I know what you're thinking, and yes, this is 100% true. I woke up this morning and checked my socials to find all of the excitement online. But I've been stung by things like this before - rumours can sometimes get out of hand. Still, a quick search on the 'coming soon' section of the Nintendo Switch eShop told me that it's all 100% true, and both titles are dropping on Pokémon Day itself!
Nintendo are celebrating Pokémon's 30th Anniversary in the best way possible - by releasing the two most sought-after games on the GBA for Nintendo Switch. Prices for physical editions of FireRed and LeafGreen have skyrocketed in recent years, with cartridge-only copies of both games selling for a minimum of £90 here in the UK.
Now, players can relive definitive versions of the Kanto adventure wherever they are on Nintendo Switch. Both versions of the game cost £16.99/$19.99 and are available to pre-order now so you can celebrate Pokémon Day the way it was intended - playing Pokémon.
While I'm incredibly excited that both games are coming to Switch, my first thought, and the thoughts that have been mirrored by many of you, was 'why are these games not dropping as part of the Nintendo Switch Online service?' I thought that they would just appear as part of the GBA Expansion one day and we would all lose our minds, but the news that we have to pay for them has left many feeling a little cheated.
Then I thought about it a little more, and if you stop your Nintendo Switch Online subscription, you lose access to all of the games on the platform. If you don't subscribe to NSO then you can buy these as a one-off, and you'll keep them forever. So while it would have been great to see them appearing as new little boxes in the GBA game selection screen, I think this is a little more than Nintendo being greedy. They've opened up these games to everyone, and they're well-priced too. I'd much rather pay £16.99 for one of the best classic Pokémon adventures than £50 for Pokémon Legends: Z-A!
One thing is certainly for sure - this should lower prices for the physical versions of the games once more so more people can actually afford to buy them. It happened with Banjo-Tooie cartridges when the game appeared on NSO, so I reckon it will happen here too!
Head to the Nintendo Switch eShop to pre-order FireRed, LeafGreen, or both titles!
