The rumors were true! As anticipated by Pokémon leaker Khu, Pokémon FireRed and LeafGreen—the Game Boy Advance remakes of the original English-language Pokémon games—are coming to Switch and Switch 2 February 27. They’ll be available as downloads as soon as the 30th anniversary Pokémon Direct comes to an end.
So yes indeed, this confirms what was absolutely certain: that there would be a Pokémon Direct this Pokémon Day, during which it seems utterly impossible that we won’t get our first glimpse of Gen X Pokémon and the new mainline game in which they’ll appear. We now also have the time: February 27, 2026 at 9 a.m. ET.
The arrival of these two 22-year-old versions of a 30-year-old game as a paid download, and not as new entries in the GBA section of Nintendo’s Online subscription package, is a bizarre and pretty shocking choice. Some might say a mercenary one. There surely was the potential that they could have been made available for free to celebrate the franchise’s 30th birthday, and given how ancient they are and how appropriate it would be…that’s obviously not happening. It’s Nintendo. If your uncle worked for Nintendo, he’d charge you for those imaginary leaks. So yeah, astonishingly the company has the complete gall to charge $20 for each. And it won’t even support online features.
Ew, what a horrid taste that leaves in my mouth. The GBA versions of these two games had sold a combined total of 11.82 million copies in their first four years on sale. That’s over $400 million. They kinda made their money back. Nintendo could so easily celebrate this huge anniversary by having these be available for free, or at least a couple of bucks, gain so much good will, and get nostalgic players hyped for Pokémon again ahead of the release of the new game this winter. Gah. Twenty sodding dollars.
And if you’re thinking, “But surely someone at Nintendo must be aware how bad this looks?” you’re right! Because this announcement comes with the most extraordinary FAQ in which Nintendo asks itself everyone you and I would want to know, and then evades its own questions.
“Will these games also be coming to the Game Boy Advance – Nintendo Classics collection?These games are being offered as standalone software and are not planned for release as part of the Game Boy Advance – Nintendo Classics collection.
Why are you handling these classic games differently?In celebration of 30 years of Pokémon, we thought it would be fun to return to the ultimate versions of the original Pokémon adventures in the Kanto region with these special releases.”
That’s incredible, right! Like there’s this voice inside Nintendo’s head, the voice of reason, and it’s trying to understand why it’s making these choices, but then shouted down by non-answers that don’t address the issue at all. It’s not even the only time it happens in this FAQ:
“Will you add the original Pokémon Red Version and Pokémon Blue Version or other Pokémon games to the Nintendo Classics collections available with Nintendo Switch Online?
The following Pokémon game is currently part of the Game Boy – Nintendo Classics collection, available with a Nintendo Switch Online membership:
[List of non-mainline Pokémon games]”
It’s like watching a politician being interviewed on TV, and being left screaming at the screen because the interviewer didn’t follow up.
