"Pokemon FireRed/LeafGreen: Old to New"
Written by Josh-March 25th, 2004

The entire craze starts by one person's idea to create fighting monsters that could fit in one's pocket. This idea quickly
started a revolution around the world. For nine years, Pokemon's been around. Nintendo knew it had to come to America,
and in 1998, it did. Many were overwhelmed, both parents and their kids. Kids found themselves addicted to the cards and
games. Parents found themselves trying to get their kids off the games. This was voted the most popular craze of the 90's;
more popular than beanie babies!
Much of the controversy is over since its debut five and a half years ago. But we can all remember the two versions that
started it all- Red and Blue. These were made too soon as they weren't even in color. To really visualize the Pokemon, we
had to watch the TV show-that was actually in color. It's hard to believe that Pokemon started in black and white. A year
after the release of Pokemon Yellow, Pokemon Gold and Silver were released-the first full-color Pokemon RPG. These
could be played in black and white, but if you had a GBC, color was much better. Of course, we had already seen the first
150 in color (and 3D) with Pokemon Stadium. So a sequel came after Gold and Silver's release.
After Pokemon Crystal came out, and a bunch of extra Pokemon games (Pokemon Puzzle League, Pokemon Snap) the
GBA versions of Pokemon came out starting with Ruby and Sapphire. We can all remember those releases well-it was one
year ago. And just yesterday, Pokemon Colosseum came out, but those of us who heard already knew that the old versions
are not compatible with Pokemon Colosseum nor the new GBA games. It seemed that the old versions were pointless. I
shouldn't say 'were' They 'are' pointless in terms of future compatibility.
That's one of the reasons for the release of FireRed and LeafGreen. These are updated GBA versions of the old classics.
The games appear the same, but are now in color and have GBA style graphics, making it kind of like new versions! Take
a look at the two screenshots below this showing a comparison from the old versions to the new ones.
These pictures compare the two versions. The left picture is
from Red/Blue versions. The right picture shows the
character in exactly the same spot as the left picture, but on
FireRed/LeafGreen. One noticeable difference is the color.
Another is that in the old picture, the trainer to the left is
standing one square to the right of the grass. The right
picture shows him standing three squares to the right of the
grass. Another change is the screen stretches further to the
right and left side than the old version does. This is due to
the width of the GBA screen. There are more differences I
can spot, but not enough room here to write about so see if
you can find them yourself.
The Japanese version is called LeafGreen, and every other region will also be LeafGreen. The reason for this is because
Japan's original versions were Red and Green. In North America, Green was changed to Blue. The reason was probably so
that the three original versions would be the three primary colors (Red, Blue and Yellow). So it only makes sense to make
it be called WaterBlue based on the Blue version we know. But for some reason, It will still be called LeafGreen here.
From a business standpoint, this doesn't make sense to me. If it's called LeafGreen, everyone will buy that over FireRed,
and the sales for FireRed would be low. WaterBlue replacing LeafGreen would give balance to the sales of both games.
There are still some that will realize that LeafGreen is simply a color change and that nothing major will be here that
wasn't in the old Blue version we know. In USA, Ruby versions sales are well above Sapphire version sales. There really is
no reason, just probably because people preferred Ruby more. Based on the sales from the original Red and Blue, I'd say
WaterBlue would sell higher. Now that it is LeafGreen, the sales will definitely be above FireRed. So if you're getting
LeafGreen, get to the store the moment it opens on the first day of its release!
Like Metroid: Zero Mission, this is more than an update. There is a lot of new stuff, like new locations, new mini-games,
wireless connectivity, all GBA Pokemon versions connectivity, Colosseum connectivity and more. What we as gamers have
to realize is that since so much will be different in these new versions, we have to imagine that Red and Blue versions
never existed. Mount Moon never was destroyed, there's still a fighting gym in Saffron, and we basically have to imagine
that what's really in our past now exists in the time of Hoenn. If you want to see all those Pokemon now in full color on
GBA (with a wider screen), FireRed and LeafGreen is the way to go. The anticipated release is in September of this year.