Gotta Catch Em All... Again

Pokemon Red was my first Game Boy game, and as such holds a special place in my heart. Years later, they have remade the 2 games that started the pokemon craze: Pokemon FireRed and LeafGreen. Before I begin, let me recommend that you all only get either FireRed or LeafGreen. There is no sense in having them both. I once owned Pokemon Ruby, Sapphire, Emerald, FireRed, and LeafGreen, and I ended up selling 3 of those. The reason I say this is because FireRed and LeafGreen are the same game, just with a handful of Pokemon being unique to each version. Back in the day, it MIGHT have made sense to have 2 versions if you didn't have friends to trade with. Nowadays, however, there are so many pokemon that catching every last one is an endeavor only to be attempted by obsessive-compulsives; I guarantee that you will have no desire to see the task of catching ever last darn critter all the way through. If you do, I doubt it will be a very rewarding experience. Beyond this caveat, this game is very good because it is virtually a carbon copy of the original games, which were also very good. That's both the game's greatest strength and its greatest weakness: while the original game was darn near perfect, nostalgia only goes so far, and the magic will not repeat itself. If this is your first pokemon game, however, then you are in for a treat, assuming that you are either very young or young at heart. This game is a very simple RPG with a basic plot. You are a young boy or girl, and are tasked with catching a variety of pocket monsters, or pokemon, and training a team of them to battle other trainers, which include the "Gym Leader" bosses, your childhood rival, a villainous cartel known as Team Rocket, and eventually the unparalleled Elite Four. The game is very easy; the learning curve is very low, and there is even a hint system for when the player gets stuck. However, there is a fairly deep battle system here, so competitive players. The graphics are decent, and the sound is nothing to write home about. But regardless of the lack of originality or aging sound design, the fact remains that it is still pokemon. It sells like illegal drugs and still oozes with charm, and as such the developers have no real incentive to change the formula. One more thing that I would like to point out: if you have a Nintendo DS, and you have never played pokemon before, then I would highly recommend the new Pokemon Platinum version. Platinum is the director's cut of the DS iterations of the game, and as such has more pokemon and gameplay than you can shake a stick at. Plus, it has online battling and trading, which is a huge addition to the series. If you still want another adventure, or just wish to play a remake of the original game, then pick up FireRed. You really can't go wrong, unless you hate pokemon.Read full review