It's a good time to be a first generation Pokemon fan. But when was it not a good time to be one? In recent weeks we've seen a native LOVE2D recreation of Pokemon Red and Blue, allowing for easy porting and easy modding of the classic titles. Just yesterday the project got a huge update, bringing Pokemon Yellow into the mix, and since then we've seen a slurry of minor patches to fix bugs as they're spotted. The project by itself is fantastic, featuring releases for Windows, Mac, Linux, Android, and even the RG34XXSP via PortMaster. But where it really takes off for me is in the accessibility of its modding.

The voxel mod in particular stands out, transforming Kanto into a brand new 3D adventure. Now featuring 3D battles and a day and night cycle that can sync with real time, it's a fantastic way to re-experience the familiar scenery. With it being as easy as dragging a zip file onto the launcher, it's pretty easy to install too. If you've been fancying another look at Kanto, there's no better time to jump back in. It's still early days though, and I expect there's still a lot more to come.

If you're interested in trying this for yourself, you can find the repos for both the recompilation and the voxel mod linked below. Note as always that you will need to supply your own game dump.

Gen 1 Recompilation Repo
Voxel Mod Repo

 

[Dan-the-Rebirth]

I will wait a few weeks before I check it out, by then we will likely have gen2 support and a switch port

 

[Nakamichi]

look, i love every homebrew project and i think this is a cool idea... but i dont think it looks better than the original

 

[Latiodile]

I will wait a few weeks before I check it out, by then we will likely have gen2 support and a switch port

idk if it's a me issue but it runs extremely poorly with the voxel mod on my ayn thor, an insanely unstable 30fps with a ton of stutters, i'm guessing in it's current state the switch won't be able to use the voxel mod

 

[A51]

This is pretty interesting! I never really got into homebrew on Handheld devices. Espically Pokemon, Its been a minute since I seen something like this.

 

[x65943]

Reminds me of the old pokemon 3d with its 3d johto

 

[Latiodile]

Reminds me of the old pokemon 3d with its 3d johto

that's apparently resurfaced as pokemon brown 3d or something, i remember the original gsc one from way back in like 2014

 

[delson_anr]

Running on Nintendo Switch

 

[Kwyjor]

transforming Kanto into a brand new 3D adventure.

Is it really brand-new if underneath it's still the same thirty-year old game that's hopelessly riddled with bugs..?

(Conversely, if you take out all the bugs, is it really the same game anymore..?)