Pokémon FireRed and LeafGreen were primarily designed for girls and the elderly

A newly translated interview with the developers of Pokémon FireRed and LeafGreen has revealed some information about the remakes that we didn’t know before. Namely, developer Game Freak designed the titles to primarily appeal to girls and the elderly, not the boys who played the originals on Game Boy.

The interview in question was originally published in the March 2004 issue of the Japanese magazine Nintendo Dream and was translated by DidYouKnowGaming for a new video. According to director Junichi Masuda, the difficulty of Pokémon FireRed and LeafGreen was lowered to appeal to girls. He also revealed that the “previously on your quest” recaps that play every time the games boot up were added because girls had longer gaps between playing than boys. Even the paper-like design of the Pokédex within the game was created with a female audience in mind.

DidYouKnowGaming’s translation also uncovered that a slogan for Game Freak during development was to create “Pokémon that even 60-year-olds can play.” People who don’t know how to use a game controller tend to press the triggers first, so a help menu was mapped to those buttons. Graphics lead Takao Unno recalled being directed to make indoor environments simple and ensure doorways and stairs were very obvious before being allowed to work on the rest of Kanto.

To celebrate Pokémon Day this year, Pokémon FireRed and LeafGreen were re-released. After watching DidYouKnowGaming’s video, I’ve enjoyed revisiting LeafGreen and noticing the design details discussed, like how the rugs that mark doorways extend out past the edges of the room. These Game Boy Advance remakes always felt like some of the more beginner-friendly games in the series to me, and it’s insightful to learn that was intentional.

Pokémon FireRed and LeafGreen are both available now on Nintendo Switch, with Pokémon Home compatibility coming in the future.