Pokemon Let’s Go vs Pokemon Fire Red Differences

Pokemon Let’s Go is the first Pokemon game to be played in the Kanto region since Pokemon Heart Gold and Soul Silver. It is also the first to be played exclusively in the Kanto region since Pokemon Fire Red and Leaf Green.

Pokemon Let’s Go vs Fire Red

Pokemon Let’s Go will be released this Friday, November 16, exclusively for the Nintendo Switch. Just over 14 years ago Pokemon Fire Red and Leaf Green were released for the Gameboy Advance.

Since both games are played in the same region and share a similar story line, we are going to share how they differ. We chose Fire Red as the Pokemon game to compare to as it is based on the classic Pokemon Red game but also allows the younger audience to understand the comparison.

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Graphics

There is no doubt this is the greatest difference between the two games. The Gameboy Advance had substantially inferior technology to what the Nintendo Switch does today.

Pokemon Fire Red ran at a resolution of 240×160, as other GBA games also did. Conversely, Pokemon Let’s Go can run at 1920×1080. That means there are 54 times as many pixels in Let’s Go!

Starter Pokemon

The starter Pokemon in Let’s Go Pikachu and Let’s Go Eevee are given away by their namesakes.

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Pokemon Fire Red on the other hand, gave you the classic choice between Bulbasaur, Charmander and Squirtle. It is also worth the noting the popular Pokemon Yellow gave you Pikachu to start with.

Pokemon Let’s Go vs Pokemon Fire Red – Professor Oak

Wild Pokemon

We all remember walking through the thick grass and encountering a random wild Pokemon. Well those random encounters are a thing of the past.

In Let’s Go you can see wild Pokemon and can therefore choose whether to engage them or not. This means no more unwanted encounters and gives you the ability to avoid wild Pokemon all together. Trainer battles do remain the same as past games however.

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Catching Pokemon

Catching Pokemon in Let’s Go is also very different to Fire Red. The old Pokemon games would see you weaken a Pokemon before attempting to capture it by throwing a Poke Ball from your items.

Now, the capturing is done using motion technology. Flick the joy-con towards the Pokemon when the green circle around it is getting smaller. Alternatively, there is even a “real” Poke Ball you can motion towards it, the Poke Ball Plus.

• Read More: Play With The Poke Ball Plus!

Gym Requirements

Entered Pewter City with just your Level 9 Charmander? Then you were allowed to face Brock, not that you’d win anyway.

In the 2018 edition of the Kanto game there are certain requirements you must meet before facing the gym leaders. For example, you are required to have Pokemon of a certain level or type.

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Safari Zone

Fuchsia City was always home to the Safari Zone. This was a one off location in the Kanto region where you could capture specific types of Pokemon such as Rhyhorn.

In Pokemon Let’s Go, the safari zone has been removed! It has been replaced with the Go Park. This is the designated location of where any Pokemon you send from Pokemon Go will arrive. Once in the Go Park they will need to be captured there to use them.

Master Trainers

Many Pokemon fans considered the older games too easy to complete. The introduction of Master trainers removes that notion.

Upon beating the Elite Four, there will be a master trainer to compete against for every Pokemon in the Kanto region. Simply put, that means a lot of battles against the best of the best in order to complete the game. Moreover, in these battles you must compete with identical Pokemon. We discuss this in greater detail below.

• Read More: Pokemon Master Trainer Details

Let’s Go vs Fire Red

These are the main differences between the two games. Nintendo seem to have hit a good balance between maintaining the nostalgia of the old Pokemon games whilst keeping the game fresh and challenging!