When the 3D Voxel mod came out for Pokémon Red, we all got very excited. A new way to play Pokémon Red that made it feel wholly new, with follow-along cameras, new mechanics to curve the horizon, and a whole host of other features that made the classic game feel wholly new. It was the kind of thing that 9-year-old me would have dreamed of back in the day and lost my freaking mind over (kind of like 36-year-old me, then). The only problem was that it wasn't super straightforward; it wasn't overtly technical, but it wasn't a 'turn on and play' solution for first-time gamers or modders.
Enter Pokémon Battle Advanced, a version of Pokémon FireRed made by The Daigan that runs in 3D right from your browser without any messing around or extra uploading. It's Kanto Town, but not as you know it, and looks like a cross between Pokémon Red and Pokopia in terms of graphics. Wind moves the flowers, fireflies dot around the scenery, and the weather changes as you play. There's a day/night cycle, as well as lights that come on when it gets dark around you.
The standard turn-based battles have been replaced with real-time battles with trainers, including boss battles that you have to finish in real time in order to beat gyms and move on to the next stage. You'll go up against your rival and let the Pokémon do the battling, taking to the field with your starter in order to deal out some justice. You'll see health bars at the top of the screen to show you how much health you and your opponent have left, just like in boss battles in modern games. You can also tag-team wild Pokémon into your battles!
The demo only has the initial stages of the game up to and including beating Brock at the first gym battle. The demo is available to run straight from Itch.io, playing in your browser without any downloading or modding. Itch does say that AI has been used to assist with the coding, which I've come to expect from these browser games, but there has been an element of human development with this game, which I'm happy about. It's an interesting take on FireRed which gives gamers a completely new experience, and I'm looking forward to seeing how boss battles against the likes of Mewtwo and Moltres go further along in the game!
