I thought I would clarify that the points made about the way the modern mechanics change the game (Cubone in Lavender Town, the status abilities, Metal Claw on Charmander, etc) were NOT criticisms of those specific changes necessarily but the overall point that the fact that these things WERE different at all meant that the dex restrictions did not accomplish maintaining the exact experience of the original games, pointing to them being mostly there in order to necessitate trading only between FireRed and LeafGreen. I don't have a problem with some parts of the game being more difficult, less difficult, or even different from the original games. The point is just that because they're different at all, the dex restrictions weren't about maintaining the experience of the originals, so they must exist for a different reason. I don't think that Pokemon Tower is even difficult in the original games, it's more of a neutral thing that there were these changes. The problem I'm critiquing are the trading restrictions being arbitrary and dumb. Also my bad, Pidgey doesn't learn flying type moves until level 28 in Gen 1. Spearow does however, and is available on Route 22 right outside Viridian Forest.

One little feature of FR/LG that I really appreciate so much more nowadays is that little black and white recap of the last things you did before you stopped playing. I used to think it was kind of annoying back when I was a kid, but now that kinda stuff is a life-saver. Sometimes I'll take long breaks between playing these sort of time-consuming RPGs while focusing on school, so its good to get a refresher.

"Use a Psychic Type in Kanto" -Sun Tzu, The Art of War

Honestly your little tangent about how it sucks that they keep bringing Kanto back to the way it was after Gold and Silver gave it some chance to advance just reminds me that lets go pikachu and eevee should have just been full on sequels. Had they just been straight up Red 2 and Blue 2 and had attempted to add more depth to Kanto and show how its changed since the original journey through it(basically what Gold and Silver did but to a much larger scale as its been a far longer timeskip this time around), that would have been really cool. You could have even kinda made it the opposite of gen 2 in the way that you travel into Johto in the post game and get to see how things changed there a bit too, maybe even see some returning characters like Silver who we haven't seen in a long time.

I feel you so much on these games rubbing it in how I was the only person I knew still playing. Tons of late nights spent trading with myself like a loser to accomplish anything. And that wireless adapter I paid for never got used even once.

some say that golbat still hasn't evolved to this day

“You want crobat? No.” ~Junichi Masuda probably

I still believe that Fire Red & Lead Green are the best way to experience Kanto

One thing that really bugs me about all the Pokemon remakes is how conservative they are, particularly when it comes to the Pokemon line-ups. I feel like these games would be so much more fun if the gym leaders and other major NPCs had revamped teams. This is the main appeal of going back to Kanto in GSC for me - or Yellow for that matter - seeing these totally new line-ups that make the major battles feel fresh. Give Misty a Goldeen or a Horsea or something instead of just the Staryu line. Give Koga a Crobat or a Nidorino instead of his eight Koffings. HGSS really had this problem too, as much as I love those games overall. It would be a pretty minor change but would add so much.

Beginning of 2021: Tama comes out swinging at 2004

To this day, the "last time on your journey" feature is still the single best feature of FR/LG, and I wish they'd bring the feature back in current/future games. There's a lot of times where I get too busy to play for a good couple of weeks, and by that time, I've completely forgotten what I was about to do before shutting the game off last.

Pokemon won't follow kids into their teens and adult-hood.." I'm sitting here at 28 doing my third nuzlocke of HeartGold.

“Those motherf***ers forgot slowpoke” I’ve never laughed so hard in my life.

15:25 Gonna hard disagree on that one, Let’s Go Pikachu and Eevee were even more restrictive, with the evolutions and babies being flat out nonexistent, post game or otherwise. I do agree it was silly to not include the evolutions and to restrict trading in firered/leafgreen until post game though.

The frustration of the way trading and the dex work in this game is so accurate. I keep a copy of LeafGreen completed and bought a copy of FireRed for replays just so I never have to do that bullshit of finding the Ruby and Sapphire again. That being said, as someone who didn’t grow up playing Gen 1 (Silver was my bread and butter) I still do prefer the remakes here. There’s some fun to be had with the limited mechanics of the older games, but I just adore the Gen 3 engine so much. My favorite part of Kanto is the way it emphasizes the player’s choice on their journey in terms of where they want to go and what they want to do. The whole game feels like a genuine preparation for the final battles against the Elite 4 and Blue. The limitations of trading and not being able to use newer Pokémon are a huge bummer, but even with them, the 149 original Pokémon are still diverse enough that I’m able to play through it with new teams ever couple of years. Even still, your take here is extremely valid and I can see how if you were playing this purely for the reasons you were, both growing up and now, that it would be very frustrating and not a positive or worthwhile experience.

The "definitive" experience is FRLG IMO. You have abilities, held items, breeding, more than 151 Pokemon, post-game quests, legendary hunts, and a relatively challenging maingame

I remember being obsessed with this game. Playing gen 1 and 2 on repeat for years and then this dropped. It breathed new life into games i loved. I replay the originals and remake games for the same reason now that i did when they came out. It was to see the new sprite art. It was a new step in technology too and familiar was nice. I enjoyed fire red leaf grean more than emerald ruby saphire. The original games and remakes are both great in their own right. I played pokemon to role play teams and look at pretty sprites and it delivered for me. Gen 2 will always be my fav gen and fr/lg to me was more like being able to continue my silver/gold playthroughs in a roleplay sense. It was the FEEL that made them great to me. Just a good blend of familiar with new design.

AAHHHHH THAT'S WHY MY GOLBAT STOPPED EVOLVING EVERY DAMN TIME!!!!! thought it was freaking bugged years later i finally have an answer holy....

Really interesting perspective on these games I had never considered before. FRLG are actually my favourite Pokémon games to replay (besides BW2), mostly because I love how fast Gen III runs and how open/non linear Kanto is compared to other regions. As a kid, I had never beaten RBY or GSC by the time I got my hands on these, so I didn’t have the same been there, done that frustration. The national dex and evolution restrictions are so annoying, though. I’ve used every single Kanto Pokémon at this point and it’s ruined the replay value. I think a hack of FRLG with running shoes, nat dex, and physical/special split added in from the beginning would be my ideal game.

Crobat: *exists* GameFreak in Fire Red and Leaf Green: And I took that personally

I think Fire Red and Leaf Green are great introductions to Pokémon as a series. Should they have expanded and added more? Sure. But what we got wasn’t bad at all.

Nintendo : "FireRed and LeafGreen" Tama : "Why though?"

I was expecting myself to be highly upset by this video as FR/LG are my childhood and by far my favorite way to experience Kanto, but all of your points made sense and were properly thought out. Great video!

I love your intelligent critiques of these games, and you always bring up facts and interesting tidbits that I, a lifelong Pokemon fan, never knew about the games. I hope you do a Black and White video, cause I feel like that game has a lot of hidden stuff too that's missed, especially since it's one of the more disliked generations (from my experience with people)

The worst example of the games being hurt by not accounting for the mechanics of gen 3 is the Diglett's Cave, since Diglett now has Arena Trap, so if you're not leading with a flying type you have to fight every wild Pokémon you find. To make matters worse, repels won't be able to save you from the overlevelled Dugtrio you can find here (which also have Arena Trap, of course).

“Finally, The Rock has come back...”

I’ve actually never played this game legitimately, only having played it on emulators when I first discovered them back in... I wanna say 2010...? My experience with this game feels unique and definitely contributes to my positive feelings for it. This was the first time I played a Pokémon game on a big screen with a controller and I felt like I was some sort of computer genius to get this actually working on my cheap-ass computer which was crippled with Windows Vista (Remember *that?*) Of course, it’s very anecdotal and I could have picked any Pokémon game to download and play and probably would have loved any of them with the novelty of my scenario, but I picked FireRed because I had missed it when it came out, as Pokémon had fallen out of favour like you said, and no one was keeping up with it anymore, which unfortunately meant I didn’t either... I remember seeing a commercial for FRLG on tv one day after I hadn’t played for years and was shocked to see they had remade the game that defined my childhood. I wanted to play it back then but never pursued it because I would have no one to play with... Flash forward to when I was about to do so on the emulator. I had dropped out of school a few years prior, lost all my friends and just wanted to forget about my current life. I was excited to play the GBA version of the game I fell in love with at 7 years old. That was all I needed. Even though the music was bad and the game was a mediocre cutout of RBY using RSE cardboard, I still had a great time, with the Sevii Islands being a highlight somehow. The fact that I didn’t pay for this experience may have helped influence my opinion as well... 😒 Story time over 🙂 Your line delivery has gotten so good it’s crazy. You sound so confident and natural, like I’m just right there with you and you’re unleashing a passionate rant for the first time. 🙃 Happy new year~! 🥳

I loved FireRed for simply 2 reasons. 1- It was my first pokémon game 2- It had what I saw on TV in the game, I was familiar with Team Rocket, I was familiar with the gen 1 starters and these pokemons and the only other alternative I had back then was original Red which looked way worse graphically. Still a force that pushes me away from newer and other pokemon games is the fact that I have no idea about most of them and I just return to FireRed because of the familiarity.

Although sadly this is on a new account because my old one got deleted, I've been a massive fan of your channel since 2015. I don't know if you'll ever see this, but that doesn't matter, I would just love to say how much I thank you Tama, for everything. You've got me through not only the toughest and most depressing times of my life, as I've always been a lonely and anxious kid, but simply changed me as a person, and for the better! You became a literal part of my life. Your videos and wonderful personality managed to help me so much, I always got so excited for a new Tamashii Hiroka upload, I also remember binging all of your old videos when I discovered your channel, and I remember how happy I was when I watched them; it's been that way ever since! So thank you, thank you so much for always being my favourite KZfaq creator on the platform, thank you for carrying through not only my childhood, but simply my life. I am so glad you are back full time again, it was tough having that year or so without you when you took that long break! I can't express how much I love you as a person Tama, your channel saved me. I am so so very happy you are back. Thank you for everything, keep being awesome, keep making my favourite content here, but most of all keep being the amazing person that you are :)

this game came out for me just in time for my reading comprehension to develop enough where i actually understood every word in the game, unlike the previous ones. it helped develop my love for charmander and a lot of other kanto pokemon, taught me how to actually build a well rounded team that works (not just use my overleveled swampert to win everything), and actually let me complete the kanto elite four, yet i agree with every word you've said. by the time i actually got to the end and wanted to build a whole pokedex, it really settled in what the game really was. i remember going to one island with a golbat, leveling it up, and getting stopped because i didn't complete the postgame. even at 9 years old i knew something was wrong and it lead to me developing a sharp eye for pokemon games to come. thank you for this video; it has been very validating lol

I like how informative your videos are, but lately with Ruby and Saphhire and this - you’ve really been wowing me with all the little details to these histories of our favorite games

Honestly, these are some of the best remakes in the series. Despite loving many Pokemon games afterwards, I still come back to these every few years.

The biggest factor in FRLGs favor is just how bad and buggy RBY were. Being in the Gen 3 engine alone makes them head and shoulders above the originals, let alone being in color.

Because I went into FireRed with a very different context than Tama Hero, I absolutely loved it, to the point where it's my favorite Pokemon game and within my top 10 games overall. It was my first Pokemon game, so I learned all of the main Pokemon lore and mechanics from this. The Sevii Islands took me by complete surprise and I had no idea they even existed until I encountered them myself. I also had a really great friend at the time who was into Pokemon like me, so we enjoyed the game a ton together. However, I totally respect your opinion, and while i strongly disagree with it, I understand we simply went into the game with different context. Great video as usual!

As a player who grew up with this version of gen 1, the real letdown was having the wireless adapter but no one in my school that played Pokemon

"Pokemon is about trading!" FireRed-LeafGreen: "NO!"

I feel like I might've had a really unique experience with this game, leading to my fondness of it. I was playing this in high school, I was a senior, working on a half-day schedule but still needing to be on campus the full day, which led to 4+ hours of downtime every day. I was also in the Drama Club, running lights and sound for a handful of plays over the course of the year. I had my best friend at the time, and his girlfriend, purchase the game alongside me. His girlfriend had never played a Pokemon game ever before, so playing alongside her was fun and interesting, seeing her perspectives over the adventure that my friend and I had with the original games. With all those elements in place, it was a perfect storm- 3 people, playing in tandem, working together at the same pace; in close proximity almost all the time- close enough for the wireless adapters to work, anyway. It was an amazing time and my fondness for these remakes hasn't waned. I will say, the mechanical differences you pointed out are something that has never crossed my mind; but I can absolutely see how they'd be an issue to purists; and I can definitely see how the dex restrictions would be frustrating, and I understand how playing thru Kanto for a 3rd time for a dex completion in RSE would be equally as frustrating; but as someone who doesn't routinely 100% games, I feel that FRLG actually stands up on its own, as a standalone "entry level" pokemon game. Plus, it's just kinda fun to play these over the originals; the same adventure but without the "crust" as it were. It'd definitely have been nice to have the Phys/Spec split though, for sure...

I remember the first time I used a Golbat on my FireRed team and after reaching leaving 37 it started to evolve. I was about to have a heart attack because I thought I would get a Crobat before facing Blaine, but I almost threw my damn GB Advance when it randomly stopped evolving! TALK ABOUT PISSED! I was boiling more than a Groudon about to use Eruption 😡😡😡

It's interesting hearing things from your perspective. Personally, if I'm going back to Kanto, it's to Fire Red and (well, more accurately, just) Leaf Green (I don't have a copy of Fire Red). I find the gen 3 mechanics more satisfying to play with compared to the originals (mainly because my first experience with Pokemon was Emerald, and didn't grow up with Gen 1 and Gen 2 other than cultural osmosis), even though I agree that they feel forced in. I find it baffling though that they refuse to change Kanto. They'll begrudgingly add stuff like the berries or the Alola variants, but they've never made a pure Kanto game that better incorporates the modern mechanics in, even if some wouldn't take much effort to include. I feel like it was at its most blatant in Let's Go, because by the time the game came out, Pokemon Go fans (the main audience they were trying to bring in) were being exposed to Gen 4 Pokemon. They knew about all the Johto evolutions/ babies, and would soon find out about all the Sinnoh ones that were tied to Kanto Pokemon. Why those weren't included is baffling to me. I'd honestly like to see a version of Kanto that better incorporates the modern mechanics and modern Pokemon tied to the original 151 (not counting raid dens and other "this is made for online only and will be awful once the servers close" systems from Sword and Shield), because I think it could be an interesting experience.

I actually got a lot of use out of the Help menu because it had a detailed type chart when you pulled it up in battle. I skipped Gen 2, so having two new types and reworked matchups for bug, poison, fire, ice, psychic, and ghost really made me feel like I never knew the types in the first place.

In terms of why I got FireRed back in the day, I'm in the camp of "I've never played a Pokemon Game before." Technically, I had played XD: Gale of Darkness at a friend's house before, but FireRed was the first one I ever personally owned. It's probably the Pokemon game I've replayed the most amount of times and holds a lot of sentimental value to me for a variety of reasons. Despite how much I've replayed FireRed, I never really took the time to think about how poorly the National Dex and trading mechanics were implemented in that game. Like you, I never had anyone to trade with, growing up. However, I've never been a "catch em all" person, to be perfectly honest. I think a lot of why that is was because of me being introduced to the series through XD. In that game, you're not trying to catch em all, you're trying to save them all. There's a limited number of Pokemon and the situations in which you're obtaining them is so much more high stakes and it feels so much more personal when you catch and purify them. It makes each and every one of them feel like just as much of a character as their evil former trainers are. Because you're doing more than just building up a team for the sake of "being the very best, like no one ever was". From beginning to end in XD, you're trying to rescue creatures that are in need. So I guess I just always felt weird about collecting one of every creature in the mainline games, just for the sake of keeping them locked away in a storage box for all eternity. I definitely agree with all that you're saying, though. I feel like a lot of what you felt during the FireRed and LeafGreen era is what I'm feeling right now in the Sword and Shield era. I've just felt really... empty, when seeing and playing modern Pokemon. I had this exact feeling after the first SpongeBob movie. The franchise I once loved and that meant the world to me had become a corporate, soulless, moneymaking shell of its former self. It'd be nice if GameFreak would cater to both old and new fans alike, but it really feels like their mindset is a combination of "Catering to old fans means bringing back Kanto for the millionth time, just like how celebrating Mario means re-releasing Super Mario Bros. for the millionth time." and "Old fans are just like new fans, in which they'll buy anything with Pokemon attached to it, simply because it's Pokemon". I was worried I might've been at a point where I simply couldn't enjoy Pokemon, anymore. So a few weeks ago, I went back and played Pokemon Red.... and I had a wonderful time with it. Its simplicity was refreshing and the charm and personality of these creatures shined through, even after all these years. As for which game I would return to in the future if I ever wanted to return to Kanto.... it's a bit of a tossup, honestly. I think Red, Blue and Yellow and really interesting to return to, to remind myself of how much the series has evolved (or in some cases, devolved) and to enjoy a quick, simple and enjoyable experience. I'm able to get enjoyment out of the Let's Go games by simply walking around in them. Would I ever wanna replay them? Heck no. But now that I've finished it and can simply walk around an HD version of a world that holds a lot of memories for me, it can be a pretty nice time if I ever just wanna unwind or have some background noise. And as for FireRed and LeafGreen... I feel like since it's technically where I started my Pokemon journey, I'll always have a soft spot for it. Hearing their specific remixes and seeing those specific sprites always makes me feel at home.

I'm one of those Pokemon fans who has been around since the beginning, and I've often cited Leafgreen as one of my favorite games in the series. I can't really dispute anything you say, I just didn't feel them myself. FR/LG felt like a welcome return to a familiar place. With better graphics and mechanics I understood a bit better. Did the new battle mechanics make things more difficult in a region that wasn't designed for them? Oh certainly yes. But I think that taught me to be more prepared, and to learn new things about Pokemon I already knew so much about. Which helped me get better at playing the game compared to Red and Blue and Yellow when I was 7 years old, and didn't really know what I was doing. All of this at a time where I was playing Pokemon games a lot more. Leafgreen was the first time I even reached the Elite Four. Gen 3, FR/LG included, holds a special place in my heart since they were a source of comfort and something fun and reliable in one of the most uncertain times of my life. I personally didn't feel cheated or taken advantage of, but welcomed back to a familiar land, with a bit more of an understanding of it thanks to getting better at the game, having a better grasp on the new mechanics, and loving the updated Gen 3 graphics which I was growing very attached to thanks to Ruby and Sapphire. But like I said, I can't really dispute any of the arguments or criticisms you had here. I just wanted to share my perspective as a fellow lifelong fan of Pokemon who was here since the original trip to Kanto, and who was also the only person I knew who still loved oreven liked Pokemon at this point.

Games dont have to have some super special message to be good. These games were a treat and they were ABSOLUTELY a labor of love.

girl, that was the first year i entered highschool from homeschooling up to that point. this game broke my spirit and i couldn't express why. I felt alienated by a thing I loved and extreme peer pressure to call it childish and lame. this game killed my belief in a thing i loved and i never understood i hadn't changed it had.

If we didn’t get FRLG, we wouldn’t have HGSS. I think that’s reason enough to appreciate their existence. They brought to us God 😌

Pokémon: Okay, we're going to make you work super hard for any Pokémon not found in Kanto! People: Oh, okay, cool. So you're going to have in game events so we can catch all the Mythical Pokémon like you did with the Regi's? Pokémon:....Have another Sentret...

That was one of the best intros I’ve seen in a KZfaq video. Seriously, it gave me exactly what I was in for when clicking on this video.

The heck you on about? I got the kanto remakes because I wanted a kanto game without the mutant sprites and with more than 4 colors

People talk about the EXP Share making things too easy in recent generations, but the VS Seeker was the early way to get fast money and over level your team! I remember one time I had a Charizard and Pikachu before fighting Misty. No lie, I just constantly used the VS Seeker on the route of trainers between Vermillion and Cerulean City over and over again. Pikachu was at like level 36 and my Charizard was at level 37. Heck, it even knew Flamethower because I kept it a Charmander until it learned the move at 31! Though I guess the difference is that you actually HAD to work in order to get the money and levels because you would need to constantly battle, but it was well worth it!

I wanna start off by saying that when I was a younger lad, your original review of these games rubbed me SO wrong that I ended up unsubbing for some years (my mistake honestly, but I've since come around to see that was an extreme reaction). These were not only my first Pokemon games, but some of the first GAMES in general I ever ended up playing. I'm a 97' baby who didn't get into Pokemon as quickly as other kids I knew, so R/S kinda passed me by, and Emerald was my real deep dive into Gen 3 and Pokemon in general. I'll admit, I was skeptical going into this video, because remembering your old review brought back a bad taste in my mouth. However, knowing how much you've grown as a content creator (and how much I have in considering nuanced opinions outside my own since Teen-hood) I gave it a shot. And I'm happy to say that you've opened my eyes to a lot of things I've thought about, but never truly considered. These games ARE bare bones remakes, and could have done so much more to add to the baseline experience. I recently replayed LG and felt desperate for the Physical/Special split for instance. I found myself cursing the game for being TOO close to R/B, which I hadn't ever really done before. I'll also say that I was glad to see your original point about the Teachy TV and help systems being a major factor in disliking these games as "baby's first Pokemon" were no longer a prominent point against them in the video. I was happy to see you come around on that, since I always felt it was an unfair argument towards kids who did grow up with these games and not the originals. Mind you, I still love the additions these games made, and I'd genuinely rather play them over the Gen 1 games any day of the week for quality of life improvements alone (and I /have/ played Red and Blue a lot since, believe me), but I am also not so blinded by nostalgia that I'm unwilling to admit they falter more than I believed initially. So, from one of those replacement fans (:P), I gotta say, thanks for the honest constructive view of the game that started my love for Pokemon. I appreciate it. And hell, it's nice to see somebody talk about them at ALL for once.

“why does her butler just appear out of nowhere” seeya 😂

Seeing the title / first 1.5 minutes: "wtf what, I disagree" Seeing the video length: "... okay they feel strongly about this, I'll watch" Great vid

I think she had more positive to say about D/P

You’re not wrong... and your reviews are always SO thorough, I appreciate it so much. But I still love these games...

I absolutely love when you do deep dives and breakdowns into games like this. I'd love to see you mechanically break down some of the spin off games too!

I commend the research that you’ve done. Even though I am part of a completely different audience and love these games, I can respect the effort you’ve put in and the understanding it’s given you. I will say, some of the things you point out about R/B being simpler and team rocket being out of the way all are why I seem to like FR/LG. Both generations offer simple adventures that are more about you and are driven less by what other characters want. They seem pretty open as well once you leave rock tunnel which, as you pointed out, is different than most other games in the series. With these things in mind, the kanto adventure feels like a free, relaxed breath. As a fan of more open games whose first Pokémon game was Fire Red, I love it. I see very little personal benefit in playing gen 1 other than simply having that experience. And of course I know these remakes have different roles in other people’s lives so I get why they would feel different. You seem to be very understanding as well and that really helps put everything into perspective. Thank you.

Oh boy, I'm excited to see people's reaction to this one! Also, Happy New Year everyone!

"Who the fuck cares about Pocket Card Jockey?" I'll have you know that there are a dozen of us. Anyway, FireRed ended up being the last Pokémon game I played before I fell off the series for nine years. Not through any fault of the game though: someone just stole my GBA SP and I fell out of gaming in general until high school, then didn't get a new handheld until a 3DS XL in college. I recall enjoying my time with the game as a kid, though not to the extent I did with Silver or Emerald, which I remember playing constantly. The Sevii Islands were a cool addition that I didn't expect, as I went in thinking it would just be a nicer version of the originals, which I didn't personally own. I recall up spending most of my game time running back-and-forth between the islands, as I found them more interesting than mainland Kanto. I didn't really have anyone to trade with back then, so that never really factored into my enjoyment of the games. The only other kid I knew who was still into Pokémon had a Game Shark, so he couldn't care less about trading. So my enjoyment came just playing through the story, then maybe restarting my game so I can try out a different team. On that level, FRLG were fun games for me, even if they didn't get the replay treatment as often as Silver or Emerald (or Black, when I got back into the series). I remembered the evolution restrictions, but I didn't remember trading being that restrictive. Sounds like an absolute nightmare and I'm glad I had no desire to complete my Pokédex at the time.

Love the new channel direction, new content and familiar face! Thank you for providing these videos for us! 😊

It just sounds like nitpicking at this point

I think, at the very least, many of your criticisms re: "Remaking RBY was purely a business decision and not necessarily a labor of love" were addressed in HGSS in some way, shape or form. At the VERY LEAST, you could trade from Sinnoh from the get-go and, even if the items required to actually do so weren't accessible until the postgame, you could at least evolve older Pokemon into their new Gen IV evolutions. You'd still have to either pay to have the Sinnoh games or know someone willing to trade with you, but at least you feasibly could have a different experience playing through Johto than you did back in GSC, which were around ten years old by that point. Even changing the Legendary mascot's battle to a mandatory storyline requirement made it a different experience from the original. I guess Game Freak had no problem doing that the second time around, which to me either suggests that they genuinely like Johto more or that they learned from their mistakes and disappointing (as you said, relative to other games in the series) sales numbers. I guess it helped that Diamond and Pearl were the best-selling Pokemon games since Gold and Silver at that point, though, so Game Freak must have thought that they were doing something right, despite the (valid) criticisms you levied against them in your other video. (I'm sure Platinum helped in that regard, since it fixed a lot of what was wrong with D/P -- not that that excuses D/P from being the way they are). Loved the video, can't wait for the next!

I heard no lies in this rant. Back then I just mindlessly played cause I was a fan but looking back and even now with sword and shield it feels like Nintendo is basically saying "it's time for you to move on cause we have, thanks for your money though lol". When I heard I couldn't bring majority of my pokemon from the 3ds games to sword and shield I knew it was time for me to hang up my pokéballs.

I really like your docs/video essays! They are super interesting, very detailed and comprehensive.

I love the level at which you analyze these and you have a great balance between well-reasons objective and subjective input

I was a teenager when FR/LG came out so I knew a lot of things that I had no clue about while I was a kid during R/B/Y. I remember being really bummed that I could not trade with R/S (idk if Emerald came out yet). For this reason, I replayed R/S a lot more than FR/LG because I was able to send eggs to hatch and create my own, unique teams. It was very enjoyable and rewarding. When Emerald prevented trading eggs from the beginning, it really hampered the unique experiences I was trying to create because I wanted to build my own teams without having any pokemon using boosted experience due to being traded. Emerald destroyed the concept of being able to hatch, grow, and develop any pokemon due to pokedex restrictions. So even though Emerald was better, I enjoyed Ruby and Sapphire more.

FRLG, while definitely flawed, will always hold a special place in my heart. My first Pokémon game was Gold on a gameboy that my friend gave to me before I could really read well enough to finish the game. My journey ended after beating Pryce, not knowing that I could Surf down from Olivine to unlock the rest of the game. A few years later a different friend sold me his copy of Leaf Green for $2 and it was the first Pokémon game I ever completed and could understand all by myself, and that was empowering for little old me who never enjoyed reading that much. Not only that, but being the only one of my friends with a Gen 3 game while everybody else had Gen 4 on the DS meant that I’d be able to send them Pokémon they wanted but couldn’t get in their own game, so I have a lot of fond memories about time spent with friends through Pokémon. Leaf Green also sparked my love for the Squirtle line after I accidentally chose it instead of Charmander since I was in such a rush to get my Starter, and that very Squirtle was my first ever Lv. 100 Pokémon by the end of my journey. And finally, as a kid who mainly has access to the original series of the anime, seeing all the Pokémon, locations and challenges Ash and friends went through, and being able to experience them for myself was a highlight of my time spent in Kanto. So while it’s definitely not perfect, FRLG will always be a very special part of kicking off my love for Pokémon that continues to this day

This was really informative and has made me think about Fire Red/ Leaf Green in a new way. Thanks for making this video I really enjoyed it!

Gosh damn this is a great vid. I love how in depth you go into everything. Amazing work

time to breathe in all that 🧂 GREAT VIDEO TAMA

I played RBY to death in the 90s and early 00s, as well as GS a few times, and Ruby once (at launch). I got LeafGreen & FireRed on ebay in like, 2008 or 9 I'd say? I tossed one of them over to my friend and we did simultaneous playthroughs and trades/battles. To me, it was a nice way to play again what is essentially the games we loved so much without it being the exact same experience to the T again. The facelift and QoLs were welcome and refreshing. I respect that you can have all of these complaints, but honestly nothing of the sort ever occurred to me. The Sevii islands weren't that amazing to me, but I just enjoyed the game for what it was. It's possible that the extra time that had elapsed since I last played gen 1/2/3 helped to color my experience positively, but I did have more fun with this game than the base gen 3 game.

Why I prefere FR/LG over Red and Blue - same game - no gliches - it actually looks good to look at it

I found your perspective as an og fan really interesting. As always you put a lot of effort that really shows in the great quality of your videos.

The only thing i disagree with is the combat system, as in my opinion the gen 1 combat system is horrendous.

Back when I got my first GameBoy, my second ever game that I really got into on it was Pokémon leaf green (first was lego Star Wars). I actually thought Pokémon was stupid when I had first heard about it, but some how I got to playing leaf green and falling in love with it. Me and my older brother and sister played it constantly, and we still remember specific things that happened in our first play through of the game. I still make fun of my brother for wasting the master ball on a pidgeotto. Long story short, this game is what truly sparked mine and my siblings love of Pokémon games and was a defining part of my childhood. I agree that this game had some flaws in terms of comparing it to other games at the time and in its creativity, but as it is very special to me I feel it is my duty to defend this game as a solid stand-alone experience. For someone who had never played Pokémon before in my life, this game managed to capture my imagination in a way that nothing else has done before. For this reason, I think it is fair to say these games are truly great in their own regards.

I watched this channel years ago, started playing pokemon again and it sent me here again. Feels good man

personally something I want out of a Kanto game is a new and unique adventure. I love the Kanto Pokémon, the Gym Leaders and characters, the region, it's a fun place. But because of these arbitrary restrictions they've placed on the region *twice* now, the region feels less like a place and more of a hollow pandery cash-grab to 90s kids and trendy pokémon go players. As someone who is too young to relate to millennials but has also been dedicated to the franchise long before smartphones were even a thing, I fit into neither of these groups. I just want a new story, more character development and a version of Kanto with an extended Pokédex so I can face the gyms with a crobat and sylveon on my team. im tired of seeing whiny entitled genwunners get pandered to, im tired of going through the motions with the exact same adventure, and I'm tired of the wasted potential. I mean c'mon, are you really trying to tell me that people in Kanto don't love their eevees?

Really interesting to see your perspective about these games and the business/development motives behind them, thanks for making this.

I just need to say, I completely love the new things you've done to your channel.

fr/lg is by far the best experience of kanto games.

Glad my recommended put you in my feed! Love what I've seen so far, keep up the good work!

I bought a Gameshark specifically to get Kanto Pokemon in RSE because I just could not wrap my head around the trading restrictions as a kid 😂

Last week was a real struggle for me so it has, once again, been a godsend to see a new video from you! Just absolutely fantastic video as well!!

It's BEEN lonely being a Pokemon fan. Since the DS era all of my friends either fell off the wagon or moved. Nowadays I have a few out of state friends that still play but if they have a choice they're more into Smash, Mario Kart and Animal Crossing.

It's so cool that the earthbound team became the poke team. I'm almost positive gyig was the inspiration for mewtwo

I’m currently playing this game and it really gets me... one of the best remake video games

I'm fascinated by how people feel like ORAS didn't add anything as remakes. I spent HOURS on the first few routes because of DexNav. It motivated me so much to complete the Pokedex more than any other game because of the visual layout on the bottom screen, the ability to see moves+ egg moves, abilities, and even IVs which made increased the way I could build my team by having Pokemon with moves that I would never been able to get in my first playthrough. Having Poochyena with Fire Fang, an Electrike with Flame Burst, and more really made me see potential in Pokemon that would otherwise be limited in their use in the original games.

Glad to see you’re back, hope the temp job was fun!

Your content has gotten so much better these past years!!

I didn’t know that they sold poorly, I could’ve sworn that they were one of the highest selling GBA titles.

It's interesting to hear the POV of someone who played the games from the start. This was my first Pokemon game, having previously only watched the anime and collected the cards around the time Gen 1 came out here, but not having a GB/GBC. Having never played the originals but knowing the original 151 well, these games were incredible to me at the time and are still among my all-time favourites. I was aware of some of the issues with trading but never realised the full extent of it all until now, can definitely see why yours and many other people's experiences with these games were different to mine. Always enjoy these in-depth review videos 🙂

Great timing Tama! Anecdote: throughout the years a lot of my GBA-DS era Pokemon games have been stolen, or lost by a careless parent. I’ve spent time over the last 8 years trying to replay these games to the post-game and rebuild what I can remember about my original games, with the intention to 100% them all when caught up. In 2020 I managed to complete Emerald, Colosseum, Platinum, and Black (including some challenges like Ribbon Masters, Nuzlockes, etc). Now that I’ve caught back up to where I was in the early 2010’s, I’m ready to take on FR. No reason to share this story other than I needed an excuse to comment on this video, and it’s great timing with regards to my journey. Another super thoughtful and well rounded Pokemon “review”. I have to say that you must be the only KZfaqr whom covers Pokemon, that actually teaches me something I didn’t already know, or provides me with a new way to think about the games (eg your Gen2/Stadium video). Keep up the brilliant work, Tama! I love your nickname conventions and carefully considered, well-researched commentary.

Man the use of that Bromance clip really solidifies you as OG KZfaq, Tama Great video 👌🏼👌🏼👌🏼

I had a different experience with this game. My first game was Pearl and I had a great time with it, so I wanted more pokemon games to play. The DS was backwards compatible with GBA games and I found Ruby and Leaf Green for cheap used and had a blast playing them as it was 2 new pokemon adventures. The lack of trading never bothered me because I was just going to transfer them to Pearl as that was the only pokedex I actually cared about. I never found the original gen 1 games in stores around that time so it was the only way for me to play thru Kanto. For someone who was a brand new fan to the series, these games were great. Loved the video and nice Evangelion pun!

There's something hilarious about the line, "because those mfers forgot Slowpoke." Great Video!!

"I wish I was in Hoenn right now" really encapsulates how I felt playing this game as a kid

I love this video so much. Finally getting around to watching this!

FireRed & LeafGreen are my favorite games in the series, simply because I was the right age at the right time. While I’d played Yellow as a very young kid, I got FR when I was about 9, so I was just old enough to fully appreciate the game. I hadn’t played Silver, Gold, Ruby or Sapphire and I didn’t have the internet. Add the fact that most of people around me didn’t play video games, I felt rather isolated with game and the journey became very personal for me. Still, I really enjoyed this video and it’s intriguing to hear another person’s experience. Thanks for the great videos as always, Tama.

It sounds to me like the vast majority of the problems with this remake come down to the trade restriction. As someone who does like to replay Kanto quite a lot as I have a huge soft spot for it, I love FRLG because it ultimately improves on RBY in every way. Adds a lot of the engine improvements from RSE (arguably my favorite gen), has a more polished and up to date graphical style (I think it ages much better than the GB games and still is appealing to this day), and adds a lot of new content not found in RBY. Even if this content was a testing grounds for stuff to be found later, that doesn't really diminish it in any way for me. And while the trade restriction is certainly annoying, it's worth mentioning that the original RBY isn't compatible with any other games but each other at all. So ultimately I find FRLG superior to RBY in just about every way, and choose that as my preferred game when revisiting Kanto (which again I just kind of do like a lot. It's sort of a comfort game for me.) If you look at it mostly as a requirement you have to slog through to completethe gen 3 pokedex then I can understand the annoyance, but I guess I just don't go to FRLG to 100% any Pokedexes. I go to FRLG to play FRLG. The one thing about completionism, especially when you brought up the multiplayer games for stars, that I feel like a lot of people lose sight of is that it's never, ever mandatory. Games are often designed with a LOT of content, not all of which is going to appeal to everybody. It's understandable to want to complete a game, but ultimately you never HAVE to subject yourself to things that make you miserable in a game if you don't want to, just to see a completion percentage go up or to get more stars or badges or achievements in your list. Once you're doing so much with the game that you're starting to _resent_ it because not EVERYTHING that game had to offer was something you enjoy doing, it's time to put it down. If you're full, you don't have to continue eating. It's often healthier to put it down and enjoy what you enjoyed and not force yourself further. I do complete a lot of games I really like. But often times there'll be something in the completion criteria where I'll be like "I don't find that fun, I'm not going to do that." And ultimately I'd say my experiences are better for that. If I subject myself to _optional_ experiences I don't like in a game just for the sake of "completion" then I really only have myself to blame, not the game. All this to say... maybe you don't need to play FRLG to enjoy Hoenn? Maybe Hoenn is fine on its own? And so is FRLG for those of us who enjoy revisiting Kanto and aren't so hung up about trading with RSE.

Your video showed up in me recommendation! So this is a good thing for you and this video!!

"Like a parasitic amoeba!" LMAO this was a good one.