Captured on Nintendo Switch (Handheld/Undocked)
Pokémon FireRed & LeafGreen is a difficult game to evaluate. Re-released on the Nintendo Switch eShop to celebrate Pokémon’s 30th anniversary, this 22-year-old Game Boy Advance remake of the original Pokémon Red & Blue feels like a lacklustre way to celebrate one of the largest media franchises known to man. On the other hand, I’m just happy to have a more convenient way to experience this nostalgic romp through Kanto again, catching personal favourites like Cubone along the way.
Making matters more difficult, FireRed & LeafGreen come as a separate purchase — $19.99 USD / £16.99 — rather than part of the GBA Nintendo Classics emulator which adds suspend saves and filters to many classic titles which are ‘free’ for NSO Expansion Pack subscribers.
Some have speculated that FireRed & LeafGreen are not part of this because Pokémon HOME functionality is coming, allowing you to transfer your Pidgeys and Mr. Mimes into other games. If suspend points were possible, it’d be easy to catch ‘em all, breaking part of what makes this classic title so special and threatening the larger Pokémon ecosystem by, like — I don’t know — farming Master Balls and shiny Eevees.
Captured on Nintendo Switch (Handheld/Undocked)
Regardless, it makes sense that FireRed & LeafGreen were chosen to celebrate 30 years of Pokémon. We’ve visited Kanto many times before, but Pokémon Let’s Go Pikachu & Eevee adopted a Pokémon GO-style catching mechanic and reworked the story into something more modern, while the original Red & Blue have bugs, confusing design choices, and a plodding pace that only the most nostalgia-hungry trainers can withstand.
FireRed & LeafGreen sit happily in the middle of the other Kanto quests. They retain many of the original’s classic mechanics while working out kinks like the infamous glitch that saw Psychic-types immune to Ghost-types, among many, many more egregious issues.
What’s more, they introduced late- and post-game areas with the Sevii Islands that include some Generation II and III Pokémon. The final area of these islands also includes the Trainer Tower, which features a bunch of different battle challenges to put your team to the test as a true post-game experience.
Captured on Nintendo Switch (Docked)
All that is here in this Switch re-release, plus access to Birth and Naval Island, home to the legendaries Ho-Oh, Lugia, and Deoxys. These were only accessible via real-world events before, so this all comes together to make this more or less the definitive edition.
If you don’t care about completing the National Pokédex, that is. Currently, it appears you won’t be able to catch ‘em all from other regions because you had to trade from other games — specifically Ruby/Sapphire and Emerald — in the original 2004 release and that simply isn’t possible at the moment.
Regardless, I consider this version definitive for a different reason: playing on my large monitor or handheld on my Switch 2 is far superior to the GBA’s tiny screen or the backwards-compatible DS. Stomping Brock and Misty with my Bulbasaur has never been so easy to see; here, the sprites are crisp despite the upscaling, and I enjoyed looking more closely at some finer details on these simple yet iconic Pokémon sprites.
Captured on Nintendo Switch (Handheld/Undocked)
FireRed & LeafGreen still could’ve looked much better. Many have already decried the black bars that frame and shrink the screen to better match the original aspect ratio. After the first hour or two this stopped bothering me, but I do understand where people are coming from when they cite this as proof that this re-release is lazier than a drowsy Slowpoke. If expanding the field of view wasn’t feasible, they could’ve at least added some cutesy frames to toggle between.
A lack of online functionality is also a bummer. Trades are local only, so if I want to evolve my Haunter into a Gengar, I’m out of luck because what Millennial that grew up with Pokémon has friends that live nearby nowadays, am I right?
While the black borders didn’t bother me, the lack of new features did. I would’ve loved to see Game Freak add some kind of challenge or remix to the game, such as reworked Pokémon spawns or NPC trainers with full, competitive teams rather than two Kakuna that only use Harden. A Master Quest, if you will. This would’ve gone a long way toward making the price point more digestible.
Captured on Nintendo Switch (Handheld/Undocked)
That said, playing through LeafGreen again has given me a fresh perspective on how far modern Pokémon games have come. I have been highly critical of the more recent entries, but going back in time to the GBA version of Kanto rewarded me with newfound appreciation for the mechanics in the modern titles, as well as for how things used to be.
You see, FireRed & LeafGreen were released before the Physical and Special Move split, meaning Dark-type attacks like Bite are all Special moves, while Shadow Ball is a Physical move because that’s what all Ghost-type moves nonsensically are.
This creates fun little build challenges for certain Pokémon, such as my Flareon that has a higher Physical Attack stat than Special, despite Fire-type moves being exclusively the latter. It’s not as easy as slapping Flare Blitz on it and calling it a day; instead, I had to grind the slot machines in the Rocket Game Corner not for a Dratini or a Porygon, but rather a Shadow Ball TM that turned my Flareon into a Psychic, Ghost-deleting menace.
Captured on Nintendo Switch (Handheld/Undocked)
Here, there’s no way to sneak up on Pokémon and backstrike them with a Poké Ball for a higher chance of capture. No Alpha or overlevelled Pokémon roam wide-open spaces or are visible on the map. You can’t send Pokémon out to auto-battle, collecting crafting items as they amass experience. You can’t freely learn and remember moves at any time or even withdraw Pokémon whenever you want, and the 151 original Pokémon make the adventure feel cramped compared to the 400+ available in Pokémon Scarlet & Violet.
I mean none of this as a negative. It’s charming to go back to something so simple and concise as the series continues to explore new mechanics, and it’s a great way to remember 30 years of Pokémon.
What’s more, my time with LeafGreen allowed me to appreciate how the series has evolved as a whole because — to be honest — I wouldn’t want a new Pokémon game in this classic, linear style. For that, we now have easy access to FireRed & LeafGreen.
HMs still suck as much as a Bugcatcher’s Caterpie, though.
Conclusion
All told, this FireRed & LeafGreen re-release is undoubtedly a lazy way to celebrate 30 years of Pokémon. For the asking price, Game Freak and The Pokémon Company could’ve included some extra goodies, like a hard mode or online functionality.
Still, this is the most convenient way to experience the charm of the original Kanto adventure, and going back in time to see how much the Pokémon series has grown gave me a newfound appreciation for all the catchin’ I’ve done over three decades, and all that there is to come. Now give us Pokémon HeartGold & SoulSilver, please.
