How hobbyist hackers are preserving Pokémon’s past—and shaping its future
Enlarge (credit: Aurich Lawson)
Earlier this year, Pokemon Legends: Arceus reinvigorated developer Game Freak's iconic series by shaking up a formula that had gone largely unchanged for more than 25 years. But that recent bout of experimentation doesn't diminish just how long the Poke-formula has remained mostly static. For two and a half decades, the developer essentially released the same game over and over, and fans like me ate it up like pulled Lechonk. Perhaps disappointingly, the series appears to be resuming its usual course with the more traditional Scarlet & Violet launch this November.
Whether Legends will form an enduring and fresh new branch on Pokemon's franchise tree is the kind of philosophical quandary that could make Xatu spend all day staring at the sun.
But for those who look beyond Nintendo's official releases, the Pokemon series is anything but stale. While Nintendo, the games' publisher, hasn't worked to make older Pokemon games accessible on modern hardware-or affordable on older gear-a certain demographic of dedicated fans has taken it upon themselves to not just preserve legacy Pokemon titles but to actively improve them. These volunteer ROM hackers and preservationists work to keep the passions of an aging generation of Pokemon masters alive, all while fighting occasionally brutal legal crackdowns from Nintendo.