{"id":136304,"date":"2026-03-03T18:00:00","date_gmt":"2026-03-03T18:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.nintendolife.com\/#article-198082"},"modified":"2026-03-03T18:00:00","modified_gmt":"2026-03-03T18:00:00","slug":"review-pokemon-firered-leafgreen-switch-red-hot-nostalgia-in-a-so-so-wrapper","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sickgaming.net\/blog\/2026\/03\/03\/review-pokemon-firered-leafgreen-switch-red-hot-nostalgia-in-a-so-so-wrapper\/","title":{"rendered":"Review: Pok\u00e9mon FireRed &amp; LeafGreen (Switch) &#8211; Red-Hot Nostalgia In A So-So Wrapper"},"content":{"rendered":"<div class=\"media_block\"><a href=\"https:\/\/images.nintendolife.com\/edcd8e4c50834\/large.jpg\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/images.nintendolife.com\/edcd8e4c50834\/small.jpg\" class=\"media_thumbnail\"><\/a><\/div>\n<div id>\n<aside class=\"object object-youtube\">\n<figure class=\"youtube with-primis\" data-videoid=\"D_81Zi88UTo\" data-start=\"0\" data-src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/D_81Zi88UTo?rel=0&amp;hd=1&amp;showinfo=0&amp;modestbranding=0&amp;autohide=1\"><\/figure>\n<\/aside>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.nintendolife.com\/games\/switch-eshop\/pokemon_firered_and_leafgreen\">Pok\u00e9mon FireRed &amp; LeafGreen<\/a> is a difficult game to evaluate. Re-released on the Nintendo Switch eShop to celebrate Pok\u00e9mon\u2019s 30th anniversary, this 22-year-old Game Boy Advance remake of the original <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nintendolife.com\/games\/gameboy\/pokemon_red_and_blue\">Pok\u00e9mon Red &amp; Blue<\/a> feels like a lacklustre way to celebrate one of the largest media franchises known to man. On the other hand, I\u2019m just happy to have a more convenient way to experience this nostalgic romp through Kanto again, catching personal favourites like Cubone along the way.<\/p>\n<p>Making matters more difficult, FireRed &amp; LeafGreen come as a separate purchase \u2014 $19.99 USD \/ \u00a316.99 \u2014 rather than part of the GBA Nintendo Classics emulator which adds suspend saves and filters to <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nintendolife.com\/guides\/every-nintendo-switch-online-game-boy-advance-gba-game-ranked\">many classic titles<\/a> which are \u2018free\u2019 for NSO Expansion Pack subscribers.<\/p>\n<figure class=\"picture\"><a class=\"scanlines\" title=\"Pok\u00e9mon FireRed and LeafGreen Review - Screenshot 1 of 5\" href=\"https:\/\/images.nintendolife.com\/screenshots\/162472\/large.jpg\"><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/images.nintendolife.com\/screenshots\/162472\/900x.jpg\" width=\"900\" height=\"506\" loading=\"lazy\" alt=\"Pok\u00e9mon FireRed and LeafGreen Review - Screenshot 1 of 5\"><\/a><figcaption class=\"caption generator nintendo-switch-handheld\">Captured on Nintendo Switch (Handheld\/Undocked)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>Some have speculated that FireRed &amp; LeafGreen are not part of this because <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nintendolife.com\/news\/2026\/02\/yes-pokemon-firered-and-leafgreen-are-getting-home-support\">Pok\u00e9mon HOME functionality<\/a> is coming, allowing you to transfer your Pidgeys and Mr. Mimes into other games. If suspend points were possible, it\u2019d be easy to catch \u2018em all, breaking part of what makes this classic title so special and threatening the larger Pok\u00e9mon ecosystem by, like \u2014 I don\u2019t know \u2014 farming Master Balls and shiny Eevees.<\/p>\n<p>Regardless, it makes sense that FireRed &amp; LeafGreen were chosen to celebrate 30 years of Pok\u00e9mon. We\u2019ve visited Kanto many times before, but <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nintendolife.com\/games\/nintendo-switch\/pokemon_lets_go_pikachu_and_lets_go_eevee\">Pok\u00e9mon Let\u2019s Go Pikachu &amp; Eevee<\/a> adopted a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nintendolife.com\/games\/mobile\/pokemon_go\">Pok\u00e9mon GO<\/a>-style catching mechanic and reworked the story into something more modern, while the original Red &amp; Blue have bugs, confusing design choices, and a plodding pace that only the most nostalgia-hungry trainers can withstand.<\/p>\n<p>FireRed &amp; LeafGreen sit happily in the middle of the other Kanto quests. They retain many of the original&#8217;s classic mechanics while working out kinks like the infamous glitch that saw Psychic-types immune to Ghost-types, among <a href=\"https:\/\/bulbapedia.bulbagarden.net\/wiki\/List_of_glitches_in_Generation_I\">many, many more egregious issues<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>What\u2019s more, they introduced late- and post-game areas with the Sevii Islands that include some Generation II and III Pok\u00e9mon. The final area of these islands also includes the Trainer Tower, which features a bunch of different battle challenges to put your team to the test as a true post-game experience.<\/p>\n<figure class=\"picture\"><a class=\"scanlines\" title=\"Pok\u00e9mon FireRed and LeafGreen Review - Screenshot 2 of 5\" href=\"https:\/\/images.nintendolife.com\/screenshots\/162468\/large.jpg\"><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/images.nintendolife.com\/screenshots\/162468\/900x.jpg\" width=\"900\" height=\"506\" loading=\"lazy\" alt=\"Pok\u00e9mon FireRed and LeafGreen Review - Screenshot 2 of 5\"><\/a><figcaption class=\"caption generator nintendo-switch-docked\">Captured on Nintendo Switch (Docked)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>All that is here in this Switch re-release, plus access to Birth and Naval Island, home to the legendaries Ho-Oh, Lugia, and Deoxys. These were only accessible via real-world events before, so this all comes together to make this more or less the definitive edition.<\/p>\n<p>If you don\u2019t care about completing the National Pok\u00e9dex, that is. Currently, it appears you won\u2019t be able to catch \u2018em all from other regions because you had to trade from other games \u2014 specifically <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nintendolife.com\/games\/gba\/pokemon_ruby_and_sapphire\">Ruby\/Sapphire<\/a> and <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nintendolife.com\/games\/gba\/pokemon_emerald\">Emerald<\/a> \u2014 in the original 2004 release and that simply isn\u2019t possible at the moment.<\/p>\n<p>Regardless, I consider this version definitive for a different reason: playing on my large monitor or handheld on my Switch 2 is far superior to the GBA\u2019s tiny screen or the backwards-compatible DS. Stomping Brock and Misty with my Bulbasaur has never been so easy to see; here, the sprites are crisp despite the upscaling, and I enjoyed looking more closely at some finer details on these simple yet iconic Pok\u00e9mon sprites.<\/p>\n<figure class=\"picture\"><a class=\"scanlines\" title=\"Pok\u00e9mon FireRed and LeafGreen Review - Screenshot 3 of 5\" href=\"https:\/\/images.nintendolife.com\/screenshots\/162475\/large.jpg\"><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/images.nintendolife.com\/screenshots\/162475\/900x.jpg\" width=\"900\" height=\"506\" loading=\"lazy\" alt=\"Pok\u00e9mon FireRed and LeafGreen Review - Screenshot 3 of 5\"><\/a><figcaption class=\"caption generator nintendo-switch-handheld\">Captured on Nintendo Switch (Handheld\/Undocked)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>FireRed &amp; LeafGreen still could\u2019ve looked much better. Many have already decried the black bars that frame and shrink the screen to better match the original aspect ratio. After the first hour or two this stopped bothering me, but I do understand where people are coming from when they cite this as proof that this re-release is lazier than a drowsy Slowpoke. If expanding the field of view wasn&#8217;t feasible, they could\u2019ve <em>at least<\/em> added some cutesy frames to toggle between.<\/p>\n<p>A lack of online functionality is also a bummer. Trades are local only, so if I want to evolve my Haunter into a Gengar, I\u2019m out of luck because what Millennial that grew up with Pok\u00e9mon has friends that live nearby nowadays, am I right?<\/p>\n<p>While the black borders didn\u2019t bother me, the lack of new features did. I would\u2019ve loved to see Game Freak add some kind of challenge or remix to the game, such as reworked Pok\u00e9mon spawns or NPC trainers with full, competitive teams rather than two Kakuna that only use Harden. A Master Quest, if you will. This would\u2019ve gone a long way toward making the price point more digestible.<\/p>\n<figure class=\"picture\"><a class=\"scanlines\" title=\"Pok\u00e9mon FireRed and LeafGreen Review - Screenshot 4 of 5\" href=\"https:\/\/images.nintendolife.com\/screenshots\/162474\/large.jpg\"><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/images.nintendolife.com\/screenshots\/162474\/900x.jpg\" width=\"900\" height=\"506\" loading=\"lazy\" alt=\"Pok\u00e9mon FireRed and LeafGreen Review - Screenshot 4 of 5\"><\/a><figcaption class=\"caption generator nintendo-switch-handheld\">Captured on Nintendo Switch (Handheld\/Undocked)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>That said, playing through LeafGreen again has given me a fresh perspective on how far modern Pok\u00e9mon games have come. <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nintendolife.com\/features\/soapbox-kieranrs-hatred-of-you-in-pokemon-scarlet-and-violets-dlc-almost-makes-it-good\">I have been highly critical<\/a> of the more recent entries, but going back in time to the GBA version of Kanto rewarded me with newfound appreciation for the mechanics in the modern titles, as well as for how things used to be.<\/p>\n<p>You see, FireRed &amp; LeafGreen were released before the Physical and Special Move split, meaning Dark-type attacks like Bite are all Special moves, while Shadow Ball is a Physical move because that\u2019s what all Ghost-type moves nonsensically are.<\/p>\n<p>This creates fun little build challenges for certain Pok\u00e9mon, such as my Flareon that has a higher Physical Attack stat than Special, despite Fire-type moves being exclusively the latter. It\u2019s not as easy as slapping Flare Blitz on it and calling it a day; instead, I had to grind the slot machines in the Rocket Game Corner not for a Dratini or a Porygon, but rather a Shadow Ball TM that turned my Flareon into a Psychic, Ghost-deleting menace.<\/p>\n<figure class=\"picture\"><a class=\"scanlines\" title=\"Pok\u00e9mon FireRed and LeafGreen Review - Screenshot 5 of 5\" href=\"https:\/\/images.nintendolife.com\/screenshots\/162465\/large.jpg\"><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/images.nintendolife.com\/screenshots\/162465\/900x.jpg\" width=\"900\" height=\"506\" loading=\"lazy\" alt=\"Pok\u00e9mon FireRed and LeafGreen Review - Screenshot 5 of 5\"><\/a><figcaption class=\"caption generator nintendo-switch-docked\">Captured on Nintendo Switch (Docked)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>Here, there\u2019s no way to sneak up on Pok\u00e9mon and backstrike them with a Pok\u00e9 Ball for a higher chance of capture. No Alpha or overlevelled Pok\u00e9mon roam wide-open spaces or are visible on the map. You can\u2019t send Pok\u00e9mon out to auto-battle, collecting crafting items as they amass experience. You can\u2019t freely learn and remember moves at any time or even withdraw Pok\u00e9mon whenever you want, and the 151 original Pok\u00e9mon make the adventure feel cramped compared to the 400+ available in <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nintendolife.com\/games\/nintendo-switch\/pokemon_scarlet_and_violet\">Pok\u00e9mon Scarlet &amp; Violet<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>I mean none of this as a negative. It\u2019s charming to go back to something so simple and concise as the series continues to explore new mechanics, and it&#8217;s a great way to remember 30 years of Pok\u00e9mon.<\/p>\n<p>What\u2019s more, my time with LeafGreen allowed me to appreciate how the series has evolved as a whole because \u2014 to be honest \u2014 I wouldn\u2019t want a new Pok\u00e9mon game in this classic, linear style. For that, we now have easy access to FireRed &amp; LeafGreen.<\/p>\n<p>HMs still suck as much as a Bugcatcher\u2019s Caterpie, though.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div id=\"conclusion\">\n<h2 class=\"heading\">Conclusion<\/h2>\n<p>All told, this FireRed &amp; LeafGreen re-release is undoubtedly a lazy way to celebrate 30 years of Pok\u00e9mon. For the asking price, Game Freak and The Pok\u00e9mon Company could\u2019ve included some extra goodies, like a hard mode or online functionality.<\/p>\n<p>Still, this is the most convenient way to experience the charm of the original Kanto adventure, and going back in time to see how much the Pok\u00e9mon series has grown gave me a newfound appreciation for all the catchin\u2019 I\u2019ve done over three decades, and all that there is to come. Now give us Pok\u00e9mon HeartGold &amp; SoulSilver, please.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Pok\u00e9mon FireRed &amp; LeafGreen is a difficult game to evaluate. Re-released on the Nintendo Switch eShop to celebrate Pok\u00e9mon\u2019s 30th anniversary, this 22-year-old Game Boy Advance remake of the original Pok\u00e9mon Red &amp; Blue feels like a lacklustre way to celebrate one of the largest media franchises known to man. On the other hand, I\u2019m [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[27],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-136304","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-nintendo-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/sickgaming.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/136304","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/sickgaming.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/sickgaming.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sickgaming.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sickgaming.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=136304"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/sickgaming.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/136304\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sickgaming.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=136304"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sickgaming.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=136304"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sickgaming.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=136304"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}