Beta No. 239: Porygon2

Out of all the beta-version of existing Pokemon, this one is probably the most outlandish.

I mean, it makes a sort of sense - Porygon was polygons, sharp and angular. Now that technology has advanced, they can render smooth shapes, so they make a creature out of spheres to demonstrate it. Absolutely no connection to the duck (or whatever) Porygon was, but hey. It'll make a good tech demo.

The elephant (or rather, lion) in the room, of course, is that this is a dead-ringer for the iconic Japanese mascot for Mr. Donuts - Pon de Lion, A lion with a Pon de Ring donut for a mane.



The only problem is... Pon de Lion was created in 2003. These betas are from 1997. There's a rumor that the designer for Pon de Lion, Yuichi Ito, worked for Gamefreak at the time, but in actuality he just did a commercial for them, for another non-Pokemon game. So I don't know if he was inspired by this almost-Porygon2, or just a synchronicity of ideas.

So, I'm not gonna dock points for copying Mr. Donuts, because apparently Porygon2 came first. And I think if you just colored it the same pink, white, and blue, it would be a better design than the awkward, ugly Porygon2 we actually got.


Overall: 7/10

Beta No. 238: Warwolf

Wasn't there a Rob Liefeld character named Warwolf back in the day? Maybe a Mortal Kombat character?

Regardless, it's a good name. You have to be a badass to back it up, though.


And luckily, Warwolf backs it up and then some. You can tell he's ready to rumble, because he has angry eyes. (see: Cloyster, Gengar, etc) Also, kinda reminds me of Sandslash? Mostly ball-shaped, a clawed version of a previously cuddly little dude, except this is the arctic flavor. I'm all about it. 100% would use Warwolf on my team, if he were real.


Overall: 10/10

Beta No. 237: Wolfman

Who else remembers how broken Sasquatch was in Darkstalkers 3?

I really like those pixel eyes. They read as round, but also the cross makes them look like they're shining.

These eyes are nice and glowy, too! Pokemon needs more Ice-types, especially back then, so I'm in Wolfman's camp to begin with. Let's just do something about that name, cuz otherwise I love the dude. I can imagine the playground debates and internet theories about whether the wolf face is alive, or just a skin he's wearing, what his real face looks like, etc. Mystique like that is important!


Overall: 9/10

Beta No. 234: Plux

Shoutouts to Herculeskabuterimon.

In the beta, an evolution to Pinsir was considered, to mirror Scyther's Scizor. Which sounds cool! But also, it means no Heracross. Which is less cool.

And if I'm forced to pick between Heracross or Plux, I gotta side with my main man. Plux is kinda neat and Pinsir feels like he deserves something (we do NOT talk about that ugly ass Mega), but I do have questions here. Namely, why the mask? It's creeping me out, not gonna lie. Makes it look like one of the Angels from Neon Genesis Evangelion.


Overall: 7/10

Beta No. 233: Scizor

Just a recolored Scizor?

Well... yeah, maybe.

But I think it's different enough to warrant talking about! I like how the head more closely resembles Scyther, plus obviously the coloring. This beta version was a bit more bulky, compared to Scizor's sleek curves. And the claws have more convincing eyes, though the effect is somehow goofier. Honestly I can't say this would have been better than what we got, but I don't think I like it any less. It's equally badass, just in a different way. The Scyther bloodline remains strong, no matter what timeline!


Overall: 10/10