Now that the 112 cards of EX FireRed & LeafGreen have arrived, it's time to give a big 'welcome back' to many of your favorite Pokémon! From the humble Shellder (79/112) to the mighty Charizard ex (105/112), you'll now be able to use even more of your favorites in your battles! Some of these Pokémon bring group-based techniques into your strategies. Others modify the normal rules of Special Conditions, and some of them have strange but useful abilities. Not only are some classic Pokémon back again, but some classic Trainer cards are back as well. What new strengths have the cards in EX FireRed & LeafGreen brought to the Pokémon TCG?

The Big Three
Three of the most popular Stage 2 Pokémon ever are now Pokémon-ex! Their size, power, and abilities allow them to dominate the flow of any match. Venusaur ex (112/112) and Blastoise ex (104/112) are good team players, and Charizard ex is unmatched on its own. One of them is sure to fit your playing style!

If you enjoy this free ROM on Emulator Games then you will also like similar titles Pokemon - Emerald Version and Pokemon - Fire Red Version (V1.1).

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Taken on their own merits, Venusaur ex's attacks are impressive. Its Pollen Hazard attack can Poison, Burn, and Confuse an opponent, and its Solarbeam attack can do 90 damage. However, Venusaur ex's Energy Trans Poké-Power is the most useful piece of its arsenal. Energy Trans allows you to move Grass Energy to and from any of your Pokémon! Energy Trans gives you the flexibility to move your Grass Energy cards to any Pokémon that need them. You can even move around Special Energy cards like Double Rainbow Energy (EX Team Aqua vs Team Magma, 88/95) or Multi Energy (EX Sandstorm, 93/100) when the rules on the cards allow it!

Blastoise ex is similar to Venusaur ex in that it has a great attack and a versatile Poké-Power. Blastoise ex's Hyper Whirlpool attack does 80 damage, and it may also drain the Defending Pokémon of its Energy cards, so it can't counterattack! Meanwhile, Blastoise ex's Energy Rain Poké-Power will allow you to attach multiple basic Water Energy cards from your hand to your Pokémon in one turn, at the cost of adding a little bit of damage to them. If you mix a Blastoise ex with cards like Energy Search (EX Ruby&Sapphire, 90/109) or Team Aqua Conspirator (EX Team Aqua vs Team Magma, 77/95) and Team Magma Conspirator (EX Team Aqua vs Team Magma, 82/95), your hand can contain a lot of Energy pretty quickly. The resulting storm will sweep away your opponent's team!

Charizard ex is one of the most powerful Pokémon cards ever released! Charizard ex's Burn Down attack does 200 damage, which is enough to Knock Out any Pokémon! Even better, Burn Down ignores ANY and EVERY possible defense that the Defending Pokémon has, whether it is a Poké-Body, a Pokémon Tool like Buffer Piece (EX Dragon, 83/97), Metal Energy, Resistance.. ANYTHING! You can even Knock Out Pokémon that are normally immune to attacks by Pokémon-ex, such as Wobbuffet (EX Sandstorm, 26/100), Ninetales (EX Hidden Legends, 22/101), and the new Dewgong (3/112). The only way a Pokémon could reduce the damage would be if its attack could put a damage-reducing effect on Charizard ex, and no Pokémon like that is currently available (and it probably wouldn't have enough HP to survive, anyway..). Burn Down does have one major drawback: it requires you to discard five Energy attached to Charizard ex. That's not as bad as it sounds, though: first of all, there are ways to attach more than one Energy card to Charizard ex, such as Venusaur ex or Blastoise ex. Second, Charizard ex has a second attack, Slash, that does 50 damage, so you don't have to use Burn Down all the time.

Help Is On The Way!
There's often strength in numbers, and with certain Pokémon in EX FireRed & LeafGreen, having lots of similar Pokémon can make your team stronger! With these Pokémon, each one of your teammates can help the others.

Pokémon FireRed was released on the Game Boy Advance in 2004 and was actually a remake of the original Pokémon Red and Blue that were released the better part of a decade earlier. This remake had the hard task of having to follow Pokémon Ruby and Sapphire which was no mean feat. Still, enough time had passed that those who played the original Pokémon games were getting old enough to have a bit of nostalgia.

Conquer Kanto!

Pokémon FireRed is set in the Kanto region which if I am being honest is probably my most memorable region when it comes to Pokémon games. As this is a remake of the first game, it is hard to criticize the story here as it was the one that really started it all. You are a young child who meets Professor Oak and sets out on a journey to become the very best.

It is a pretty charming story and features many cool things such as Team Rocket. You will be exploring all kinds of areas and coming across some pretty interesting folks on your travels. I think that the story works quite well in that it is very nostalgic for those who played it on the original Game Boy. At the same time those who missed out back in 1996, can see how this Pokémon craze really started. They did add in some cool stuff like running shoes, a female hero and rival not to mention plenty of new moves for your Pokémon to do.

Expert Battles

You need to pick your starter Pokémon from Bulbasaur, Squirtle, and Charmander. I have and always will be a Charmander man by the way. You then need to train your Pokémon, capture new ones and level them up so that they are fit for battle. Pokémon FireRed does not screw around and I forgot how difficult the first Pokémon game was. I found the gym leaders here far more challenging than in the other Game Boy Advance Pokémon games.This difficulty may take a while to get used to, but it just forces you to be a better trainer and to go and grind and make your Pokémon stronger. The game is rather basic in comparison to the four other Pokémon games on the Game Boy Advance that came before so I would have really liked to have seen them add in the contests here.

Kanto Looks Pretty

This is a remake of a game from 1996 that was on the original Game Boy and I think they did a pretty solid job in terms of the game’s presentation. I will say that it does not look as good as Ruby and Sapphire, but it is as you would expect a leap from Pokémon Red on the original Game Boy.

Things just have a bit more polish to them and while a little on the basic side, I must admit that I do like this as it gives the game a bit of an old school charm when in comparison to the other Pokémon Game Boy Advance games.

For those who played the original Pokémon games on the Game Boy. Pokémon FireRed for the Game Boy Advance is a great trip down memory lane. It may play it pretty safe in terms of “new features”, but I think that this is a solid remake and probably the best way you can experience the original Pokémon games.

8/10

Pros:

• The three starter Pokémon are real classics!
• Kanto is an awesome place to explore
• Professor Oak and Team Rocket!
• Lots of iconic Pokémon to find and capture
• It is one heck of a challenge!

Cons:

• The presentation may be a bit lacking for some
• The AI does not hold back!