Pokemon Fire Red Version: - Returning to The Firey Roots of The Series

Pokemon has long held the "fad" title, even though Nintendo would like to think the series will be popular forever, I'm sensing a major fallout in the Pokemon brand really soon. It's not that the Pokemon games aren't engaging (they certainly are deep despite the game's appearance), but I really don't like the way Nintendo is handling the series presently. They tend to hype up the games, but deliver sequels too far apart (while tricking you into buying a slightly enhanced version of the previous games ala Pokemon Yellow, Crystal, and the upcoming Pokemon Emerald. With that said, Nintendo is a company really keen on not letting a single gamer escape without having played their older games by releasing remake after remake, and port after port of their older titles. Nintendo did something that I wasn't expecting when they announced that they were remaking the original Pokemon adventure for the Gameboy Advance. After playing through the Leaf Green Version, I decided to take Pokemon Fire Red for a spin to experience the ever so slightly different experience. Essentially they're still the same game, but which version should you get? Read on to find out more information.

Of course, only the most hardcore of hardcore will purchase both games to collect all the Pokemon. Nintendo laid down the roots to one of the most successful and tricky marketing schemes when they released the first Pokemon games. They found that by releasing two versions of the same game with exclusive features in both that can be acquired by having each version, that they can make more sales. This also causes the games to be more popular, and adds quite a bit to the experience of most games that support dual versions when you have a friend with the opposite version than yourself. This dual release strategy seems to work exclusively with Nintendo's Pokemon series, as other titles don't come close to the success with their dual version releases. Personally Pokemon is really the only series so far that I really see benefitting from this element, but I'd like to see a developer come up with a new quirky method for this.

Story
When gameplay is high quality than the storyline really doesn't matter for most games (most RPGs aside). With that said, I quite obviously am directing that toward Pokemon Fire Red because of how terrible a story is in this game. It's basically a rags to riches story, but at no point in the game was I interested, nor did I find myself caring about any of the characters contained within the world. The biggest mistake ever made with the handling of the Pokemon world was when someone thought they could make an anime series based off of this non-interesting, non-epic quest with what I consider to be rather bland and uninteresting characters. As you can probably tell, I don't much like the storylines chosen for these games.

Basically, at the beginning of Pokemon you assume the role of Ash, who is a real beginner when it comes to raising the little pokemon creatures. In the beginning you are offered a choice Pokemon from a selection of three by the kindly Professor Oak. The choice definitely effects how you'll be playing the game, so choose wisely. From here it's your quest to defeat all the Gym leaders in Kanto, and to collect their special badges. In order to enter the esteemed Pokemon League and challenge the best Pokemon trainers, the elite four, you'll need all the badges and a team of strong Pokemon. This is easier said than done, as you'll have to fight hundreds of Pokemon trainers along the way, and deal with your pesky rival Gary as he tries to keep ahead of you in the race. What kind of Poke team will you create? The decision is entirely up to you.

Gameplay
It's not safe to wander the world of Kanto until you've got Pokemon strong enough to defend yourself. After selecting one of three Pokemon from Oak, you can then begin journeying across the world collecting gym leader badges and of course, more Pokemon. Gameplay may not sound very deep at first, but I assure you that this is a very involving game, and it requires quite a bit of strategy. Not only must you create your Pokemon team, but choosing their special moves in a most strategic fashion will definitely help, or hurt you in your quest to become the very best. The sheer diversity of the choices of Pokemon are really what makes this game worth playing again and again, as you will want to try out various teams of Pokemon throughout your journey to become the greatest Pokemon trainer. You'll need to fuss even more with your Pokemon if you are hoping to defeat human players through link-up.

The release of Pokemon Ruby and Sapphire last year brought a lot to the world of Pokemon. Not only did it feature brand spanking new Pokemon, but it also brought Pokemon contests, abilities, and even double battles to the table. I was actually expecting Game Freak to annex all of these features and stay more true to the original games for the remakes. I'm glad that they brought a few of them over, because I feel that they do only good for the world of Pokemon. Firstly, the Pokemon beauty contests and berry growing feature have been left out of these remakes, which is no biggie because I didn't mess around with these too much, but I'm sure there are others who did. Pokemon abilities have made their triumphant return to the world, but as far as I can tell there are no new ones since Sapphire and Ruby. Also returning are the double battles, which allow a total of four pokemon to fight (two to a team). These are far more infrequent than they were in the last Pokemon games, much to my disappointment.

The pokemon types have been updated for this version, though out of the original Pokemon there's only one notable difference. This change is in magnemite and magneton, which now bear steel as their secondary type, which started out in the Gold/Silver versions of the game. Pokemon also learn moves that they didn't back in the original versions. One good example is that Charmander now learns Steel Claw, which actually changes the entire strategy of the first gym if you chose that Pokemon to start with. In the past Brock was a terribly formidable foe for charmander fans, and so I'm glad that this issue was addressed. Unbalanced gameplay wasn't just fixed here though, as the enemy articial intelligence seems to have been upped a couple of degrees since the original games. This makes the game more difficult, which I welcome with open arms because I found the original games to be a little on the easy side at the end of the game.

The battle system remains nearly unchanged as a remake. The real changes are in the weather effects, graphics, music, and of course Pokemon abilities. You still carry six Pokemon in your group, and each of these Pokemon still learn moves (albeit slightly more than in the original) as they grow in levels from battling each other. One thing I particularly like is the fact that the classic Meowth has the very suiting ability that allows him to pick up items off the ground, much like the Zigzagoon from Ruby/Sapphire. As with the last few releases, Pokemon can carry items with them. They can hold pretty much any item, but there are special ones made just for holding. Berries can also be held, but you can only get them from Meowth's pickup ability and through trading.

Another layer of strategy to the game is in the badges. These badges can make your Pokemon more powerful, but they offer a more important service. You see, Pokemon traded to you will disobey you, but these badges keep them in check. Most badges have a level range of Pokemon that will obey you, and so it's often a good idea to progress in the game before earning levels if you rely mainly on Pokemon not native to your save file. These badges also allow your Pokemon to use the ever so valuable (and necessary) HM moves outside of battle. These special moves are often necessary to progress in the game, so it's a neat little system to make sure you don't get ahead of yourself in the world of Kanto. This has always been a well developed system in the Pokemon games.

Unique to these remakes is the fact that there is still much to do in the game even after defeating the elite four. After finishing the main quest, you will have access to various islands that weren't in the original games. From here you can do a few little quests, and explore a little more. In what is possibly the best feature, you can actually acquire an international Pokedex which contains data on all Pokemon from any of the games. After acquiring this Pokedex, you can also encounter Johto Pokemon on the islands and capture them too. This is a very nice feature, though I would really prefer the game to have allowed you to go to Johto after completing the game to get even more badges from the gyms there. On the islands you can also gain the abilitity to trade Pokemon with the older Ruby/Sapphire versions. This is a little disappointing, as I was hoping for this ability right from the beginning of the game. Keep in mind, you won't even be able to link this game up with Pokemon Colliseum until you get the computer system working in the game, so keep that in mind while shopping.

The basic differences between this, and Pokemon Leaf Green is in the Pokemon that you can capture. Different Pokemon occur at different frequencies in different areas for both versions, and some Pokemon are exclusive to their respective paks. You won't be catching bellsprouts in Fire Red, but you also won't be catching Oddishes in Leaf Green. This is where the whole "Gotta Catch Em All" leaves Nintendo laughing all the way to the bank as we see some diehard Pokemaniacs purchasing both versions just for the bragging rights that come along with capturing each of these little creatures. These people are going to have to buy a whole lot of Pokemon games to catch everything. I'm just glad that I have friends who share similar interests in this game with myself (and who was kind enough to lend me their copy of this game so I could review it). I'm not saying that I would buy both versions of the game if I didn't know someone else with the different version, but it's always nice to have more Pokemon.

One reason in itself to pick up this game is the inclusion of the Gameboy Advance Wireless Adapter in this game's packaging. This little adapter sells for $20 by itself, so it's a welcome addition. Basically, you can link up to another person wirelessly if you each have one of these bad boys. This connection definitely beats being restricted to sitting really close to another player while battling Pokemon. I personally haven't tested how far apart this thing will still work at, but I can tell you that I've not had any problems with it thus far even though I've linked to only one person. This isn't like Nintendo as of late to include such a peripheral with their software, but I'm very happy with this inclusion and think that it definitely makes this game worth picking up.

Graphics, Sound, and Controls
Pokemon Fire Red is a pretty good looking game, but there's definite room for improvement. The sprites are vibrant and pretty, as is the art design. Most of the Pokemon are very cool in appearance, and all have been redrawn since the release of the original games. The problem I have is that the battle backgrounds are still pretty much blank, with a few scant details here and there. It's a little on the annoying side when you think of how lush backgrounds could have been drawn in, as it would have made the game look twice as good. Overall this is still a very nice looking game.

Pokemon Fire Red's soundtrack consists pretty much entirely of remade songs from the original games, but this certainly isn't a bad thing. What I liked in particular is the returning of all the old Pokemon sounds that these little creatures made in the original games. There was certainly something cool with hearing the Pokemon's various battle cries when they're summoned to battle in the original games, and this holds true for this game. The best explanation of this game's sound overall is that it is basically a Ruby/Sapphire-ified remake of the original compositions.

Controls are pretty simple in this game. One thing I particularly liked was the return of the Run feature, which allows your character to travel much faster on foot by holding down the B button. The rest of the controls are responsive, but feel a little more lazy than crisp while wandering around in between battles. The menus are very simple to navigate, and can easily be done by a young child if they spend enough time with the game. Overall, this game is really basic and simple in the controls department, but it works well with this title.

Final Recommendation
Overall I would definitely recommend Pokemon Fire Red to someone who has never played Pokemon. If you know what you're getting, and are a fan of Pokemon, then by all means you should also pick up this game. People wary of Pokemon and/or remakes, should pass on this game. Overall I would slightly recommend the Leaf Green version over this one, but it really just boils down to personal preference with the contained Pokemon.

Overall Rating: 8.5