Pokémon Sun and Moon has dominated the attention of fans since it was revealed back in Feburary. However, if you were to say that it is the latest version, then you would be wrong, as the latest one is a version that has been in the making for over nine years: Pokémon Uranium.
To be clear, Pokémon Uranium has nothing to do with Nintendo or The Pokémon Company, meaning that its days are probably limited. Rather, the game is the product of an attempt by fans to build their own Pokémon from the ground up. It has been in the works for nine years, and as of Saturday, Aug. 6, the game is finally done.
Check out a trailer celebrating the game's v.1.0 release below:
As one might expect from a fan-made game, Pokemon Uranium attempts to reproduce the key features of the game, while adding various features that they as Pokémon fans would have liked to see in an official game. And fortunately for the creators -and anyone playing it - these attempts were successful.
Pokémon Uranium takes place in a brand-new region, Tandor, where many classic Pokémon have succumbed to nuclear radiation. The trainer — whose gender can be male, female or neutral — must stop these monsters from wreaking havoc across the land, all the while collecting gym badges and trying to become a Pokémon master, as per usual.
Keeping up with the theme of the game, nuclear radiation in the region has given way to a brand-new type: Nuclear. Simply put, Nuclear-type Pokémon are wild and nigh-uncontrollable, attacking anything in sight. Because they're unstable, Nuclear-types are super-effective against every type of Pokémon, but are also weak against every single type of attack (even normal!).
Among the features players can expect to find are three playable characters, a new region to explore, online battling and trading, a Pokémon speech translator, and more than 150 new Pokémon to capture (with more coming on the way).
If Uranium has piqued your interest, then you'll be happy to know that it is available for free on PC (Mac suppot is in the works) and doesn't require an emulator. All you need to do is download the standalone .exe and you're good to go.
Note that if you do decide to download the game, then you best do so asap: earlier this week Nintendo was issued a DMCA notice to a fan-made remake of Metroid II that went live over the weekend. WIth that in mind, it's likely only a matter of time until Pokémon Uranium finds itself on the executioner's block.
