Pokémon FireRed Version and Pokémon LeafGreen Version are 2004 remakes of the 1996 role-playing video games Pokémon Red and Green. They were created by Game Freak and released by The Pokémon Company and Nintendo for the Game Boy Advance. FireRed and LeafGreen were first sold in Japan in January 2004 and later in North America in September 2004 and in Europe in October 2004. These games are part of the third generation of the Pokémon video game series and were the first updated versions of earlier games in the franchise.

In these games, players control their character from an overhead view and fight enemies in turn-based battles. Players catch and train Pokémon to use in battles. Set in the Kanto Region, the games include a new help menu and a new area called the Sevii Islands, which becomes available after defeating the Elite Four and the Pokémon League Champion. The games can be used with the Game Boy Advance Wireless Adapter, which was included with the original releases.

FireRed and LeafGreen received mostly positive reviews, with an average score of 81% on Metacritic. Critics praised the addition of new features while keeping the traditional gameplay style. Some reviewers had mixed opinions about the graphics and audio, noting they were simple and did not improve much compared to earlier games like Pokémon Ruby and Sapphire. The games sold about 12 million copies worldwide and were later sold again as Player's Choice titles two years after their initial release. In 2026, the games were made available digitally for the Nintendo Switch on February 27, marking the series' 30th anniversary.

Gameplay

FireRed and LeafGreen are Pokémon role-playing games designed for handheld consoles. Like most similar games, they use a third-person, overhead view. The main screen shows an overworld map where the player controls the protagonist. A menu interface allows the player to manage their Pokémon, items, and game settings. When encountering a wild Pokémon or facing a trainer, the screen changes to a turn-based battle view that displays both the player's Pokémon and the opponent's Pokémon. During battles, the player can choose moves, use items, switch Pokémon, or attempt to flee (only in wild battles). Each move has power points (PP), which decrease by 1 when used. Once a move's PP reaches zero, it can no longer be used. All Pokémon have hit points (HP); if a Pokémon's HP drops to zero, it faints and cannot continue fighting until revived. After defeating an opponent's Pokémon, the player's Pokémon involved in the battle earn experience points (EXP). When enough EXP is collected, a Pokémon levels up.

Capturing Pokémon is a key part of the game. During a battle with a wild Pokémon, the player can throw a Poké Ball. If successful, the Pokémon joins the player's team. The chance of capturing a Pokémon depends on its remaining HP and the type of Poké Ball used: lower HP and stronger Poké Balls increase the success rate.

FireRed and LeafGreen are remakes of the original Red and Green games (Green was released only in Japan, while the international version was called Blue). They include improvements like a contextual tutorial that lets players access information by pressing the select button. When resuming a saved game, players see the last four actions they performed, helping them remember their progress.

The games support the Game Boy Advance Game Link Cable, allowing players to trade or battle with others. They can also connect with Pokémon Ruby and Sapphire, as well as Pokémon Colosseum, enabling players to collect over 350 Pokémon. FireRed and LeafGreen can link with the GameCube to use Pokémon Box: Ruby and Sapphire, where players can organize and view their Pokémon. In Colosseum, Pokémon can be used in battles. These games were the first in the series to support the Game Boy Advance Wireless Adapter, which allows players within 30–50 feet (9.1–15.2 meters) to interact wirelessly. Up to 30 players can join a special area called the "Union Room" to trade, battle, or chat. Nintendo set up "JoySpots" in Japanese retail stores to facilitate this feature.

Plot

Pokémon FireRed and LeafGreen takes place mainly in the fictional Kanto region. This is one of many regions in the Pokémon world, which includes different types of environments for Pokémon, towns and cities where humans live, and paths that connect different areas. Some places can only be reached after players obtain a special item or one of their Pokémon learns a special ability. Near the end of the story, the main character can travel to the Sevii Islands, a new area not found in the original Red and Blue games. The Sevii Islands, inspired by the Izu Islands, are a group of seven islands. They include Pokémon typically found in the Johto region and offer additional challenges after the main story. Once these challenges are completed, players can trade with Ruby and Sapphire to obtain Pokémon unique to the Hoenn region.

The main character of FireRed and LeafGreen is a child who lives in Pallet Town, a small town in Kanto. After starting their journey and entering tall grass, a voice warns them to stop. Professor Samuel Oak, a well-known Pokémon researcher, explains that this grass is home to wild Pokémon and that meeting them alone can be dangerous. He takes the player to his laboratory, where they meet Oak’s grandson, another aspiring Pokémon Trainer. Both the player and their rival are asked to choose a Starter Pokémon for their journey. The rival then challenges the player to a battle with their new Pokémon and continues to fight them at key points in the game.

After reaching the next city, the player is asked to deliver a package to Professor Oak. When they return to the laboratory, they receive a Pokédex, a high-tech encyclopedia that records information about every Pokémon they capture. Oak then asks the player to help complete his goal of creating a full list of all Pokémon in the game.

During their travels, the player visits cities with special buildings called Pokémon Gyms. Inside these gyms, Gym Leaders must be defeated in battles to earn Gym Badges. After collecting eight badges, the player is allowed to enter the Pokémon League at the Indigo Plateau, where the best trainers in Kanto compete. There, the player battles the Elite Four and their rival, the Pokémon League Champion. Throughout the game, the player also faces Team Rocket, a criminal group that mistreats Pokémon. They plan to steal rare Pokémon, and the player must stop them, including defeating their leader, Giovanni.

After defeating the Elite Four for the first time, one of the members, Lorelei, disappears. Once players gain access to the Sevii Islands, they find Lorelei in her home and convince her to return. The player must then stop Team Rocket’s plans multiple times, recover two items—the Ruby and the Sapphire—and place them in a computer on One Island. After this, players can trade with Ruby, Sapphire, Emerald, Colosseum, and XD.

Development

FireRed and LeafGreen were first announced in September 2003 as remakes of the original Pocket Monsters Red and Green games, which were released in Japan in 1996. Game director Junichi Masuda explained that the new titles were designed with simplicity in mind. The game engine used for FireRed and LeafGreen was a slightly modified version of the one used in Pokémon Ruby and Sapphire. Because of this, FireRed and LeafGreen were fully backward compatible with Ruby and Sapphire, allowing players to trade Pokémon between the games.

FireRed and LeafGreen’s ability to connect with the Game Boy Advance Wireless Adapter was praised by then-president of Nintendo, Satoru Iwata. He said the feature could improve head-to-head battles, sharing information, and communication with others. The game included an improved interface to help new players, as well as a contextual in-game help system to guide players who were lost or confused. Tsunekazu Ishihara, president of The Pokémon Company, said, “We don’t feel that this is a remake at all. We feel that this is a new game, with wireless technology,” referring to the included wireless adapter.

The Japanese version of FireRed and LeafGreen was produced in limited quantities—only 500,000 copies—despite the popularity of Pokémon Ruby and Sapphire. IGN suggested that Nintendo may have expected lower demand for the new games or faced production limits due to the bundled wireless adapter. The North American versions of FireRed and LeafGreen were indirectly announced at DICE in 2004. Although the original games were called Red and Blue in North America, the remakes kept the Japanese names “Red” and “Green.” Masuda explained that he chose the name “Green” because it symbolized peace, unlike “water,” which he felt might suggest conflict with the “fire” icon used in the other game.

The music in the games was based on the classic game consoles and arranged by Go Ichinose. Masuda and Ichinose decided not to change the reused music from the original Red and Blue games but instead updated it by adding new sounds. Some songs include key changes compared to the original soundtrack, and some, like the Trainer Battle music, were rewritten in MIDI format for the Game Boy Advance and include pitch bends between notes. A two-disc music collection titled GBA Pokémon FireRed & LeafGreen Super Complete was released. The first disc contained all the music used in the game, while the second disc included bonus tracks inspired by the game’s soundtrack. Two of these bonus tracks feature vocals.

Reception

Reviews of FireRed and LeafGreen were mostly positive, and the games have an average score of 81 percent on Metacritic. Jon Minife of The New Zealand Herald said the games fixed problems with connecting that Ruby and Sapphire had, which might encourage older players to return to Pokémon. Craig Harris of IGN gave the games a "Outstanding" 9.0/10 rating and praised the creators for making a game that works well for handheld devices. Harris noted the games have less variety than Ruby and Sapphire but are still very enjoyable. He thought the graphics were simple and not very detailed.

Greg Kasavin of GameSpot gave the games 8.4 out of 10 and said FireRed and LeafGreen are great role-playing games with more content and challenges than Ruby and Sapphire. He also praised the games' graphics for their bright colors and familiar character designs. GameSpot later named LeafGreen the best Game Boy Advance game of September 2004. Game Informer gave the games an 8/10 rating, calling them "a lot of fun," but said the graphics were not very special compared to other handheld games.

Phil Theobald of GameSpy gave the games four out of five stars and said the simple gameplay and strategic battles made the games very engaging. He said the "gotta catch 'em all" feature still works well to help players build strong teams. He compared the graphics to the older Red and Blue versions, calling them better. Additional praise was given for new features like a tutorial that appears when needed, flashbacks during saved games, and multiplayer support with the Wireless Adapter.

In Japan, FireRed and LeafGreen sold a total of 885,039 copies during their first week of release. This was fewer than the sales of Ruby and Sapphire at the same time, but IGN said the lower sales were because FireRed and LeafGreen were remakes. In the United States, the games had more than 150,000 pre-orders by August, which was more than double the pre-orders for Ruby and Sapphire. Less than a month after their U.S. release, over 1 million copies were sold.

In 2006, the games were added to Nintendo's Player's Choice line in North America, with the price reduced to $19.99. However, these editions did not include a Wireless Adapter. By March 2008, the games had sold 11.82 million copies worldwide. By October 2013, FireRed and LeafGreen had sold 12 million copies worldwide.

Nintendo Switch release

To mark the 30th anniversary of the original Pocket Monsters Red and Green games in Japan, Nintendo released FireRed and LeafGreen for the Nintendo Switch and Nintendo Switch 2 on February 27, 2026, following a Pokémon Presents presentation. The games are available for purchase digitally through the Nintendo eShop. Critics said the games were too expensive and did not include online features. In Japan, a "Special Edition" physical version is available, which includes copies of the original FireRed and LeafGreen Game Boy Advance boxes. These versions include a download code for the games, three glass Poké Balls engraved with images of Charmander, Squirtle, and Bulbasaur, stands that light up in red, blue, and green, and a display case. The rerelease includes the Aurora Ticket and Mystic Ticket items, which were previously given out during special events and allowed players to catch the mythical Pokémon Deoxys and the legendary Pokémon Lugia and Ho-Oh. Trading in this version is only possible with others nearby using wireless. It may be possible to transfer Pokémon from FireRed and LeafGreen to Pokémon Home, but the exact time this feature will be available is not known.