Pokémon Red and Green beta

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As with most gaming software, Pokémon Red and Green, in their final release, contain several leftovers from the development stages that pertain to elements once planned but later scrapped.

In addition, the English localizations of these games, Pokémon Red and Blue, had several of their own altered aspects during the two and half years between the release of Red and Green, thier bugfix release, Japanese Blue, and the release of the merger between the Japanese games into Red and Blue for overseas markets.

Global information

Pre-release

Female player character

File:Sugimori Starter artwork.png
Artwork featuring an assumed female protagonist, where she apparently has a Squirtle.

There were originally plans for a female protagonist as older sketches suggest. Green from Pokémon Adventures seems to be based on her. The character was redesigned and included in the remakes of the games, to continue the standard of including a female protagonist.

No Mew present

According to the interview by Satoru Iwata with Tsunekaz Ishihara and Shigeki Morimoto about the release of Pokémon HeartGold and SoulSilver, localized as Iwata Asks, they admitted that after the debugging tools were removed, they added Mew in the remaining space on the ROM. Nintendo thought that this would have been risky because altering the internal data after completing the testing period meant that any new bugs and/or glitches created by adding data without recurring to debugging tools would have been much harder to fix. Standard programming practices usually discourage altering the source code and not testing it, just before releasing the software to the customer.[1]

Poké Balls

Some concept art depicts Poké Balls on the ground, in two pieces. This is most likely just a carryover from when Pokémon was still the concept of Capsule Monsters. Strangely, the original Poké Ball sprites from Pokémon Red and Green lack the button in the center of the Poké Ball.

Post-release

Concept art

Early concept art by Ken Sugimori.

During a gaming exhibition called Game On, early concept art of Pokémon Red and Green by Ken Sugimori was featured, along with pre-release material from Pokémon Ruby and Sapphire. The concept art depicts rough versions of various concepts that made it into the final releases of the Generation I games. They seem to include various battles, the Safari Zone, Red riding on a Lapras, a Blastoise, Celadon City, Silph Co., and a town with a fountain which could have been reworked into Celadon City. Some other Pokémon are identifiable in a raw or semi-normal form, such as Gastly and others are prototypical of an entire class of Pokémon, such as a basic Dragon-type.

GameCenter CX

A Japan-exclusive special Pokémon episode of GameCenter CX, known as Retro Game Master outside of Japan, included an interview with Satoshi Tajiri, where he revealed early Pokémon character profiles of Nidoking, Slowbro and Kadabra. Notably, they are given a National Pokédex number which matches their internal index number, rather than their final Kanto Pokédex number. Nidoking, for instance is noted as being #007, rather than #034, either suggesting that there was another method of ordering the Pokémon proposed, or that they reflect their ordering in the internal data. The latter is supported by interviews with Ken Sugimori, which verify that Rhydon, which index number is 001, was the first Pokémon ever created, and early sketches from Capsule Monsters featuring Rhydon. Nidoking is also referred to as マイコー♂ Maikō♂, indicating that there were either placeholder or alternate names for Pokémon before the development of Pokémon Red and Green had finished.

A video containing an excerpt from the aforementioned interview can be watched on on YouTube.

Discoveries

Professor Oak battle

At the beginning of the player's adventure, Professor Oak introduces Red to the world of Pokémon using a sprite that is similar to the battle sprites of other characters. However, he also has three full teams of Pokémon programmed in, each consisting of a Tauros, Exeggutor, Arcanine, Gyarados, and the final evolutionary stage of the starter Pokémon not taken by either the player or his rival.

His Pokémon are of an even higher level than those of Blue as Champion, perhaps implying that he was at one point intended to be faced after the player enters the Hall of Fame.

This battle is present in all Generation I games and can be activated through the Mew glitch using a valid Pokémon with a Special stat of 226.

Bird type

The Bird type may have been a prototype for the Flying type. This can be seen in the final releases: Missingno. is recognized as a dual-type Bird/Normal Pokémon. The Bird type is present in the internal data of the Generation II games, possibly due to their engine being an upgraded version of that of the Generation I games.

Directions

It is possible to force a situation where the player has a choice of selecting options NORTH, SOUTH, EAST, and WEST as opposed to the options which appear in the final release, such as YES/NO and HEAL/CANCEL. The words West and South do not even appear in the final releases.[2]

Unused Trainer class

A Trainer class known as Chief (Japanese: シルフのチーフ Silph's Chief) was omitted from the final releases, though like Professor Oak, a battle with an NPC with this data can be accessed through modification of the internal data or saved game data as well by cheating. It is apparently mentioned in-game by one of the Team Rocket Grunts in Celadon City, and shares its battle sprite with the Scientist Trainer class. However, he does not seem to have a team defined.

Music

An unused track has been discovered in the internal data. (link, link 2) The music is originally high-pitched and incomplete as only the individual audio channels are left. There have also been attempts at recreating what the full theme would sound like. (link)

Locations
Alternative map locations

There are three map locations which are each identical to another map used in the final releases, except for the fact that the default theme used in the alternative location is different.[3]

These locations are:

Unused location

Formatted data exists for an additional map location.[4] It is located straight after the final town in memory (Saffron City) but just before Route 1. Its associated data is completely blank, even its header data and coordinates on the Town Map (as it is set as being part of Pallet Town, with coordinates 0,0), except for the fact that an unused flag when checked allows the player to Fly to it. Attempting to travel to this location simply freezes the games.

Unused shop data

A part of the internal data relates to a shop and may be associated with the formatted map location as mentioned above. The shop data lists Great Balls, Super Potions, Hyper Potions, Full Heals and Revives.

Items
Main article: List of dummied out items
Badges

Unused items with the names of all the Badges exist in the internal data. This could mean that the Badges were originally going to be items that were carried in the player's Bag. The BoulderBadge and CascadeBadge are the only ones that do something when used in battle—they allow the player to throw Bait and Rocks, respectively, as in the Safari Zone battles. When used outside of battle, they have another strange effect—after the throwing animation, the music changes to a loop of Professor Oak's "good Pokédex" jingle.

?????

There is an item in the game named ?????, which enables the player to Surf without using a Pokémon. Due to this ability, it is often referred to as "Surfboard". In the final releases, the move Surf can be used by a Pokémon as a field move serving the same function. This has led a few players to speculate that either the move Surf was not originally implemented as a field move or that the move did not initially exist as an HM.

Pokédex

This item allows use of the Pokédex inside battle, much like Ash does in the anime. However, due to its incomplete nature, it causes various graphical bugs upon usage.

Localization-specific information

Pre-release

Pokémon names

Unknown poster showing early names for Generation I Pokémon.

During the promotional period that preceded the English release of both the anime and Pokémon Red and Blue, a large amount of Pokémon were shown with different names from those they had in the final releases. Some of these names were similar to their final names, but some were quite close to their Japanese names, and others were completely different from any current Pokémon name. Interestingly, the names appear to have been initially limited to 7 characters as opposed to 10 as in the final releases, something that has set a standard that remains today in Generation V.

#   Final name Beta name Japanese name
014 Kakuna Kakuna Kokoon Cocoon
016 Pidgey Pidgey Pidge Poppo
018 Pidgeot Pidgeot Pidgeott Pigeot
019 Rattata Rattata Rattatak Koratta
023 Ekans Ekans Arbo/"Nagahis" Arbo
024 Arbok Arbok Nagaasp Arbok
028 Sandslash Sandslash Sandstorm Sandpan
035 Clefairy Clefairy Aria Pippi
036 Clefable Clefable Ariala Pixy
037 Vulpix Vulpix Foxfire Rokon
039 Jigglypuff Jigglypuff Pudding Purin
040 Wigglytuff Wigglytuff Custard Pukurin
043 Oddish Oddish Ladish Nazonokusa
046 Paras Paras Parasyte Paras
050 Diglett Diglett Digda Digda
058 Growlithe Growlithe Flamie Gardie
059 Arcanine Arcanine Blaze Windie
060 Poliwag Poliwag Aqua Nyoromo
061 Poliwhirl Poliwhirl "Aquanau" Nyorozo
062 Poliwrath Poliwrath "Aquamar" Nyorobon
063 Abra Abra Hocus Casey
064 Kadabra Kadabra Pocus Yungerer
066 Machop Machop Kara-tee Wanriky
067 Machoke Machoke Kung-foo Goriky
068 Machamp Machamp Ju-doh Kairiky
072 Tentacool Tentacool Jilly Menokurage
073 Tentacruel Tentacruel Man O War Dokukurage
078 Rapidash Rapidash Gallop Gallop
079 Slowpoke Slowpoke Slowmo Yadon
081 Magnemite Magnemite Coil Coil
082 Magneton Magneton Recoil Rarecoil
083 Farfetch'd Farfetch'd Fowler Kamonegi
084 Doduo Doduo Dodo Dodo
087 Dewgong Dewgong Manaty Jugon
092 Gastly Gastly Spirit Ghos
093 Haunter Haunter Spectre Ghost
094 Gengar Gengar Phantom Gangar
096 Drowzee Drowzee Sleeper Sleep
099 Kingler Kingler Kingle Kingler
102 Exeggcute Exeggcute "Eggstre" Tamatama
103 Exeggutor Exeggutor "Eggscut" Nassy
104 Cubone Cubone Orphon Karakara
105 Marowak Marowak Guardia Garagara
106 Hitmonlee Hitmonlee Lee Sawamular
107 Hitmonchan Hitmonchan Chan Ebiwalar
108 Lickitung Lickitung Tonguetyd Beroringa
109 Koffing Koffing Ny Dogars
110 Weezing Weezing La Matadogas
113 Chansey Chansey Lucky Lucky
114 Tangela Tangela Meduza/Medusa Monjara
118 Goldeen Goldeen Goldy Tosakinto
119 Seaking Seaking Neptune Azumao
123 Scyther Scyther Stryke Strike
130 Gyarados Gyarados Skulkraken Gyarados
131 Lapras Lapras Ness Laplace
132 Ditto Ditto Morpho Metamon
133 Eevee Eevee Eon Eievui
137 Porygon Porygon Poregon Porygon
138 Omanyte Omanyte Ess Omnite
139 Omastar Omastar Kargo Omstar
140 Kabuto Kabuto Att Kabuto
141 Kabutops Kabutops Lantis Kabutops
142 Aerodactyl Aerodactyl Ptera Ptera
147 Dratini Dratini Dragoon Miniryu
148 Dragonair Dragonair Dragyn Hakuryu


Text

"ODDISH CUT down a bush!"

On page 31 of Nintendo Player's Guide for Pokémon Red and Blue, a different text string for using Cut on a tree on the overworld was used. It reads ODDISH CUT down a bush!, being used in a screenshot when cutting down the tree next to the Vermilion City Gym. The fact that Cut can also be used to destroy areas of tall grass may have been the reason for the change to {Pokémon} hacked away with CUT! in the final releases.

Grammar
File:BrockRB beta.jpg
"The BROCK wants to fight!"

Before the English releases of Pokémon Red and Blue, screenshots were released of a battle with the rival where the text string The BLUE wants to fight! was used. While this text would work with a typical Trainer, such as The LASS wants to fight! or The HIKER wants to fight!, as they were not given personal names until Generation II, it would cause problems with Gym Leader, Elite Four, rival, and link battles, leaving them to end up as The MISTY wants to fight! or The LANCE wants to fight!, as these Trainers did not at the time have titles, only their names. Because of this, the definite article The was dropped in the final releases, leading to the somewhat odd sentence style used until Generation III of {Trainer's class and/or name} wants to fight!RBY, {Trainer's class and/or name} wants to battle!GSC or {Trainer's class and/or name} would like to battle!RSEFRLG

A screenshot in the instruction manual of English Red and Blue still contains the text The BROCK wants to fight!, possibly suggesting a late removal. The instruction manual also mentions "Pokémon Leaders" instead of Gym Leaders.

A slightly different grammar was also going to be used for other text strings:

  • {Player} sent {Pokémon} out! instead of {Player} sent out {Pokémon}!;
  • A wild {Pokémon} appeared! became just Wild {Pokémon} appeared! (this change would be reverted in Pokémon Diamond and Pearl, where it has been kept since then);
    • Similarly, The enemy {Pokémon} fainted! became simply Enemy {Pokémon} fainted! (since Diamond and Pearl, this was changed by adding definite article The back to the string and replacing the word enemy with foe for Trainer battles and with wild for wild Pokémon battles.

References


Beta versions of Pokémon games
Generation I
Red and GreenYellow
Generation II
Gold and Silver (Spaceworld '97 demo) • Crystal
Generation III
Ruby and SapphireFireRed and LeafGreenEmeraldColosseumXD
Generation IV
Diamond and PearlPlatinumHeartGold and SoulSilver
Generation V
Black and WhiteBlack 2 and White 2
Generation VI
X and YOmega Ruby and Alpha Sapphire
Generation VII
Sun and MoonUltra Sun and Ultra Moon
Generation VIII
Sword and Shield
Unreleased
Pokémon Picross


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