There Was A Canceled N64 Pokemon Game. Here's What We Know About It
Nintendo and Game Freak have been riding high on the success of Pikachu and friends since 1996. Fans worldwide have lived out their dreams of becoming the very best like no one ever was by assembling an army of well-trained pocket monsters for battle. The mainline Pokemon games began their existence on the Game Boy and extended to the Game Boy Color, Game Boy Advance, Nintendo DS, Nintendo 3DS, and Nintendo Switch. As for the series' long list of spin-off games, Pokemon has introduced several memorable titles to the Nintendo 64 (which might not be getting a classic mini console revival, sadly), such as Pokemon Stadium, Pokemon Stadium 2, Pokemon Snap, and Hey You, Pikachu.
However, there's a lost Pokemon game that was once planned for release on the N64. And what's even more intriguing about that unreleased title is the fact that it was planned to be compatible with the N64 Disk Drive. Here's what we know about the planned Pokemon N64 game that has, sadly, been lost to time.
Pocket Monsters 64 was once planned as a N64 Disk Drive release
Back in June 1997, a game entitled Pocket Monsters 64 was mentioned by lauded Nintendo developer Shigeru Miyamoto during an interview with gaming publication Electronic Gaming Monthly. Months later, Miyamoto and fellow game developer Tsunekazu Ishihara noted that three N64 Disk Drive titles were in their development phase. One of those games was the aforementioned Pocket Monsters 64, while another was Hey You, Pikachu. At the Nintendo Space World 1997 showcase, only two Pokemon N64 games were highlighted: Pokemon Snap and the Japanese version of Pokemon Stadium. Pocket Monsters 64 was nowhere to be seen. Following that Nintendo expo, no other official details about Pocket Monsters 64 were released to the gaming press. All of this info about the lost Pokemon console RPG is owed to The Lost Media Wiki.
There are three possible reasons for the game's quiet cancellation. Game Freak developer Junichi Masuda once stated that he doesn't believe Pokemon role-playing games should be on home consoles, which may have influenced his decision regarding Pocket Monsters 64's canceled development. The commercial failure and canceled post-production of the N64 Disk Drive could also be blamed for the game's deceased status. And finally, it's likely that Game Freak's development focus on Pokemon Gold and Silver took their focus away from working on Pocket Monsters 64. Sadly, no screenshots or extra info about the game are available for the world to see.
It's worth noting that spin-off and mainline Pokemon RPGs eventually made their way to home Nintendo consoles.