Pokémon Red / Blue: Fan builds a cool 3D version of the Game Boy classics

What would the first generation of Pokémon have looked like in 3D? A fan answers the question with an exciting video.

For a month now we have been able to experience the fourth generation of Pokémon with the Switch remakes Radiant Diamond and Shining Pearl in 3D. YouTuber CodyCanEatThis took this as an opportunity to give the first generation a 3D look. The fan wanted to stick with the pixel look of Pokémon red / blue. What came out of it really has style.

The next classic with a 3D world

It’s all about this: The YouTube channel of CodyCanEatThis is known for cool self-made remaster versions of classic games. So it was the turn of Super Mario Bros. and The Legend of Zelda. Now CodyCanEatThis has tried Pokémon Red / Blue and documented the project and its challenges in an exciting video, which you can see here:

Link to YouTube content

Important decisions: First, the fan had to choose a style and, in addition to the already mentioned pixel look, decided to stay closer to the original and only work with shades of gray instead of adding more colors. As a result, as CodyCanEatThis notes, everything looks very stylized.

Challenges in recreating the Kanto world: CodyCanEatThis encountered several time-consuming difficulties while creating its 3D world. This includes the steps where we can jump over an obstacle but not come back. For the fan a sign that it is an elevation from which we can hop down but not climb up again. The perfect height had to be found for this.

Textures, water and the skybox were also not that easy to implement. The goal was to create a really accurate replica. Finally all cities, routes and landmarks were created and CodyCanEatThis is really happy with the result.

Here you can see a trailer for Radiant Diamond / Shining Pearl for comparison:

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Pokémon Diamond / Pearl – New gameplay trailer for the Switch remake

The biggest problem was the Pokémon themselves

Of course, the most important thing shouldn’t be missing: The Pokémon themselves! Since it was not possible for CodyCanEatThis to incorporate all of them, the fan decided on the starters and the pocket monsters of the gym leaders. When creating the 3D models, however, CodyCanEatThis reached its limits, as the 2D models are represented from angles that made translation extremely difficult.

The solution: Ultimately, the decision was made to use 2D models that always rotate so that they look into the camera – based on the example of Paper Mario.

More from the Pokémon universe:

Unfortunately, for legal reasons, we cannot explore this 3D version of the first Pokémon editions ourselves, we can only marvel at it in the video. But it is exciting to see familiar things from a completely new perspective.

What do you think: Would you like to play the first generation in 3D? Do you like the style shown in the video?