For a brief moment in the spring of 2014, Twitch Plays Pokémon took gamers by storm. It was a phenomenon that, admittedly, did not last long, but captivated an audience of over 75,000 for a solid week or more.

Watching a Twitch chat try to play Pokémon was not just hilarious, it was oddly compelling. Over time the creators of Twitch Plays Pokémon introduced new anarchy safeguards into their system, but during those early days it was a free for all. Eventually, though, Twitch Plays Pokémon was able to beat Pokémon Red, and that in itself was a major accomplishment.

Of course, Twitch Plays Pokémon was not content beating just one Pokémon game; the experiment needed to extend to ALL Pokémon games. At the time, many thought that once the chat-based controls got into more complex gameplay, like that of the more recent Pokémon games, the experiment would fall apart. Boy, were they wrong.

Not only did Twitch Plays Pokémon beat more recent games like Pokémon X, they got more efficient at it. Where Pokémon Red took some time for the chat to get its bearings, the later games were seemingly a cinch.

However, getting through a Pokémon game and outright dominating it are two different things, and in this case Twitch Plays Pokémon has set a new precedent. With the other main games beaten, Twitch went back to Pokémon Red and decided to try and catch all 151 Pokémon (yes, including Mew and MewTwo) as a group. Did they do it? You bet they did.

The feat took some 39 days to complete, but in the end Twitch Plays Pokémon had done the seemingly impossible. Sure, nabbing a Pidgey out in the wild is easy, but getting MewTwo is nothing to scoff at. Not to mention, trying to get MewTwo while thousands of Twitch chat members are creating their own special brand of chaos.

Watch as Twitch Plays Pokémon catches MewTwo below:

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The Twitch Plays idea may still live on, but it appears that the Pokémon-related segment has truly peaked. In fact, the only reason Twitch Plays Pokémon started the ‘Gotta Catch ‘Em All’ initiative was to honor the 1-year anniversary of completing Pokémon Red. It was fun while it lasted.

What do you think of the Twitch Plays Pokémon experiment? Would you like to see an idea like that make a return?

Source: Polygon