Hands up — who had a Pokémon Mini back in the day? The microconsole launched in 2001 in Japan and North America — right before the GameCube came out — and the following year in Europe. it came in three colours, had ten games released for it (only 4 made it to America, with an additional game coming to Europe), and is still the smallest cartridge-based system Nintendo has ever made.
Despite its short run and tiny library, fans figured out a way to reverse engineer the tiny little system years ago, and many have been making homebrew games for the system for a while. But one indie developer is taking it a step further and wants to create a brand new entry in its horror series for the miniature system.
Sungrand Studio is no stranger to making games on old hardware. The developer of the Silver Falls series is currently making seven new games for both the 3DS and the Wii U, with one game even getting Balance Board support. After announcing these seven new entries, many fans asked if more ports or new games in this indie horror franchise could be made for older consoles. And trust some dedicated fans to ask for a new Silver Falls game on the oft-forgotten Pokémon Mini.
However, Sungrand Studio listened and has launched a Kickstarter to make this dream a reality. That's right; we're getting a brand new Pokémon Mini game in 2022 or 2023.
The Kickstarter itself is relatively modest — for AU$700, Sungrand Studio has promised to acquire a Pokémon Mini and create one new game for the system. Not only that, but the ROM will be free to everyone. The developer also says it will get a second console to test out infrared functionality to allow this new game to be played multiplayer but cannot guarantee it will be able to make that work.
If the Kickstarter makes enough money — AU$1400 — Sungrand will even shift around its release schedule and aim to launch this Pokémon Mini entry later this year.
With the limited pixels in the miniature console, we can imagine that a horror game could be quite terrifying on this tiny little machine. Of course, finding one in tip-top condition will be a challenge, but Sungrand is rising to the challenge.
The Kickstarter is open until 28th May 4:27am PDT / 7:27am EDT / 12:27pm BST / 1:27pm CET, so if you want to see a brand new Pokemon Mini game, you know what to do.
You can find out more about the unique Silver Falls horror series on its official website. And if you think the Pokémon Mini is an unusual choice for a brand new game in 2022, consider what it must be like to create a brand new game for an old Nokia flip phone. We commend you, Sungrand Studio.
Tell us if you still have a Pokémon Mini or if you've played any of the Silver Falls games!
[source twitter.com]
Comments 15
I remember having a Pokémon Mini when it launched.
Such a fun little device, Zany Cards was my favorite game on it.
isn't it interesting how an entire handheld gaming platform with interchangeable cartridges was created for the sole purpose of playing Pokémon themed minigames.
What an interesting device to make homebrew for. Fun idea.
Wait, so they're raising money because they don't even have a Pokémon Mini? How do they even know they can get the game to run?
I watched the video, and the guy's voice sounds like a telephone operator. I want to hear him say, "To make a payment, please press the pound key."
@Not_Soos : I guess they're counting on their backers to have more money than sense.
Pokémon Mini, wow. That's a deep cut. The forgotten Nintendo programmable handheld. They go for silly amounts on eBay nowadays, which is probably why they need to fundraise.
@Not_Soos There was a Pokémon Mini emulator around at some point in the mid-2000s and some original games/demos targeting it, so they may be using that for development.
I was excited until I realised they are just doing a Kickstarter to buy a mini and then make a free rom..
Why do they need so much money, you can pick up second hand ones for way less than what they’re asking?.
I had the pikachu pedometer and used to go clubbing with it…yeah yeah….it was rave, people had dummies in their mouths….anyways, I gave it away to mates kid and always regretted it ha ha.
@Orokosaki I guess because they also need to develop the game?
@Silly_G
This guy has already made a Game Boy Color game, two 3DS games, a Switch game, and has 3 Wii U and 4 3DS titles submitted to Nintendo to be released shortly.
His first release, Three Down Stars for 3ds, was rather buggy on initial release, but he has patched it numerous times since then, improving the frame rate and reducing crashes.
He also has a Nokia phone game. Sungrand is not a scam studio by any standard.
@nukatha He's making Silver Falls become a new franchise for obscure platforms and I'm loving it!
Will it have Zeny Cards though?
I've never seen a real Pokémon mini in my life
I had a pokemon mini, I thought they were very neat, & I still do.
❗️I wish the Pkm Mini would be re-released with all Games on it.
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