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Pokemon Fire Red/Leaf Green Review - GBA

It seems like the world is full of remakes now days. If you go to the movies, you'll see a remake of a movie showing such as 'The Texes Chainsaw Massacre' or 'The Bourne Identity.' Now more recently, video games have received a few remakes such as 'Resident Evil' and 'Medal Gear Solid: Twin Snakes' for the GameCube. Of course, remakes aren't necessarily a bad thing as they do often add new features to the original product giving fans something new. They can also gain some new fans to the series who have never experienced the originals.

Gameplay

Essentially, Pokémon FireRed/LeafGreen is a remake of the GameBoy classic, Pokémon Blue/Red with a Pokémon Green being released in Japan only explaining the reason why LeafGreen was chosen as the title for the title of one of the versions. However, they have been given a make over in the graphics and sound department to look similar to Pokémon Ruby/Sapphire. Another added feature is the popular Two vs Two Pokémon battles that appeared in Ruby/Sapphire but don't expect to see this favourite around too much because it only caters for a small fraction of the Pokémon battles you'll face. Also, you can now choose if you are a male or a female trainer as well as the ability to trade Pokémon using the new wireless adaptor which has kindly been included when you purchase the game(s). But when it comes down to it though, most of the quest has been left alone with most objects being in the same location as they were in the originals.

With that cleared up for most of you, once you've finished the usual tasks of creating a name for your character and a name for your rival, you are given the task of locating the local Pokémon researcher. Once you've found him, you'll then get to choose your very first Pokémon to train. Pokémon are little monsters that have special abilities depending on the type they are. Types are one of the main factors and will usually determine the winner of the Pokémon battle. The types of Pokémon are based on elements which include water, grass and fire among others such as physic and ghost. But basically, it goes that one type is weak against another type doubling the effect of an attack made by the superior type. However, it is not that simple because first, you need to train your Pokémon in order to make it stronger and have attacks which will reflect its type. In order to train your Pokémon you will have to battle other trainer's Pokémon given your Pokémon experience points which will eventually increase it's level making it learn new moves and may even evolve it into a bigger, stronger monster. Unfortunately, your Pokémon may only learn four moves each but this is what adds strategy to FireRed/LeafGreen making it all the more fun. Eventually, this will lead you to battling gym leaders too obtain gym badges which (continued next page)