Pokemon is easily one of Nintendo’s best selling titles that they have released. With a television show, trading cards, and games for consoles including the Gameboy Advance and the Nintendo 3DS, players have become accustomed to seeing a new Pokemon hit the shelves throughout the years. Two different titles that the franchise has seen is FireRed and LeafGreen. Though they were released at the same time, there is one key difference between them.
Updates to FireRed and LeafGreen
Some of the key elements that were included in these versions help to give the player more options when it comes to choosing their playing style. You’ll notice there are new puzzles, new Pokemon, and new islands to visit. The Pokedex received a complete overhaul and you can choose whether you want your Pokemon to be listed in either national or standard format. These games include smarter computers particularly in terms of the NPC trainers, making it more difficult than earlier versions. One of the most important updates that the 2004 release received was a wireless adapter included with every game purchase.
FireRed vs. LeafGreen
When you start playing the game you might be confused as to why they’re released under 2 different titles as they play exactly the same, have the same controls, and offer the same user-friendly features. The only difference that you’ll notice at first glance is Charizard on the front cover of FireRed and Venasaur on the cover of LeafGreen. The number one (and only) difference between the two games are the Pokemon that you have access to.
In LeafGreen there are specific Pokemon that you won’t find in FireRed and vice versa. The only way that you would be able to get access to these exclusive types is if you use the wireless adapter to trade with a friend who is playing the opposite game. For example, if you have FireRed and have captured a Gloom and your friend has LeafGreen with a Staryu, you can trade to have access to each other’s Pokemon. This ploy was a way to have Nintendo improve user connectivity and to entice people to buy both versions of the game as they can have access to all of the exclusive types without having to trade.
List of Exclusive Pokemon
Here are the different types that you will be able to find in their respective games:
FireRed: Growlithe (Fire), Arcanine (Fire), Shelder (Water), Oddish (Grass/Poison), and Gloom (Grass/Poison).
LeafGreen: Fire (Fire), Ninetails (Fire), Staryu (Water), Bellsprout (Grass/Poison), and Weepinbell (Grass/Poison).
