Pokémon FireRed

Overview

Pokémon FireRed Version and Pokémon LeafGreen Version are 2004 remakes of the 1996 role-playing video games Pokémon Red and Green. They were developed by Game Freak and published by The Pokémon Company and Nintendo for the Game Boy Advance. FireRed and LeafGreen were first released in Japan in January 2004 and was released in the same year as FireRed and LeafGreen versions in North America and Europe in September and October 2004, respectively. The games are part of the third generation of the Pokémon video game series and hold the distinction of being the first enhanced remakes of previous games within the franchise.

As in previous games, the player controls their character from an overhead perspective and participates in turn-based battles. Throughout the games, the player captures and raises Pokémon for use in battle. Based in the Kanto Region, new features include a contextual help menu and a new area (Sevii Islands) the player may access after defeating the Elite Four and the Pokémon League Champion. The games have compatibility with the Game Boy Advance Wireless Adapter, which originally came bundled with the games.

The games received mostly positive reviews, obtaining an aggregate score of 81 percent on Metacritic. Most critics praised the fact that the games introduced new features while still maintaining the traditional gameplay of the series. Reception of the graphics and audio was more mixed, with some reviewers complaining that they were too simplistic and lacked improvement compared to the previous games, Pokémon Ruby and Sapphire. FireRed and LeafGreen were commercial successes, selling a total of around 12 million copies worldwide. Nearly two years after their original release, Nintendo remarketed them as Player's Choice titles. The games were released digitally for the Nintendo Switch on 27 February 2026, coinciding with the series' 30th anniversary, selling around 4 million copies for a total of 16 million sales.

Official trailer

Game intro. Watch on YouTube

Gameplay

Pokemon FireRed for GBA ᴴᴰ Full Playthrough, Nintendo Utopia. Watch on YouTube

Screenshots

Game details

Genres

Role-playing (RPG), Turn-based strategy (TBS), Adventure

Developer

Game Freak

Publisher

Nintendo

Series

Pokémon

Platforms

Game Boy Advance, Nintendo Switch

Age rating

ESRB E10+

Modes

Single player

Yes

Local multiplayer

Yes

Online multiplayer

No

Co op

No

Age ratings

PEGI

3

ESRB

E10+

CLASS IND

L

CERO

A

Release dates

Editions

Check out the store

Space and patches

Update patchNo patch

DLC

No DLC. Game Boy Advance games had no downloadable content.

Playable today

Playable offline todayYes

No online features; every mode works today on any Game Boy Advance, and the game is sold on the Nintendo Switch eShop.

Online

Plays offlineYes

Reception

Aggregates

Outlet	Platform	Score	Scale
Metacritic	Game Boy Advance	81	100

Critics

Outlet	Score	Scale
IGN	9	10
GameSpot	8.4	10
Game Informer	8	10
GameSpy	4	5
Nintendo Power	4.5	5

Staff and cast

Staff

Role	Name
Developer	Game Freak
Publishers	The Pokémon Company, Nintendo
Director	Junichi Masuda
Producers	Hiroyuki Jinnai, Takehiro Izushi, Hiroaki Tsuru
Designers	Junichi Masuda, Shigeru Ohmori
Programmer	Tetsuya Watanabe
Artist	Ken Sugimori
Writers	Hitomi Sato, Satoshi Tajiri
Composers	Go Ichinose, Junichi Masuda, Morikazu Aoki

Notes for collectors

• A remake of the original Pokémon Red, with LeafGreen as its partner version.
• The first Pokémon games to work with the Game Boy Advance Wireless Adapter; the original boxes came with one.
• The Player's Choice reissue of 2006 dropped the Wireless Adapter from the box.
• The Sevii Islands after the League open trading with Ruby, Sapphire and Emerald.
• Sold around 12 million copies on Game Boy Advance; the 2026 Switch release added around 4 million.

Credits

Publisher

Nintendo

Developer

Game Freak

Director

Junichi Masuda

Released

2004-09-09

Age rating

ESRB E

Region

US

Time to beat

about 36.7 hours