In case you missed it, Pokémon FireRed and LeafGreen are coming to the Nintendo Switch on February 27th, and there’s a new Pokémon Presents scheduled for the same day. However, as many were quick to point out, the former two games, originally released for Game Boy Advance, weren’t part of Nintendo Switch Online’s classic catalogue. Instead, you had to pay $20 for each, that too with no new content or additions.
Why did Nintendo choose to handle these releases differently? According to its surprisingly lengthy FAQ, “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.” It also clarified that these titles aren’t planned for the Game Boy Advance – Nintendo Classics collection.
In fact, it isn’t planning to add any of the classic titles to Nintendo Switch Online – not even the original Pokémon Red, Blue and Green. Don’t worry, though – it remains “focused” on providing non-Pokemon classics through the service.
As for why it chose to release FireRed and LeafGreen as opposed to their originals, “We thought users will appreciate the ultimate versions of those original adventures, which add various features and upgrades to the contents of Pokémon Red Version and Pokémon Blue Version.”
Given the surprise nature of the announcement and Nintendo’s releasing an FAQ like this, it clearly anticipated concerns about simply cashing in on the nostalgia surrounding both titles.
Of course, that’s been a long-running criticism of the Pokémon franchise for a while now. At the moment, it remains to be seen where it could go next and what the next showcase could announce in terms of the future. There is Pokémon Pokopia, a life sim developed by Omega Force, launching on March 5th for Nintendo Switch 2. It was recently confirmed to offer a 20 to 40-hour-long story with even more content awaiting afterwards.
