June 2018 Game of the Month: Pokemon FireRed/LeafGreen

lilbud

Pokémon Fire Red/Leaf Green

Developer(s): Game Freak

Publisher(s): Nintendo, The Pokémon Company

Platform(s): Game Boy Advance

Pokémon Fire Red/Leaf Green was released in early 2004 in Japan and Late 2004 in all other regions. These games were remakes of the 1st gen of Pokemon, (Red/Blue/Green/Yellow.)

The Pokémon games need no real introduction. Get animal, train it to kill, ravage the landscape until you are on top...Well, not exactly like that. Same idea, just not as violent.

You do get to choose between 3 different Pokémon which one will be your best friend for the next 40 hours. You have the choice between 3 different types; Fire, Water, and Grass. Your a-hole of a "friend" will pick the immediate opposite. Therefore giving him the advantage when you fight him. The whole game functions around a rock-paper-scissors system. Water > Fire, Fire > Grass, Grass > Water (I know it makes no sense, just go with it).

Your main goal in Pokemon is to "catch 'em all" as the tagline implies. With 151 to catch in the Kanto region alone (and 386 if you want to cross over to Ruby/Sapphire). Though getting them all is a challenge, it is more of a self-imposed one. You don't have to collect all 151 to beat the game. If you wanna be the very best, look below for the challenge.

P.S. If you want, you can play Leaf Green instead. They are fundamentally the same game with the same achievements.

Links:

Firered/Leafgreen OST

Review of the Game from Release

G.O.T.M Art Pack™

Game of the Month Challenge

The challenge for this month is The Real Champ I You just have to defeat the Pokémon League Champion. I picked an easier challenge because we have several players on the forum who are either trying Pokémon for the first time or giving the series another try. Don't want to alienate them.

Have fun, and don't take any crap from anybody.

Link to past GOTM's

hooperre

Possible to catch all 151 on the Pi?

lilbud

@hooperre Yeah, you can catch all 151 on the pi. But if you were to use a link cable to connect the game to the other games at the time (Ruby and Sapphire). You could get those pkmn.

mediamogul

@lilbud, @hooperre

Alternatively, there's also 'Pokemon Ultra Violet' which is a 'Pokemon Fire Red' hack that allows the collection of all 386 Pokemon without the need for linking, trading or visiting special events that are no longer possible. The story and game play remain completely unchanged and the additional Pokemon from 'Leaf Green' are still caught in the same locations they would if you were playing that game. The only notable change is the welcome addition to reject the first three Pokemon that Professor Oak offers, at which point he'll take you to an area to where you can catch a selection yourself out of many. It's an incredible hack and potentially the ultimate way to play the game.

It also comes with a really nice illustrated strategy guide that covers every element of the game. Since I've had trouble getting into these games in the past, I think I'm going to give this a go with the strategy guide and all, similar to how I would have experienced it as a kid. The only problem is that the RetroAchievements won't trigger, but if I reach the goal, I'm sure I can wrangle up a screenshot that sufficiently tells the tale. If not, it's really no problem, as my main goal here is to simply enjoy the game.

lilbud

@mediamogul Yo, that actually sounds awesome. I might try that.

Also, the issue of no cheevos doesn't really bother me because I'm playing on my 3DS. I'll be away on vacation soon and usually need a game to play while down there.

mediamogul

@lilbud said in June Game of the Month: Pokemon FireRed/LeafGreen:

Also, the issue of no cheevos doesn't really bother me because I'm playing on my 3DS.

Ah, that's good to know. Where you heading off to for your vacation?

lilbud

@mediamogul Going down to North Wildwood for a week or so. It's been a yearly tradition for about 10 years or so. So I usually put a game or two on my 3DS to play. 3DS is perfect because I don't have to lug a controller and cables for my phone. Last year was Metroid: Zero Mission. This year will be FireRed. Mainly why I made the challenge just to beat the League Champ, no cheevos needed and only need a screenshot.

mediamogul

@lilbud

Sounds fun. Be sure to bring us all back a slice of Sam's pizza.

lilbud

@mediamogul That and a bucket of Curley Fries

Ecks

Um yellow was sort of different just because you can get instead for a starter pokemon a Pikachu and if i remember in Fire Red/Leaf Green you can get more than 151 pokemon anyways since after the pokemon league you could travel to another area.

mediamogul

@ecks said in June Game of the Month: Pokemon FireRed/LeafGreen:

Um yellow was sort of different just because you can get instead for a starter pokemon a Pikachu

Very true. 'Pokemon Yellow' was based more on the anime that was popular at the time. It's still a red/blue variant, but the art style differs in some places and the story has been altered a bit to better fall in line with the anime. Seeing as how Pikachu was a constant companion to Ash there, the option to pick your starting Pokemon was removed, as you say, in favor of Pikachu being the only option. He also tagged alongside Ash on the overworld map as a unique animated sprite.

after the pokemon league you could travel to another area.

From what I've read, those other areas are also where you can find and capture some of the otherwise unobtainable Pokemon in 'Ultra Violet'.

KN4THX

As much fun as this sounded, it got even better when I learned about Ultraviolet. I always disliked having to buy multiple 'DLC' games so to speak or make friends with someone who had another variation to transfer Pokemon. I'll have to give this a go between homework sessions and see how far I can get.

lilbud

@thedatacereal said in June Game of the Month: Pokemon FireRed/LeafGreen:

I'll have to give this a go between homework sessions and see how far I can get.

How do you still have homework? School's out in about 2 - 3 weeks.

Ecks

@lilbud said in June Game of the Month: Pokemon FireRed/LeafGreen:

@thedatacereal said in June Game of the Month: Pokemon FireRed/LeafGreen:

I'll have to give this a go between homework sessions and see how far I can get.

How do you still have homework? School's out in about 2 - 3 weeks.

Different state or country could be the reason he/she has homework still.

MapleStory

Just adding in that there's an (better/more up-to-date) alternative to Ultra Violet that I began playing this week that I found overall to be a better experience. It's called "Pokemon Throwback" and I'm using the current, unofficial version. Besides being able to capture all Pokemon, it also has a "GB Player" item that gives you the option to listen to the original Game Boy tunes on the GBA. Here are a couple of relevant links:

http://www.romhacking.net/hacks/1981/ (a bit outdated)

https://www.pokecommunity.com/showthread.php?t=285094 (latest builds)

lilbud

@maplestory I'll give this a shot. But will have to see if I can backup my save and use it. I'm playing on my 3ds and I don't know about backing up my current firered save and using it with a different game.

mediamogul

@maplestory said in June Game of the Month: Pokemon FireRed/LeafGreen:

there's an (better/more up-to-date) alternative to Ultra Violet

I've seen this one around also. It's not so much better, or more up to date than 'Ultra Violet', but rather another approach to achieve a different goal. The purpose of the 'Ultra Violet' hack is to include all the available content from 'Fire Red' and 'Leaf Green' into one playable experience without changing the narrative or the core game play. 'Pokemon Throwback' is more what you would call a "vanity hack", in that decisions are made by an individual or a team to where core game play elements are changed to suit their particular sensibilities. For example, the types and number of Pokemon are greatly reduced in in 'Pokemon Throwback' and their locations have changed. Also, many items are now located or given at different locations or times. Battle effects have also been altered to behave differently. Just to be clear, I am not making a judgement as to which hack is better. This is just to illustrate that the two hacks are very different in their intentions and executions.

obsidianspider

I cannot get into this game.

lilbud

@obsidianspider That's fine, thanks for giving Pokemon another try.

obsidianspider

@lilbud I really did. I put about five hours in and I am just not seeing anything to do aside from grind.