First of all:
Second of all, happy birthday Pokémon!
Okay. Now that that is out of the way, let’s turn our focus to the birthday franchise. 20 years old. It blows my mind that I was only 3 when this series came out. (granted it was the release of the Japanese versions, but I digress) Anyone who knows me knows that I love my Pokemans, with a passion. Whether it is my team of shinys (led by nonother than Magillicutty, my shiny Dunsparce), or my (nearly) completed living dex, I play hard. The only things that I am missing from the dex are some of the mythicals. (I will get to that in a moment) Since it is a major anniversary for the franchise, how could Nintendo ches-not do something awesome? Not only is it doing one awesome thing, it is doing a magne-ton of awesome things.
Here’s a quick list of what is going down, then I will elaborate:
- Special edition New Nintendo 3DS bundle
- Re-release of Pokémon amiibo
- Re-release of the original Pokémon card sets
- Re-release of all mythicals up to Gen VI
- Digital remaster of the first three movies
- Re-release of Blue, Red, and Yellow on 3DS
- Pokken Tournament
- Pokémon Go
- Super Bowl Ad
You magne-might need a moment to breathe, but too bad. We are in full swing.
The bundle will include a New Nintendo 3DS, Charizard and Blastoise faceplates, digital copies of Red and Blue, plus a special theme for your menu. This is only the second time the regularly sized New Nintendo 3DS has been released in the states. GameStop is listing this bundle as $199.99 and it will be released on February 27th.
Pokemon amiibo will start to re-release in stores next month in case you missed one or two or all of them. This includes Jigglypuff, Greninja, Lucario and Charizard. Pikachu has been common to find, and Mewtwo is still relatively new so stock seems to be fine.
Yeah, you read this one right. The Pokemon Generations packs will be releasing this February, and yes, they are the original art. While they are reprints, I am excited to try to get all of my favorite holo cards again. (Charizard? Blastoise? Vaporeon? Ninetails? Yes please) Also, each month there will be a mythical collection that includes the full art mythical of the month, plus a pin of the mythical, plus two booster packs. You can see those here. But wait. Mythical of the month?? Whaaaaaaa?
This is what I am most excited about. Each month this year starting February, a different Mythical Pokemon will be available through December. For those of you who do not know, mythical is a term that is used to describe a Pokemon that cannot be obtained in any of the games without the use of events or hacking. The list (and order of release) is: Mew, Celebi, Jirachi, Darkrai, Manaphy, Shaymin, Arceus, Victini, Keldeo, Genesect, and Meloetta. Each will be available through WiFi events, GameStop events, or Nintendo Zone events. Like I said, I am super (hydro)pumped about this one.
All of the Pokemon movies will be released through GooglePlay, Amazon, or iTunes this year for the first time. As a bonus, Pokemon: The First Movie, Pokemon 2000, and Pokemon 3 the Movie will all be digitally remastered. Mmmmm. High Definition tears.
What better way to celebrate 20 years since the O.G. Pokemon games than to release the O.G. Pokemon games? That’s right. Starting February 27th, you can download Pokemon Red, Blue and/or Yellow to your Nintendo 3DS through the eStore. My favorite part of this? No remaster. These are the original games. Same music, same graphics, same unsettling sprites. Gimme gimme gimme.
This year, we can expect Pokemon Go (2016 TBD) and Pokken Tournament (Q2 2016), both off-the-beaten-path Pokemon games. Now, there are a lot of rumors that are (Poli)whirl-ing around about Pokemon Z, but there is no official announcement of this nor of Generation VII (please please please). Pokemon Go is Nintendo’s venture with augmented reality games as well as wearable hardware. (more advanced than the Pokewalker) Pokken Tournament is the upcoming fighting title where you fight as a number of Pokemon, including Mewtwo, Lucario, Suicune, and my personal favorite:
To close off this massive post, there is a little teaser. Nintendo has revealed that there will be a Super Bowl commercial for Pokemon that “will encourage fans to Train On.” Notice the capitalized T and O. Interesting. WHAT DOES IT MEAN? Fun fact: A 30 second ad for Super Bowl Sunday costs $5 million. Yeah. They are playing ball with the 20th anniversary. Keep tuned, and we will let you know as special events start happening, we may even have some give aways planned on mythicals just in case you missed one or two.
