails again and, simply earlier than returning to its Pokéball, suggestions its hat to its opponent as an indication of respect. It’s not simply the fainting animations, although. There are little touches in every Pokémon’s actions that convey an actual sense of character. Roselia places its fingers on its hips and does a sassy stroll because it recovers from an enemy assault. Ferocious Pokémon like Houndoom roar and snarl from their aspect of the battlefield. Even when it doesn’t straight present Pokémon in a scrap, Battle Revolution takes plenty of care to painting who a Pokémon is, and it’s enjoyable to look again on after 17 years.
A part of what makes Battle Revolution’s animations distinct in comparison with even fashionable 3D Pokémon video games is that battles permit Pokémon to make seen contact once they use assaults. As a rule, video games like Scarlet and Violet animate battles so Pokémon can keep of their designated spot on the sector. Even bodily assaults like a punch or a kick are animated as such, with a fast graphic of a fist or a foot placing the goal, somewhat than the Pokémon itself strolling throughout the display screen to strike. However I’ve distinct recollections of my Raichu and Torterra strolling over to an enemy to assault with Iron Tail or Wooden Hammer. Now, those self same strikes are portrayed with a dismembered appendage somewhat than with Raichu strolling over and slamming a steel tail in opposition to an enemy.
Whereas Battle Revolution’s lack of options and content material is probably going why it could dump time and sources into making each Pokémon look and act distinct, the Wii recreation has been, maybe unfairly, cited in ongoing conversations about fashionable Pokémon recreation animations and Recreation Freak’s reasoning for casting off the Nationwide Dex that features each Pokémon in newer video games. On the top of this controversy (recognized colloquially as “Dexit”) in 2019, long-time sequence producer Junichi Masuda defined that, amongst different causes like recreation stability, growing video games like Sword and Defend on the Change allowed the group to create “larger high quality animations,” and reducing the variety of Pokémon in a recreation is an effective technique to hold that hypothetical high quality intact.
“There are a few completely different elements to the pondering behind it, however actually the largest cause for it’s simply the sheer variety of Pokémon,” Masuda advised USGamer. “We have already got properly over 800 Pokémon species, and there’s going to be extra added in these video games. And now that they’re on the Nintendo Change, we’re creating it with a lot larger constancy with larger high quality animations.”
In the end, nevertheless, taking a look at Sword and Defend or Scarlet and Violet, it’s clear that Matsuda’s argument about higher-quality animations hasn’t actually panned out, particularly once you have a look at these video games alongside the animations in Battle Revolution. (The validity of Masuda’s claims stays a daily speaking level inside the Pokémon neighborhood in conversations concerning the high quality of newer video games.) There are, in fact, a dozen different components as to why Scarlet and Violet are a buggy mess and why its animations aren’t on the stage of one thing like Battle Revolution. Recreation Freak isn’t growing these video games in isolation; they’re one part in an unlimited multimedia franchise that makes most of its cash from merchandise. As a lot because the hardcore fanbase desires to imagine The Pokémon Firm’s predominant focus is on the video games we purchase yearly, the cash tells a distinct story.
Broadly, the Pokémon sequence has plenty of nice methods and character design in place, however Recreation Freak’s translation of those concepts right into a 3D house has at all times been missing. Wanting an entire overhaul of how these video games are developed, I’d be shocked to see a mainline Pokémon recreation attain this similar stage of animation high quality that Battle Revolution possessed, particularly because the sequence has lastly surpassed 1000 Pokémon with Scarlet and Violet. However wanting again at what Genius Sorority was capable of accomplish on the Wii when all it actually needed to care about was whether or not or not the Pokémon battles appeared good somewhat than creating a brand new world with RPG methods on prime of designing model new monsters, it’s onerous to not think about the probabilities.
