A solid remake, but not quite enough to attract most pokemon virgins.
User Rating: 8.2 | Pocket Monsters LeafGreen GBA
The Pokemon games have always been an RPG hit, especially along younger children. It shows when there have been 3 different duos of Pokemon games with new pokemon and features. From Red to Ruby versions, it's no surprise that yet another Pokemon game has been released, but now with a new little twist: a remake. The newest batch of Pokemon titles are remakes of the original Red and Blue versions. But does the LeafGreen and FireRed duo live up to it's predecessor’s success? Here's the concept: Catch monsters and use them to fight through the world of Janto, getting badges from gym leaders and defeating the evil Team Rocket who try to steal pokemon and terrorize the community. There are more than 150 pokemon that can be obtained by being caught in the wild, traded from a friend via wireless link cable, or bought. With all of the pokemon to get, you'd think that you could be playing the game for a long time. But for the most part of the game you have to receive 8 gym badges to fight the Elite 4, the strongest pokemon leaders. After the main part of the story is over, there's not much else to do other than power up your pokemon as far as you can. Most remakes greatly improve on the original. LeafGreen wasn't very far apart from Pokemon Blue and Red, so the main improvements are from the GBA capabilities. There are new and improved graphics, better sound, and new gameplay. There are features taken from the Pokemon games before it, like a new dash by holding B. There are new pokemon that appeared in the Ruby and Sapphire versions, but- here's the catch- they can only be obtained through trading with a friend's copy of Ruby or Sapphire. Other than that, there are only the original pokemon. This served as a problem for me because I never played Ruby or Sapphire nor had friends who did, so I only had the original pokemon. With the new improvements, the graphics were a big one. Most of the changes were present in Ruby and Sapphire, but they are still much better than the original. There are shadows, color, and everything looks nice and clean. Little things like the grass swaying back and forth in the wind help and seeing your reflection in the water are some examples of the upgrades on the graphics. Viewing pokemon while you are holding them each have their own look and new shading instead of little blocky things that rarely looked different in the original. The biggest problem is that the in-battle graphics still have the characters packed in each corner of the screen, instead of a real battle area where the monsters could move more instead of lurching forward a tiny bit and scratching the enemy. They've had many chances to change this, and I would have been much more happy if they had. There is also a new tutorial and you can flash back to see what you did before you stopped playing your last visit. The sound has also been improved in many ways. While the music remains closely the same, most of it is remixed to sound better and there is new music in some areas. With all of the new attacks, there should be new sounds. But many of the sounds are the same and the sound gets very repetitive every now and then. Wireless Connectivity is another new feature. The Wireless Link Cable accessory comes free with LeafGreen and FireRed, and is a helpful tool. This brings new opportunities, and there are a few. You are placed in an arena where other members can link up and join, where you then can talk and choose what to do. If in a crowded area where pokemon fans might be active, you can be in an arena with many people and have a pretty good time. Now the usual pokemon trading and battle can be done wireless, along with a chat and minigame feature. The chat is a pretty bad idea, considering the wireless link doesn't have a very far reach and you could just talk to the person. The minigames can be fun, but get boring quickly. This would have been much easier if the wireless link had a higher range or there were online capabilties. Despite some minor flaws, LeafGreen and FireRed are still a blast. Trying to constantly make your pokemon more powerful by evolving it and leveling it up keeps you hooked. If you manage to beat the game and somehow catch them all, you can still have a good time battling with your friends. Overall, LeafGreen and FireRed are a good remake of the original Red and Blue versions, but there’s not much new to play it again. 
