Back in 1999, Pokémon Red and Blue were at the centre of a genuine craze. In playgrounds, all you’d hear was discussion of the best starter, link cable Pokémon battles and gossip over the mysterious MissingNo. Cut to 2019 and the children of those 90s kids are talking as excitedly about Fortnite. So, it’s a nice bit of symmetry that FiveWalnut8586 has done an extremely impressive job of recreating Pokémon Red in Fortnite’s Creation Mode.
Right now, he’s built the first few stages in the game, with players able to choose their starting Pokémon (actually a weapon) in Pallet Town, before battling the long grass and wilderness before reaching Viridian City and Pewter City. But the centerpiece of the map has got to be the seriously impressive gym battle against an Onyx.
While animating a giant rock monster in Fortnite would have been all but impossible given the Creative Mode tools, FiveWalnut8586’s solution is beautifully simple and effective. There’s a static Onyx model sending out shockwaves and you have to avoid them and shoot the explosive barrel attached to its head. If you want to check this out for yourself, the code for the map is 2911-4244-1867, or you can see a video of it via the link below.
You might do well to familiarize yourself with Red/Blue, too, because in the wake of Detective Pikachu being a hit, our sources tell us that Legendary Pictures are developing a live-action movie based on the original GameBoy games. The anime miniseries Pokémon Origins sticks closely to Red/Blue‘s design and mechanics as well, and if you want a taste of what the upcoming project from Legendary might look like (or you’re just a big fan of classic Pokémon), you could do worse than checking it out.
