PokemonFireRedVersion

When I first saw Pokémon Fire Red running in a GBA emulator on an old laptop, I didn't even consider that it would be a remake. I just knew we had the oldest generation I knew from the original Red version, except with better graphics and reworked mechanics.

Fire Red is a remake of the first Pokémon Red from 1998, which came out on Game Boy Advance in 2004. No one forces you to play here – you're a kid who gets a Poké Ball and heads out into the world to catch creatures in the grass and battle with them. There's no deep plot here. Just town after town, gym after gym, and finally the Elite Four. The goal is as clear as a slap in the face – catch 'em all.

Playing is slow, as is typical for turn-based games. You select an attack from a menu, your Pokémon moves across the screen, and your opponent does the same. There's nothing wrong with that, but if you expected it to play like a more action-oriented RPG, the disappointment will sting. While you're trying to train a new team, every battle takes forever. Plus, you're always limited to six Pokémon in your party – so strategy is mandatory, not optional.

What makes Fire Red interesting compared to the original is substance. The graphics aren't as primitive as they come – sprites have colors, animations have flair, it just looks better overall. It also offers you new Pokémon from later generations, so you don't have to play with just the classics. And the Game Boy Advance in its own way suited the game well – if it had been made in line with real graphical capabilities, this is probably the direction it would have gone.

The main memory I take from it is that it was a turn-based RPG that wasn't ashamed to be slow. In today's rush where everything has to be instant, it feels almost like a provocation. Modern Pokémon games learned from it, but there's no looking back – Fire Red is in its own way a fragile archive of a time when waiting for a Pidgeot animation was considered worth it.

Today you can play it through an emulator and it doesn't cost much. Newer releases are significantly better prepared, and if you want to experience the story of the first six generations without the vintage smell, you'll find better ports anyway. But Fire Red will remain interesting for those who want to see what Pokémon childhood was like for those who grew up on GBA – and that experience still has plenty to offer.