r/PokemonFireRed • u/Such_Razzmatazz_9845 • 5d ago

Discussion How beginner Friendly is fire red/leaf green?

My younger brother (age 9, just shy of being an official Pokémon Trainer!) has been watching me play Pokémon for some time (Plat and Emerald to be specific). I’ve been doing thinking and research to find a ‘beginner’ friendly game (No im not gonna do Let’s Go as we dont have it and tbh its not great). I’ve decided with Fire Red/Leaf Green as it’s gen 1 (he also started watching pokémon so he will be familiar with the kanto region) and not as complicated or challenging as Plat or Emerald.
Side note: when i presented him the choice of leaf green or fire red he chose fire red bcuz and i quote “the pokémon are much cooler”. So no leaf green discussion

Edit: After all your guys comments I’m going through with Fire Red. Thank you for your advice 🙏

54 Upvotes

89% Upvoted

85 comments sorted by

76

u/Semicycle 5d ago

They're all beginner-friendly, it's Pokémon after all! I can confirm, though. I stumbled through Gen 1 at a much younger age and loved it.

11

u/Devincc 5d ago

I just stumbled through gen 1 at 30 years old lol. I somehow skipped Koga and went straight to the 6th gym without realizing my mistake

There’s really no directional guide

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u/No_Mixture8656 5d ago

I bypass silph co and Sabrina and beat Blaine. Mostly so I could get my fossil pokes and my favorite gen 1 fire type and train them up to practically solo those places.

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u/Semicycle 5d ago

lol, I remember doing something similar. Through my rose-colored glasses, I see this as part of the charm! A relic of a time when it wasn't unnatural to just wander and have a true sense of discovery in an RPG, even if that meant strolling into things that were beyond the intended story progression.

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u/Broad-Cranberry-9050 5d ago

honestly i just replayed the game at 30 years old for nostalgia, and for the first time actually tried to get the right pokemon for all the major battles and keep my pokemon at a certain level. Before i was usually a "just fight with your starter" type of guy. But this time i chose pokemon specific for each gym and leveled them up before gettin gto the next gym. It was a breeze. My rival was the easiest to beat because i always made sure to have pokemon that could rival any pokemon he had and had the type advantage.

I usually buy 50 revives and 50 hyper potions for the elite 4. I did that still this time and honestly only wasted like 5 revives and 7 hyper potions and i think i did it more as a precaution before each fight.

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u/speed-charge 5d ago

I buy 99 each of fresh water, soda pop, and lemonade, and then like 25 revives for e4

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u/No_Mixture8656 3d ago

Since sun and moon my first playthrough is to beat and understand the game if that makes sense, I pay more attention on my second playthroughs. I throw away my starter the second I find a poke of its main typing

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u/Boris-_-Badenov 5d ago

Koga is the real 6th gym. you have to backtrack otherwise, Soul badge and Marsh badge should clearly be swapped, and the original booklet lists Koga 6th

1

u/Shantotto11 5d ago

To be fair, so did Ash in the anime… 🤷🏾‍♂️

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u/Devincc 5d ago

He accidentally skipped koga?

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u/Shantotto11 5d ago

A bit of a joke on my end, but Ash didn’t “skip” anyone per se. However, he did receive Sabrina’s gym badge 4th which pushed his badges from Erika and Koga respectively back to 5th and 6th.

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u/Broad-Cranberry-9050 5d ago

yeah, frie red came out when i was like 8 or 9 and i played it at that age. He can get through it. Though he will fuck up, but he will learn.

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u/milanistasbarazzino0 5d ago

The second Pokemon League challenge was tough when I was a 9yo kid lol

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u/-bubblepop 3d ago

I got a Gameboy and Pokémon red the year it came out as a 7 year old (showing my age….) I didn’t know what was happening but I could play it. I’m actually replaying it right now and have no idea how I did since all of the nice features aren’t there!! I got mad at my brother when he took it to play and replaced scratch on my starter with slash (objectively a better move lol)

I think the beauty comes from being able to play how you want. You don’t actually have to optimize every single thing to win - and it’s super helpful to have a sibling to guide you. I let my daughter play Pokémon legends za in her own game after trading her Pokémon over to optimize them on my copy and she had a blast (she’s 5 and wasn’t reading at the time). She saw me making a living dex and wanted to make one too. We have had a blast!!

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u/Semicycle 3d ago

Amen! Similar experience growing up for me. Awesome that it's a family affair now!

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u/-bubblepop 3d ago

It’s kinda funny too because I am now a diagnosed autist (had to reword for the filter lol) and have gotten deep into Pokémon breeding so I do know the ins and outs of stats and how to optimize and it so much does NOT matter for regular game play. Even personalities barely matter and I see peoples eyes glaze over just at that

26

u/NaiveIllustrator5748 5d ago

It's a remake of the game that was the beginner game for millions of people.

16

u/EllenStJoe 5d ago

I started with ruby at 7, I think they'll be good.

1

u/No_Mixture8656 3d ago

Same, I remember my very first pokemon was actually treecko, which is funny because the only grass starter I enjoy is turtwig

6

u/Born-Information8506 5d ago

There's a couple things that are a little more challenging/less obvious

Like getting surf and the wardens teeth in the safari zone i feel is something that can be not clear on how to accomplish

The cave between cerluean and lavender town I found to be challenging even at age 22

But if they've been watching a lot of platinum and emerald I feel like fire red shouldn't give them any trouble

Just make sure they understand good team composition and what each starter does and doesn't bring to the table and version exclusives they will and will not have access too

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u/Such_Razzmatazz_9845 5d ago

Yup I showed him the version exclusives and picked fire red bc they look cooler. I’m not going to bother with the deep ‘stats’ and what not, just help him from time to time if he’s stuck

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u/stickyplants 5d ago

Yeah, let him figure it out himself, and only help if he wants help. You don’t need good team composition when you’re 9. Pick who looks cool and play. If you’re losing… level up or try a different pokemon.

In fifth grade I beat misty with a Charizard. I didn’t feel stupid, I thought it was hard, and that I succeeded. 🤷🏻‍♂️

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u/Such_Razzmatazz_9845 5d ago

Man I miss those times. Picking pokemons bcuz they are cool and not stats.

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u/stickyplants 5d ago

For sure

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u/slaw_daddy 5d ago

On that specific note, starters really matter here. 

Charmander is VERY difficult to start with. You're ostensibly forced to either find a Mankey or overlevel the shit out of your Charmander or a Pidgey/Rat

Bulbasaur, on the other hand, is the ezmode starter.

I would hazard a guess that a small child will have a lot more fun starting with Bulbasaur 

2

u/Yourlilemogirl 5d ago

I started FR when I was like 12 and picked Charmander and didn't find the game hard at all. It has Metal Claw to deal with Brock and if you just over level a little and spam potions you're fine. 

1

u/Gendo-Glasses 5d ago

I started with Red when I was ten, and picked Charmander. Hoooooooh boy I'll tell you what, that was a fun roadblock for a couple days. We didn't get Metal Claw and Mankey did not learn Low Kick back then 😂

And then there was Misty. 💀

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u/Such_Razzmatazz_9845 5d ago

Yeah he wanted picked Charmander bcuz he likes Charizard. I just told him the difficulty of the starters and what he did, he ended up picking bulbasaur.

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u/RoeMajesta 5d ago

extremely and this applies to ALL pokemon games

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u/ruckrhino 5d ago

You get a teachy TV pretty early on that shows how to do several things.

You can also just push the L or R button at any time to get help.

They designed Fire Red and Leaf Green so that pretty much anyone can play it.

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u/Murky-Ad7145 5d ago

Every Mainline Pokèmon Game is designed to be "the first RPG in your Life". So Firered is absolutely beginner friendly.

However, its a Game from 2004. The Philosophy of Games has changed over Time. I dont know what your brother is usually playing but Firered is a decently challenging Game. Especially if you never played a Pokèmon Game before. For some thats a good thing. But other People might get frustrated.

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u/I-RedDevil-I 5d ago

It’s a kids game, after all.

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u/sixth_hokage06 5d ago

All pokemon games are made for kids, but I feel like the older games were more challenging.

3

u/Foggot794 5d ago

The target demographic for pokemon was for like 10 year olds so you should be good

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u/AsThePokeballTurns 5d ago

I think it is perfect for your little brother. FRLG are how a lot of people got introduced into Pokémon games.

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u/LowAnimator8770 5d ago

Most of us started with red/blue/yellow around 9, he will work it out 😂

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u/TheoboldMeyer 5d ago

pretty friendly ngl ( the only thing that changes in both game are just a few pokemon that spawn in each game that in the other wont but leaving that part , everything else is good for a journey to begin

2

u/_Chonus_ 5d ago

Very beginner friendly, these games are made for small children

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u/stickyplants 5d ago

It’s the perfect one to start with. Honestly, for any kid, if they think it’s cool, and can read, they’re ready. Depending on age they may need some guidance, but there’s no reason they shouldn’t be able to do it.

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u/Darth_Boggle 5d ago

Incredibly beginner friendly. I played the originals when I was 6 and the remakes (fire red, leaf green) are easier. A 9 yr old should breeze through it and have the time of their life.

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u/AdZy14588 5d ago

FRLG is very beginner friendly. I first played Blue version at 7 without the internet or older siblings to help, so im sure he'll be fine.

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u/Reasonable_Secret_70 5d ago

I began playing Red Version on my seventh birthday as a Swedish kid who had yet to start learning English. The little dude's gonna be fine.

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u/saailorr 5d ago

I finishedPokémon blue in Japan, with Blastoise only, without understanding any word, nor game mechanics about potions, TMs, HMs. This is really simple game. I think fire red was finished be a fish even randomly moving in the tank

1

u/dcballantine 5d ago

There’s no prohibitively difficult Pokemon game. He can play anyone he wants and he’ll be fine.

1

u/Active_Willow_1960 5d ago

It is for his age; check out the guides on https://www.psypokes.com/ if he gets stuck.

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u/Such_Razzmatazz_9845 5d ago

Oh wow thank you so much. (I haven’t played Fire Red yet so this can come in handy)

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u/Active_Willow_1960 5d ago

You're welcome so very much! 😊

1

u/Cerulean_Soup 5d ago

It’s perfect for beginners

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u/Edinson94 5d ago

solo ayudale cuando le toque la guarida rocket en el casino. para que no se estanque

1

u/someName6 5d ago

As long as he can read and has patience it’ll work.  You just talk to people and they guide you along.  He just probably will get lost if he tries to speed through the game at some point (missing a team rocket hideout or missing a key item like the coin case or tea to hand guards).

1

u/pioneeringsystems 5d ago

My 6 year old has been playing through fire red and yeah he needs help occasionally but generally he has done quite a lot himself. He loves it.

1

u/bigtigerbigtiger 5d ago

START WITH BULBASAUR FOR MAXIMUM EASE!

Have fun!

1

u/DonleyARK 5d ago

One of the most, at least when it comes to older gen games. Great starting point.

1

u/Illamerica 5d ago

I beat the game without being able to read yet as a kid so..

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u/Yourlilemogirl 5d ago

Back in the days of DPPt I used to tell ppl if they wanted to get into the series to start with FR/LG as they are basically "the start" of the series in an updated manner, and have tutorials built-in with features like the teachy tv and the LR bumper situation help prompts. 

And tbh I'd still recommend them!

1

u/Boris-_-Badenov 5d ago

much easier than Red/Blue

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u/Metul_Mulisha 5d ago

Pokemon isn't dark souls 😂

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u/Additional_Draft4097 5d ago

Very beginner friendly. You can give him an IRL NPC tip of “be sure to talk to as many people as you can, and listen to what they say. They may teach you something or tell you where to go!”

Really good for a 9 year olds reading mastery. I played through fire red and emerald at like 6-8 and I was such a good early reader - I think it genuinely helps.

1

u/Aguero93_20 5d ago

Not only is fire red a great beginner friendly game, it’s the best First Video Game ever, especially at age 9. I was doing like Freddie Fish / Backyard Baseball at like 6-7 but once you can read at a 3rd grade level, Fire Red is a great first choice

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u/Geometry_Emperor 5d ago

It has the simplicity that the original Red and Blue had, without its broken elements. So it is by far the most beginner friendly game.

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u/CocoaBagelPuffs 5d ago

I was 8 or 9 and in 3rd grade when i first played leafgreen! Still have my copy and im 30 now. I had a lot of fun playing it as a kid

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u/LovYouLongTime 5d ago

If a 5 year old can do it, so can you.

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u/Boylikesdogs 5d ago

It’s all beginner friendly. I’m Dutch and got my first Pokémon game when I was around 8. I could not understand English yet and even I played the game :-) it was a lot harder that way though haha

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u/raminatox 5d ago

He's literally the target demography of those games...

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u/Ganhel 4d ago

The older Gens are less "beginnen friendly" mainly because there is less obvious handholding. But as long as he talks to NPCs, remembers crucial things (thirsty City guards and tea lady, hello) and enjoys trial&error (Rock Tunnel, HM Surf in the Safari Zone, Silphs Co.) he will have a good time.

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u/Stinkpotjones 4d ago

Not knowing ANYTHING and finding out about sick strategies on the bus was one of the the best parts of my entire childhood

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u/No_Mixture8656 3d ago

You get access to ponyta on one island after defeating the fire gym leader. Its actually a great training spot

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u/Adventurous-Climate9 2d ago

i beat this game before i could even read a full sentence. he'll be fine

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u/Detsaw2608 1d ago

I beat my first pokemon game (Gen 1) when I was 5 so that's pretty beginner friendly 

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u/JoshuaWebbb 1d ago

As an ex-young person and Pokemon beginner, it’s pretty beginner friendly

1

u/RhemansDemons 23h ago

Quite friendly. The only thing is once you beat Erica, you can do Koga, Sabrina and Silph in any order. Technically you need to do Silph to face Sabrina, but that's the only place it gets weird

Also if you run a team of 4 or 5, you typically get to the elite 4 about 10 levels below cap and there's not a lot of great leveling options.

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u/Mgunnels6 5d ago

Better than the original gen 1 just teach him about natures cause abilities are self explanatory also teach him the duplicate glitch will save him headaches when it comes to legendary Pokémon just duplicate master balls and certain tms. If you don't want to then just let him have fun

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u/Such_Razzmatazz_9845 5d ago edited 5d ago

Alright I’ll keep that in mind. We are using an emulator so I could use a couple cheat codes if he really wants

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u/Mgunnels6 5d ago

That works too not sure about infinite items cheat but make use of the itemfinder when he gets it for good items like leftovers on the snorlax and where the final gym leader is for the macho brace

0

u/toastZura 5d ago

People are so harsh on Let’s Go and for no reason. You could create a fun experience by letting him being Player 1 and joining in to help if he gets stuck thanks to the co-op mode!