Pokémon Fire-Red/Leaf-Green, Good Releases Or Poor Move?

“Gotta Catch ’em all”

Preface: A Couple Disclaimers

Before I get into it I need to put out a few disclaimers.

First: Pokémon Fire-Red was one of the first Pokémon games I ever played, this means I have a decent amount of nostalgia for this (these) game(s). However, I will try to put that aside for this review. But it will always be there to an extent.

Second: I am not just reviewing the game itself but also the differences between this version and the original.

Third: I will be referring to these games as one game: Fire-Red (As this is the one I played)

With all of that out in the open, let’s get into it.

Part One: The Game As It Stands

I believe that the Gameboy Advance Pokémon games are the best in the series and personally, Fire-Red is my favorite of those. It has tons of content and it doesn’t lose the charm of the original games; I know many people will disagree, and that is fine. For those who don’t know, this game is a remake of the originals (Red and Blue) however, this time there is also a bunch of content from from Pokémon Gold and Silver making it a gen 1.5 remake in my eyes.

Beyond the content additions, there is also graphical updates. It now looks like a GBA game (as it is one) instead of a Gameboy game. Plus you can actually see it.

Part Two: Updates On The Switch

Well there really aren’t many. The main difference between the switch version of Fire-Red and the GBA version is the the mystery gift content. For those who don’t know, Pokémon games past Crystal have what are called mystery gifts. These are essentially, limited time event gifts from the developers. They usually include rare or even legendary Pokémon. Because of their limited time nature, they are no longer available on original copies of their respective games.

People where worried about this and many thought that there would not be a way to get these gifts. It turns out, Nintendo thought of this and the mystery gifts are available meaning you can get the legendary Pokémon Lugia, Ho-oh and Deoxys. (If you would like to know how I will link to another article explaining how to get them)

This actually makes this version of the game an important version for one reason: this is the first time you can get Deoxys in these games (Legitimately) outside of Japan. This is a big deal in my opinion.

Part Three: The Controversy, Deserved?

To answer the question of whether or not the controversy is deserved, we first have to take a look at the controversy and see what the problem is. From what I’ve seen, the main problem that most people have is the price. Each of these games is 20 USD each and a lot of people are under the impression that most people will buy both games, this is simply untrue. So rather than looking at this as 40 USD for both I’m looking at it as 20 USD for one, since most people will pick one and play it.

Once you pick that apart I cannot understand how someone would say that 20 USD is expensive for these games. Not only is that cheaper than what they cost originally without inflation (35 USD) but the resale market (The only way to get them before this) is very volatile and they CAN be expensive. Also, since these have released the resale market for these games has crashed so if you want an original, it may be easier as of publishing.

The other part of the controversy is a lack of Wi-Fi trades. I understand why people are upset about this but I never expected them to add something like that, personally. I can understand it though.

My Consensus

So what do I think? Well honestly, if you’re a new player, thinking about buying this; I think you should ignore the controversy and buy one of them. Just one though, I don’t think it would be worth it to buy more than that.

What if you’re a veteran who has played them before? In that case it is a little bit more complicated. I still think it would be worth it, but you wouldn’t be getting as much from the game as you would if you were playing a new game. End of the day I think it is worth the twenty dollars, I don’t care what anyone else says. It is still a good game.

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