Best Sprites?

[Yarnchu]

I actually like that pose they put Mewtwo in. I just wish they hadn't made it so small looking....

 

[Flygon1]

I have to admit that the newer sprites are much prettier in terms of colors, size, and shading, but they seem to have departed from the original Pokemon feel. For instance, Pikachu has gotten distorted and malformed from Yellow's cute, chubby mouse in Generation IV. And there really is no excuse for what happed to Lugia's legs in its HG/SS sprite, or... well, you all know what happened to Jolteon. On the other hand, Raikou's proportions were greatly improved in HG/SS, with the longer legs. In summary, the older sprites are better, even more so when they're revamped.

 

[Elliekat]

I'm quite partial to the RSE sprites. They have soft outlines and nice colors which makes them look pretty. The new sprites have colors that are too bright and make the Pokemon look strange or flat.

 

[Butterfree]

You see what I mean now? xD; Sorry for any... suffering I forced on people, but it had to be done. *slaps Blastoise on the back*

Anyway, I found an article on what they call 'The Demise of Sprites'. It explains my opinion quite nicely.

I really find that article rather puzzling. Many of the sprites he's ridiculing look just fine, really, and those that don't are largely being criticized for completely the wrong reasons. Meanwhile, bizarrely, he's praising the really rather tiny-looking Lugia, the just plain weird-looking Gyarados, the painfully awkward-looking Houndoom and the awfully off-balance Kabutops. And I do not understand how he can possibly consider the R/G/B sprites in any way superior to any later sprite set. Though there are a few good ones among them (clearly drawn by the only competent artist working in the company at the time), most of them are simply very poorly drawn from any objective standpoint and anatomically nonsensical.

In my opinion:

R/G/B: A few of them were clearly drawn by a decent artist and actually look quite good. Most of them, however, as I said, are anatomically nonsensical and extremely awkwardly drawn.

Yellow: Most of them look absolutely lovely. But nonetheless, several are undeniably awkward, usually by looking a lot chubbier than they ought to (Pidgeotto, Nidorina, Cubone, Jynx, Pinsir and Tauros come to mind), and several, while looking fine in their own right, just really don't quite look like themselves (Fearow looks softer and has none of the aggression that usually characterizes it; Rhydon really looks quite feminine; Jolteon doesn't look as spiky as usual; Articuno looks like a completely different bird) and some of the poses look awfully stiff (especially Moltres, Nidoqueen and Rattata).

G/S/C: The main problem with the G/S/C sprites is that a lot of them have weird or awkward proportions and many Pokémon are just plain weirdly shaped. A lot of them have heads that are too big compared to their bodies (Charizard, Rapidash, Rhydon, Croconaw, Ampharos, Sneasel, Slugma) and many have body parts that simply look severely misshapen or just don't have enough definition in their shape: Charizard's head in Silver is just plain awful, as is Pidgeot's crest in Gold; Marowak's head looks too soft and vaguely shaped in both Gold and Silver; Scyther's head looks very weird in both; Moltres's wings have no definition; the Gold version Houndoom's hind legs are nonexistent; Raikou's head looks demented all the way until Crystal; Tyranitar's head is just odd; Raichu just looks horribly misshapen in both; I could go on. A lot of it, I think, is just that the frames were so small.

R/S/E: Usually quite good. Only a few Pokémon look seriously off (Charizard, Butterfree, Nidorino and Lugia most so in my opinion; somewhat less, Nidoqueen, Jolteon, Moltres, Houndoom and Suicune).

FR/LG: No idea what that article-writer was on about with them being bad; I find most of them to be an improvement over the R/S sprites, with Charmander, Rattata, Rapidash, Scyther and Articuno being the main ones to look worse to a significant extent as far as I'm concerned, and even some of those aren't necessarily bad so much as just not as good as the R/S ones. There are a couple of other awkward ones, but overall they're quite good.

D/P: Mostly look great. Some are awkward, and many looked better in R/S or FR/LG, but nearly all of them are quite all right. Some have odd shading, but no matter what people say I really don't find this all that noticeable or problematic.

Platinum: Most are better than their D/P counterparts and in more dynamic poses or look about equal, with a few that are worse (Rampardos comes to mind).

HG/SS: There are several very awkward-looking ones and many that were definitely better in D/P or Platinum, but really, most are just fine, and the good ones are epic. For some reason, the one that stands out the most to me is Scizor, whose pose looks so badass it almost makes me want to evolve a Scyther when I look at it. The most problematic thing about them overall, I think, is that a lot of them feel less well shaded than D/P.

 

[Chopsuey]

HG/SS: There are several very awkward-looking ones and many that were definitely better in D/P or Platinum, but really, most are just fine, and the good ones are epic. For some reason, the one that stands out the most to me is Scizor, whose pose looks so badass it almost makes me want to evolve a Scyther when I look at it. The most problematic thing about them overall, I think, is that a lot of them feel less well shaded than D/P.

ACK DON'T TAKE AWAY THE POOR BUGS SPEED AND SCYTHES! ;-; Yes, I agree, Scizor looks awesome. I also love the Scyther and Murkrow sprite in HG/SS. Scyther looks sexy; great pose, the scythes have excellent detail, and the facial features turned out nicely. I mainly like Murkrow for it's eyes..,

 

[Yenaa]

I like the tranquility of FR/LG sprites.

RS sprites were ok sometimes. Kinda bland in retrospect.

DP sprites were so boring and posed. They weren't natural.

Some Plat sprites were good. I love Magmortar's Platinum sprite. Others were justed flipped frames.

Some HGSS sprites look stupid. The infamous Pinsir example. The Eeveelutions look terrible in HGSS. Jolteon, Vaporeon and Flareon look stupid. Espeon looks like it's head is about to fall off. Umbreon looks fat.

EDIT: Pure crap. - Smogon is so superficial and crude. :/ You should go by what they say or let their opinions sway your judgement. Those people probably do not have any spriting skills whatsoever and if they do, they probably don't have the ability that the programmers at Pokemon do.

 

[ZuZu]

Well, now Butterfree's stated her opinion I have to agree.

HG/SS has a lot of good poses and more angry faces than cute ones. It brings out the true "monster" in Pokemon for me. Apart from Jolteon being mixed up and Mewtwo having an odd pose, HG/SS is pretty awesome.

DPPt did have some stiff poses, yeah, but the sprites were bigger and looked more menacing. That's the completely good thing about it.

That's about it from me right now...

 

[Autumn]

Well, now Butterfree's stated her opinion I have to agree.

er what

since when is Butterfree some sort of ~GODDESS OF SPRITE OPINIONS~

o.O

(I don't have anything to contribute beyond that, because that comment was just plain weird)

 

[ZuZu]

O_O Her opinion is really my opinion too...

 

[Butterfree]

I also love the Scyther and Murkrow sprite in HG/SS. Scyther looks sexy; great pose, the scythes have excellent detail, and the facial features turned out nicely.

Err, what? That's probably the most demented-looking Scyther sprite since R/G/B. o_O The head looks like whut and the legs look horribly twisted around. It's by far the single worst sprite in HG/SS as far as I'm concerned.

 

[Yarnchu]

Err, what? That's probably the most demented-looking Scyther sprite since R/G/B. o_O The head looks like whut and the legs look horribly twisted around. It's by far the single worst sprite in HG/SS as far as I'm concerned.

I don't know, I don't think anything can beat super chubby Donphan. Sure, it isn't as horrid looking as Scyther in terms of actual appearance, but this is the first time a Pokemon actually looks like it will have a heart attack.

Chubby cheeks+stubby legs+VERY round body=horribly proportioned sprite

 

[Yenaa]

I don't know, I don't think anything can beat super chubby Donphan. Sure, it isn't as horrid looking as Scyther in terms of actual appearance, but this is the first time a Pokemon actually looks like it will have a heart attack.

Chubby cheeks+stubby legs+VERY round body=horribly proportioned sprite

Donphan is chubby. :/ It think it looks great. It's not supposed to be skinny. It's an elephant. Elephants are fat.

It's round because it needs to be to curl up into a ball and use Rollout.

It's stubby legs. What? It's short. It not a giraffe.

 

[Butterfree]

I have to agree with Yenaa; Donphan just looks like that. :/ Take it up with Ken Sugimori's design, not with the sprite.

 

[Autumn]

O_O Her opinion is really my opinion too...

... why

(sorry to harp on this subject but that was such a weird comment that I have to)

Anyway, I kind of like the HGSS Scyther. I dunno why, I just do. o.O

 

[Blastoise Fortooate]

since when is Butterfree some sort of ~GODDESS OF SPRITE OPINIONS~

since forever that's when.

Anywho, Fearow's neck looks broken and Swalot's mouth is wtf.

 

[ZuZu]

WTF?!?!??!!?!?!?!?!?!?
Swalot's mouth shading is damn horrid.

 

[1. Luftballon]

swalot's mouth om nom nom nom lol

 

[blazheirio889]

EDIT: Pure crap. - Smogon is so superficial and crude. :/ You should go by what they say or let their opinions sway your judgement. Those people probably do not have any spriting skills whatsoever and if they do, they probably don't have the ability that the programmers at Pokemon do.

I'm pretty sure you meant "shouldn't", but that's beside the point.

I agree that they were being harsh, but I'm not very fond of the HG/SS sprites, save for a select few. Kabutops, Scizor, Moltres, just to name a few, are some that I like. But others have very strange proportions - the infamous Jolteon, for one, and off the top of my head, Typhlosion's arm seems to be lacking an elbow. Overall, the shading isn't as good as I'd like it to be, and that's probably the biggest reason the HG/SS sprites aren't as eye-pleasing to me - I'm a "shading is best thing evar :D" person.

I'm going on memory, mostly. I remember the R/B/Y sprites as... interesting - some of them were pretty good, though. And I remember the G/S/C sprites being my favourite - in my opinion, since the second generation, they just haven't been able to sprite Typhlosion the same. Now that I look back, some of them do look odd, but overall I still prefer them (D/P/Pt comes close though), all things considered.

 

[1. Luftballon]

memory is a strange thing. but I remember golbat and mankey from blue were... strange, to say the least.

 

[Yarnchu]

I have to agree with Yenaa; Donphan just looks like that. :/ Take it up with Ken Sugimori's design, not with the sprite.

Since when did Donphan ever look like that? Sure, it always was a little short and chubby, but not to the extreme it is in HG/SS. :/