Avilable digitally February 27.
Pokémon FireRed Version - https://www.nintendo.com/us/store/products/english-pokemon-firered-version-switch/
Pokémon LeafGreen Version - https://www.nintendo.com/us/store/products/english-pokemon-leafgreen-version-switch/
Nah. They just tried to shut down my favorite emulator. Nothing new goes on my switch until they reverse course (never)
This is the way
I can play both of these on my Steam Deck with wireless trading and battling.
Also when the Switch eShop dies I’ll still have my games, unlike my 2DS where my purchases are now lost.
Past 2DS/3DS purchases aren’t lost yet. Nintendo shut down the ability to buy additional games or DLC on it several years ago but the servers to handle logging in, redownloading “owned” digital games, and downloading update patches are still running.
And, even when those servers are eventually killed (for either 3DS or Switch), any digital games already installed on a system will still continue to work as long as your hardware does. Unlike a lot of PC games’ DRM that requires either constant or occasional check-in with license servers.
Of course, that’s still not proper ownership, as you don’t truly own something you bought unless you’re able to freely transfer your purchased data between different devices you own without seeking the publisher’s permission (or relying on DRM circumvention) and able to transfer ownership through loan or resale. But understanding the actual implications of any restrictions still matters.
3ds games do not pass the “hammer test” of digital product resiliency. They aren’t even properly tied to an account. If I smashed your digital-purchase-laden 3DS with a hammer, or threw it off a bridge, you’d never legally get those games back again. Even buying a secondhand 3ds with the right games installed (as legal purchases) violates the license terms.
currently, while the servers are up, the Switch passes the hammer test. Buy a new Switch, sign in to your account, re-download your games.
Note that neither of these are true preservation because the threats to game preservation are more varied than “smashed your console with a hammer”. And also that physical copies are borderline meaningless in an era where the majority of games have DLC. If I hammer-test your 3DS but you have Smash as a cartridge, you’re still never gonna legally play as Cloud Strife again.
The Wii, 3DS, Wii U, and Switch all got hacked thoroughly before the console’s end of life and thus the legal preservation situation is mostly irrelevant, but the currently ironclad Switch 2 is a ticking time bomb.
3DS does have an account system and is able to log in to an account that previously was used for a different 3DS, but only if that account has already been unlinked from the previous system. Unlinking is easy if the device still works, and absurdly inconvenient if it’s lost/broken. The latter requires contacting their customer service, which seems like an utterly insane requirement for what should be part of a standard login flow and also means that as a non-automated process a human has the ability to refuse, but in almost all cases (currently) it is generally possible to “legally get those games back”.
Wii, in contrast, doesn’t have that ability at all. There’s no account system there.
Cartridges and game discs don’t pass the “hammer test”. They also have a limited lifespan: disc rot exists and flash memory loses its data if unpowered for a long time.
Regardless whether the game is a physical copy or has any digital updates/DLC, true game preservation requires creating usable backups, which requires (for offline games) either properly DRM-free game releases or viable DRM circumvention. Which yes, doesn’t exist for Switch 2, and is outlawed by DMCA and similar laws in most other countries. Ability to create personal backups (and reasonably short copyright terms) should be a consumer right and those laws are a major problem, but both physical and digital game releases are equally terrible in this particular respect. Unless they’re DRM-free, and on consoles they never are.
In any case, this Pokémon rerelease is for original Switch, with no differences for Switch 2, so it’s entirely possible to dump a backup. Though there’s unlikely to be much meaningful difference between that and one made from the original release. Aside from the emulator code, but community-made emulators have better features; the only people likely to care about it are those who want to reverse-engineer Nintendo’s emulator for reasons like making tools compatible with its local wireless connection.
No online connectivity is a slap in the face in 2026. That makes it no different than the roms on my phone
< _ < miyoo mini+ with every pokemon game from DS backwards and 40 romhacks
_ > nintendo selling me two for $20 each
In celebration of 30 years of Pokémon, we thought it would be fun to return to the ultimate versions of the original Pokémon adventures in the Kanto region with these special releases.
Interesting that they consider these to be the ultimate versions and not LGPE. Not that I disagree, but considering LGPE is more expensive and more in line with the Pokémon company’s modern design philosophy, you’d think they’d be pushing a special edition of those instead
also interesting that these are completely devoid of online trading and battling. could be neat for the kids today to experience things the old way- I remember it was so much fun when a new game came out and everyone had their handheld on them down to battle or trade- but for the genwunners who would otherwise predominantly be buying this, there goes it’s main selling point
LGPE aren’t remakes, they’re new games set in Kanto.
That’s actually a good FAQ. Why are they releasing these versions and the originals? Will they ever come to NSO - GBA etc. You can say whatever about the answers, but the at least tackled the questions.
“Bring back the Virtual Console, I don’t want a subscription service!”
“WTF why aren’t these on NSO?”
The FAQ makes no mention of Pokemon Home integration (though by saying that there is no online play, they might be implying that there will not be integration).
Also, to maximize nostalgia, I wish they ported the original Red/Green/Blue, not the remakes. I realize that I am probably in the minority on this.
Overall, I am just a bit disappointed that the FAQ all but says that none of the mainline Pokemon games will ever be released on Switch Online. I was planning to get NSO the day they start adding the Pokemon games, which I assumed was just around the corner. Too bad, so sad. One less subscription to pay for.
$20 isn’t terrible, but it’s a straight port seemingly, so maybe do $25 for the pair, Nintendo? The only thing this makes available is online features which, while cool to have again, are hardly enough to warrant this price.
And the part where they’re the same game with a few mons in A or B.
Would be nice if the “rerelease” had them all so you could actually realistically collect them all in an older game without jumping through a bunch of hoops to trade them back and forth. Looking at those trade evos, version exclusives, and Mythic/legendaries that never realistically were available when these were on gba
Compared to the resale prices of the originals, this is a fantastic price. But for a 20 year old re-release it’s a bit over priced.
There aren’t any online features unless you mean local mulitplayer trading/battling
Finally some good Pokémon games onto the switch!
Legends Arceus was ok despite having that Gamefreak “this feels like a game from 15 years ago” polish. I’m bummed, but not surprised, that ZA was a step backwards
I hated most new Pokémon games except Arceus, Snap and ZA. Didnt bother with SRVB and sword/shield is the absolute worse. I like za of all the new ones. Story, character and gameplay are solid. New areas open up and many ways to make it challenging.
Bought used because I hate knowing Gamefreak could give us the game all us fans deserve: voice acting, better graphics, etc. But does not.
Respect for how you bought ZA. I did the same for Sword; don’t even think I got past 4 badges.
Arceus was verrrry meh to me. Despite the physical scale, the world was so empty it felt smaller and more shallow than the original Red/Blue games.
Didn’t even bother with ZA because of it.
You’re not missing out if I’m being honest. I enjoyed the shallow stealth mechanics and the unique new pokeballs that you could use in Arceus despite the sub par open world. That’s all gone now in favor of tiny zones where you can catch 5-8 pokemon with nearly no stealth options. Even when you are able to sneak up to one, many are nearly impossible to catch unless you knock them out.
So for almost the price of access to the entire suite of N64 and GBA emulators you get one game? Pass
Would be more excited by DS pokemon games.
