Illustrator and pixel artist Pat Ackerman has spent the last year reimagining the entire Pokédex of Pokémon Sword and Shield as old-school sprites.
Starting back when the eighth-generation starters were revealed, Ackerman slowly but surely pixelized every pocket monster found in the series’ most recent games. And as of this week, he has an incredibly impressive portfolio of perfectly pixelized Pokémon to show for it.
Perhaps even more impressive is Ackerman’s dedication to making his art look as close to the first generation of Pokémon games as possible—Pokémon Yellow specifically.
“When creating these, I use the 56 x 56 size canvas, which was the original size of the sprites in Pokémon Red/Blue/Green/Yellow,” Ackerman told Kotaku. “I also stick to the palette of Yellow. I really focus on the pose of the Pokémon, as that’s what used to really define who they were before 3D models. I try to make them dynamic and showcase something unique about the Pokémon.”
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Ackerman’s other pixel projects span previous Pokémon generations and Monster Hunter, beautifully capturing the constraints of the Game Boy hardware. His work can also be found in PC role-playing game Monster Crown.
We’ve included a few of Ackerman’s favorite Pokémon Sword and Shield sprites at the top of this story, but be sure to check out more of his work on Twitter and Instagram.
