Pokémon FireRed. The remake to the classic Pokémon Red, which was the best selling RPG, according to the 2009 issue of the Guinness World Record Book. It is also the counterpart of Pokémon LeafGreen, which was based off of the classic Pokémon Green, which I believe was only released in Japan. Regardless, we got Pokémon Blue. LeafGreen is just basically what we would have gotten if Green was released in the U.S.. With this game offering new opportunities and old memories, this game is a perfect example of what Nintendo and Co. can do with old games. And, now, without further ado, please sit back, and enjoy my second review.

Graphics - 10
Yes, graphics is a perfect, solid, 10. Compared to Red, this is a huge bump up. Let me explain.
First, the character sprites. The main character sprites are just, awesome. If you could marry video game sprites, this would be my spouse. You can tell that the main character was meant to be Ash (or, well, Red) with the nice and clean hat and clothing, even in the overworld sprites. It's nice, clean, and colorful all around the overworld sprite. Red is easily distinguishable. His in-battle sprite is no trash bag, either. It's perfect. You can tell it was meant to be Ash (in video game form) with the nicely drawn hat and bag.  And, now, they have a new character option, which is a female! And, though I haven't played with it, I've seen videos which show how nice the overworld and in-battle sprites are. Very clean, and very well done.

The rival wasn't so bad, either. You could tell it was meant to be Gary from the anime, and it wasn't so bad, really. The overworld sprite for Gary was quite clean and easy to notice. There's not much to say about it. It was shown nicely and cleanly. However, the main thing about Gary I want to say is the in-battle sprite. It's not bad, but it isn't perfect. They could have added a little more to him, but, really, it doesn't matter. All it is is your rival, and the game is for the fun of it. But, I mean, still. They could have worked out Gary's sprite a little better than they did. It's not as clean as you'd expect, but, I mean, hey. It's technically the third generation of Pokémon, or the remake of a first generation game, so I shouldn't be as picky as I am.

Next thing about the near perfect graphics is the overworld scenery. You have to admit how awesome they are. Such clean grass and trees, which are oddly the same size, shape, texture, and in the same pattern as always. Viridian Forest is a great example. The new trees are awesome, as is the grass. The houses are also beautiful. The graphics on and in the houses are delightful. Personally, I think these video game houses are better looking than my own house in real life. And the in-battle scenery is no worse. If you're in grass, the floor under you is grass. If on sand, it's sand. If you're in a cave, it's dirt and minerals. It's beautiful. And that white space near the options in-battle is covered with "What will *** do", which makes it cleaner than ever. I fell in love with these graphics.

Last thing about the graphics are Pokémon and their moves. You just have to fall in love with the Pokémon graphics, front and, er, "back". They're just really, really, really clean. They really improved on how they looked. Pikachu, for example. Back in Pokémon Red, he had no color, and, even if technology wasn't advanced back then, I found it pretty ugly (I REALLY mean no offense here). Now, he looks like a superstar, all colored and beautiful. And if that's not enough, you should check the moves out. The move Flamethrower, and even Fly look like magic. The moves are so much cleaner with color. It's awesome. They really improved on everything, graphic-wise, at least. I love the graphics.

Sound - 9
The sounds in this game are awesome. They deserve a 9. Time to elaborate.

First of all, the music for Pokémon battles and trainers. For example, the rival battle music. It's awesome. The music is different from any other music there is in the game. Even if you had terrible memory, if the rival music played, your amnesia would lift, and you'd immediately say, "Hey, look, Gary wants to fight!". And when Gary walked off like the snob he is, the music that played was awesome. I loved it. Instead of being a regular snob, he was a snob with a really awesome song that followed him around where ever he went. If he had his cheerleaders, like in the anime, he'd be the disco snob.

The music for the gym leaders and the Elite Four were divine. You could tell you were battling someone of high authority. Sometimes, the music fit the situation. Like, if both of you were on your last Pokémon, with critical health, the music would fit. And, when you beat them, you would actually feel proud about beating the pixel prowlers. I really don't have anything else to say about it, except the fact that you would know who and what you were dealing with when listening to the music.

Don't get me started about the music while fighting the giant Pokémon thugs, Team Rocket. You could tell you were fighting gang members, no matter how pathetic they are. They were threatening (at least, the music was), and no matter how easy Giovanni was, his music would make you feel like you were battling a real gangster. Even though the beginning of this paragraph made you think this paragraph would be long, this is all I have to say about the threatening Team Rocket.

And for all the music in between, it's not all too bad. It's so memorable, that's for sure. They kind of candy, rainbow, lollipops'd Lavender Town's music up a little bit, but, really, it's not too bad. The music for wild Pokémon and regular Pokémon battles are cool. And the soundtracks for the towns are really good. This, all together, deserves a 9.

Addictiveness - 7

Only a seven, yep. I'll explain why.

This game is my favorite Pokémon game. Yet, it kind of isn't something you would replay all too much. The gym battles are nice and okay, and all of the memories in game make up for the seven. But, after the gym leaders, the Elite Four and the Champion come up. Most of the time, they floored me with OP Pokémon. Sure, it was a challenge, but I'm not impressed. Even if you did beat the Champion, there wasn't really much to do afterwards. I didn't really appreciate that. But, what makes up for it is the early game stuff. Getting your starter is always fun, and so is training from scratch. Fighting gym leaders and getting badges is amazing, in my opinion. But, the Elite Four is so jarring, that either: a) You'll never win or b) You'll always win. It's not really that fun in either scenario. The Ice types in the game are a little limited, so Lance is mostly a pain.

But, this is all my opinion, I bet there are people out there who love every aspect of the game, and if they do, I mean no offense to them. To those people, I say: Rock on, and keep lovin'! 

Story - 6

A six. Not a good score, really. I'll say why.

Since this is a remake of Pokémon Red, this is, per se, the "original" Pokémon storyline. However, it isn't that strong of a story line. First, before becoming Negative Nancy, I want to comment on why I bumped it up to a six and not lower. Well, as I said, it is the "original" Pokémon storyline. Also, it isn't realistic, and that's awesome. I'm a sucker for fantasy RPGs.  I liked how the dad is a mystery, and the main character never talks. Also, a freaking ten year old beats up a crime syndicate! Who doesn't love THAT?

Now, here comes Nancy. It jars me how it's only a mom is present, and though I like the mystery daddy, I dislike how the mother has no interjection whatsoever when we're leaving the house except that the TV said that boys leave home someday. Really? And, Team Rocket taking over Silph Co. is awkward. Gary's inside, and says that you're ready to battle Giovanni. HOW DOES HE KNOW?! And, I find it interesting who the Champion is. It makes me hotheaded, and beating him makes me happy.

I guess I'm just not a huge fan of Pokémon storylines, despite how much I love Pokémon.

Depth - 6

Yeah. Six. I'll elaborate.

It's not really that high for an average gamer. For a rookie gamer, it's harder. But personally, this is really easy. At the beginning, and a little bit after that, the depth is actually pretty high, giving it a six. But, after the gym leaders and most of the Elite Four, there isn't much to do. Sure, some new areas opened up, big deal. The only big thing left to do is catch legendaries and little things like that. Not as amusing as the beginning. Sure, the developers couldn't have made the post-game amazing, but, I'm picky about how little it does offer. If you want to beat the Elite Four over and over again, that's an option. They're leveled up higher, I believe. Level up your Pokémon to level 100. Sure, go ahead. You can do that by yourself, but the developers sort of rushed to finish this game, I guess. Not a BIG, BIG deal, but something that rustles my nerves.

Difficulty - 5

Now, my review is coming to an end. I'll explain my rating of a five on difficulty right now.

Almost everyone has played Pokémon at one point in their life. Most of them amused. A few of them disliked the franchise. Why would they dislike the innocent Pokémon games? Most of them would do it for this reason: the simplicity.

We know Pokémon is for a younger audience, and it isn't meant to be a brain game. But, it's too easy. All you need is an easy battle plan, execute it, and woo. You just won the battle. Unless you chose overall weak Pokémon, and most people can tell what's weak and what isn't, the game is a piece of cake. I've nuzlocked the game, and I'll admit, it was easier than expected. I know, it isn't meant to be hard, but, honestly. The first few gym leaders are pretty tough. And the Elite Four is tougher (as you can tell from my complaining about them up in my review somewhere). That deserves a five. Everything else is a slap on the knee. Like I said, it's supposed to be easier than most games, but, I'm not that amused with it being that easy.  

Overall - 9.4

After my occasional rants and praises, I commend this game with a high overall rating. The game is such a great game (with a few workbacks), it just amazes me. Pokémon Red was the first game I played, and I enjoyed the remake so, so much. Yes, this game could be a little more irritating than Pokémon Red itself, but, it really doesn't matter. Ha ha ha.

Thanks to all of you for reading my second review. I realize it went from lengthy to cheap quality, and for that, I apologize. When I wrote the first part, I was peppy and happy. A few days later, I continued, and I was pretty tired and rushed to get this up. Sorry again for that. I'm really sorry if I offended anyone. That was not my intention. I just tend to get very excited when I'm ranting... Sorry. Again, this was my second review. If you'd like to recommend what I should write a review on next, PM me. Thanks for reading!

~GB

A very well done lengthy review although your title threw me of a little bit by saying "my opinion" because a review is supposed to be unbiased but other than the one flaw I saw no problems here good job

malkin77 : Thank you! Yeah, I guess I botched that up. Ha ha. Thanks for the positive remark! 

goodboy : Not bad, your review is categorized in order you gave perfect reasoning for rating the category what you rated it and I see no grammar or punctuation mistakes . You broke down the categories well into sections and gave depth in detail for each category great job on the review and keep up the good work!

Divine Aurora : Thank you so much! I'm glad you enjoyed my second review. It's an honor to know you enjoyed it!

I really like this review, I read this a while ago actually but as I tried to reply vizzed was down unfortunately and I forgot all about replying to this great review. Anyways I think you did a good job of reviewing this game. This is a massive review by the way, 2,000 words is pretty serious, but you don't babble, every word of it is good, solid detail and it is not spammy at all. I think you did a great job of reviewing this game and you certainly did it some good by making an awesome review. 

You categorized everything accordingly, your review is neat and organized and I think that is very crucial in a good review so I am glad to see that you followed that.

Overall great job on this, this is certainly one of your most impressive reviews, keep up the phenomenal work, keep making more great reviews, and I look forward to reading your next one! I know it will be great!