Pokémon FireRed and LeafGreen, remakes of the original titles in the Pokémon series, have been announced to be released for the Nintendo Switch in celebration of the 30th anniversary of the franchise. The two versions of the game will be released shortly after this year’s Pokémon Presents broadcast, an annual showcase which is held on February 27 every year. The event itself will be held at 6 AM Pacific / 9 AM Eastern and is expected to be an important one.
Unfortunately, despite Nintendo Switch having a Game Boy Advance Library as part of its online service, both titles will be sold via the Nintendo eShop as standalone purchases. FireRed and LeafGreen will be sold individually for $19.99 each. Local wireless play for both battling and trade are supported; online features will not be supported. There are expectations that the games will include functionality with Pokémon Home, the cloud-based storage service, which should allow some online functionality, though not through the games themselves.
The 30th anniversary Pokémon Presents has some anticipation from fans, with some big announcements expected to be made. Currently, Pokémon Pokopia, an Animal Crossing-style life sim spin-off, is set to release soon, but this is the only title in the series we have official confirmation of at this time. Pokémon Scarlet and Violet, the last mainline generation in the series, were released in 2022, which means we are probably overdue for a new announcement in the core series. Developer Game Freak also developed the spin-off title Pokémon Legends Z-A, and is currently developing a new IP, Beast of Reincarnation, so it’s not like they haven’t been busy.
Last year, there was a major leak, called the Teraleak, at the Pokémon company concerning development data of the titles. This included various details of what the 10th generation of games would include. In this leak were various new pocket monsters to collect, which was expected, but also the inclusion of new game mechanics, such as procedurally generated areas.
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