Remake

A video game remake is a game that is made again, in a new and updated style. In Pokémon terms, two pairs of games are remakes: Pokémon FireRed and LeafGreen, remakes of the Generation I games Pokémon Red and Green during Generation III; and Pokémon HeartGold and SoulSilver, remakes of the Generation II games Pokémon Gold and Silver during Generation IV. The names of remakes are derived by adding another word to the front of the name of the original game, and written in CamelCase.

Remake speculation

This article contains fan speculation. There is no solid evidence for or against some parts of this article.

From Johto

Before the announcement of Pokémon HeartGold and SoulSilver, many had speculated a remake of Gold and Silver since the release of Pokémon FireRed and LeafGreen in 2004. In the Generation IV games, location pointer data (for a caught Pokémon's status screen) includes a reference to Johto, much like it does for Kanto and Hoenn when a Pokémon is transferred forward from Generation III. This left programmers the opportunity to have Johto make an appearance in future games compatible with Diamond, Pearl, and Platinum. However, Pokémon caught in Pokémon HeartGold and SoulSilver and traded to Diamond, Pearl, and Platinum have location data appear as Faraway place, unless caught in a location which also exists in Platinum such as the Global Terminal or Battle Frontier (Kanto Victory Road still shows up as Faraway place).

Because of the "pattern" established by remaking both Red and Green and Gold and Silver two generations after their original release, it is now being speculated that Generation III remakes may appear sometime in the future, possibly during Generation V. This theory is strengthened by the number of references to the Generation III games:

• Both involved an upheaval to the Pokédex structure: Pokémon Ruby and Sapphire was the first game to have a regional Pokédex excluding Pokémon from previous generations, while Pokémon Black and White's regional Pokédex was the first to contain no Pokémon from previous generations.
  • They also involve introducing little to no evolutionary relatives from their previous generations.
• Hoenn is so far the only region of the main series games not to be rendered in 3D. It is also the only region that did not yet appear in a game specifically compatible with the Nintendo DS series of handheld consoles by Nintendo.
• The inclusion of the HM contains Dive that used to travel underwater locations, which was previously exclusive to Generation III.
• The inclusion of a skilled family of Pokémon Trainers similar to the Winstrate Family. Both families are battled in the same way, all consecutively.
• Some of the available Décor in the Pokémon Dream World resembles decorations that are available for Secret Bases in Hoenn.
• Generation V's Elite Four theme features a remixed sample from the Generation III Elite Four theme.
• Both Hoenn and Unova have ancient locations that show written messages of a unique language in real life, Braille and Cuneiform respectively.
• Currents reappear on Routes 17 and 18.
• The inclusion of two rival characters that each have different gender, similar to Generation III.
  • Cheren and Wally, the two rival characters, both appear in Victory Road for rematches.
• A Backpacker in Desert Resort tells the player that he comes from Hoenn, and that he doesn't need the Go-Goggles here unlike in Hoenn.
• In Undella Town during Summer, a boy tells the player that he and his family comes from Hoenn and visit Undella Town every Summer.
• A fossil depicting an Armaldo in the Nacrene City museum.
• Items from Hoenn can be acquired in Pokémon Black and White such as the Shoal Salt, Shoal Shell, and the five colored flutes but have no function, yet are still held items and can be traded.
• In the anime, Dawn deciding to travel to Hoenn to compete in Contests in SS024, as May before her did in Johto.
• In BW059, dark red and dark blue orbs were used alongside black and white orbs to call forth Landorus.

Trivia

• Both sets of remakes are to date the only main series Pokémon games to come bundled with an accessory. FireRed and LeafGreen originally had the Game Boy Advance Wireless Adapter bundled with them, while HeartGold and SoulSilver are bundled with the Pokéwalker.
  • Each of these accessories is a precursor to a feature found in the following generation. Generation IV expanded on the Wireless Adapter's features with the Nintendo DS's wireless play, while Generation V's Dream World is a more robust version of the Pokéwalker.
• Both sets of remakes also use artwork on the boxart other than the official artwork released with the game.
• A new female player character has been introduced in each set of remakes.
• Remade games are retconned to the point of including all known Pokémon as of their release generation, not just the Pokémon available in the original release.

This game-related article is part of Project Games, a Bulbapedia project that aims to write comprehensive articles on the Pokémon games.