Thanks to the latest phase of the bottomless Nintendo gigaleak, one Pokémon fan has been able to play and document the unreleased Pokémon Picross from 1999. The new leaks contain the source code for various Pokémon titles for the Nintendo Game Boy and DS, and hidden deep within the nostalgic pile of games was the crown jewel of Pokémon leaks: Pokémon Picross (1999).

Pokémon Picross was advertised in various Japanese gaming magazines in the spring of 1999. The game was set to release on the Nintendo Game Boy and Game Boy Color but was later canceled for unknown reasons. Members of the Pokémon community have speculated that Pokémon Picross is the only major Pokémon title to be revealed and then canceled. The game was developed by Jupiter Corporation who is responsible for developing Pokémon Picross for the 3DS, which released in 2015 as a freemium game on the handheld’s eShop.

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On September 9, a fully-playable ROM of Pokémon Picross’s was leaked on 4Chan, a popular online forum. Outside of the game’s appearance in magazines, this was the first time gamers had seen the original 1999 Pokémon Picross title in action. Lewtwo, a Pokémon YouTuber, has been documenting his findings from the game in a thread on Twitter. For the first time in 21 years, Pokémon Picross for the Game Boy has been made playable, and it carries with it the nostalgic charm from the late 90’s era of Pokémon.

Lewtwo has made several posts of his discoveries including the title screen theme song which appears to be a remix to the Pokémon Red & Blue theme. Pokémon Picross appears to be incredibly close to completion which raises the questions of why it was canceled. The leaked files show Pokémon Picross has 150 stages which can be viewed in the Pokédex after they are completed, an original soundtrack, various difficulty settings, and even easter eggs for leaving the game idle. In addition to gameplay, the sprites are beautiful considering the era they were made.

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There is no doubt that Pokémon fans can’t wait to get their hands on this ancient piece of Pokémon history. While it is just a picross game, Pokémon Picross is another piece of Pokémon content that will surely pull at the heartstrings of nostalgic 90’s kids. It is extremely peculiar that Pokémon Picross was so close to completion, yet was never released. But at least Pokémon fans now have hope they will be able to play the long lost Pokémon Picross.

Source: Lewtwo

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Zackerie Fairfax
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Achievement Unlocked! You’ve found Zackerie Fairfax’s hidden bio. Zack is a staff writer for Screen Rant covering a number of topics ranging from the latest streamer scandal to how many gigaflops are in an Xbox. When not writing about video games, he is playing them. Primarily niche 3D platformers/adventure games that only he thinks should be ported to every next-gen console for the rest of eternity.

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