The Untended Glitch In Pokémon: MissingNo
If you’ve played the original Pokemon games, you may have heard of the MissingNo glitch. This infamous glitch has become a legend among Pokemon fans, known for its bizarre and sometimes unpredictable effects. In this blog post, we’ll dive into the technical details behind the MissingNo glitch and explore how it works.
What is the MissingNo Glitch?
The MissingNo glitch is a glitch that occurs in the original Pokemon Red, Blue, and Yellow games (although Game Freak, the developers behind Pokemon removed this glitch in Yellow before release). It is triggered by performing a specific sequence of actions in the game, such as talking to certain NPCs or performing specific actions in a particular order (the most infamous being the ‘Old man glitch’.
When triggered, the MissingNo glitch causes the game to generate a glitched Pokemon that appears in the player’s inventory. This Pokemon is known as MissingNo (short for “Missing Number”), and it has unusual properties that make it stand out from other Pokemon in the game.
How Does the MissingNo Glitch Work?
The MissingNo glitch is caused by a memory overflow bug in the original Pokemon games. This bug occurs when the game attempts to read data from memory locations that are outside of the intended range.
In the case of the MissingNo glitch, the game attempts to read data from memory locations that are used to store Pokemon names. However, the data at these locations is not actually Pokemon names — it is a mix of unrelated data that has been written to these locations due to the memory overflow bug.
When the game tries to read this corrupted data as a Pokemon name, it generates a glitched Pokemon that appears in the player’s inventory. This Pokemon has unusual properties, such as a high level, a distorted sprite, and moves that are not normally available to other Pokemon in the game.
What Are the Effects of the MissingNo Glitch?
The effects of the MissingNo glitch are varied and sometimes unpredictable. In addition to generating a glitched Pokemon, the glitch can also cause other changes to the game’s data and behavior.
One of the most notable effects of the MissingNo glitch is the creation of the rare candy cheat. When the game’s code encounters the corrupted data caused by the MissingNo glitch, it interprets the data as rare candies. This can result in the player receiving large quantities of rare candies, which can be used to level up Pokemon quickly.
However, the MissingNo glitch can also cause more serious issues, such as corrupting save data or crashing the game entirely. Because of these potential issues, the MissingNo glitch is generally not recommended to be intentionally triggered.
Takeaways
The MissingNo glitch is a fascinating example of a memory overflow bug in action. While the glitch can have unpredictable and potentially harmful effects, it has become an iconic part of the original Pokemon games and is remembered fondly by many fans. Understanding the technical details behind the MissingNo glitch can give us insight into how game programming works and the challenges that game developers face.
