Space World 1997 demo for Pokemon Gold leaked

[Karamazov]

While I don't think any of the betas are better than the forms we have now, I really like Rayleep, Puddi, Tripstar, Kustraw, Pangshi, Wolfman, Warwolf, Kingdra, Numpuff, Cleffa, Tangel, Fambear, Tripstar's my favorite.

Porygon 2 is an interesting look. I guess the AI was put into a robot? Or the original Porygon was a beta that ended up getting its design changed entirely? The latter would be very ironic.

 

[dig]

Not my write up:

Girafarig was going to be Dark/Normal

Umbreon was meant to be Poison-type (explains the dex entry)

Ledian was meant to have star-shaped patterns on its body, which explains its category (five-star Pokemon).

Slowbro's shell was meant to be its own Pokemon.

Ampharos was Electric-type in the demo, not Electric/Dragon like the pamphlet said. (They probably changed it.)

Smoochum was meant to be pure Ice.

Sunflora was meant to be Grass/Psychic.

Vulpix, Tangela, Meowth, Ponyta, Goldeen, Paras, Doduo, Grimer, Growlithe, and Girafarig were meant to have pre-evolutions.

Baby Pokemon such as Pichu, Cleffa, and Igglybuff were meant to evolve at Level 12.

Tangela, Qwilfish, Farfetch'd, Pinsir, Lickitung, and Ditto were meant to evolve.

Murkrow's hat was going to actually resemble a witch's.

Sneasel was going to be pure Dark.

Ho-Oh was going to be pure Flying.

Togepi didn't have an evolution.

Snubbull was going to be Psychic-type with no evolution.

Scizor was going to be Bug/Flying.

Houndour and Houndoom were pure Fire.

Weepinbell had a branched evolution.

Bellossom was going to be Grass/Poison.

Politoed, Xatu and Espeon were meant to evolve from Heart Stone.

Umbreon, Gloom and Weepinbell's branch evolution were meant to evolve from Poison Stone.

Slowking was supposed to be an evolution of Slowbro instead of a split evolution of Slowpoke.

Phanpy's design was altered. It originally had a longer trunk, different patterns on its body, and pointier ears.

Skarmory, Spinarak, and Donphan were mostly the same.

Sunflora was originally a sunflower rooted in the ground with no legs.

Ariados had a completely different design. Its eyes would be beady with a darker colored head and normal six spider legs. Its back pattern was completely changed.

Politoed is completely different. It didn't have the swirl on its head, and its belly pattern/intestines resembled the other Polis. It had more frog-like limbs and pattern on its back.

Ledyba was mostly unaltered but its back was bigger originally.

Ledian was completely different.

Espeon and Umbreon were mostly the same, but their designs had less detail originally.

Slowking was originally meant to evolve from Slowbro, not Slowpoke.

Remoraid and Octillery were mostly the same, but had more weapon/tank elements in their original designs.

Hoppip family was altered. Hoppip was darker and had a different shaped mouth. It didn't have limbs but a massive tail. Skiploom's ears and flower were different, didn't have limbs, and a massive tail. Jumpluff is not a cotton spore but a massive flower without limbs. It also had a tail.

Bellossom was mostly the same, but its head flowers were different.

Miltank was mostly the same, but its head triangle was originally a circle.

Delibird had a Santa-like hat and its feather pattern is different.

Blissey is completely different. It didn't have an egg or pouch. It had a heart pattern on its head, smaller/shorter limbs, and different fur pattern.

Scizor was originally Bug/Flying with more insect-like wings and pointier shoulders. Its design was mostly intact.

Houndour/Houndoom were mostly the same.

Porygon2 is completely different, having more of a sunflower/lion design and tail.

Steelix was mostly the same.

Lickitung's original evolution had curly whiskers, sinister eyes, and a rolled up tongue

 

[Esserise]

> Umbreon was meant to be Poison-type

Fake news

 

[Oriden]

> Umbreon was meant to be Poison-type

Fake news

It really does explain the dex entries, though. XD

 

[Esserise]

It really does explain the dex entries, though. XD

(I never felt it was something that needed explaining; I took it to be an interesting biological quirk, nothing more. )

It is interesting though, because it suggests that they didn’t exactly set out to make the Eeveelutions all correspond to Special types. Not that I’ve ever placed much value upon that pattern to begin with, but, you know.

also lol @ Sunflora being Grass/Psychic. Grass/Fire fans have their chain yanked once again...

 

[Pyrax]

That prototype Bayleef is so strange. You have Chikorita, a dinosaur, who evolves into some sort of butterfly who evolves into Meganium, another dinosaur. I wonder if this meant they were originally flowers before Gamefreak settled on dinosaurs. I really like that shark and eel though, quite a shame they didn't make the cut for Gen II.

 

[Oriden]

I hope that one day they might reconsider adding Tangel and Madame... they don't even really need much in way of tweaks to their designs- although I am a bit concerned about Madame possibly being a bit risque. That could use a little editing.

I'd love to see Honoguma and Kurusu with some edits, too. And... not a fan of Twinz, but it would be quite appealing to have Girafarig evolve into something resembling its Beta design.

It'd be nice to get Rinring too- I had noticed that Johto was the only generation to not have its own cat line, so I guess that would have been it.

Iiiiiiis it just me or does the thing taking Bayleef's spot vaguely resemble Flabebe?

It also looks like Sunny Castform may have pulled design elements from Beta Porygon2.

 

[Grimbad]

Oof that sweet map diversity is awesome. What we got was bland in comparison. Also that paras pre evo is too cute I love it

 

[PkmnTrainerV]

Um... exactly what is going on with Proto-Bayleef?
I really liked the Honoguna line and wish that it was real. Kurusu looks cute but it’s evolutions... not so much.

I like both Proto-Noctowl and the actual Noctowl. I'd have loved if both of them were kept as split evos for Hoot-hoot with the present one being Psychic/Flying and proto-Noctowl being Normal/Flying.

I wish tangel and gelanla had been chosen instead of the monstrosity that is Tangrowth.
Proto-Pichu, Cleffa and Igglubuff were just circles with tagged on features...

I like Sunmola and it’s evolution a lot. Much better than the lanturn line.
And is that a baby or a split evolution for Paras?

Animon and Chiks seem to be the evolution and baby form of Ditto and Doduo respectively. Twinz seems to be a girafarig pre-evo.
Meowsy is so cute! And I prefer the present politoed to the beta version.

Burmy apparantly existed as Ballerine in Generation 2...
I'll take Happi over Blissey any day.
Proto-Celebi is miles better than what we got.

And... Suicune looks like something out of MLP.

 

[Esserise]

Chiks is really intriguing to me. It loses a head as it evolves, but then grows it back when it evolves again.

Obviously this post-dates the demo by a huge degree, but Doduo’s FRLG Pokédex entry mentions that it was discovered as a “sudden mutation.” Maybe that concept was on their minds back then? It actually mutated from a three-headed bird to a two-headed bird?

 

[Aulos]

Wow, it's so weird to see Gen 2 Pokemon with R/B/G style sprites, which are just incredibly different from what we got in Yellow and beyond.

It's also very weird for me to think of G/S going back to 1997 when I only just got into Pokemon Red in 1999!

I wish the Ponyta pre-evolution could have been a thing because I'm sure it would be absolutely adorable!

 

[Johnny Boy]

It really would’ve been nice if slowbro’s she’ll was its own Pokémon. Could’ve at least been a branched evolution to shellder.

 

[Diamond & Pearl]

What's interesting is that most of the Original 151 have their sprites unchanged whereas as good as all of them have new back sprites. GF must've done that because of the pixelation. But then arises the question as to why GF decided to make Gen V a huge pixelation feast.

BTW, I'm in love with Scizor's previous stage.

 

[Karamazov]

I hope the shark-anchor gets fleshed out and made into a future Pokemon. I feel that the concept, while flawed in its execution here, is still miles better than the anchor Pokemon we have now. And this is coming from someone who likes object Pokemon.

 

[Esserise]

My god, we actually have some tangible idea of what the rest of Poké-Japan looks like:

Spoiler

There’s a tear in my eye, Monfrèrenos. <=’)

Mappers, cartographers, I beseech you! Expand these to the furthest reaches of your imaginations!

(Also, hi Gen 2 Hoenn!)

 

[Diamond & Pearl]

Check the names here.

Hold on, something's not right. Despite the fact that Pikablu is Marill's original English name, it's coded as Marill in English in 1997. How's that even possible? Either the credibility of the names are questionable or the oh so creative minds who are in charge of anglicizing the names of Pokemon creatures had first decided to name it Marill, then change it to Pikablu and then name it Marill anyway.

 

[Silktree]

Pikablu was a stupid name kids came up with.

 

[Diamond & Pearl]

Pikablu was a stupid name kids came up with.

That's not the point, though. I'm just curious if the site made up the names or that Marill was the original and/or official name after all. Actually you didn't miss the point.

 

[prog rocker]

My opinions:

-Chikorita was somehow the only starter to survive, although the evolution line seems... disconnected (from Chikorita to not-Bellsprout-evo to Meganium?)
-Honoguma doesn't look as cute as I thought it would. Also, judging by the sprite, what I thought were pointed ears was fire around round ears. At least we also got its evolutions.
-Kurusu also didn't that cute. I thought it was supposed to be a seal from the fan sketch, but apparently it's a plesiosaur. Guess the people that said that Kurusu could be a Lapras pre-evo was kind of right.
-Hoothoot wasn't that different, however, I didn't think it would evolve into Gaepora Kaepora. I prefer Noctowl.
-Mareep was pink and black at some point but aside from that I don't see a big difference in design. Flaaffy and Ampharos are mostly unchanged.
-Vulpix was gonna have a cute pre-evo. Why did you have to remove this, Game Freak?
-I don't know what to think about Monja and Jaranja. I mean, they look kind of weird but they could be fixed. Maybe Jaranja would have been better than Tangrowth after all.
-Mantine was going to be a bird/manta ray hybrid? Okay, I didn't expect that.
-Qwilfish survived the demo, too, but it's evolution didn't. Guess they saved that design for Whiscash/Stunfisk. By the way, I think the lightning bolt pattern means that it would be an Electric-Type in the final game.
-Pichu was supposed to be... a ball? I kinda like it. Cleffa was supposed to look more alien (might explain their dex entry) and Igglybuff had one of the most simple designs I have ever seen.
-Quagsire apparently didn't evolve from anything. I don't know what to think about that.
-Natu was mostly unchanged and Xatu had a cat-like pattern in its chest. Also, they were supposed to be brown. I prefer the new pattern.
-Goldeen was also supposed to get a pre-evo. It looks like mini-Seaking.
-I guess the pink Marill fan sketch was right. What they didn't get was... everything else. I prefer the final version.
-So Lumineon was going to be a Gen II Pokémon, interesting, although it looks like it belongs to the Kirby universe. Ikari killed my head-canon that Ikari was beta Dhelmise, it, however, looks more like beta Sharpedo, and its evolution looks like beta Huntail/Lanturn. So I guess they survived, too?
-Crobat looks unfinished, in my opinion. I don't know why.
-Paras's pre-evolution looks cute. I want it.
-Spinarak went mostly unchanged, as far as I can see they only changed it from green to pink. Ariados, on the other hand, was almost a completely different Pokémon. Is that another face, or a weird pattern on its back?
-Skarmory was apparently finished, too.
-Animon looks, erm, inappropiate. Maybe I just have a dirty mind. Too bad Ditto's evo got axed.
-Doduo also had a pre-evolution. I guess they are supposed to look like three chicks on a nest, but I don't know, I don't like it that much.
-Sunflora reminds me of Flowey from Undertale. I guess its kind of hilarious in hindsight.
-Phanpy looked simpler and Donphan was mostly unchanged. I guess I prefer final Phanpy.
-Are we sure Twinz evolving into Girafarig is not a glitch? It looks like more like a Gastly pre-evo than a Girafarig one.
-Finally, we get a close look at beta Girafarig! I didn't know the second face was supposed to be evil-looking. Too bad it got redesigned.
-I don't really see differences in Smeargle. Sure, the sprites are different, but the design is the same.
-Meowth's pre-evolution looks cute. Why did they remove this?
-Rinrin and Berurun look nice in my opinion. Berurun reminds me of Meowstic for some reason.
-I don't know why, but beta Politoed looks like it belongs to another game.
-Slowking was another survivor, same with Unown (are the other forms programmed or is just the A form). Moving on.
-Ledyba was another survivor, but Leadian looks more, I don't know, normal? Also it looks more like the bug that was on the same page as Silver's sketch.
-Ponyta also got a pre-evolution. I guess I don't care about this one since it looks exactly like Ponyta, but smaller.
-Espeon was apparently yellow and it had two tails, not one split in two. Umbreon looks less detailed, it really benefited from the redesign.
-The people that believed in Shellbro were right! Well, kind of, it doesn't evolve from Shellder.
-Grimer's pre-evo looks like a mix between Ditto, Diglett and Grimer. A little generic, in my opinion.
-Remoraid and Octillery's design is mostly the same. Remoraid looked kind of uglier and Octillery looks like an Octoroc from Zelda mixed with a tank. I prefer the redesigns.
-Tyrogue was a completely different Pokémon that incorporated details from Hitmonchan, Hitmonlee and beta Hitmontop. I guess I like it. Hitmontop on the other side... Guess that third's the charm, indeed (assuming the magazine Pokémon was Hitmontop)
-Growlithe pre-evolution looks kind of cute, but also kind of off. Too bad we can't look at the official art to know how it really looks like.
-We already know beta Hoppip thanks to that Polish TV program, and I prefer it to the final version. I also prefer Skiploom and Jumpluff's beta designs, which were yellow and pink, respectively.
-Mime Jr. was, erm, I guess I'll pass. I also prefer Smoochum's final design better than the beta one. Elekid was cute, why couldn't we get this one? Magby also benefitted from the redesign.
-I don't know if I'm the only one, but Bellossom's original design looks creepy.
-Weepinbell's alternate evolution, well, doesn't look good. However, I still think it should have stayed.
-Miltank was fatter and had a circle instead of a triangle in its head. I have nothing to say.
-We were getting a Fire/Water seal? I have no idea why they had to remove this.
-Delibird looked even more like Santa. I don't have anything to say.
-I don't know why, but Kotora and Raitora look familiar... I guess it should have stayed, too.
-I don't really like Farfetch'd's evo design. Sure, the thing needs an evolution, but make it look different.
-Norowara and Kyonpan were unexpected. Kyonpan would have been Morty's main Pokémon if it wasn't deleted. Oh well...
-Murkrow looks more like a witch. Again, no comment.
-Blissey looked completely different. I actually like this design, hope it gets used in the future.
-Scizor was green originally, but more importantly, Pinsir HAD AN EVOLUTION. Although it looks kind of ugly, I would have accepted it because it would have been Scizor's version opposite. Also, it is me, or it looks like it got turned into Heracross?
-Houndour and Houndoom got minor redesigns. Nothing major.
-Wolfman looks cute, I want it to come back in Gen VIII. Warwolf doesn't look that good but I would have accepted it.
-Porygon2 looks way better than what we got. Another Pokémon I regret we didn't get.
-Beta Lickilicky looks okay, I guess. Better than what we got.
-Steelix is the same.
-Kingdra looked more like a dragon at this stage. It also had claws. I'm kind of divided, since I don't know which one I prefer.
-Raikou, Entei and Suicune look like Deviantart rejects.
-Sneasel looks cute here. It was also brown. Maybe in the future we will see it as another Pokémon.
-Ho-oh doesn't look different to me. The final sprite is better.
-Togepi wasn't going to evolve and was number 248. Maybe a late addition?
-Same with Snubbull.
-Beta Aipom is way better than the final one. Why did they reject this?
-Beta Leafeon proves that they use rejected Pokémon at later times. I don't know if I prefer the new or old version.
-The lack of Tyranitar makes me think that it got rejected at first and then re-added to the game at a later date. However, judging by the fact that there are three unused spaces in the demo, I think the magazine Pokémon were at some point in the game, oh well...

Sorry for the long post!

 

[Nicolas721]

Awesome! Better than the LGPE announcement.

General opinons...
-Honoguma and its evolutions look very cool, and are surprisingly more complicated than Typhlosion and co.
-Noctowl resembles Dartrix to me.
-Pre-Tangela looks cute and marketable, it's a shame it got scrapped.
-Mantine starked as a kite and transformed into a ray instead of the opposite.
-The babies are hit or miss. I like Pichu, Doduo and Paras.
-It's very clear that the fish, Ikari and Grotess became 4 Pokemon: Chinchou, Lanturn, (Manbo and Grotess' angler) Huntail (Grotess) and Gorebyss (Ikari being based on a fish and having a fin). They look very bizarre though.
-Phanpy looks very cute.
-Twinz may also be a proto-Misdreavus, its placement in the dex is similar.
-The actual Politoed is awesome, but the beta isn't bad. It has a smug that no other frog Pokemon has.
-Unown is shown on its A-form, so it appears that it was planed to have forms since the beggining.
-Remoraid, Octillery, Jumpluff, Mime Jr., Magby look better than their actual designs. And now we know where Remoraid's two lines come from! They are a revolver's cylinder!
-Bellosom was planned to be an split evolution of Gloom since the beggining, it wasn't shoehorned despite the design differences. -That just leaves more questions about why is it on the line.
-The tiger hamster looks so cute! What a shame it was scrapped. The almost perfect roundness of the first stage and the electric type reminds me of Togedemaru.
-Pinsir's evo becoming Heracross sounds pretty likely.
-I saw a theory that Wolfman and Warwolf became Snorunt & Glailie, and it makes so much sense!

Other observations...
-Lugia isn't present because it was designed for the movie by Takeshi Shudo.
-Also, Snubull and Togepi are at the end, which makes me think that they were also designed by the anime's staff.
-Tyranitar & co. are abscent, which is weird because it was in the magazine, and the fact that it is based on Godzilla also makes me think that he was supposed to be in Gen 1. I don't really understand why is it abscent here.
-Full abscent list: Totodile, Croconaw, Feraligatr, Chinchou, Lanturn, Togetic, Azumarill, Sudowoodo, Sunkern, Yanma, Wooper, Misdreavus (debatable), Wobbuffet, Pineco, Foretress, Dunsparce, Gligar, Granbull, Shuckle, Heracross (debatable), Teddiursa, Ursaring, Slugma, Magcargo, Swinub, Pilowsine, Corsola, Stantler, Larvitar, Pupitar, Tyranitar, Lugia, Celebi. Note how there aren't any Kanto evolutions abscent, and how all the Pokemon wih numbers from 216 to 222 are missing.