Pokémon Fire Red and Leaf Green, which originally launched for the Game Boy Advance back in 2004, will arrive on Nintendo Switch next week to celebrate the Pokémon series' 30th anniversary.
The games will become available on Switch shortly after this year's Pokémon Presents broadcast — The Pokémon Company's annual announcement showcase held on February 27 each year — that is expected to be a very important one indeed.
Today, The Pokémon Company also now firmed up the timing of the Pokémon Presents stream, which will be held at 6am Pacific / 9am Eastern / 2pm UK.
Unlike other retro games available as part of the Nintendo Switch Online subscription, Fire Red and Leaf Green will be standalone releases — sold via the eShop for $19.99 each. Local wireless play for battling and trading will be possible, though online features are not supported.
Still, the game is expected to enable players to connect and transfer Pokémon into Pokémon Home, the franchise's cloud-based monster storage service.
As for next week's Pokémon Presents broadcast, fans are anticipating that the franchise's 30th anniversary will be marked by some big announcements. We'll hear more about promising upcoming life sim spin-off Pokémon Pokopia of course, but fans will be waiting to see if the series' long-awaited 10th generation of games and creatures also gets a showing.
Expectations for this year's celebrations are sky high, following last year's so-called Teraleak of Pokémon game development data that spilled various details of the franchise's highly-anticipated 10th generation of games. Alongside a fresh roster of new Pokémon, fans expect these titles to feature new gameplay mechanics and procedurally-generated areas for the first time.
Meanwhile, Pokémon has already begun its 30th anniversary celebrations by revealing the franchise's first LEGO sets (which also drop on February 27) and airing a Super Bowl spot featuring Lady Gaga singing the Jigglypuff song.
Join us next Friday for Pokémon Presents, which IGN will be reporting on live.
Pokemon FireRed & LeafGreen announced for Switch and Switch 2