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The Lowdown
Pros: Enhanced graphics, support with Pokemon Ruby and Sapphire, support
with Pokemon Coliseum, free wireless adapter
Cons: Same old adventure, no new Pokemon, same old gameplay
 Purchase
at Play-Asia
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By now what started as a simple
video game has become a world wide phenomenon spawning numerous games, TV
shows, and even a store dedicated to the brand. Yes, I'm talking about
Pokemon. Love it or hate it, Nintendo's innovative collecting game is
here to stay. The series begun with the original Pokemon game for Game
Boy, distributed in green, red and blue colors in Japan (only blue and
red were released in America). The latest Pokemon game isn't exactly new
it pays homage to the game's roots. The latest versions of Pokemon, Fire
Red and Leaf Green are remakes of the original Pokemon Red and Green
varieties.The story of the original Pokemon games involved a young
Pokemon trainer and his dream to become a Pokemon Trainer. The story is
similar to the original TV show with Ash. If you've seen the show you
already know that Ash's rival is Professor Oak's son Gary and that he is
accompanied by Misty and Brock. The difference is in Pokemon: Fire Red,
the trainer can be male or female and be named whatever you please. If
you've never played a Pokemon game before you may be in for a little bit
of a surprise. The game is played like a hybrid RPG. You control a
Pokemon Trainer who battles using tiny, cute monsters that can be
captured. Each Pokemon has it's own amount of hit points, attributes and
abilities, which makes each monster unique. After a victory against a
random monster or another trainers Pokemon you will be rewarded
experience that go towards increasing your Pokemon's level. If you get
tired of having the same old Pokemon you can catch new Pokemon by
weakening a wild Pokemon and catching it with a Poke Ball.
A lot of the fun from the Pokemon series is catching all of the
different Pokemon. In this game alone there are over 90 Pokemon to be
caught. Different ones can be obtained by going to special locations,
trading with townsfolk and even by playing mini games. Battling Pokemon
is almost like a massive game of rock, paper, and scissors. Each Pokemon
has a certain element that is attributed to it. For instance, Charmander
(the orange Pokemon that looks like a dinosaur) is a fire element
Pokemon. He has fire attacks, which are strong against grass Pokemon and
weak against water Pokemon. Charmander also suffers from higher damage
from water and rock Pokemon. So if you're facing off against a water
Pokemon like a Squritle you'd be better off using an electric Pokemon,
like a Pikachu. The whole system may sound complex, but its actually
simple to learn. Basically, having a diverse group of Pokemon is to your
advantage. So you should try and catch as many Pokemon as you can.
If you've played any of the Pokemon games for the old black and white
Game Boy, you'll already notice the difference in graphical detail.
First of all the Pokemon are in color, instead of black and white.
Even the enhanced color graphics that could be seen by a Game Boy Color
are no match to the sprites in the Game Boy Advance version. All of the
old Pokemon couldn't look any better. Each of the Pokemon look like
small cartoon characters and have more animations that the previous
games. The attack sequences look much better too. Pikachu's thundershock
attack looks better than ever before in full color, and with more
animation. While you're walking around town you're treated to a more
detailed and colorful town than the original game. While this upgrade
doesn't exactly push the limits of the Game Boy Advance, it's still nice
to see. Nintendo managed to keep the style of the original Pokemon games
and still incorporate a graphical upgrade.
You're probably wondering what Fire Red offers new to the Pokemon
world. While it doesn't offer any new Pokemon to play with you can load
your hard trained Pokemon from Ruby and Sapphire into the game. Just
note that if you have a North American version of Ruby or Sapphire you
can't transfer your data to the Japanese version of Fire Red or Leaf
Green. Instead of getting a Pokedex at the beginning of the game you're
given an enhanced Pokemon Navigator that contains more facts and
information than the Pokedex. The game also supports the new wireless
link so you don't have to carry a cable to trade or battle Pokemon. You
can even upload your trained Pokemon's data to Pokemon Coliseum to
battle them in the 3D Gamecube version of Pokemon stadium. Even though
there isn't anything markedly new, if you're a fan of the series there
is enough to do with your data from the game to warrant a purchase.
If you've never played a Pokemon game before this is the one to start
with. To make the game even more user friendly there is a quick help
system that can be accessed by pressing L or R. If you're a fan of the
series you can not only relive the classic adventure, but you can use
this game's data in conjunction with other Pokemon games.
This game is entirely in Japanese. So if you can't read any you might
have some trouble. However, if you have played through the original game
there is a good chance you can play through the game.
US Bound?
Both Pokemon Fire Red and Leaf Green have a tentative Summer 2004
release date.
Overall
The Pokemon series never fails to impress gamers of all ages, if you like the games you're already planning to get this. Even if you
aren't in to the Pokemon games this game makes a great starting point.
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