Pokemon fans are some of the most intense gamers in the community by far. ROM hacks, a way of playing an old game on a new device, are common for porting the Pokemon games to computers or smartphones. They often engage in Nuzlocke runs, which require the player to (among other things) abandon any Pokemon that faints in battle.
Radical Red is a unique fan-made Pokemon game that's been building up momentum within the community for some time. It's adored by many as the best ROM hack for FireRed, while others critique its difficulty and new mechanics. For players who want a quick overview before they dive headfirst into the unknown, this is everything you need to know.
Updated on December 8, 2021 by Gabrielle Huston: Pokemon Radical Red has earned waves of interest from fans online looking for a challenge. There are dozens of streamers discussing their Nuzlocke runs of the game, explaining the best ways to play it, and more. New players discover it every day. If you're new to the game and are thrilled to get started, this article will walk you through all the things you need to know.
11 What Is It?
Pokemon Radical Red is a ROM hack of the game Pokemon FireRed. FireRed has been changed in several ways, including Pokemon stats, gameplay mechanics, and more. It's designed to be a true challenge; most players could beat a mainline Pokemon game without thinking too much about their stats or perfecting which Pokemon are in their party.
Radical Red is played by Pokemon fans looking for a new challenge, who have probably played and replayed the original game to the point of boredom.
10 How To Download Pokemon Radical Red
- Start by choosing an emulator you'll use to run the program. The creators recommend the "My Boy!" emulator for Android or mGBA, VBA, or VBA-M for Windows.
- You'll need to download the most recent copy of Radical Red from your preferred location (for example, it's available on the official Discord).
- Apply Radical Red as a patch to a copy of a Fire Red 1.0 ROM.
9 The Story Doesn't Change
Pokemon Radical Red follows the same story as Pokemon FireRed, so you don't need to look out for any surprises in that department. The protagonist is a child, living in Pallet Town in the Kanto region. They start their adventure when they meet Professor Oak and get their first Pokemon.
The game follows this protagonist as they battle Gym Leaders to earn badges and finally challenge the Elite Four, the best Pokemon trainers in Kanto. Along the way, they'll fight members of Team Rocket, an evil organization that wants to steal rare Pokemon.
8 The Built-In Randomizer
This particular game is pretty popular because it's a ROM hack that comes with a built-in randomizer option for the player. Randomizers have been popular with Pokemon players — especially Nuzlocke players — for a while. However, since Radical Red is so hard just on its own, many don't opt to use the randomizer until they've played it through once first.
What Is A Randomizer?
Randomizers essentially do exactly what they sound like and make everything random.
The Starter Pokemon can be different than usual, Pokemon that you encounter in the tall grass will be random (not dependent on area or type), the NPCs that you fight will have a randomly generated team, and items that you pick up will be randomized (rather than catering to your needs in that area).
7 Huge Difficulty Spike
The difficulty spike in Pokemon Radical Red is pretty significant; not that the originals weren't tough too, but Radical Red can be especially hard for players who are used to the regular games and/or have never played a Nuzlocke (permadeath) run before. While this game doesn't force you into a Nuzlocke, fans will find many players doing it online. Just like the randomizer, it's not recommended your first time through the game.
In order to progress through fights where the opposing gym leader, trainer, or Team Rocket member has been made more difficult, you will need to do some research and build a reliable team with Pokemon that complement one another and make up for each other's weaknesses.
6 Have Rematches With The Gym Leaders And Fight Someone New
One very alluring claim to fame that Pokemon Radical Red has is that you can return to the Gym Leaders you've already bested for rematches. This helps you hone your party against specific types; it's a huge boon to be able to return to the Grass-Type Gym Leader, Erika, or the Electric-Type Gym Leader, Lt. Surge, and test out your party's efficiency.
The other little addition is that, in FireRed, the eighth gym leader is revealed to be Giovanni, the Team Rocket leader the player has been fighting. Meanwhile, in Radical Red, the eighth gym leader has actually changed; now it's Clair, a dragon-type leader who is in later Pokemon games, but the creator has brought back in time to feature in Kanto, rather than Johto.
5 Unique Pokemon Stats And Abilities
In Radical Red, Pokemon will have different stats. Even players who have memorized the best team combinations in FireRed will find Pokemon Radical Red to be a challenge.
All the information about the changes is available online, but fans of Radical Red often encourage new players to try it out without using these tools first. It gives a fresh edge to the game and provides the opportunity to strategize by looking back at past battles.
4 New EV Training Areas
In Radical Red, the creator has clearly listened to fans; they've included areas specifically designed to train specific EVs.
What Are EVs?
"Base Points" (which are called "Effort Values" (EVs) by most fans) refer to a system that determines how a Pokemon's stats will turn out when they reach max level. At the most basic level, EVs are obtained by battling (and defeating) other Pokemon, and the kind of EV earned is dependent on the type and stats of the Pokemon that was beaten.
EVs are meant to go on behind the scenes of the game, unseen by the player, but they have a huge impact on how your Pokemon grows. For this reason, really serious players will fight particular Pokemon to ensure that their team grows to have the best stats possible.
3 Legendaries, Mythicals, and Ultra Beasts
Pokemon FireRed is one of the few Pokemon installments where a Legendary Pokemon isn't involved in the game's main plot. One of Johto's Legendaries — Raikou, Suicune, or Entei — can be found during the post-game content, but other than that, FireRed disappoints.
Pokemon Radical Red took this critique to heart by adding dozens of new Legendary Pokemon, Mythicals, and Ultra Beasts into the game for players to add to their team (perhaps to help them balance the difficulty?). Pheromosa, Moltres, Mewtwo, Celebi, and Terrakion are just a few of the player's options.
2 Cheats On Cheats On Cheats
Even though Pokemon Radical Red is already a hack of the game, including lots of bonus things that weren't in the original FireRed, some players just haven't had enough yet. There are plenty of places online to find hacks for Radical Red, and plenty of these hacks to choose from.
Some provide the Gigantamax ability in-game, while others are more traditional hacks to unlock unlimited Rare Candies, Unlimited Berries, teleportation, and so forth. Before downloading a cheat, you should ensure you trust the site that you found it on.
1 Extra Resources For Radical Red: Guides, Wikis, Discords?
Radical Red is a game with a devoted fan base that earns more and more attention every day. The resources online can be overwhelming, at best.
- You can start with guides, such as one by u/DogEatsPbj on Reddit that provides some help developing a party. Search for other fans that are playing and detailing their adventures on Reddit to get more advice.
- The server does have a PokeCommunity page you can check for recent updates.
- There's also a Google Drive folder that fans can access online detailing all the changes to the game (among other things) to help in their adventure.
- For gamers that prefer the social aspect, there's always the official Radical Red Discord.
Unfortunately, there's no dedicated wiki for the game at the time of this writing. The closest you will find is the Radical Red Discord, which allows you to communicate live with other fans.