Pokemon LeafGreen stays very faithful to the material it is based on providing a slightly stale experience.
To those unfamiliar to the series, (which should be very few indeed) the games of Pokemon revolve around the player taking the role of a Pokemon trainer and journeying through a region filled with the creatures. The player can catch the creatures via special items known as Pokeballs after weakening the creatures a bit. This is where the name sake of Pocket Monsters comes from as the Pokeballs are rather small and are easily carried by the people who use these creatures in their lives. Although there are many occupations that utilize the monsters, the gamer will take the roll of a Pokemon trainer who's job is to train his or her Pokemon (I bet you never saw that coming) and use them in battle against other trainers. The goal here is to become the greatest trainer ever, or at least great enough to defeat the Elite Four, a group of very powerful trainers that serve as the ultimate test for trainers. In order to face these fearsome adversaries though, one must collect 8 gym badges that are scattered across the region. These gym badges are awarded to trainers after defeating special trainers known as gym leaders which specialize in a specific type and serve as a roadblock that trainers must overcome in order to continue about there quest so to speak. Besides all that, the player can also participate in all sorts of actions such as Pokemon breeding, gambling, and perhaps the most infamous and time consuming task of all, collecting every single type of Pokemon. There is plenty to do in this game indeed.
The battle system is exactly as it always has been in previous games. it's a turn based affair with each Pokemon taken turns to attack based on speed. Only one Pokemon is out at a time and a team can only consist of a maximum of 6 Pokemon. If one takes into account the amount of moves a Pokemon can know at one specific time, this comes to a total of 24 viable moves for the trainer to use. ( 4 moves per Pokemon multiplied by 6 is 24) Considering this information, along with the many factors that effect Pokemon such as type, gender, and stats, the battle portion of Pokemon has a large depth, at least when facing an opponent of one's own skill level. The other trainers available in the region which in this game is known as Kanto, can often be defeated rather easily. Of course thanks to the game's link features with other games within the franchise, it is relatively easy to face another person to truly test one's skill. This link feature has become a staple of the series and works well as always. The game also features are relatively new addition to the franchises in the form of double battles which are performed just as they sound. Two Pokemon are used by ether side at the same time instead of one, creating battles that are often at a much faster pace and more complex then their single Pokemon counterparts. The game also packs many of the additions present in the recent Pokemon games such as before mentioned Pokemon breeding, natures, effort values cap, greater individual value range, and genders. A noticeable missing feature is any track of time, preventing some events and evolutions that would normally be able to occur. The music within the game is greatly similar to the music featured in the original games. There have been a few added tracks, but they as well find there origin from the Gold, Silver, and Crystal games and are only featured in a new area that was added into the game that would allow players to catch Pokemon which originated during those games. Despite the material being recycled, its still a combination of catchy tracks that have become a trademark within the series. Unfortunately, they can get repetitive after awhile, especially with all the time gamers will have to spend with the game in order to complete as much as possible. The graphics as well are reminiscent of graphics seen within other games in the franchise yet, they are especially bright and are miles ahead of the original Pokemon games. The world is constantly bright and each Pokemon has a distinctive look that will not be difficult to remember even if one is not very familiar with the franchise.
There is however, one large flaw with Pokemon LeafGreen which is that the game is a remake. As such, it does not provide the same experience as a completely new game would as, it is most likely that most who would have an interest in such a game have already played the game it is based on. Despite this, Pokemon LeafGreen is a great role playing game that features an extensive world that provides tons of hours of play, especially if gamers plan on completing everything there is to do in the game.