Over nine million people watched perplexed as Twitch Plays Pokemon beat the Elite Four

Online sensation Twitch Plays Pokemon attracted more than nine million spectators who watched as players worked together to beat Pokemon Red over 16 days.

The game involved Twitch users entering commands, such as directions, A and B, into the Twitch chat, which would then reflect that move in the game.

More than one million users entered keyboard commands to control the title’s hero Red, with over 122 million commands issued in total.

Total views reached more than 36 million, with peak concurrent spectators hitting 121,000. Over one billion minutes worth of Twitch Plays Pokemon was viewed over the 16 days.

The game broadcasting firm called the game "the biggest cultural phenomenon to strike Twitch".

The bizarre adventure saw users spawn a snap-religion hailing the Helix Fossil, the rise of Bird Jesus, the accidental release numerous pokemon, a level 36 Venomoth defeat Dragonite unharmed and the ridiculous capture of legendary pokemon Zapdos. The stream has also sparked numerous hilarious memes and artwork online.

A petition has also been submitted to the White House to mark March 1st, when Pokemon Red was officially completed, as National Helix Day. The petition currently has 5,529 signatures out of the 100,000 required.

"In total, the army totaling 1,165,140 of you furiously entered chat commands to guide our Hero through the perilous trials of Pokémon Red and brought the world a thrilling conclusion," read a statement on the official Twitch website.

"Nine million onlookers watched, enthralled and perplexed, as millions of ‘up’, ‘down’, ‘right’, ‘left’, ‘democracy’ and ‘anarchy’ orders flooded the battlefield. No giant amorphic General has ever fought so inefficiently yet so effectively. As a result, the Event has far transcended the gameplay itself, generating life-important discussions about religion, politics, mythology, and the importance of collaboration across cultural boundaries."

A new adventure on Pokemon Crystal has begun, which you can view on the Twitch Plays Pokemon stream here.

The experiment may also lead to the innovative gameplay system being used in other titles in future, perhaps turning Twitch into a games platform itself.

Image credit: @darrenkerwin