Before Detective Pikachu, there was Detective Pikachu: Birth of a New Duo. Released only in Japan, on the Nintendo 3DS eShop, this first game covered just the beginning of the story. It is no longer available today. Here is its story.
| Japanese title | Meitantei Pikachu ~ Shin Konbi Tanjō ~ (名探偵ピカチュウ ～新コンビ誕生～) |
|---|---|
| English title | Detective Pikachu – Birth of a New Duo |
| Platform | Nintendo 3DS (Japanese Nintendo eShop) |
| Announcement | January 26, 2016 |
| Release | February 3, 2016, in Japan only |
| Price | 1,500 yen (300 yen off until February 29, 2016) |
| Developer | Creatures |
| Publisher | Nintendo |
| Withdrawn from sale | January 12, 2018 |
A project born in 2013
On October 28, 2013, an NHK documentary about Tsunekazu Ishihara showed a project still in its infancy: a game in which a talking Pikachu solves mysteries. The game was officially announced more than two years later, on January 26, 2016, and was released a week after that.
What it contained
Birth of a New Duo corresponds to the first three chapters of the 2018 version. You discover Ryme City, the meeting of Tim Goodman and Pikachu, and the duo’s first cases. The antagonist of these first chapters, the researcher Carlos Hernando, and the first supporting characters, Mike Baker, Amanda Blackstone, Frank Holiday and Pablo Millan, are already there.
Replaced by the extended version
Just before the extended version was announced, on January 12, 2018, the game was removed from the Japanese eShop. It has not been possible to buy it since. The extended version, simply called Detective Pikachu, takes its content and completes it up to the ninth chapter, for a worldwide release on March 23, 2018.
See also the tech sheet for the 2018 version.
