It’s already been quite the year for <em>Pokémon</em>. While many major games are having anniversaries this year, most of them pale in comparison to the festivities going on for the classic Game Freak franchise.
There’s plenty of merchandise to peruse, new game announcements, updates for existing games, and re-releases abound. One such re-release is Pokémon FireRed and LeafGreen, which come with a few provisos you should know about. It’s been a long time since the release of the original Generation 1 remakes, and not many mechanics have carried over to the current era.
No Online Play
It makes sense to get to the elephant in the room first: the lack of online play. In other words, you cannot trade or battle online in any capacity, as FireRed and LeafGreen do not have direct online functionality of any kind.
There is support for local play, however, so if you have multiple pieces of Switch hardware and multiple copies of the game, you can trade with yourself. It’s not ideal, though, as Pokémon HOME support isn’t available yet. Right out of the gate, one major aspect of the series (multiplayer trading and battling) feels hamstrung.
No Home Support At Launch
The lack of Pokémon HOME support at launch hurts the most. Given that these are ports of games from two decades ago, it’s a bummer to see that they didn’t launch with support for HOME.
Since there are so many iconic Gen 1 characters involved in FireRed and LeafGreen, newcomers will have to miss out on transferring them out of the new re-releases and into other games. Even when HOME support does arrive, there’s a big asterisk.
When Home Does Come, It’s One-Way
Unfortunately, when HOME support arrives this year, transfers from FireRed and LeafGreen will be one-way. In other words, Pokémon you obtain in that pair of games can enter Pokémon HOME, and then be deposited into Scarlet and Violet, Pokémon Legends: Z-A, Pokémon Champions, and other games.
If you transfer it out of FireRed and LeafGreen, you’re out of luck. You cannot get them back into these re-releases, and since it’s a one-way transfer, you can’t bring Pokémon into them either. This isn’t necessarily new for HOME, as many wrinkles have happened before (for instance, Pokémon Z-A, released in October 2025, still doesn’t have HOME support), but it’s not a great long-term situation.
One of the biggest points of contention with Pokémon FireRed and LeafGreen is the price tag. These Switch editions are $19.99 each, bringing the grand total to $40 for both versions. That’s very steep for a direct Game Boy Advance port without major added functionality.
Fans have pointed out time and time again that Nintendo used to charge anywhere from $6.99 on the Wii U to $9.99 on the 3DS for retro games. While this isn’t necessarily a 1:1 situation, a flat $20 price (or less) for both editions would have been an easier pill to swallow.
Plus, each language version (English, French, Spanish) is a separate SKU, which causes a bit of confusion on the eShop. Make sure you buy the right language if you’re planning on picking them up.
Lack of Nintendo Classics Support
Sadly, FireRed and LeafGreen are also not available on the Switch Online Game Boy Advance app through the Nintendo Classics line. Since these are standalone games available directly on the Nintendo Switch eShop, you cannot utilize your Switch Online subscription to play them.
This approach has an excuse: to get HOME to work properly, it likely needed to be a separate release on the eShop and not through Nintendo Classics. However, Nintendo could have made a concession to Switch Online members by providing them with a non-HOME version of the game or just delivering it to subscribers wholesale.
Old EXP Share Mechanics
For hardened Pokémon veterans, dealing with the old EXP sharing mechanics is nothing new. But for newer players, the idea of having to earn the EXP share piece of equipment and manually operate it isn’t something that’s been needed for multiple generations.
In the newer games, EXP share automatically divvies up experience as a foundational feature. In earlier generations, you had to manually unlock an item to enable the feature, and it was limited in scope.
This isn’t something I’d necessarily change (players figured things out back in Gen 1 and Gen 3 just fine), but it’s a harsh reality to be aware of if you’ve only played modern Pokémon games.
No Big Quality Of Life Changes
Sadly, in addition to all the provisos listed above, there aren’t many direct upgrades to entice existing FireRed and LeafGreen owners, especially if you aren’t keen on using theHOME connection. There are two main things that were altered inFireRed and LeafGreen:
- After becoming the league champion, you’ll get access to the Mystery Gift Pokémon by default.
- The “roar” glitch has been fixed for the Gen 2 Legendaries in the Sevii Islands endgame.
Other than that, no major quality-of-life upgrades are present. When coupled with the lack of launch support forHOMEand no support for online play, it adds up. Folks who already own the games physically aren’t missing out on much.
Most Other Remakes Aren’t On Switch
Fans have asked for the Switch to be the destination for oldPokémongames for years, and so far, The Pokémon Company has not acquiesced. If you’re a newcomer and want to start with these Gen 1 remakes then move on to the next generation in order you’re going to have a bit of trouble setting that up without older hardware.
The 3DS however made Gen 1 and Gen 2 available on eShop and hosted Gen 3 remakesOmega Ruby and Alpha Sapphire.You could easily play three generations back-to-back on same system which was huge boon for newPokémonfans.
The joy of playing through Gen 1 remakes followed by Gen 3 remakes is fun on original hardware but it’s not currently possible on Switch. The only remake currently available on platform is Gen4:Brilliant Diamond and Shining Pearl(BDSP).
This may be due to licensing issues or other factors but it leaves fans wanting more options than what is currently available.
No Physical Cart Option
The biggest harsh reality for collectors is thatNo Physical Cart Versions.
This might not be case forFireRedandLeafGreen’sSwitch ports once eShop is gone they could be trapped just like original Gen1andGen3 eShop re-releases.
This further exacerbated by Game Key Cards strategy on Switch which makes many classic modern games unavailable physical carts evenPokémon Pokopia, which being widely celebrated by fans critics alike locked Game Key card.
This feels like mismatched strategy givenPokémon’s long storied history physical releases last years digital-only drops incongruent Game Freak’s prior strategy even involved physical versions DLC expansions Switch cartsSword & Shield&Scarlet & Violet..
One Physical SKU Is Japan Only
The biggest harsh reality collectors face outside Japan is that after broadcast reveal Gen1 remake Switch re-releases Nintendo Japan introduced region-exclusive bundle includes download card FireRed or LeafGreen Game Boy Advance replica packaging Poke Ball box three laser engraved glass balls featuring Gen1 starter trio.
Clocking in at $128 US it’s not exactly steal but still option any prospectivePokémon.Given it sold out roughly minutes Japan clearly demand.
Here you can find original article photos images used our article also come from this source We are not their authors they have been used solely informational purposes proper attribution their original source.[nospin]
