If you had the option to play Pokemon Red or Pokemon FireRed, which would you take?

[SharpeBB]

If I'm going to choose one over the other, it has to come down to which I enjoyed more on the initial, and subsequent playthroughs. Which means the winner is far and away, the original RB games. While FRLG did obviously fix a lot of problems and looked sleeker, nothing about playing those games stands out for me. They didn't do enough to capture (or recapture) my imagination and joy. I still have many memories of playing Red for the first time almost 20 years ago, while I have practically no memories of Fire-Red. So since in my mind they are virtually the same game, if I'm going to replay one of them, I'm obviously going to play the one I had a better time with.

Also, while it's not the original question, I always preferred having my GBC than the Advance/SP. Obviously the latter two were better devices, but I liked the feel of the GBC more. So that also influences my decision. Even though now of course I would be replaying on the 3DS.

[DontStopPataPata]

I always found it jarring that people liked Pokemon RGB over Pokemon FRLG because I feel as though Red and Blue are both dated AND glitchy. It feels like nostalgia is fueling the favoritism over the remakes.

What are some of your reasons for choosing one over the other?

I prefer RBY over FRLG because the remakes are just the originals with a new coat of paint and the gen 3 engine.The only thing the remakes really have over the original is updates in technology as expected.

Now HGSS? THAT’S how you remake a game and make it better.

I didn’t say anything was removed from RB, I was just saying they’re not the same games as FRLG. I also didn’t say they were better than FRLG.

You might have nostalgia for both FRLG and RB but I was just answering the OP’s question, or trying to anyway, from my own perspective which has nothing to do with being nostalgic for FRLG.

People are allowed to prefer “worse” games even if they know better versions exist. As long as it doesn’t get out of hand, there’s nothing wrong with enjoying something out of nostalgia.

TLDR: FRLG are the better games. I still prefer RBY out of nostalgia. And I actually like GSC more than RBY.

It’s kind of like how some people prefer the Dragon Ball Z dub over Dragon Ball Z Kai even though Kai’s dub has objectively better voice acting over all and the dialog is less asinine. That and Kai of course removed all the horrid filler that only existed to stall for time. But Z is what they grew up on with Toonami so....

[BladeSabre]

As a kid I played Red, Yellow, Gold and Sapphire. I replayed them recently plus FireRed and SoulSilver. FireRed doesn't do it for me at all - it seems like the same not-really-that-great game but missing the old feeling that made it fun. In contrast, SoulSilver is a nicely-done upgrade, and nails the nostalgia factor too.

Are you saying that both games weren't really that great or just FireRed?

I imagine I probably wouldn't enjoy Red now if I hadn't played it as a kid. So, sure, it's nostalgia, but there's nothing wrong with that!

What would even be the point of FRLG if they weren't aiming for nostalgia there? Well, they missed the mark for me, and sounds like a lot of other people too. (I brought up SoulSilver to illustrate that I have nothing against remakes if done well.)

[DontStopPataPata]

As a kid I played Red, Yellow, Gold and Sapphire. I replayed them recently plus FireRed and SoulSilver. FireRed doesn't do it for me at all - it seems like the same not-really-that-great game but missing the old feeling that made it fun. In contrast, SoulSilver is a nicely-done upgrade, and nails the nostalgia factor too.

Are you saying that both games weren't really that great or just FireRed?

I imagine I probably wouldn't enjoy Red now if I hadn't played it as a kid. So, sure, it's nostalgia, but there's nothing wrong with that!

What would even be the point of FRLG if they weren't aiming for nostalgia there? Well, they missed the mark for me, and sounds like a lot of other people too. (I brought up SoulSilver to illustrate that I have nothing against remakes if done well.)

FRLG were not aiming for
nostalgia though.

For one the gap wasnt nearly long enough between games. It was clearly meant for a younger generation to experience the Kanto region and to allow players to complete the Pokedex. Given the amount of hand holding in FRLG pretty sure Gamefreak
thought the new target audience was zygotes

[BladeSabre]

FRLG were not aiming for nostalgia though.

For one the gap wasnt nearly long enough between games. It was clearly meant for a younger generation to experience the Kanto region and to allow players to complete the Pokedex.

That would make more sense. But then, it seemed like they were trying really hard to be similar to the originals rather than similar to RS, to the point of creating a worse gameplay experience.