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Venusaur looked great in its original artwork when Ken used to draw traditionally. Which is very far from ugly. It looked like a truly menacing monster.
I think it's when Ken got to do digital arts, Venusaur didn't translate well in the process (compare this to the OP's picture).
Reading the above comments, I'm starting to believe that Venusaur unappealing is largely blamed on Ken Sugimori's favoritism and skills when designing Venusaur. There's really no good reason for his version to look so bad comparing to the the anime or the manga's Venusaur alternates.
