The main thing FireRed and LeafGreen deserve credit for is bringing the first generation of Pokémon up to par with the new gameplay standards of the third. The fact that this makes such a big difference compared to every subsequent set of remakes only proves that the third generation really was the most important overhaul for the series. It reworked the already existing fundamental programming to make it function more consistently, while also adding innumerous new features that have become cornerstones for the design of future generations. As a result, gen 3 is the first generation that is still perfectly playable today for newcomers and veterans alike. Almost everyone who wants to experience the Kanto region for the first or the fiftieth time will pick the remakes over the original games. Subsequent remakes in the series might have been more ambitious and better games overall, but FireRed and LeafGreen manage the best to evoke the nostalgia of discovering the world of Pokémon for the first time, which is a quality that only becomes more important with every passing year.
They are even better at capturing this nostalgia for Kanto than Red and Blue could ever hope to do again, because they are much closer to how people remember Pokémon felt like playing when they first encountered it. Don’t get me wrong, the first set of Pokémon games is to this day one of the most impressive and groundbreaking videogame products ever, both as a concept and in its execution. But there are also few games that have aged as poorly since their initial release as Red and Blue. In contrast, FireRed and LeafGreen have only gotten more popular over the years, as countless new YouTube videos, Twitch streams, and rom hacks demonstrate daily. They have largely replaced the originals in their function as the cultural objects we use to collectively remember and glorify the birth of the global phenomenon called Pokémon, the highest-grossing media franchise in the world.
Franchises this big always run the risk of becoming too familiar, although their familiarity is paradoxically also the source of their lasting profitability. That is why they constantly try to rejuvenate themselves by creating new products that essentially just recycle the original instances to make them seem fresh and exiting again for a new audience. In this process they further mystify the first successful instances and thus make their magic even less likely to be recaptured again. The new Star Wars films are a good example for this dynamic (Star Wars currently holds number 5 on the list of highest-grossing media franchises, despite being around almost 20 years longer than Pokémon). I also think that George Lucas’ attempts to digitally enhance the first trilogy had a similar aim as the Pokémon remakes: bringing them closer to a changing culture that primarily knew Star Wars through digital media. Turns out this trick works a lot better with video games than with movies, because technological developments can more easily be marketed as "enhancements".
It has become impossible to reexperience the impressions that certain early graphics made on players when they were first released, because we can only ever see them against the background of every development that came afterwards. Some of the original Pokémon sprites are barely recognizable today, even though they were reworked multiple times between the different versions of the first generation. The art style of FireRed and LeafGreen remains accessible after almost twenty years. Even if the main reason for development was to compensate for the lack of backward compatibility in Ruby and Sapphire, GameFreak chose exactly the right moment to remake their first and most precious generation.
Sadly, the success of these games in their function as fetish objects for nostalgic projection comes at the expense of design decisions that are mostly disappointing from a gameplay perspective. GameFreak only fully adopted the "invisible" updates from later generations like the new IV and EV systems, natures, and abilities. Other more striking novelties such as double battles, berries or held items are also here, but only in such a marginalized role that they might as well not exist at all. In fact, it is easy to miss their presence entirely. It feels like the designers were actively trying to hide any changes that might run the risk of alienating players by deviating too much from the original experience and thus ruin the nostalgic appeal. But at the same time, they were afraid to cut the features entirely.
So now there are a few barely noticeable dots on the ground where you can find a handful of berries that are pretty much pointless (except for nuzlockes). Now there are also some very useful held items in the game, but they are only revealed when you use the Itemfinder on the exact tile where they are hidden, even though the item does not work this way in other contexts. And now, Golbat does gain friendship points and evolves into Crobat, but when it does, the animation just stops at some point and a single question mark appears. This was exactly my reaction when encountering these baffling design choices that are present in almost every aspect of FireRed and LeafGreen. Even the entirely new Sevii Islands are only nice in theory and practically feel like a giant waste of potential because of how tame and uninteresting all the extra content is.
In the end, it feels like GameFreak fell victim to the same fetishization of their own property during development. The underlying mistake of every bad design decision is the belief that there exists something like the original version Pokémon that you have to keep faithful to. They seemed to have ignored the fact that there already were many different versions of these games over the years, from the Japanese only Red and Green up until Pokémon Yellow for the Game Boy Color, with several changes between each version. They missed the opportunity to actively choose the best parts from each iteration and then still improve on other aspects that did not work in any of them. I don’t think that the nostalgic effect would have been any different. Otherwise, all the changes inherent to this being a generation 3 game would be far more alienating. After all, nostalgia is based on how something is remembered and not on how it actually was.
_______________
More Pokémon reviews
Pokémon Trading Card Game
They are even better at capturing this nostalgia for Kanto than Red and Blue could ever hope to do again, because they are much closer to how people remember Pokémon felt like playing when they first encountered it. Don’t get me wrong, the first set of Pokémon games is to this day one of the most impressive and groundbreaking videogame products ever, both as a concept and in its execution. But there are also few games that have aged as poorly since their initial release as Red and Blue. In contrast, FireRed and LeafGreen have only gotten more popular over the years, as countless new YouTube videos, Twitch streams, and rom hacks demonstrate daily. They have largely replaced the originals in their function as the cultural objects we use to collectively remember and glorify the birth of the global phenomenon called Pokémon, the highest-grossing media franchise in the world.
Franchises this big always run the risk of becoming too familiar, although their familiarity is paradoxically also the source of their lasting profitability. That is why they constantly try to rejuvenate themselves by creating new products that essentially just recycle the original instances to make them seem fresh and exiting again for a new audience. In this process they further mystify the first successful instances and thus make their magic even less likely to be recaptured again. The new Star Wars films are a good example for this dynamic (Star Wars currently holds number 5 on the list of highest-grossing media franchises, despite being around almost 20 years longer than Pokémon). I also think that George Lucas’ attempts to digitally enhance the first trilogy had a similar aim as the Pokémon remakes: bringing them closer to a changing culture that primarily knew Star Wars through digital media. Turns out this trick works a lot better with video games than with movies, because technological developments can more easily be marketed as "enhancements".
It has become impossible to reexperience the impressions that certain early graphics made on players when they were first released, because we can only ever see them against the background of every development that came afterwards. Some of the original Pokémon sprites are barely recognizable today, even though they were reworked multiple times between the different versions of the first generation. The art style of FireRed and LeafGreen remains accessible after almost twenty years. Even if the main reason for development was to compensate for the lack of backward compatibility in Ruby and Sapphire, GameFreak chose exactly the right moment to remake their first and most precious generation.
Sadly, the success of these games in their function as fetish objects for nostalgic projection comes at the expense of design decisions that are mostly disappointing from a gameplay perspective. GameFreak only fully adopted the "invisible" updates from later generations like the new IV and EV systems, natures, and abilities. Other more striking novelties such as double battles, berries or held items are also here, but only in such a marginalized role that they might as well not exist at all. In fact, it is easy to miss their presence entirely. It feels like the designers were actively trying to hide any changes that might run the risk of alienating players by deviating too much from the original experience and thus ruin the nostalgic appeal. But at the same time, they were afraid to cut the features entirely.
So now there are a few barely noticeable dots on the ground where you can find a handful of berries that are pretty much pointless (except for nuzlockes). Now there are also some very useful held items in the game, but they are only revealed when you use the Itemfinder on the exact tile where they are hidden, even though the item does not work this way in other contexts. And now, Golbat does gain friendship points and evolves into Crobat, but when it does, the animation just stops at some point and a single question mark appears. This was exactly my reaction when encountering these baffling design choices that are present in almost every aspect of FireRed and LeafGreen. Even the entirely new Sevii Islands are only nice in theory and practically feel like a giant waste of potential because of how tame and uninteresting all the extra content is.
In the end, it feels like GameFreak fell victim to the same fetishization of their own property during development. The underlying mistake of every bad design decision is the belief that there exists something like the original version Pokémon that you have to keep faithful to. They seemed to have ignored the fact that there already were many different versions of these games over the years, from the Japanese only Red and Green up until Pokémon Yellow for the Game Boy Color, with several changes between each version. They missed the opportunity to actively choose the best parts from each iteration and then still improve on other aspects that did not work in any of them. I don’t think that the nostalgic effect would have been any different. Otherwise, all the changes inherent to this being a generation 3 game would be far more alienating. After all, nostalgia is based on how something is remembered and not on how it actually was.
_______________
More Pokémon reviews
Pokémon Trading Card Game