Pokémon Yellow - analysis of glitch sprite decompression effects

You ever wondered why the likes of Missingno. and other glitch Pokémon crash the game? Enjoy this short video essay on glitch sprite decompression effects!

[@Jackpkmn]

Honestly with seeing how much of the memory gets clobbered by these effects it's actually a wonder the game can keep going sometimes.

[@wernerderchamp]

The lack of error checks can also be a benefit.

[@alriune]

Yellow is 100% held together by willpower and hope and I think the fact that it still runs even when things like this happen is proof of it. That game is clinging on by its' fingernails sometimes lmao

[@Nikola_M]

@@wernerderchamp I really wish to be able to play some modern games like Super Mario Maker without error checks to see how some crashes would behave. To be specific the (unintentionally patched because it requires the uploading process) glitch where you could move objects while in the naming menu during uploading, which when undone causes the object to be duplicated. I suspect it lead to stale references when deleting one of the clones but not the other, often leading to crashes even while editing

[@SejhaIsHere]

A grand, memory clobber even

[@Fiyaaaahh]

As long as the game state is still uncorrupted corrupted audio/visuals aren't that big of a deal in terms of "keeping going".

[@DiverseCurse]

6:38 It's always an absolute pleasure to see an empowered, self-sufficient woman working hard to get a good education.

[@ConfuSomu]

truly a win for women!

[@MistressNebula]

My girl deserves it

[@kitsune6363]

Women entering the workforce halved wages, doubled taxes and inflation, drastically weakened men, severely harmed children, and really only empowered government/corporations/banks

[@blacephalussy]

You weren't lying that glitch music can droning high-pitched noises which might get unpleasant

[@sirembrum49thegreatmoth2]

True. I love it and im terrified of it

[@balala7567]

rare and highly deadly combo of being the 413th like and seeing a homestuck pfp in the comments

[@Magnus_Deus]

Dog whistle missing no

[@radaf4429]

♀️ is trying to learn. Let's support ♀️ on her educational journey.

[@Kali_Krause]

My personal favorite : Missingno learned Escape Rope! Wow Missingno, that took a dark turn fast!

[@choppergunner8650]

​@@Kali_Krause bruh 😂

[@fralalalalala]

I like ♀. She’s cool

[@inter_707]

ZZAZZ uploads are like a full moon: you don't see them often, but they're worth the wait.

[@kab43]

zzazz uploads are like uhhh seeing something awesome cause his uploads are awesome idk i cant come up with anything creative

[@bitten2up]

except you see full moons once a month typically

[@allister1545]

@@bitten2up not if you don't go outside, which most pokemon players don't

[@stolentrevin]

are you a werewolf

[@absolutetruth9975]

He brings the answers we have sought for YEARS!

[@SleepyKonii]

BABY WAKE UP THEZZAZZGLITCH UPLOADED

[@kiro9291]

we're so back

[@kaisemporium8549]

i literally cheered when i saw the upload notif when i first woke up. what a great start to the day fr

[@brandonh.1812]

Music to my ears... It feels good to start the day with high pitched white noise... 😍

[@fralalalalala]

Wow, me too!

[@lior_haddad]

Never knew why the back sprites were "safer". Good to know!

[@Hiandbye95]

Disclaimer: gives a sensible warning Me: puts on headphones and full blast Also me: regrets it immediately

[@Tonyseil]

dude- literally same though

[@paincreatesfame]

Real

[@KristorTheOne]

how insane do you have to be to ignore a warning and put on full blast headphones

[@bobstevenson3130]

You don't listen to missingno's true cry on full volume? For shame.

[@choppergunner8650]

Literally the equivalent of being blasted with a flashbang

[@Owlrrex]

This video feels like an amazing follow-up to Retro Game Mechanics Explained's series on Pokemon Sprite Decompression (and how it breaks) - although that series was focused on R/B. Big love!

[@sirembrum49thegreatmoth2]

I agree! I hope one day we can look at how Yellow glitch pokemon go through this process

[@omegahaxors9-11]

Of course "Very Bad Amulator" would have such egregious "How did this get past QA??" inaccuracies 😂

[@scajk29]

Meh, the vast majority of players aren’t glitchologists.

[@mistashadow]

4:11 never knew Kricketune was in Kanto no wonder the game couldn’t process it

[@manugiovis7325]

For those who wants to know, the music name from 00:00 to 00:07 is "Emerald Lakeside" (both "action" and "calm have the same intro) from Rabbit & steel OST.

[@LucasTheDrgn]

I was about to say "Is that emerald lakeside?? Banger intro music choice"

[@Reynsoon]

bun rampant noises

[@nialvessal]

Ah yes, my favourite Pokémon MASTER BALLCLEFABLE

[@KirbyMario12345_939]

Can't forget how it introduced itself: RHYDON MASTER BAL LNICKNAME?----------

[@xelshade]

Incredible work once again. The way I always think “but why tho” and you immediately follow with a “because [extremely thorough causal logic]” is so satisfying Edit: shook from the female glitch’s true cry being mythbusted. Nostalgic indeed

[@zwabTheRealOne]

0:39 - Absolute perfection on full volume. I don't understand why zazz would warn us to turn down our volume so that we couldn't hear this masterpiece.

[@stolentrevin]

Even though people have found partial success in recreating 4 4's true cry, I'm really starting to think that it was a emulation inaccuracy the more I watch these videos. Gen 1 glitch pokemon are the original paradox pokemon.

[@ShinyTillDawn]

Scream Tail? More like Scream Blob!

[@HalianTheProtogen]

Very Bad Amulator~

[@BeamMonsterZeus]

I feel like we're on the fringes of Fractal Theory, based on what happens with the sound engine data - its pseudo-randomness is so intriguing.

[@Brandon-j6g]

Youve inspired me to become a glitch documenter myself! Ive been using my two copies of pokemon blue for this!

[@sirembrum49thegreatmoth2]

I would love to see your work when it cones ti glitch pokemon! :D

[@reverselunatic]

adding "missingnified" to my big-word-of-the-day rotation

[@notreallyashark6058]

Yellow Missingno's "true cry" being VBA emulation errors make sense, but it definitely made me nostalgic for 2011 glitch videos. Had to go back and find the upload dates too lol. Love reading through these breakdowns with every new upload 👀 Thanks for another video!

[@kaisemporium8549]

0:40 This sound made me physically nauseous, and my volume was pretty low, can't imagine this on actual hardware 😭 great upload today! I look forward to the next one

[@megamaz108]

Retro Game Mechanics Explained made a very in-depth explanation about this. This was still very interesting to watch! I really like the live memory viewer!

[@shimmeringspiritstar]

3:35 we need the full version of this version of missingno's "true cry" this instant.

[@AliMohamed-bo9mm]

Yes

[@cheryldelguercio4177]

Yeah!!

[@tourmaverse]

0:40 Can't tell if I got tinitus, the game got tinitus or we both got it. .-.

[@schleepy6362]

I never understand any of your vids in the slightest and yet i still tune into each one. I like your funny words, magic man.

[@Wisel8]

Seeing it again in this video made me realize that Rhydon Trap sounds like it would be the Pokemon world equivalent of a thirst trap

[@asterdisastermaster]

ah perfect timing on the video, i missed the spaghetti code mess held together with scotch tape and hope

[@exefs]

It's Friday, off work, off duty, you have snacks, drinks and zzazz just uploaded 😭🙏

[@camonophy]

11:26 this is some nightmare creepy pasta shit

[@MarthaVsHumanity]

New ZZAZZ just dropped, let’s fucking go!

[@ben12355]

😊

[@idogaming3532]

Yes.

[@sirembrum49thegreatmoth2]

This is the stuff that I live for, Information about these Eldritch Abominations I love so much 😊

[@GondolicSily]

Im so thankful youre still around putting out work like this. Thank you for fulfilling my nerdiness.

[@erik19borgnia]

WOW wanted this analysis in Pokemon Yellow since like... 10 years ago xD

[@Shanyae9]

Having a battle with a long loading time and ending up encountering a missingno is the coolest yet scariest boss battle you could ever encounter in a video game ever!

[@choppergunner8650]

2:36 Pikachu decided "Actually, fuck Red, I'll have my own adventure.", and there he goes.

[@Archer690Channel]

if the so called true cries are actually songs with wrong instrument data, is there a way to know which song got corrupted?

[@yvexi]

Its a shame to find out that 'true cries' were just a result of bad emulation, but an interesting video as always!

[@bidenator9760]

I've ALWAYS wandered about this but couldn't get a straight answer, especially regarding the music glitches. Great work as always.

[@dstriker3590]

Let's get ZZAZZ'd

[@wernerderchamp]

Do you want to use explosion, Bulbasaur?

[@dstriker3590]

@@wernerderchamp I said ZZAZZ, not Newo lol

[@randomazzy11]

i litro was thinking abt this like yestreday and you now made a video about it thank you for curing my curiosity i love glitches bc of u tysm

[@zergolicious666]

i enjoy your glitch pokemon videos i find it interesting how people figure out stuff like this.

[@ShinyTillDawn]

A lot of these glitch sounds would be great for creepy pastas.

[@Malfurinify]

I will fall asleep to this

[@tabbender1232]

10:20 error checking, in my gen 1? No way

[@niko5008]

There's no error checking lmao, the game just goes to out of bounds banks and loops around, similar to how there is echo RAM in the gameboy itself

[@absolutetruth9975]

bro I LOVE YOUR CONTENT! i am a programmer, grew up with red, pls never stop making videos :)

[@Ice-sn4zx]

11:27 recreating this music for a creepypasta would be kinda sick. It’s insane how this game can make music up like that and not crash instantly

[@loveClubClaire]

god i remember working with you back in the gcl days, so cool to see such a well done explanation !

[@gazman2626]

Thank you, i miss broken games. The good days of battling broken systems.

[@toxiczludge]

LETS FUCKING GOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

[@renakunisaki]

Ahh, so it's merely gazing upon these abominations that causes reality to melt around you.

[@Alexs23743]

I came here after watching a bunch of videos on the "Mochi Mayhem" mini-story built into some Generation 9 DLC pack. I guess this video (and channel) showcase what it's like when Generation 1 gets mochi-mochi'd. D: I like that this glitch showcase actually causes the game to look more lively by having Trainers wandering everywhere. 1:19: (insert the "jazz music stops" guy here) 4:14: Wild KRICKETUNE almost appeared! 6:44: Madness mantra.

[@ShadowTraitYT]

ZZAAZZ is back. Lets freaking go I gotta tell Rachy this!

[@spikerthedragonbear]

THANK YOU FOR THE SOUND WARNING AT 0:40! >:(

[@kism_t]

6:00 you've heard of a pokemon cry now get ready for a pokemon roar

[@mikeike9268]

love the content. I started learning assembly, and then found out pokemon gen 1 was written in it so here I am.

[@smartuniverse7141]

12:49 "🚺 is trying to sing!"

[@fralalalalala]

1:43 Red is unstoppable… We knew he was the champion.

[@Kagamiinchan]

OwO a new TheZZAZZGlitch upload! And an awesome one at that! I've never had the opportunity to say this until now: you're probably the one who inspired me the most to get into glitch science and I'm so pleased about it! Keep up with the good work!

[@souturus]

Another educative video from ZZAZZ

[@ConfuSomu]

i mostly muted the audio during the cries due to being scared of destroying my headphones, even if such things shouldn't really happen when playing audio. afaik the only problem that *could* happen is the drivers melting due to overdriving, which isn't the case here. i'm just being unnecessarily careful…

[@bred_lover]

AAAA MARRY ME ZZAZZ

[@BetterCallBigShotAutos]

ayo?

[@idogaming3532]

Yay I'm early for a new ZZAZZ vid!

[@gdplayeralt]

3:36 YO THIS IS FIRE

[@joemkdd]

even after turning my volume way down i still got a headache from the 2nd one lol

[@curuskeel4219]

0:40 nice cover of Aphex Twin's Ventolin

[@Kali_Krause]

In reality, the only glitch in Yellow that can destroy everything is 4 A 4. Some call it 4 4 but It's true name is 4 A 4. The massive sprite size is simply too big for the game to handle. If using the Jhoto Time Capsule Exploit from gen 2, it is Chikorita. You can also trade A from Red/Blue to get Chikorita. The second option is much safer

[@mawthfren]

like various glitch pokemon, i am trying to learn

[@BananaFaceDude56]

wake up babe new glitch analysis

[@bobstevenson3130]

12:17 my nervous system after hitting my funny bone

[@sirembrum49thegreatmoth2]

4:13 sounds like an alarm! That makes sense considering what we're dealing with

[@boltumbles]

WAKE UP BABE NEW ZZAZZ UPLOAD

[@BetterCallBigShotAutos]

AIN'T NO WAY, SPRITE DECOMPRESSION?! LET'S GO Edit: Hot damn, some of these are unhinged...

[@brizboy]

3:36 me trying to be a snake charmer

[@ArchangelTirael]

I would like to see that graphical visualization how 4 4 corrupting the RAM 65536(?) times in a way you showed at the beginning with Missingno. :)

[@zelenpixel]

lovely tinnitus music

[@twilight-sparkle]

no audio filter or tinnitus warning for that missingno? my ears :( edit: actually i did see now you put a disclaimer still, rip me

[@tezcanaslan2877]

Thank you for reviving my gf with these videos keep it up mashallah

[@vlco_o]

Couldn't help but notice how deeply disturbing the music at 11:30 is. man

[@demidemonym]

9:30 And this loops on itself because the act of trying to close/advance the text box plays a sound, right?

[@turdcalzone7636]

Daily ZZAZZ uploads is my dream.

[@Arvo-1]

After this musicaly ... marvelous episode, we could have a musical glitch episode ^^

[@pablo5425]

11:25 sounds like actual creepypasta material

[@offbrandbiscuit]

Seems like you always discover something new about pre-existing glitches. All this time and it wasn't even the glitch Pokemon that were responsible for all the glitchy madness, it was just us forcing the game to show themselves to us... I'm sure there's something poetic to be said somewhere in there! It's kind of sad to know that Female Symbol and Yellow Missingno's 'true cries' are actually just emulation errors because they didn't accurately emulate the banks that were getting scrambled by the decompression of the sprites

[@Purtle28]

Cool to have the True Cries debunked after all these years.

[@sw33t.angela]

Ah so thats why 4 4's "true cry" you attempted to find was elusive years ago. It relied on sram data and chaotic pointer data into volatile memory AND a bad emulator. There was never a "true cry" to begin with.

[@Kali_Krause]

4 A 4's cry if rendered properly is a single sound channel from the move Surf

[@ZevonMcCurry]

4A 4 does have an internal cry but I haven't gotten it to play correctly since it always corrupts the audio bank… Its internal cry sucks compared to the static and PIKACHU crying!

[@mxyzptplk]

yooooooo zzazz glitch video to kick off pride month lets go

[@l_alphy]

YOOOOOOOO LET'S GOOOOOOO

[@4bad2u]

I don’t understand a thing but cool noises and old games

[@cattenchaostherandomperson]

finally I can watch this

[@SoejimaMX]

🎉

[@HyruleHomie]

It's crazy how much these games really struggle to remain functioning even when the game is that unstable. True Creepypasta territory.

[@oatsie8727]

You could play 0:42 to scare off teenagers from local malls, good god

[@Shanyae9]

I shouldn't have watched this video in a pitch dark room

[@Blitzbogen]

thank you for existing

[@MinusNC]

aweome video

[@milky__1748]

I don't understand shit... This is cool, dude.

[@Experiment626.Stitch]

Sehr informativ, ZZAZZ!

[@Clone394]

Finally an upload

[@terrafimeira]

4:42 Likely a good start to some horror track, or a dotHack phase. :|