Pokémon GO turns retro for April Fools

Every year, just after the merry month of March, all the world’s companies get together to play pranks on their unsuspecting consumer base. Normally that wouldn’t be much of a story — we’ve gotten pretty good at spotting an April Fools joke over the years — but this year, the folks over at Niantic got in on the fun, and the result is too fun not to share.

If you open up Pokémon GO today, you might notice things are a little… off. Gone are the beautifully rendered 3D Pokémon models; they’ve been replaced with sprites, much like what you’d see in earlier games. Of course, these aren’t actually sprites from earlier games, they’re the same sprites used in the menu and in the PC in Sun and Moon, but hey, sprites are sprites, and this is a nice little blast from the past.

Of course, while this is all fun and games, it’s important to remember that there are more insidious pranksters out there, so keep on the lookout and keep the date in mind. Not that we’d ever do something like that. No, definitely not.