Oh, excellent. Pokémon LeafGreen has a special place in my heart. Wow, super faithful experience too. Just like when I was 9, I won't be able to trade with anybody!
Oh, excellent. Pokémon LeafGreen has a special place in my heart.
These are my favorite Pokémon games, so nice to see this. On the one hand, I'm surprised at their restraint of "only" $20 (still expensive for a 20 year old game). On the other hand, they're still...
These are my favorite Pokémon games, so nice to see this.
On the one hand, I'm surprised at their restraint of "only" $20 (still expensive for a 20 year old game). On the other hand, they're still selling 2 versions and apparently aren't modifying the content at all. For this kind of re-release, I'd have liked to see a single merged game with all Pokémon (come on, the story in this one doesn't even have the minor difference of box legendary).
Hopefully they'll at least add in all the events. Naval Rock, Birth Island, and a functional Altering Cave.
I don't plan to buy it right now, though if they add in the events I may be interested. Given how hard it is to get a legit copy of the GBA version now, it could be a fun way to replay it.
I am curious what they'll do with the event Pokémon, if anything. Unfortunately, my expectations for Pokémon games are extraordinarily low after the recent releases.
I am curious what they'll do with the event Pokémon, if anything. Unfortunately, my expectations for Pokémon games are extraordinarily low after the recent releases.
There never was a third version in these remakes. It would have been a much larger dev lift for them to make that knowing that the purists would kick up a stink. Ultimately this answers the...
For this kind of re-release, I'd have liked to see a single merged game with all Pokémon
There never was a third version in these remakes. It would have been a much larger dev lift for them to make that knowing that the purists would kick up a stink.
Ultimately this answers the question on if they plan to do RBY or GSC, which the answer seems to be no for now. Its a shame because Pokemon Stadium is kinda pointless without them. I feel like there is a weird technical hurdle they programed themselves into a corner on and don't have much interest in fixing it.
At least they are playing with Gen3 now, which was my favorite gen of Pokemon games. I hope this means there are good things with the Hoenn region coming soon.
Agreed! I still have my Emerald cartridge, and it's the definitive version of Hoenn in my eyes. I don't think it sold very well though... So I'm wary that they'll ignore it like they ignored...
Agreed! I still have my Emerald cartridge, and it's the definitive version of Hoenn in my eyes. I don't think it sold very well though... So I'm wary that they'll ignore it like they ignored Platinum with the DP remakes, which I think did sell super well.
At the very least though, I hope they fix the Berry glitch. I remember the clock freezing in my Sapphire game, and it felt kinda creepy for some reason...
...aaaand I just realized that without the clock, Espeon and Umbreon will be impossible to obtain in FireRed and LeafGreen on the Switch.
Those third games never offered the full Pokedex either, IIRC. Or at least Yellow and Crystal didn't. I haven't kept up with the games past there but based on all the Pokemon ROM Hacks I've been...
Those third games never offered the full Pokedex either, IIRC. Or at least Yellow and Crystal didn't. I haven't kept up with the games past there but based on all the Pokemon ROM Hacks I've been looking up recently, it seems like one of the big sells of ROM hacking is offering complete Pokedexes and methods around required trading for certain evolutions.
Yeah, none of them ever did. As far as I am aware, the only Pokemon games to offer a "full" pokedex of that game are the Legends series. (Feel free to correct me if I'm wrong)
Yeah, none of them ever did. As far as I am aware, the only Pokemon games to offer a "full" pokedex of that game are the Legends series. (Feel free to correct me if I'm wrong)
It's nice to see an official way to play these games again. However, in a world where it is so easy to obtain ROMs of these games (whether that be through legally extracting them from the GBA...
It's nice to see an official way to play these games again. However, in a world where it is so easy to obtain ROMs of these games (whether that be through legally extracting them from the GBA cartridge, or through other less legal file sharing websites), and then play them on a phone or cheap $50 retro handheld, it seems like Nintendo could have done more and either:
Combined the two versions of this game into a single purchase (even if that was still $20)
Offered both for something like $5 each
Offered these (and all other) retro pokemon games as part of the NSO subscription
I don't necessarily blame Nintendo for going the route they did. It just feels a bit silly in today's world
Not to mention, heaps of ROM hacks that will improve the gameplay and allow you to access any Pokemon that may now be inaccessable by Trading or special events or whatever. As usual, this is just...
Not to mention, heaps of ROM hacks that will improve the gameplay and allow you to access any Pokemon that may now be inaccessable by Trading or special events or whatever.
As usual, this is just extortion by Nintendo, aimed at people who can't, won't or don't know how to emulate.
Ultimately the proportion of people who emulate and pirate games is fairly small. If $20 sells well, it is what it is. There is no inherent price to anything, just the meeting between the cost of...
Ultimately the proportion of people who emulate and pirate games is fairly small. If $20 sells well, it is what it is. There is no inherent price to anything, just the meeting between the cost of the product and what people are willing to pay.
There's one major difference, though, between any emulated copy and this: pokemon home support.
One thing about hosting these on NSO classics is that the rewind mechanism would probably allow for some scumming that would upend the Pokémon economy if HOME Support was ever added. Could disable...
One thing about hosting these on NSO classics is that the rewind mechanism would probably allow for some scumming that would upend the Pokémon economy if HOME Support was ever added. Could disable it for those games easily enough, but I get the idea of not tying access to an online subscription, and if it had to be one or the other, I get why they made that decision. $20 is a lot for a GBA rom, but Nintendo gets to set market prices for games on their store. Maybe this means more releases, but I guess that Nintendo can only be so committed to making older games available through online when people will still pay cash money for the generation of games they grew up in.
Generation 3 was close to peak in my opinion. The Pokemon games have their peak at different times for different game aspects. I think the Generation 4 era was the peak in terms of gameplay, as...
Generation 3 was close to peak in my opinion.
The Pokemon games have their peak at different times for different game aspects. I think the Generation 4 era was the peak in terms of gameplay, as that is when they incorporated physical and special attacks of every type. Generation 5 is arguably where Id say the peak in terms of narrative is, with N being a cool character and team Plasma having a genuinely reasonable goal, even though it was a lie.
But Generation 3 is special because Ruby and Sapphire are I think the only games in the whole franchise to do something even remotely interesting with the whole "dual game" concept. I know this is a post about FRLG but I am particularly fond of this generation for that reason.
I mean, Gen 5 had different areas in each version. Opelucid City is all historic in White, and hyper-futuristic in Black. The sequels add some more different routes, too. Makes them feel actually...
But Generation 3 is special because Ruby and Sapphire are I think the only games in the whole franchise to do something even remotely interesting with the whole "dual game" concept
I mean, Gen 5 had different areas in each version. Opelucid City is all historic in White, and hyper-futuristic in Black. The sequels add some more different routes, too. Makes them feel actually different.
Between that and RS having Teams Magma and Aqua, it's bugged me that the other games didn't go for really big differences. Gen 7 have warm or cool colored clothing locked to their versions (other version's colors can be bought through the Plaza), and the day/night cycle reversed in Moon/Ultra Moon. Gen 8 has some different gym leaders. Gen 9 has the professors, Paradox forms, and the horrible, awful school uniforms. (Okay the Paradox forms are actually cool, but I and many others chose Violet solely because of the uniforms. Solid purple is easier to work with than orange pinstripes...)
All of those are fairly minor in comparison to a different villain team or city. Heck, even Gold/Silver had the climax in totally different locations. I'd love the games to have some meaningful differences again. They had some real potential with Scarlet and Violet's past and future themes to have some cool differences in the overworld...
Yes, thats true. I will admit that the later games have done a better job of having some differences between versions, but Im thinking more about the overarching theme of the games. Ruby and...
Yes, thats true. I will admit that the later games have done a better job of having some differences between versions, but Im thinking more about the overarching theme of the games.
Ruby and Sapphire having two antagonist teams is relevant because the teams are superficially opposites but are bad in the same way, in that they are both recklessly meddling with the environment based on their own arbitrary preferences. The fact that the bad guy in one game is your ally in the other highlights how this stems from narcissism, Archie can recognize the flaws of this mindset when Maxie is doing it and vice versa, but they both fail to beleive they themselves could make such a mistake. Having this parallel between them adds something to the theme.
What happens in all the other games?
In Gen 1+2 you are just fighting a crime syndicate with no differences.
In Gen 4 Cyrus is either capturing the Time or Space pokemon, but his overarching goal is to eradicate all spirit, which apparently is something you can do with their time or space powers, so the distinction is meaningless.
In Gen 5 you choose between Truth and Ideals, but regardless of which you choose N picks the opposite and comes to the same conclusion either way. This is the one time where its ok that the difference is meaningless, because the resolution of the plot comes from N recognizing how arbitrary it is and realizing he was manipulated into his conclusions.
In Gen 6 Lysandre wants to make him and his gang immortal and kill everyone else in PokeFrance. To do this he either captures the Life pokemon or the Death pokemon. But the Death pokemon still makes you immortal, and the life pokemon still kills everyone, so theyre basically the same thing.
In Gen 7 Cosmoem either evolves into a Sun pokemon or a Moon pokemon, but Cosmog already had dimensional travel powers before evolving, so which one he evolves into has no bearing on anything.
I didnt play the games after this point, but from what I understand in Gen 8 one legendary Pokemon has a Sword and the other has a Shield... and thats it. I dont even know if they matter to the plot that much?
In Gen 9, you either get a Futuristic motorcycle pokemon or a Prehistoric motorcycle pokemon, and beyond the fact that thats dumb and makes no sense, I dont actually know what the plot is because I didnt play this one either.
Eh... It is the 30th anniversary of the first games, and people have been wanting to play the older games on Switch... Just not like this. I thought they were being added to NSO from the headline....
Eh... It is the 30th anniversary of the first games, and people have been wanting to play the older games on Switch... Just not like this. I thought they were being added to NSO from the headline.
That said, we haven't really had a proper return to Kanto in years. The Let's Go games are technically remakes, but they're a lot more casual and change enough of the gameplay loop that I personally think of them more like spin-offs. Aside from those, the most recent ways to legitimately play a Kanto game are the virtual console RBY on 3DS, or to play FR/LG on a DS/DS Lite. The DSi didn't have a GBA slot, and those came out in 2008/2009, so... About 17 years of consoles that couldn't play FR/LG legitimately.
So a port of FR/LG is probably the best way to let a whole new generation of people properly experience the Kanto journey. Beats another Brilliant Diamond/Shining Pearl-style "remake" at least...
My thoughts exactly. I don't like to be someone who swoops in to invalidate someone's complaints... but this isn't a remake like Let's Go. This isn't a new content that focuses on Kanto. It's...
My thoughts exactly. I don't like to be someone who swoops in to invalidate someone's complaints... but this isn't a remake like Let's Go. This isn't a new content that focuses on Kanto. It's literally just a re-release of an older title that, itself, was a remake of the original games.
That being said, the general public LOVES the original games. Many people in my generation stubbornly refuse to accept anything beyond them. I honestly think they're missing out, but to each their own. I'll happily enjoy Pokemon games as they are consistently at least good and sometimes, believe or not, they're actually great.
Oh, excellent. Pokémon LeafGreen has a special place in my heart.
Wow, super faithful experience too. Just like when I was 9, I won't be able to trade with anybody!
Should've sold it for $40 for the authentic LeafGreen purchasing Experience!
These are my favorite Pokémon games, so nice to see this.
On the one hand, I'm surprised at their restraint of "only" $20 (still expensive for a 20 year old game). On the other hand, they're still selling 2 versions and apparently aren't modifying the content at all. For this kind of re-release, I'd have liked to see a single merged game with all Pokémon (come on, the story in this one doesn't even have the minor difference of box legendary).
Hopefully they'll at least add in all the events. Naval Rock, Birth Island, and a functional Altering Cave.
I don't plan to buy it right now, though if they add in the events I may be interested. Given how hard it is to get a legit copy of the GBA version now, it could be a fun way to replay it.
I am curious what they'll do with the event Pokémon, if anything. Unfortunately, my expectations for Pokémon games are extraordinarily low after the recent releases.
There never was a third version in these remakes. It would have been a much larger dev lift for them to make that knowing that the purists would kick up a stink.
Ultimately this answers the question on if they plan to do RBY or GSC, which the answer seems to be no for now. Its a shame because Pokemon Stadium is kinda pointless without them. I feel like there is a weird technical hurdle they programed themselves into a corner on and don't have much interest in fixing it.
At least they are playing with Gen3 now, which was my favorite gen of Pokemon games. I hope this means there are good things with the Hoenn region coming soon.
Emerald desperately needs a reprint, the only legal way to play it is $250 cartridges which is psychotic
Agreed! I still have my Emerald cartridge, and it's the definitive version of Hoenn in my eyes. I don't think it sold very well though... So I'm wary that they'll ignore it like they ignored Platinum with the DP remakes, which I think did sell super well.
At the very least though, I hope they fix the Berry glitch. I remember the clock freezing in my Sapphire game, and it felt kinda creepy for some reason...
...aaaand I just realized that without the clock, Espeon and Umbreon will be impossible to obtain in FireRed and LeafGreen on the Switch.
The Berry Glitch was fixed in later prints of RS and that's definitely the release they'd use.
I'm so glad I bought mine ages ago. That value is crazy
Those third games never offered the full Pokedex either, IIRC. Or at least Yellow and Crystal didn't. I haven't kept up with the games past there but based on all the Pokemon ROM Hacks I've been looking up recently, it seems like one of the big sells of ROM hacking is offering complete Pokedexes and methods around required trading for certain evolutions.
Yeah, none of them ever did. As far as I am aware, the only Pokemon games to offer a "full" pokedex of that game are the Legends series. (Feel free to correct me if I'm wrong)
It's nice to see an official way to play these games again. However, in a world where it is so easy to obtain ROMs of these games (whether that be through legally extracting them from the GBA cartridge, or through other less legal file sharing websites), and then play them on a phone or cheap $50 retro handheld, it seems like Nintendo could have done more and either:
I don't necessarily blame Nintendo for going the route they did. It just feels a bit silly in today's world
Not to mention, heaps of ROM hacks that will improve the gameplay and allow you to access any Pokemon that may now be inaccessable by Trading or special events or whatever.
As usual, this is just extortion by Nintendo, aimed at people who can't, won't or don't know how to emulate.
Best they can do is sue the fuck out of rom hosting sites.
Hosting these on GBA Classics for NSO subscribers should have been a no-brainer.
Ultimately the proportion of people who emulate and pirate games is fairly small. If $20 sells well, it is what it is. There is no inherent price to anything, just the meeting between the cost of the product and what people are willing to pay.
There's one major difference, though, between any emulated copy and this: pokemon home support.
Where did you see that these games have Pokémon Home support? I don't see it on the release. Seems like it's only local wireless
One thing about hosting these on NSO classics is that the rewind mechanism would probably allow for some scumming that would upend the Pokémon economy if HOME Support was ever added. Could disable it for those games easily enough, but I get the idea of not tying access to an online subscription, and if it had to be one or the other, I get why they made that decision. $20 is a lot for a GBA rom, but Nintendo gets to set market prices for games on their store. Maybe this means more releases, but I guess that Nintendo can only be so committed to making older games available through online when people will still pay cash money for the generation of games they grew up in.
FAQ:
https://en-americas-support.nintendo.com/app/answers/detail/a_id/71365/~/pok%C3%A9mon-firered-version%2Fpok%C3%A9mon-leafgreen-version-faq
Trailer:
https://youtu.be/k8c_C4vfUMo
Nintendo Article:
https://www.nintendo.com/us/whatsnew/pokemon-firered-version-and-pokemon-leafgreen-version-are-coming-to-nintendo-switch-in-multiple-languages/
Listings are $20 for each game.
Generation 3 was close to peak in my opinion.
The Pokemon games have their peak at different times for different game aspects. I think the Generation 4 era was the peak in terms of gameplay, as that is when they incorporated physical and special attacks of every type. Generation 5 is arguably where Id say the peak in terms of narrative is, with N being a cool character and team Plasma having a genuinely reasonable goal, even though it was a lie.
But Generation 3 is special because Ruby and Sapphire are I think the only games in the whole franchise to do something even remotely interesting with the whole "dual game" concept. I know this is a post about FRLG but I am particularly fond of this generation for that reason.
I mean, Gen 5 had different areas in each version. Opelucid City is all historic in White, and hyper-futuristic in Black. The sequels add some more different routes, too. Makes them feel actually different.
Between that and RS having Teams Magma and Aqua, it's bugged me that the other games didn't go for really big differences. Gen 7 have warm or cool colored clothing locked to their versions (other version's colors can be bought through the Plaza), and the day/night cycle reversed in Moon/Ultra Moon. Gen 8 has some different gym leaders. Gen 9 has the professors, Paradox forms, and the horrible, awful school uniforms. (Okay the Paradox forms are actually cool, but I and many others chose Violet solely because of the uniforms. Solid purple is easier to work with than orange pinstripes...)
All of those are fairly minor in comparison to a different villain team or city. Heck, even Gold/Silver had the climax in totally different locations. I'd love the games to have some meaningful differences again. They had some real potential with Scarlet and Violet's past and future themes to have some cool differences in the overworld...
Yes, thats true. I will admit that the later games have done a better job of having some differences between versions, but Im thinking more about the overarching theme of the games.
Ruby and Sapphire having two antagonist teams is relevant because the teams are superficially opposites but are bad in the same way, in that they are both recklessly meddling with the environment based on their own arbitrary preferences. The fact that the bad guy in one game is your ally in the other highlights how this stems from narcissism, Archie can recognize the flaws of this mindset when Maxie is doing it and vice versa, but they both fail to beleive they themselves could make such a mistake. Having this parallel between them adds something to the theme.
What happens in all the other games?
In Gen 1+2 you are just fighting a crime syndicate with no differences.
In Gen 4 Cyrus is either capturing the Time or Space pokemon, but his overarching goal is to eradicate all spirit, which apparently is something you can do with their time or space powers, so the distinction is meaningless.
In Gen 5 you choose between Truth and Ideals, but regardless of which you choose N picks the opposite and comes to the same conclusion either way. This is the one time where its ok that the difference is meaningless, because the resolution of the plot comes from N recognizing how arbitrary it is and realizing he was manipulated into his conclusions.
In Gen 6 Lysandre wants to make him and his gang immortal and kill everyone else in PokeFrance. To do this he either captures the Life pokemon or the Death pokemon. But the Death pokemon still makes you immortal, and the life pokemon still kills everyone, so theyre basically the same thing.
In Gen 7 Cosmoem either evolves into a Sun pokemon or a Moon pokemon, but Cosmog already had dimensional travel powers before evolving, so which one he evolves into has no bearing on anything.
I didnt play the games after this point, but from what I understand in Gen 8 one legendary Pokemon has a Sword and the other has a Shield... and thats it. I dont even know if they matter to the plot that much?
In Gen 9, you either get a Futuristic motorcycle pokemon or a Prehistoric motorcycle pokemon, and beyond the fact that thats dumb and makes no sense, I dont actually know what the plot is because I didnt play this one either.
sigh, Kanto yet again
Eh... It is the 30th anniversary of the first games, and people have been wanting to play the older games on Switch... Just not like this. I thought they were being added to NSO from the headline.
That said, we haven't really had a proper return to Kanto in years. The Let's Go games are technically remakes, but they're a lot more casual and change enough of the gameplay loop that I personally think of them more like spin-offs. Aside from those, the most recent ways to legitimately play a Kanto game are the virtual console RBY on 3DS, or to play FR/LG on a DS/DS Lite. The DSi didn't have a GBA slot, and those came out in 2008/2009, so... About 17 years of consoles that couldn't play FR/LG legitimately.
So a port of FR/LG is probably the best way to let a whole new generation of people properly experience the Kanto journey. Beats another Brilliant Diamond/Shining Pearl-style "remake" at least...
My thoughts exactly. I don't like to be someone who swoops in to invalidate someone's complaints... but this isn't a remake like Let's Go. This isn't a new content that focuses on Kanto. It's literally just a re-release of an older title that, itself, was a remake of the original games.
That being said, the general public LOVES the original games. Many people in my generation stubbornly refuse to accept anything beyond them. I honestly think they're missing out, but to each their own. I'll happily enjoy Pokemon games as they are consistently at least good and sometimes, believe or not, they're actually great.