Pokémon: FireRed Version [GBA]

Included with each copy of FireRed and LeafGreen is an adapter that plugs into the link port of a Game Boy Advance or Game Boy Advance SP, turning the system into a radio transmitter/receiver. This changes up the game's multiplayer function significantly. Previously players had to be tethered together during trades and battles, which admittedly restricted the "comfort" of linking up. With the wireless adapter, players still have to be in the general area due to distance limitation (about a hundred feet apart), but now groups and clans can jump into designated Pokemon hotspots and compete anonymously in the game's Union Room. In these rooms, as many as 30 different Pokemon players can join up, trade, battle, or simply chat in a basic IM interface.

The downside to wireless connectivity: it's clearly more taxing on the system than you would think. Wireless battles are much more lag-filled than link cable and single player battles, putting awkward one or two second pauses in between each action as the systems sync up with each other. The interface to connect with other players wirelessly is also a bit cumbersome and clunky, with the lag making it difficult to tell when someone's available to chat, battle or trade. When trying to hook up in the Union Room, players will many times get generic messages that a player's not available simply because they're trying to do the same thing to you. It's an interface that really needs a lot of work, and hopefully the development team can put a little more time in future iterations into creating a wireless interface that's a lot more seamless.

But even with the new elements, FireRed/LeafGreen feels like a slight step backwards from the previous GBA adventure. The team obviously didn't want to derail too much from the original Red/Blue adventure, so out went a lot of the elements that actually spiced up Ruby/Sapphire. No berry growing, no special custom "hideouts", no beauty contests, and no single player mini-games outside of the slot machine in Celadon City. Still, the Pokemon experience remains with near infinite replay value, even beyond the completion of the Red/Blue adventure thanks to additional areas and the connectivity between Ruby/Sapphire and the GameCube Pokemon Colosseum.

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