How far fans will go for any song Pokemon mayflies have reached fever pitch in recent years. With every card, pin and stuffed toy sparking a stampede, one incredibly lucky collector boasts of a remarkable find. Confirmed at IGNDaniel Quadri came into possession of the only known playable copy of PokéPark: Tsuri Taikaia long-lost Nintendo DS exclusive, made all the more elusive because it was only available for download locally at a 2005 theme park.
“Preserving a game like this means a lot to me,” says collector Quadri. IGN. “After years of fans wondering if it would ever be playable again, it was surreal to turn on my DS and spend some quiet time fishing, then feel that rush when I threw a Gyarados. For a moment, I could feel what it must have been like to play PokéPark in 2005.”
PokéPark: Tsuri TaikaiOr PokéPark: Fishing Rallywas a mini-game available exclusively on Nintendo DS to in-person visitors to a pop-up theme park in Nagoya during the summer of 2005. Similar to a stamp rally or prototypePokémon Goplayers could walk through the attraction the size of a Costco parking lot and catch water-based pocket monsters. It could only be downloaded via the DS’s local Wi-Fi features, later made available at select Pokémon Center stores across Japan. However, the main reason it has remained so elusive is that the game was programmed to self-destruct, deleting itself after a 12-hour period or once the handheld was reset.
Demo versions and eBay listings have popped up over the years, but Quadri’s cartridge, whose source he didn’t specify, appears to be the only confirmed fully playable copy. Quadri sent his cart to the controversial PSA for formal evaluation, but also expressed interest in helping preserve Fishing rallyable to share the file with other DS systems.
“Imagine being one of those kids and finding out years later that the game you played that day had become a lost piece. Pokemon “, says Quadri. “With this cartridge in my DS, I can recreate that experience today.”
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