Some of the best Pokemon sprites

Schwarzes Kyurem

This.
Black Kyurem literally feels like a fusion of 2 legendary Pokemon. If I told you it has 710 BST (in case you keep up with stats), you would believe me. He screams POWA. And I love it. And, minus SwSh because I don't play it, Kyurem really felt like an Uber even when it dropped to OU. There aren't many things that can survive an Outrage from his boy.
They really did their homework on this one, so you can imagine how disappointed i was when I saw the 3D model.
 
I'm pretty sure the Pokédex Pro models are the same ones used in XY forward, just with different shading.
Not at all. Pokedex Pro is even higher poly given there's nothing for the background, and the color differences are immediately obvious
the model format is sadly not known
Fun thing, one of the Stadium devs worked on it. And noticeably some mons use their Stadium anims (Charmeleon, Bayleef, etc)
What gets me is that it also had directional self affecting shadows, something no other 3DS game had
It's weird. Why didn't XY use these? And if too high poly, then why didn't SwSH use these?

Spr B2W2 Blaine.png

If we're talking about trainer sprites then this Blaine one is a personal favorite of mine. So much personality in these seconds of animation.
I still never got why they made him a pimp
but it's glorious
 
Not at all. Pokedex Pro is even higher poly given there's nothing for the background, and the color differences are immediately obvious
the model format is sadly not known
Fun thing, one of the Stadium devs worked on it. And noticeably some mons use their Stadium anims (Charmeleon, Bayleef, etc)
What gets me is that it also had directional self affecting shadows, something no other 3DS game had
It's weird. Why didn't XY use these? And if too high poly, then why didn't SwSH use these?
Do you know for sure that they're higher poly or are you just assuming. Has there been side by sides of the 2 models' meshes? What a fascinating little thing.

If they are indeed higher poly then that's definitely the reason why XY-on games didn't use them.

And as for why not use them for SWSH, well, could be a couple reasons. They're the ones that made the 3DS models so they probably did up keep on them, they were just easier to bring forward with their tools, and even if it seems like some broke anyway, it was probably easier to repair with the new ones. No need to bring in even older models that you have to map animations to and make sure they don't break or have to make new ones again or whatever.
Alternatively there was just...no reason too? The 3DS models as-is were high poly enough and continue to look pretty nice; there's little reason to throw them out for other models that are approximately the same at a glance.
 
:dp/Snorlax::bw/Snorlax:
Snorlax is perfect in all his sprites, but I like these two the most. I don't generally dislike the models (after all, all the Poke games I've played haven't had sprites) but I really don't like how they made him stand up. It takes away some of the charm for me.
:bw/Dragonite:
I'm obligated to mention the best sprite Dragonite's ever had
 

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I'm surprised this one hasn't been posted yet, but DPP is by far Tyranitar's best sprite.

The pose is perfect, it gives just the right amount of movement for something Tyranitar's size, and the facial expression shows it's truly a beast.
Some other DPP sprites I think are really good:
 
1633305984102.png

If I'm being honest, I like the sprites where Gyarados is sitting on the Ground better than the ones where it's "flying." Gyarados never fit the flying typing for me, even when it's flying it looks weird. I like when it looks like a sea serpent sitting on the ground, it looks much more imposing than when it's wiggling around in the air.

1633306133158.png

I think Crystal's sprite is the best look for Typhlosion. It looks intimidating and scary, and I think the pose looks good here.

:rs/Typhlosion:
Gen 3's also looks really cool
 
Fuck it, we'll go by gen.

Gen I

Ivysaur - I like him when he stands up. I dunno. I could never see bulbasaur or venusaur doing this but I like that it adds something more monster-y to it. Like it's not JUST a plant-dino-frog.
Koffing - I know, I know, it's way off model and that makes it Bad. But I unironically prefer this look?
Slowpoke - I think this is one of the most successful yellow sprites. It's almost a perfect match for the anime, and it's cute.
Dragonite - they captured something here, idk. A lot (almost all) of dnite's sprites remind me of Barney. This one doesn't.

Gen II

Clefairy - I just like this one because when I was a kid to me it sort of looked like it was flipping a double bird lol.
Drowzee - there's a soft quality in its face, probably because it isn't smiling like it just caught a flash of its stepmom changing clothes. I wish they'd kept that.
Noctowl - all of noctowl's sprites have been a step down from here. It looks like a grouchy great horned owl and the darker browns are awesome for it.
Ampharos - I just like that it's leaning forward instead of tottering back like it looks like it's doing in so many others.
Electabuzz - see noctowl. All down hill from here.

honestly crystal had a couple bangers but for the most part I'm ambivalent or just really like the detail in the static sprites, some of which got compromised in the limited animation they could do.

Gen III

Sandshrew - This is the cutest sandshrew to have ever existed. yes, the non animated one. It wasn't an orb and it's eyes are so bright. I would hug this sandshrew.
Xatu - peaceful. Dreamy. This xatu sprite is damn near flawless IMO. That's how I imagine the mon to this day.
Swampert - It's got a reptilian (well, I guess amphibian) wild blankness in its eyes while the rest of it looks ready to fuck something up.

...Not a fan of many of the Emerald sprites, really. Same situation as the crystal ones. They hadn't nailed the animation shtick yet.

Gen IV

Ponyta - this is a really dynamic sprite that I think suits ponyta well. It's supposed to be fast as hell right? So give it some energy!
Magneton - underrated imo. There's not a huge amount of animation but I'm drawn v much to the fact that it looks like 3 magnemite that got stuck together and can't get apart--which is what the mon is. It doesn't look stiff at all, either, and it does in virtually every other sprite.
Raikou - actually got real justice done this gen after some really unfortunate ones prior. Looks properly badass at last!

I'm not doing gen V this post was already hellish to make on mobile lol. We all know their spriting was approaching amazing by then anyway.
 
More Gen 3 Sprites

:rs/Gengar:
I really like Gengar's look here. He looks mischievous and up to no good, but not necessarily an evil spirit that will kill you if you so much as blink at it. I like how it's wrinkling it's fingers trying to scare you. Spooooky!

:rs/Blaziken:
Blaziken is such a hard Pokemon to get right honestly. Sometimes it looks cool, sometimes it looks like just a dude in a costume. Here, though, this pose makes it look more animalistic and I think it's cool

:rs/Dragonite:
This isn't my favorite Dragonsprite, but I like how cute and fun he looks here. Just a big dude chillin'

:rs/Swampert:
This is honestly the best look for Swampert period. Everywhere else I kinda don't like it too much
 
:dp/Blaziken:
1633323612805.png
1633323656396.png

Gen 4 also has some pretty gnarly sprites going on.

Blaziken looks really cool in this one. The talon hands are my favorite part about Blaziken's design and the most consistent aspect, so I like how he shows it off here

Garchomp's pose is dope here. I don't get why Platinum rolled back on this one and gave it a boring pose

Gengar once again being a silly little dude, up to no good and committing mischief.

This next one isn't necessarily a Sprite but I found it in the sprite gallery on Pokemondb so I feel like sharing
1633323853760.png

This is also really a cool pose for Garchomp, really looks like a predator here.
 
Dragonite and Garchomp have been brought up so I thought I'd contribute.

I'd have to go with Gen 2 Dragonite, specifically Crystal, as my favorite sprite for it. Part of Dragonite's appeal is that it's a such a friendly looking Pokémon that just so happens to be fierce in battle. I think Crystal's animation nails that perfectly:



As for Garchomp, I kind of prefer its DP sprite over Platinum, though it's close. Something about the irises of its eyes being more obscure, gives it a more menacing and predatory look, perfectly on brand for it:

:dp/garchomp:
 
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