Generation I Pokémon Cries Explained

Why do some Pokémon sound like they have the same cry? It's all explained right here.
CORRECTION
At 2:02 I claim the waveform sample data is signed, but it is actually unsigned. To make the waveform shown in the video, the values should be (6, 4, 3, 2, 1, 0, 0, 1, 3, 5, 7, A, C, D, E, E, E, E, F, F, F, F, F, F, E, E, E, D, D, C, B, 9).
LINKS
Twitter (updates): / retrogamemechex
Patreon (support): / rgmechex
Discord (discussion): discord.rgmechex.com
INLINE LINKS
Gen I Pokemon Cry Synthesizer: rgmechex.com/tech/gen1cries.html
Pokémon Red/Blue/Green Disassembly: github.com/pret/pokered
PATRONS
Thank you everyone who supports my work. I can't thank you enough!
Shannon Potter, Matthew Mahorney, F. Murmel, Ange Albertini, Avi Drissman, Chris, Brandon Pelfrey, Mike Gerow, Larry Koubiak, Joshua Goyder, Tina Wuest, Greg Miell, Owen Christensen, Gynvael, Alec Johnson, FFVIMan, Chris Margroff, Tim Stöcker, Brandan Lennox, Nik, Jason Hughes, Diamond Ice, Chris Post, Cypher Signal, Rupix, Gabe, krivx, Xkeeper, Walter Huf, Seth Tierney, Stephen1704, 333Rich333, Glenn Sugden NPC, Jordan Wiens, Alex Yancey, David Mazarro, Steven, LiraNuna, Vaendryl, null, Corey Ogburn, Martin Trozell, Scott Harper, Garret Kelly, Jake Hickman, Joel Kuhn, Dan Shedd, Robert Schultz, Xander, 4F Panda, Max Roncace, Travis Nellor, Zach Komon, Buddy, Si Davies, Mikely Whiplash, Yakov, Joseph, Oxygen Chen, Ankou, big.toni, Israel Jacquez, RetroReversing.com, yuriks, Chris Apple, Ceres, matt wyble, Nicholas, Jeremiah, jesugtz, Chris Roy, Chris Connett, Matthew, sapslaj, Jonathan Scott, Gescheit Gespielt, Tao Schreiner, Seth N. Hetu, CrossVR, Bjoern Hansen, Micah Elizabeth Scott, JockeTF, Tyler, Adam Butt, Stephan Packard, Daniel, Kieran Hayles, Alex Hearn, Corrodias, silsha fux, hyperforce, Alejandro Cadavid, Leon, Sizik, dan, Ryan, Hex Witch Circe, John Armstrong, Hans Eriksson, Josh Wolfe, Luke Chang, Ben Salvidrim, Andrew, Curtis Ware, Paolo Pisati, Wenting, Jeru Sanders, Q, asf, Robert Butler, Michael Furtak, Narskogr, Douglas Confere, Arnt Richard Johansen, DrunkCat, cab404, Matt Coburn, Kevin Turner, Manuel Tiedtke, David, Matt Godbolt, John H., Antti Nykanen, Rob Cameron, Nick, Nathan O. Marsh, briandef, Pablo, Brian Henriquez, Joseph Edwards, Mike Magin, Dane Orie, Ellis HP, Matias Christensen, Rasmus Bååth, Daniel Granerud, Almi Carter, iodbc - The Black Box, Sijmen Schoon, TheGreatCodeholio, Clementine (Collin), Diarmaid Roche, matchai, Mate Varga, John Cudney, Narien, Cameron Porcaro, Andrew, Nordern, Jesse, Daniel C, Nicholas, Lou, Snorburter, Oran Viriyincy, Tobias Jost, Josh Clark, Matt Tuttle, sfabian, Peter Nilsson, Stefan Knott, Eric Nusbaum, Paul Ziegler, PKFC, AlkanKondo89, M Young, Terry Kramarz, Diego Santos Leão, HamPlz, GigaBoots, Chris, Stephane Dallongeville, Thibaut Renaux, Mark Rogoyski, Galac, Mark, Cris Elie, Matt Durrant, Nicola Worthington, Kadino, lamyipan, Matthew Cooper, Colin Bartolome, & Eyal Seelig!

[@Rukathesoldier]

I feel like I simultaneously understood all of this and none of it.

[@chillout3521]

Rukathesoldier because it’s definitely information, it’s just not applicable to literally anything else

[@shootingstar4468]

Same here... MatPat seems to make his videos in a more understandable way. Not that this video is bad though. It’s great! I just only half understood it.

[@artu165]

Just like a university class!

[@shootingstar4468]

artu165 I would say “OF COURSE!” But I’m only in fourth grade.

[@allansqr1]

Said every programer ever lmao

[@LaZinga]

"i would like to share a small web app i created that lets you explore all the pokemon cry sound effects" he didn't have to go that hard, but he did. he did that for us.

[@pascal8448]

Jeah, I just thought when he announced that: WTF, he also created a webapp... o.O

[@OroborOSX11]

“I would like to share a small web app I whipped up that would take a mere mortal several weeks to make.”

[@samuelwinnie5464]

He probably made the web app for the purposes of creating this video too.

[@JVGreen150]

i was expecting a sponsorship and was totally prepared to listen. now i feel like i didn't earn my view

[@Asidders]

He?

[@Goosaphone]

When I was a little kid I thought people would audition and make some weird noise and then they put it in the game

[@Oboromaru]

I just imagined a guy up on a stage doing a spot-on zapdos cry into a microphone and now I'm laughing hysterically

[@TheMuzillajeff]

The thought of that is hilarious

[@GZbroadcast]

Why did you guys think these high pitched robotic noises were people xd

[@Cabalex]

@@GZbroadcast you'd be surprised

[@dizzydial8081]

They did this for The Sims 2. They had random voice actors improvise gibberish.

[@coolbrotherf127]

The fact that people were not only able to make Pokemon cries, but entire songs and tons of unique sound effects shows how much work good sound in games was at the time.

[@timothymclean]

It's still a lot of work, just a different kind of work. It's less like computer programming and more like...well...composing music. Except that some of the instruments are controlled by the audience and are things like shotguns and footsteps.

[@oye6124]

The sound wasn't necessarily good. The people who made the sounds were just very crafty.

[@ananasupreme]

@@timothymclean Foley recording is a very interesting field, watching how they achieve noise is a blast.

[@Erikulum]

Well, constraints breed creativity.

[@SleepingCocoon]

writing decent music with simple waveforms is way easier than writing decent sound effects, in my experience. sound effects are an entirely different school of knowledge and a lot of sequencing happening rapidly compared to music.

[@BlueSatoshi]

It should be noted that when Game Freak first pitched Capsule Monsters, they only had 38 pokémon designed. Kinda interesting considering there's only 38 unique cries...

[@GabePuratekuta]

And the beta for Red/Green had over 170 Pokemon

[@revolvingworld2676]

I feel like they were having a "just one more" or "I promise this is the last one" attitude with designing Pokemon. Pretty much like me.

[@ananasupreme]

Explains the existence of uninspired entries like Luvdisc.

[@kfd784]

and voltorb...and klefki...

[@Substantial-hf1rm]

Don't forget all the evolutions where they pretty much just add extra heads. Truly the peak of creativity!

[@mrb692]

After all these years, I had no idea Articuno and Raichu shared a cry

[@TinchoX]

Same!! My mind was blown away

[@FiveBagsOfNasu]

if you mess with the app he created, you will be even more mind blown. I just found that Dodrio and Exeggcute shared a cry.

[@ShadowtheYouTuber523]

They do sound kinda similar...

[@Goober_80]

Same with onix and magikarp

[@AGKaiju]

Low Health Venusaur and Rhydon.

[@terrariafan288]

Me: trying to understand this *[IT HURT ITSELF IN ITS* *CONFUSION]*

[@swwetsour7697]

The confusion was so strong, you just hit yourself instead of sitting through the animation

[@shaggytheshaman]

Absolutely not your fault. The person who made the video seems to just assume you're already familiar with both technology and music, rather than actually taking the time and effort to break this down and explain it in a way which would be accessible to a layman.

[@Firepup740]

Thanks for the gym battle related flashbacks, have a like.

[@geofff.3343]

I have never been so interested in something I have no understanding of whatsoever.

[@MaximumADHD]

These visuals are fantastic, it really makes the technical details much more interesting. I love learning about the tricks early developers used to work within their limitations.

[@exterminator9676]

Hi CloneTrooper

[@rakinkazi9780]

Kinda reminds me of 3b1b

[@grizzlymanverneteil4443]

Yeah, sex with sheep.

[@OmegaGrunt]

@@stayskeptic3923 Given their knowledge in programming, it makes sense. If you want to code something well, you have to be efficient and keep things tidy so troubleshooting or upgrading isn't a nightmare. Being lazy and copy-pasting bits of spaghetti code to get it to do what you want can work, but you'll have a much harder time maintaining things. Just like a new video editor might look up some basic techniques to do what they want, because they don't fully understand them, it's likely the finished product will feel disjointed, things might look out of place or wrong. The inexperienced editors videos might not get as many views, but there isn't really a direct feedback like there is with programming. You typically don't need to go back and adjust videos, so a sloppy work flow isn't as punishing. And programming your own visualization tools is a lot easier than trying to manually interpret all these data sets, creating/placing/animating assets for every single thing by hand. With the benefit of being able to adapt them into a cool webapp and the nice bonus video of all the cries which would have taken insanely long to do without specialized tools. None the less impressive, and goes to show the value in exploring different skillsets and how they can apply to other fields. :)

[@WhimsyHeath]

It's seriously good editing. I was trying to think of how to actually achieve these editung effects, but haven't a clue! How would one even begin to do something like these, do you know?

[@TrateMusic]

Drowzee's cry ending in that "crash" has always been a super interesting sound, and it's crazy that it's almost an incidental consequence of the sound design, rather than a particular decision made

[@DarthLiam-gd1wc]

You may notice it is also reflected in the modern version of the cry, even though it was likely unintended

[@Ranzord95]

Also isn't it impressive how, despite the hardware limitations, they gave each creature in pokemon a cry when most RPGs back then wouldn't even consider that? Goes to show how they wanted these fantasy creatures to feel deeper and more complete than just creatures to command and enemies to defeat

[@austinreed7343]

Ranz Madou Monogatari was pretty much the only other game to do this.

[@komurohokyoji9169]

Limitations breed creativity indeed, they made timeless gems with such a limited engine.

[@IDK-yx2lr]

@Boco Corwin nice

[@AarturoSc]

@Boco Corwin And if you breed a Narwhal with a Tigger you get an N-Word.

[@ZenoDLC]

So limited, you can basically reprogram the sequel that was on the same hardware

[@Toast_94]

@Boco Corwin You only get a liger if the father was a lion and the mother was a tiger. If it's the other way around you actually get a tigon. :3

[@ionarevamp]

@@Toast_94 what happens if you breed a liger with a tigon? Do you get a litigeron?

[@eyemotif]

i always wondered why a lot of pokemon cries ended in a crash

[@cdavid2200]

I always just assumed it was intentional, I like the crash at the end of Drowzee/Hypno's cry

[@filescout266]

I guess it is a way of mimicking the sound of a screech or growl or even snort I guess...

[@MK-xv1hv]

TGL SuperStarMan47 it may not been intentional when they first did it, but it was for sure kept intentionally. Lucky accidents.

[@kanameow]

Happy little accidents

[@MechanicalMooCow]

@@kanameow how did you know my nickname as a kid?

[@akirabaes4644]

I love when people start analysing not a game's themes or story or visuals, but the tech behind it that made it possible. Some things are the way they are shaped due to their limitations and wouldn't have existed in a similar form in a world where just "everything is possible" in development and programming. Exploring such rules feel like exploring a subtle meaning of existence.

[@revolvingworld2676]

Akhb People say that these 8bit/16bit games are the most creative because of the limitations they had.(and in terms of music I agree) But I personally think the most creative era in general is the 64/PS1/Dreamcast era where 3D gaming was starting to bloom, they had to come up with unique and creative ways to use the tech, turn previous 2D series into 3D, not as many limitations but just enough limitations to create fun gamestyles.

[@Ali-gv1yw]

Its like physics

[@professoroak93]

Akhb best comment is best

[@teavis2762]

Incoming creepypastas of old pokemon games using "Unused game assets" that people make using the synthesizer

[@Pokechu22]

Fun fact (which I was surprised not to see mentioned in the video): several of the missingno variants have unique cries, though most of them are 0 for all 3 values. In the pret/pokered repo linked in the description, data/cries.asm has all of the values for different missingno entries.

[@malik87breaker]

Beautiful profile picture

[@shanoabelmont9004]

Entered just to hear some pokemon sounds and left with a masters degree on game boy sound 👌

[@randomnerd4600]

y e a h . . . what abt wave channel?

[@biaroca]

Wow. I thought that this video was going to be like "opinions on why the cry sound like this for thsr and that pokemon", with a clickbaity title and overextended production. I'm so glad I was wrong and watched this. A great video, a lot of effort put into it, technical stuff crunched for regular folks... Amazing.

[@nautol]

It was the same for me actually xD

[@aturchomicz821]

Tf what does sound clickbaity about this video for you????

[@NitroIndigo]

@@aturchomicz821 Lockstin & Gnoggin uses similar titles.

[@redpup6931]

That's why I love this channel.

[@SmashHighlights]

I really like how you edit videos programmatically. The production of this video is probably more complex than pokemon cries.

[@wariolandgoldpiramid]

I'm curious how the timeline in the video editor looks like. Prpbably a crap ton of layers of effects.

[@hiiambarney4489]

@@wariolandgoldpiramid lol i was thinking about the same thing. even though i suck at video editing because it's not my speciality, I always thought about " how did he do this, oh that mask goes over there!" :D

[@fervcorsica3358]

"Programmatically" LOL WUT?

[@sillyismoftruth]

@@fervcorsica3358 scripts

[@komi___]

As a kid I always had the feeling paras and mewtwo sounded too similar, now I know why.

[@malik87breaker]

Makoto Itoshi paras?

[@ScanerbyElrado]

Hitodeman, Paras and Mew two all of them

[@pathagas]

6:56 Quick explanation for why the pitch is logarithmic! The frequency of notes on a piano is determined by the formula a*2^(n/12) where *a* is some pitch and *n* is how many semitones the note wanted is away from *a*. The frequency ratios between notes are supposed to be close to small integer ratios of each other, which makes them pleasing. Mathematically, you’d want the freq ratios between C4 and G4 to be the same as between a C3 and G3, which it is because of this model (it’s about 3:2, which is a perfect fifth and is very harmonious).

[@somebonehead]

Thumbed up so that more people will see this.

[@cordandark]

Hmm. MY BRAIN

[@austinjpalus]

Really hoping this isn't on the test.

[@hikakakaka4]

my brain is literally collapsing on itself (i do not understand math) but this comment is super cool! :D

[@amilo5]

DELELELE WOOOOOOOOP

[@SnoFitzroy]

I CAN HEAR THIS COMMENT

[@Felixkeeg]

Kricketune?

[@pablodelgado7919]

@@Felixkeeg yup

[@Pixelsam7]

I CAN HEAR HIM

[@revolvingworld2676]

Literally the greatest Pokemon cry of all time.

[@sykotiksonik]

Why was this in my recommendations? Why are breaking my brain with all this knowledge? Nice video though, subscribed

[@thecodingethan]

The effort that goes into making these videos is astounding, love the cry generator, it's so much fun to play around with.

[@ZipplyZane]

It might be nice for you to throw up a special vid about the Pickachu cry in Pokemon Yellow. Apparently it's a raw 1 bit wave sound.

[@eofitao]

And then he did it

[@Ben42]

This has been a very interesting video so far! When I was younger, I was obsessed with Pokemon and used to be able to identify them by their cries -- and obviously noticed some similarities This shine a lot of light on the subject. Thanks for the awesome video!

[@PelemusMcSoy]

I also was able to identify Pokemon by sound. My friends had to mute their games when picking teams before we battled.

[@ComicDrake]

Wow, this is legitimately super interesting! Thanks for taking the time to explain it!

[@zdelrod829]

Hi Drake! I miss CrossOver. Have you thought of reviving it with Kenny?

[@easilypeasily6891]

M

[@easilypeasily6891]

@Carter Kwakye-Safo he did a collab with game theory that’s the only thing I remember him by

[@zdelrod829]

@@easilypeasily6891 he was a part of Game Theory

[@easilypeasily6891]

@@zdelrod829 two Mario’s episode I remember that

[@Torterra625]

In the 20 + years since discovering it, I’ve learned and understood so much about Pokémon, possibly far too much than was necessary in my life. I *COULD NOT* for the life of me understand any of this.

[@paranoiasavedthecat]

"Alright, now that we understand how the cry sound effects are stored and played, let's look at how the Poke'mon actually utilize these cries." My dude, you just explained it masterfully and I'm pretty sure none of us understand shit.

[@Rulytasho]

I mean I don't know about you but I didn't know how to read hexadecimal numbers, once I learned that, his explanation suddenly made so much sense, if you don't know how to read hexadecimal numbers, do it, it's not that hard, and then comeback to this video, see how it works. For me it made it easier to understand.

[@ChillavaKirby]

Ruly Tasho I do know how to read hexadecimal values and this is still way over my head lol there's so much to it

[@thelolcatastrophe]

In generation 1, Pokemon have an internal index number that is totally different from the final Pokedex number that is used (i.e. the first four Pokemon are Rhydon, Kangaskhan, Nidoran Male, and Clefairy) and might be a convenient numbering system to sort by for this purpose. I got bored and numbered the groups you have listed at 11:38 and you can actually see a pretty clear divide based on index number: the lowest index base of each group is largely concentrated at around 30 or less, with 6 straggler groups going up to 60 and 4 groups (corresponding to those containing Marowak , Ponyta, Rattata, and Aerodactyl) stuck way out there at 145+. Cubone is the earliest cry group repeat at 17, so maybe the idea to pitch shift Pokemon cries came into existence right around there? Also - would you be able to add the various Missingno cries that aren't garbage to the video you plan to upload as well? There are 9 Missingno with non-garbage cries. Super cool video, thank you for making it, and thank you for taking all of the time you do to make the editing look super smooth.

[@PadChennington]

this video is so well designed!

[@k2a2l2]

fancy seeing u here

[@Shadow_Witch]

Poliwag is actually a Ditto who used transform.

[@UkiUkiki]

s h i t

[@saffroncoasts6950]

@@UkiUkiki S H O T

[@navykdominguez85]

O H N O

[@MoonMixer939]

But ditto can only transform into objects it saw so where did it see a poliwag

[@mikewahousekey2520]

@@MoonMixer939 You don't wanna know the answer...

[@hiiambarney4489]

it's 7 am. couldn't sleep the night... Browsin youtube. Finding a video about Pokemon Cries in gameboy games, clicking on it thinking it somehow explains how the gameboy sounds where to mimick some original pokemon sounds. gets REALLY technical breakdown of gameboy soundchips and some circuitry. - Brain melts, has a stroke and a seizure, collapses on the floor. 10/10, better than lsd kids!

[@WasabiKitCat]

I like how you go into detail about all the individual audio channels and effects instead of just assuming that everyone watching already knows about them. You explained everything in an organized and easy to understand way, and I feel like I actually learned something instead of just feeling lost the entire time.

[@TopSpot123]

Great video. At the time I assumed that the cries were somehow procedurally generated based off of the sprite or name. I didn't realize that some had duplicate or similar cries, I thought they were all unique. I enjoy learning things that shatter my assumptions, it's very fulfilling! It's okay to be wrong sometimes as long as you are willing to accept the facts later.

[@Lennyficate]

It's 3am now but fuck, this is so god damn interesting!

[@bonesvivi]

ok

[@MrKlausbaudelaire]

One of the reasons Gen 6 became my favourite was because they went the extra mile for having Pikachu's cry being voice acted, on both "appearing" and "fainting" moments being separate lines.

[@LieLikesMusic]

This has to be the most nerdy pokemon video i've ever watched. It's still great though! Very interesting.

[@VinsCool]

This definitely could help to create custom cries.

[@SnoFitzroy]

As a ROM hacker, this was literally my first thought.

[@mason0190]

as a chiptune composer, i will add that you can definitely make primitive waveforms with the wave channel that allow for somewhat robust speech synth and charmander can totally say fuck

[@SnoFitzroy]

Mason Rice ah, so people can make their fanfics seem canon? XD

[@austinreed7343]

It’d be even better if the Generation 2 cries were added.

[@VinsCool]

I am pretty sure Gen 2 cries are made in a very similar way, but with different combinations.

[@armyofninjas9055]

Just a little synth nerdery here: a pulse wave isn't technically a squarewave. Once you make the phase non-symmetrical it becomes a PWM (pulse width modulation)--and is not square shaped anymore (they're more like rectangles). Love the videos. Gaming and synthesis in one video. Excellent.

[@searcheress6611]

You do such a wonderful job of making very complex programming concepts actually understandable to people like me who are still beginners. Also, the synthesizer is very cool. Thank you for taking the time to make it available to us!

[@KouhaiKamen]

I have no idea what all this means but goddamn is it entertaining

[@fluffyfoxbunny]

Fascinating stuff, I always thought that Jynx and Hypno sounded alike! My favourite gen 1 cry is Mew and Mewtwo's. Gen 2 has miltank's "Mooo" though and I love it. Great video, I hope you do more!

[@kelldilv]

This video was fascinating, even though coding absolutely flies over my head.

[@ZVAARI]

This isn't just technically impressive, it's put and edited in such a way that anybody can understand and mess around with. That's true talent right there

[@claudiolentini5067]

It would be very interesting to see the evolution of this mechanic, how we have gone from this, to (for example) make Poochyena and Mightyena have a proper growl, to the complex sounds in gen 4 and 5

[@sendylie1774]

Their cries from the Game Boy era echoes through time even now.

[@theshuckle3209]

Your visual aid and video editing is top notch. The effort is incredible. I love your work on such ‘dry’ topics it really makes the information stick and not feel like a ton of code running across the screen.

[@YUGIOHCARDXPERT]

These are incredibly well done. The narration, animations, and examples were spot on. You have certainly put a lot of passion into these projects.

[@AmyraCarter]

I always noticed the similarities between cries. I knew it was by design, but never knew just how limited the design was because of lack of space. But yeah, I'll be having a look at that site. I definitely wanna see what sort of sounds I can generate.

[@whitslack]

Your videos are superbly produced. I wish you many more subscribers.

[@Telemak0]

This is the first video of your channel I see and I've just been blown away by the editing. All the information clearly on display, smooth transitions, animations, etc. Absolutely flawless. Congratulations, seriously amazing work.

[@Soundole]

The depth of your analysis, and the detail in your presentation is absolutely breathtaking. I'm so glad you're producing these videos for the world to appreciate!

[@Pikacat98]

Something that could be really good for the Gen I Pokemon Cry Synthesizer is if there was a randomizer so people could make random sounds and have even more fun with it as well as a wav exporter! : D

[@gretarreynisson3280]

Out of my way, KZbin video I’m watching, Retro Game Mechanics Explained has got a new video and I’m not waiting for you to end!

[@a2pabmb2]

Seriously fuck the channels that put out multiple videos per day asking you to 'click the bell icon'. This is what notifications are actually for.

[@sk8bratv398]

@@a2pabmb2 I'm fuckin sayin

[@OrangeXenon54]

This was a bit over my head but I love how much work you put into editing it to make it make so much more sense. Great job!

[@foamingstuffye3951]

i just would like tio say i discovered your channel yesterday and it's exactly what i've been wanting for years, even though i understand 60% only cause I have so little knowledge, but it's really interesting. the incredible detail you put in your explanations make it simple yet complex at the same time and the complexity makes me want to learn more please keep this up

[@RellDefinition]

Wow man, this is a fantastic in-depth analysis

[@fen7662]

This is way more fascinating than I thought it would be. I didn't realize exactly how tightly they squeezed the code to make amazing things happen on the original GB and retain a hefty world and cast of characters. Like, I knew, I have heard stories, but when you look at a slice of it fully explained you realize they basically hit the limit of space you can possibly have on a cart. I always have to remind myself because I played Red on a GBC and I thought it was perfectly competent on that hardware compared to some other games made for GBC.

[@ajfreemont]

I had a headache at 2am when I hesitantly decided to check this out. Your voice is very relaxing and soothing. Uncommon but very appreciated. I fondly remember all the college classes I used to drift off during... For real though, great work on explaining audio programming!

[@PikaPerfect]

I may have just found my new favorite channel! Also, seeing logarithms, functions, and various other "graph stuff" actually being applied in real time while seeing the outcome and what it actually does makes a lot more sense than it ever will in my calculus class, so props to you for also helping me figure out some math concepts I didn't quite understand ;)

[@thatonerandomguy3953]

8:47 - That's my bookmark. I will keep watching.

[@mikuenjoyerXD]

But did you?

[@NoriMori1992]

Did you ever come back?

[@GoldenGrenadier]

I used to be able to tell which Pokémon was which based on the cry but then the 6th generation came along and screwed it all up.

[@Jac735]

Right I'm still learning the 2nd gen cries 😆 🤣 😂

[@dznutskong]

Everything about this video is so high quality, from the information to the editing and the webapp. I’m genuinely shocked that you don’t have more subs than this, subscribed.

[@lozzaaa15]

Wow, I am absolutely blown away by the visualisations in this video they are superb. You've done an amazing job here I really appreciate the effort. Bravo.

[@MichaelFurtak]

Incredible work. Fantastic analysis, explanation, and presentation!

[@KingCHAWLZ]

Dude that synthesizer is rad as hell, thank you for this.

[@gooblepls3985]

Clear, to the point, and visually perfect. Amazing video. I randomly thought about whether someone has an in-depth technical explanation for the 1st Gen Pokémon cries, and then this delivered exactly what I was looking for and more. Subbed!

[@WatermelonSniper]

This video is gorgeous. So insightful and the visuals made it that much better for me! Thank you for this :) Love seeing how my favorite childhood games work.

[@XathosLP]

13:06 actually blew my mind oO Never thought that cubone and clefairy had a similar soundeffect xD

[@Tatsukoi.muffin]

Este video fue tan interesante!!! De verdad, gracias por tomarte la molestia de hacer este video para mostrarnos cómo funcionaban los gritos de los pokémon en la primera generación, fue genial!

[@theoneandonlynewt]

Wow, I am so impressed. This is more in depth than I ever thought I would learn about Pokémon cries. I was randomly recommended this video, and I’m amazed although I will never totally understand programming. Great video!

[@Zalaniar]

You sir, are a freaking legend. I've been looking for an explanation like this for quite a while. I saw a video a while ago that compared similar Pokemon cries, and while watching I remembered reading somewhere a very long time ago that there were only so many cries in gen 1. Thank you for such an in-depth explanation of this lesser-known mechanic!

[@twitertaker]

Pokemon cries today: I will pay someone to record these and then put the mp3 like format into the game files. Pokemon cries back then: I will write a PhD before.

[@AlvaroManiac1]

I'm so glad you showed at the end the comparison between Raichu and Articuno's cry because I always thought Articuno's was unique to him and then u showed the graphic with all the cry groups and I was like nahhhh there's no way it's shared. But then you showed it and it made sense. I guess all I'm saying is im very very satisfied with this video lol

[@reinier20004life]

This video is one of the most amazing things I have ever seen :) It sure helps to know a little bit of background on the GB hardware, but you managed to lift my understanding to a whole new level! You have done an amazing job at explaining the different concepts in programmnig, waveforms, and the underlying formulas. Combined with the way in which the video is structured, and the extremely helpful on-screen animations, I'm simply dumbstruck. I'll be thinking about this video for a long time to come, and every time I will pick up my GB for years to come. Thank you for enriching us all! :D

[@Chris-zs6fd]

How have I not come across your channel before!? I profess to not know a lot about the computing behind the sound engine in the GameBoy, but your excellent scripting and editing make it so much easier to digest. This was extremely informative, thank you

[@Maxdanger13]

It’s time to change to the Pokémon saying their names. The switch is powerful enough to handle that now and the cries kind of seem outdated now

[@ThatOneKid755]

The whole point of using the cries is the retro appeal. Look at the rest of the game's polish.

[@MagicLad_Ty]

Animals saying names humans gave them makes no sense. Canonically too Pokemon have different names in different regions (just like animals irl) so again wouldn't make sense. For example the Japan based regions (Kanto-Sinnoh) use "Lizardon", in Unova they use "Charizard", and in Kalos they use "Dracaufeu". And also they said the name for Vulpix used by native Alolans is "Keokeo". Plus you're asking for over 800 different voices to be dubbed in every language which you can't realistically think could happen right? Listening to that over and over would get tired fast.

[@korvasterindar9672]

"To simplify this video..." Me: Too late, but please, continue.

[@MorganInHD]

I am so impressed with how well thought out and put together this video presentation! It was so interesting to learn about, thank you for creating this. I’ll pass it on to my friends who will understand/appreciate this. Brilliant work!

[@mattshnoop]

I can't imagine the work that went into this video. Absolutely amazing, top quality work.

[@bubudroid]

I literally cried contemplating all the effort put into this. Congratulations for the amazing work!

[@Asometric]

This video is frankly amazing in every aspect

[@semy28nfs]

The amount of work you put into visualising your videos is ridiculous, thanks for that. It's very interesting to see how games I played as a kid work.

[@henrygreen2096]

VIdeo's like this I appreciate so fucking much. I took an electronics course not took long ago in Uni and i was fascinated when we got to wavelengths, frequency, etc. This stuff is so interesting. Thank you so much for all the work, detail, and explanation. Truly, one of my favourite videos.

[@dpwexpress3617]

What a great video! I'm impressed with how well you were able to take many of the complicated aspects of coding and whatnot and able to put it into layman's terms. Good work!

[@garrettwidner6915]

Pidgey says "cubone". Identity crisis much?

[@AstroBilly777]

This channel is phenomenal, the infographics are extremely clear and elegant.

[@EdL2814]

Beautifully illustrated (loving the acceleration in the motion graphics too hehe), and explained very clearly! Thanks for the great video!

[@lamebrane6474]

Watches full video Me: "Could you repeat that? "

[@Neogeddon]

That website is gonna be a huge boon for gen 1 and 2 romhacking ^^ Checking cries is currently sort of a pain. Any plans to add the gen 2 cries to it as well? Afaik, they use the same system, but a bunch of new base sounds were added.

[@voxelfusion9894]

Absolutely incredible video! The technical depth, visualization and explanations were phenomenal!

[@PossessiveK]

I really like how in-depth your explanation was. Thanks for this!

[@BurnRoddy]

The real question is how does a Jigglypuff seen from above sound?

[@ReshiLuna]

Since it is still in fact a Jigglypuff, it will still sound like a Jigglypuff.

[@letsmakepancakes3]

kaity kline he was trying to be funny, didn’t work though.

[@sirconman]

It's a joke on an episode from the anime..

[@AeroTheVaporeon]

@@ReshiLuna DID YOU HEAR THAT?! IT SOUNDED LIKE the joke going straight over your head.

[@NoriMori1992]

AquaPlayZ Not surprising. One can hardly be expected to get a joke that relies on knowledge from a show one hasn't seen.

[@butteredsalmonella]

I know how brutal Gen 1 was in Recycling cries but seeing there are more just blew me harder than 30 *towwtowwrehh*

[@Summerfast]

This is one of the highest quality KZbin videos I’ve seen all year, liked and subbed :)

[@Roxbian]

I've never commented before on any video, But my guy if you see this I hope you know how amazing this vid was. This vid was randomly recommended after watching some pokemon theories and I simply cant believe how much work you put into this, Been a long time fan of pokemon and I always wondered about why certain pokemon had similar cries. You have so much knowledge its crazy. I hope you never stop making such interesting content. Much love.

[@Monsicorn]

Each cry is unique except for Mesprit and Glaceon. Glaceon is just Mesprit's cry slowed down and pitched up. (I'm sure there are others but that's a stand-out one in my mind)

[@camillecirrus3977]

Wait.. Retro Game Mechanics uploaded a video!? HOLY CRAP, SOMEONE GET THE BEER, ITS PARTY TIME!

[@mccad00]

Lirei Taichen that’s gonna be a nerdy ass party

[@JorgetePanete]

I T ' S *

[@vervalkon]

The production value is exquisite. Great job once again!

[@lumps17]

I always love these videos, and it's always so amazing to hear how these systems work and watch in awe at the video's supreme quality