We played a lost Pokémon game 20 years after Nintendo took it down

As one of the biggest media franchises on the planet, you wouldn’t expect to hear about Pokémon games being lost to time or made completely unavailable for any reason after they release. And, while you won’t hear about any Game Freak projects becoming lost media, a $2 million project that was released as a movie tie-in was only just brought back by fans—and we played it through from start to finish.

For anyone who didn’t have access to an internet browser for a very specific period in early 2000 before Pokémon the Movie 2000 was released in the United States, you probably won’t remember a game called Pokémon Adventure 2000.

Pokémon Adventure 2000 could have easily been mistaken for an above-average browser game made by Warner Bros. to promote the movie since it was distributing the movie in the U.S. It ended up being so much more than that, however, as WB entered a $2 million contract with Cyberworld, a company known for making virtual experiences, which ended up making a very popular game that would eventually be shut down early.

This title was licensed by Nintendo and The Pokémon Company, as part of their deal with WB, but It ended up being much better than either side was expecting.

In the end, the browser game netted over one million downloads in a month before Nintendo “freaked” and hit Cyberworld with a cease and desist because they thought WB “exceeded the contract’s allowable scope,” according to former Cyberworld developer Eddie Ruminski.

In short, Nintendo felt threatened by this product in a way since it could be seen as the official  Pokémon games being taken in a new direction.

So, the game was shut down and scrubbed from the internet once availability ended, up until DidYouKnowGaming was able to talk to Ruminski and piece together a workable version of the 20-year-old experience for anyone to try. 

Did Nintendo and TPC have a reason to fear this game even back when the only 3D Pokémon titles were Pokémon Stadium and Pokémon Snap? I don’t think so.

I played through Pokémon Adventure 2000 a few times, once with a group of friends in a Discord call and once alone to see if I missed any easter eggs. It took some effort to set up, but thanks to DYKG’s helpful instructions and easy access to resources it only took me an hour to set up what I would call a pretty middling experience.

I spent a lot of time playing browser games in the early 2000s since I didn’t have access to as many proper video games and Pokémon Adventure 2000, while impressive for the time, is more of a casual point-and-click simulator for children rather than an expansive experience you might think of when hearing Nintendo took it down—though that younger demographic is likely exactly what WB were aiming for.

Over two playthroughs, I spent about 35 minutes in the digital version of the area around Shamouti Island, answering outdated trivia and finishing simple puzzles that helped my team of Pokémon PNGs evolve for no other reason than to change up the visuals.

Walking around and seeing the slightly animated still images of Pokémon, the same ones used in basically every book or promo material at the time, plastered into 3D spaces that don’t fit their natural habitats and spout random facts about their species for no reason got a good laugh out of my friends.

We had a blast pointing out the mistakes or outdated info while seeing Articuno, Zapdos, and Moltres give out basic trivia and speak in basic rhymes.

Back before the movie it was promoting launched in July 2000, this would have been a perfect afternoon timewaster for younger Pokémon fans looking for something to do online—like me. It is also impressive Cyberworld was able to add some form of replayability in missable Pokémon or three different teams to use in playthroughs.

Nintendo and TPC likely overreacted by giving out a cease and desist for it, but those companies are known for being overprotective of their IP, especially Pokémon, so it makes sense.

Even if Pokémon Adventure 2000 won’t blow you away with a high-quality experience, the fact you can relatively easily boot it up 23 years after it was taken offline and spend some time messing around with it is awesome. The only reason this was even possible is Ruminski held onto the files and saw a separate restoration project DYKG is collaborating on to restore a different lost Pokémon game, Pokémon Garden.

Without that odd collision between the two parties and hard work from a number of talented individuals, we may have never seen this Pokémon game playable again and been left with the few assets and screenshots that have floated around for two decades.

So, if you have any interest in trying out Pokémon Adventure 2000, hearing the full story about the game, or supporting additional restoration efforts, please go check out the full video on DidYouKnowGaming.