Pokémon FireRed and LeafGreen

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  • Pokémon FireRed
  • Pokémon LeafGreen
multiplayer

Pokémon FireRed Version

Pokémon Red and Blue. They were developed by Game Freak and published by The Pokémon Company and Nintendo for the Game Boy Advance. FireRed and LeafGreen were first released in Japan in January 2004 and in North America and Europe in September and October 2004. The games are part of the third generation of the Pokémon video game series
and hold the distinction of being the first enhanced remakes of previous games within the franchise.

As in previous games, the player controls the

turn-based battles. Throughout the games, the player captures and raises Pokémon for use in battle. Based in the Kanto region, new features include a contextual help menu and a new area (Sevii Islands) the player may access after a certain point in the story. The games have compatibility with the Game Boy Advance Wireless Adapter
, which originally came bundled with the games.

The games received mostly positive reviews, obtaining an aggregate score of 81 percent on

Player's Choice
titles.

Gameplay

See also:
Pokémon Red and Blue § Gameplay
Charmander
) is the player's. The player's four options are shown at the bottom right menu.

As with all Pokémon role-playing games released for

hit points (HP); when a Pokémon's HP is reduced to zero, it faints and can no longer battle until it is revived. Once an opponent's Pokémon faints, all of the player's Pokémon involved in the battle receive a certain number of experience points (EXP). After accumulating enough EXP, a Pokémon will level up.[4]

Poké Ball at it. If the Pokémon is successfully caught, it will come under the ownership of the player. Factors in the success rate of capture include the HP of the target Pokémon and the type of Poké Ball used: the lower the target's HP and the stronger the Poké Ball, the higher the success rate of capture.[5]

While FireRed and LeafGreen are remakes of Red and Green (Pokémon Green was only released in Japan, whereas the international variant was Blue), they contain usability enhancements such as a contextual tutorial feature which allows players to look up data at any point in the game, by pressing the select button. Additionally, when continuing a saved game, players are shown the last four actions they performed, aiding in remembering what they were previously doing.[6]

The games support the

Pokémon Box: Ruby and Sapphire. In Pokémon Box, the player may organize and view their collected Pokémon, and in Colosseum, Pokémon may be used in battle.[9] FireRed and LeafGreen are also the first games in the series to be compatible with the Game Boy Advance Wireless Adapter, which comes prepackaged with the games.[8] The adapter can be plugged into the link port of the Game Boy Advance system and allows players within a radius of 30–50 feet (9.1–15.2 m) to wirelessly interact with each other.[6] In addition, as many as 30 players at a time may join a special location called the "Union Room", where they can trade, battle, or chat.[8] Nintendo set up "JoySpots" at Japanese retail locations for this purpose.[6]

Plot

See also:
Pokémon Red and Blue § Plot

Setting

Pokémon FireRed and LeafGreen takes place mostly in the fictional region of

Kanto. This is one distinct region of many in the Pokémon world, which includes varied geographical habitats for the Pokémon species, human-populated towns and cities, and routes between locations. Some areas are only accessible once players acquire a special item or one of their Pokémon learns a special ability.[10] Near the end of the plot, the protagonist is able to venture to the Sevii Islands, a new area not present in the original Red and Blue games. The Sevii Islands are an archipelago
of seven islands and contain Pokémon normally exclusive to the Johto region, as well as several post-game missions. After the aforementioned missions on the Sevii Islands are completed, the ability to trade with Ruby and Sapphire for Hoenn-exclusive Pokémon becomes available.

Story

The

starter Pokémon
for their travels. The rival then challenges them to a Pokémon battle with their newly obtained Pokémon and continues to battle the player at certain points throughout the games.

After reaching the next city, the player is asked to deliver a parcel to Professor Oak. Upon returning to the laboratory, they are presented with a

Pokédex, a high-tech encyclopedia that records the entries of any Pokémon that are captured.[11]
Oak then asks the player to fulfill his dream of compiling a comprehensive list of every Pokémon in the game.

While visiting the region's cities, the player encounters special establishments called

Elite Four. Also throughout the game, the player has to fight against the forces of Team Rocket
, a criminal organization that abuses Pokémon. They devise numerous plans to steal rare Pokémon, all of which the player must foil, meeting and defeating the organization boss Giovanni.

After the first time players defeat the Elite Four, one of the members, Lorelei, disappears. After gaining access to the Sevii Islands, an entirely new region, the player discovers Lorelei in her house and convinces her to come back with them. Once more, the protagonist must thwart Team Rocket's plans on several occasions, recover two artifacts, the Ruby and the Sapphire, and put them in the main computer at One Island. After that, the player can trade with Ruby, Sapphire, Emerald, Colosseum and XD.

Development

Development director Junichi Masuda

FireRed and LeafGreen were first announced in September 2003 as upcoming remakes of the original

trade Pokémon between games.[15]

FireRed and LeafGreen's connectivity with the Game Boy Advance Wireless Adapter was heralded by then-president of Nintendo Satoru Iwata as being able "to enhance head-to-head battles, exchange of information, and communication with others."[16] An enhanced interface was created for the game to increase usability for new players, as well as a contextual in-game help system that could aid lost or confused players during their journey. President of The Pokémon Company Tsunekazu Ishihara noted, "We don't feel that this a remake at all. We feel that this is a new game, with wireless technology", referring to the bundled wireless adapter.[17]

The exclusive Japanese production run for FireRed and LeafGreen was limited to half a million copies, despite the success of Pokémon Ruby and Sapphire.

DICE in 2004.[19] Although the original games were released as Red and Blue in North America, the remakes retained the Japanese names of "Red" and "Green".[20] Masuda noted this as a choice on his part, stating the leaf represented a peaceful icon, in contrast to the alternative of water which he saw as suggesting conflict with the icon of fire used by the other game.[14]

Music

The music used in the games was derived from the classic game consoles, and arranged by Go Ichinose. Masuda and Ichinose decided not to change the reused music from the basic background sounds used in Red and Blue, and instead updated them by adding additional sounds. Some of the songs have additional key changes compared to the original soundtrack and some songs such as the Trainer Battle music are re-written in MIDI for the GBA and contain pitch bends between notes.[21] A two-disc set of the music entitled GBA Pokémon FireRed & LeafGreen Super Complete was released, with the first disc featuring all the music used normally in-game, while the second disc featured bonus tracks based on and inspired by the music in the games. Among these are two vocal tracks.[22]

Reception

Reviews of FireRed and LeafGreen were mostly positive, and the games currently hold an aggregate score of 81 percent on Metacritic.[24] Jon Minife of the New Zealand Herald praised the game for resolving the connectivity issues that Ruby and Sapphire had at the time, which would convince older players to get back into Pokémon.[29] Craig Harris of IGN gave the games an "Outstanding" 9.0/10 rating and praised the creators of the games for creating a game that "works extremely well for the handheld market. It doesn't have quite the same variety as Ruby and Sapphire, but it's still incredibly satisfying." Harris was less positive about the games' graphics, which he thought were "limited" and "basic".[8] GameSpot's Greg Kasavin, who gave the games 8.4 out of 10, commented that "though Pokémon could probably use a few new twists after all these years, FireRed and LeafGreen are great role-playing games on their own merits, filled with lots more content and more challenges than last year's Ruby and Sapphire, and offering up plenty of addictive gameplay that can be a lot of fun for players of all ages." Unlike Harris, Kasavin praised the games' graphics for their "colorful good looks and the endearing character designs that the series is known for."[26] GameSpot later named LeafGreen the best Game Boy Advance game of September 2004.[30] Game Informer rated the games a "Very Good" 8/10 for being "a lot of fun", yet they saw the graphics as "utterly unremarkable" when compared to other handheld games.[25]

GameSpy reviewer Phil Theobald, who awarded the games four out of five stars, stated, "Before I knew it, I was hooked all over again. The engrossingly simple gameplay combined with the more-strategic-than-they-first-appear battles was just too much to resist. And yeah, the 'gotta catch 'em all' gimmick is still effective, not to mention necessary to build a well balanced party. There's just something about tracking down, capturing, and training all those Pokémon that really draw you into the game's world." He justified the games' graphics by comparing them to the "ugly" original Red and Blue versions. Additional praise was given to the new features such as the contextual tutorial, and flashbacks when loading a saved game, as well as the games' multiplayer capabilities via the Wireless Adapter.[27]

Sales

During its first week of release in Japan, FireRed and LeafGreen sold a combined total of 885,039 copies, which was less than the number sold by

Player's Choice line in North America and were re-marketed with a significantly lower retail price. However, unlike the original release, the Player's Choice edition games did not include a bundled Wireless Adapter.[35]

Awards

Year Award Category Result
2004 Spike Video Game Awards Best Handheld Nominated
2005 British Academy Game Awards Handheld Nominated
2005 GameSpot's Best and Worst of 2005 Best Game Boy Advance Game[36] Nominated
2005 8th Annual Interactive Achievement Awards Wireless Game of the Year[37] Nominated

Notes

  1. ^ Japanese: ポケットモンスター ファイアレッド, Hepburn: Poketto Monsutā Faiareddo, lit. "Pocket Monsters: FireRed"
  2. ^ Japanese: ポケットモンスター リーフグリーン, Hepburn: Poketto Monsutā Rīfugurīn, lit. "Pocket Monsters: LeafGreen"

References

  1. ^ Harris, Craig (31 August 2004). "Pokemon FireRed/LeafGreen". IGN. Archived from the original on 14 November 2023. Retrieved 14 November 2023.
  2. ^ Game Freak (2004). Pokémon FireRed and LeafGreen Instruction Booklet. Nintendo. p. 14.
  3. ^ Game Freak (2004). Pokémon FireRed and LeafGreen Instruction Booklet. Nintendo. p. 16.
  4. ^ Game Freak (2004). Pokémon FireRed and LeafGreen Instruction Booklet. Nintendo. pp. 24–28.
  5. ^ Game Freak (2004). Pokémon FireRed and LeafGreen Instruction Booklet. Nintendo. p. 31.
  6. ^ a b c IGN Staff (11 May 2004). "Pokemon FireRed Version Preview". IGN. Archived from the original on 13 June 2011. Retrieved 24 December 2008.
  7. ^ Game Freak (2004). Pokémon FireRed and LeafGreen Instruction Booklet. Nintendo. pp. 58–59.
  8. ^ a b c d e Harris, Craig (3 September 2004). "Pokemon FireRed Version Review". IGN. Archived from the original on 5 September 2011. Retrieved 24 December 2008.
  9. ^ Game Freak (2004). Pokémon FireRed and LeafGreen Instruction Booklet. Nintendo. pp. 62–63.
  10. ^ Game Freak (2004). Pokémon FireRed and LeafGreen Instruction Booklet. Nintendo. p. 41.
  11. ^ Game Freak (2004). Pokémon FireRed and LeafGreen Instruction Booklet. Nintendo. p. 8.
  12. ^ Game Freak (2004). Pokémon FireRed and LeafGreen Instruction Booklet. Nintendo. pp. 46–47.
  13. ^ GameSpot Staff (15 September 2003). "Pokémon remakes on the way". GameSpot. Archived from the original on 5 November 2012. Retrieved 17 June 2009.
  14. ^ a b Masuda, Junichi (30 August 2004). "Hidden Power of Masuda". Game Freak. Archived from the original on 11 July 2011. Retrieved 22 June 2009.
  15. ^ Harris, Craig (12 September 2003). "More Pokemon for GBA". IGN. Archived from the original on 16 June 2011. Retrieved 15 September 2009.
  16. ^ Calvert, Justin (26 September 2003). "TGS 2003: Wireless GBA multiplayer for 2004". GameSpot. Archived from the original on 22 August 2007. Retrieved 17 June 2009.
  17. ^ Harris, Craig (13 May 2004). "E3 2004: The Pokémon Creators Speak". IGN. Archived from the original on 7 May 2009. Retrieved 17 June 2009.
  18. ^ IGN Staff (16 January 2004). "Nintendo holds back on Pokémon". IGN. Archived from the original on 18 December 2007. Retrieved 17 June 2009.
  19. ^ Harris, Craig (4 March 2004). "Pokémon Red/Green US bound". IGN. Archived from the original on 14 November 2007. Retrieved 17 June 2009.
  20. ^ IGN Staff (11 May 2004). "E3 2004: Pokémon Fire Red". IGN. Archived from the original on 13 June 2011. Retrieved 17 June 2009.
  21. ^ Masuda, Junichi (28 February 2008). "Hidden Power of Masuda". Game Freak. Archived from the original on 13 August 2009. Retrieved 22 June 2009.
  22. ^ Rubinshteyn, Dennis. "GBA Pokémon Firered & Leafgreen Music Super Complete". RPGFan. Archived from the original on 29 May 2018. Retrieved 22 June 2009.
  23. ^ "Pokemon FireRed Version for GameBoy Advance". GameRankings. Archived from the original on 11 September 2011. Retrieved 23 June 2009.
  24. ^ a b "Pokemon FireRed (gba: 2004): Reviews". Metacritic. Archived from the original on 18 June 2008. Retrieved 23 June 2009.
  25. ^ a b Juba, Joe (October 2004). "Pokémon FireRed/LeafGreen review". Game Informer. No. 138. p. 146. Archived from the original on 28 May 2007.
  26. ^ a b Kasavin, Greg (7 September 2004). "Pokemon FireRed Version Review". GameSpot. Archived from the original on 10 May 2009. Retrieved 23 June 2009.
  27. ^ a b Theobald, Phil (7 September 2004). "GameSpy: Pokémon FireRed". GameSpy. Archived from the original on 10 November 2009. Retrieved 23 June 2009.
  28. ^ Nintendo Power staff (October 2004). "Pokémon FireRed and Pokémon LeafGreen review". Nintendo Power. No. 184. p. 123.
  29. ^ Minife, Jon (22 September 2004). "Pokemon Leaf Green and Pokemon Fire Red". NZ Herald. Archived from the original on 8 June 2023. Retrieved 8 June 2023.
  30. ^ Staff (5 October 2004). "GameSpot's Month in Review for September 2004". GameSpot. Archived from the original on 9 February 2005.
  31. ^ IGN Staff (2 February 2004). "Pokemania". IGN. Archived from the original on 13 June 2011. Retrieved 15 September 2009.
  32. ^ Pringle, James B. (20 August 2004). "Pokemon Games Receive Huge Pre-Order Numbers". IGN. Archived from the original on 13 June 2011. Retrieved 15 September 2009.
  33. ^ Harris, Craig (5 October 2004). "GBA Game of the Month: September 2004". IGN. Archived from the original on 13 June 2011. Retrieved 15 September 2009.
  34. ^ "Financial Results Briefing for Fiscal Year Ended March 2008" (PDF). Nintendo. 25 April 2008. p. 6. Archived (PDF) from the original on 19 May 2019. Retrieved 25 April 2008.
  35. ^ Harris, Craig (26 July 2006). "IGN: Player's Choice, Round Two". IGN. Archived from the original on 7 February 2012. Retrieved 23 June 2009.
  36. ^ "Best and Worst of 2004". GameSpot. 5 January 2005. Archived from the original on 7 March 2005.
  37. ^ "2005 Awards Category Details Wireless Game of the Year". interactive.org. Academy of Interactive Arts & Sciences. Archived from the original on 25 March 2023. Retrieved 25 October 2023.

External links

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