Why did FRLG fail, while HGSS (and later, ORAS) prevail? What do the later remakes have that the first ones don't? What went wrong with FRLG?[INDENT]
1. They needlessly removed features that were standard in Gold/Silver/Crystal and Ruby/Sapphire, all for the sake of being "faithful." It was bad enough that RS removed Day/Night, but even they still had an internal clock of some sort. FRLG, on the other hand, didn't even bother to give you
that much. Yeah, good luck evolving Eevee (in the *only* Gen 3 games it's available in) into Espeon and Umbreon... Oh, wait. No "new" Pokémon in the Kanto Dex, remember? Yeah, screw all of those "new" Pokémon you possibly caught and used
in Kanto just a Generation ago, because these are
remakes, dammit! And, why do you want to see the same berry trees you probably also saw
in Kanto just a Generation ago? Why don't you have amnesia of the previous games? Be lucky that we're still letting you play as a girl.
I gotta agree with you there. After GSC had the PokéGear and RS had the PokéNav, it would've been nice for them to modernise the world of Kanto with some similar communications device. Instead, we got a damn Teachy TV. I hadn't thought about it before, but you definitely have a point when it comes to 'kiddifying' Pokémon. I don't so much mind that the newer Pokémon weren't immediately available, but certain 'mon like Espeon, Umbreon, Crobat, Blissey, etc should absolutely have been available, and simply weren't.
This, I'm not so much on board with. If you really think about it, Yellow was the one and only anime tie-in they've ever done in the main series, and even then the differences between Yellow and RB were pretty miniscule.
I think it's important to view Yellow as having *specifically Pikachu* following you, not *your starter following you*. Remember, Pikachu counts as a character throughout Yellow, reacting to things in the overworld and some people comment on it.
TLDR; I don't think Yellow introduced enough content to warrant its features being in FRLG.
3. They completely dumbed down the original games. Don't you just
love the forced tutorial on
how to battle in Oak's lab? Or, how the Old Man gives you some
useless tutorial machine instead of access to Missingno (and infinite Master Balls/Rare Candies)? Or, how Giovanni and the Elite Four got knocked down two levels each? Or, how Giovanni has a weak, unevolved Rhyhorn as his ace? Or, how the Gamblers were renamed "Gamers"? Or, how
anything even remotely "scary" from the originals was censored out? A lot has been said about the "kiddification" of Pokémon in the early-mid 2000s, and FRLG were probably the worst example of it.
I've already agreed that the Teachy TV is so so so so so stupid, so no worries there (except come on, they're never going to willingly give you access to something that was a complete glitch in the original games :P). I guess all I can say is, I'm glad they've not been kiddy (to the same extent) since then.
4. For all of the things they removed, they didn't contribute anything worthwhile in return. No, seriously, what
did these games bring to the table? VS Seeker? Okay, I'll give you that one, but it still
wasn't exactly a new idea. Leaf/Green?
Forgotten in the sequels, and it's not like she was
the first female PC, anyways. Sevii Islands? Oh, yeah, a bunch of forgettable islands (that were never seen or heard from again afterwards) that were only thrown in at the last minute because GF couldn't be bothered to include Gen 2 Pokémon in the Kanto Dex (or give us something like Johto as a postgame). Fame Checker? Are you
kidding me?
I remember, the first thing I did in FRLG when I got it, was march to the route west of Viridian to see how they covered up the existance of Johto. And to be honest, I was a little surprised. I mean, whatever about being faithful to a remake - by now, we knew that Johto existed, and even if they'd never let us travel to Johto in FRLG, I remain a little flabbergasted that they'd flat out pretend it wasn't there - I don't think "being faithful to the originals" is an excuse. Still, I for one was pleased by the presence of the Sevii Islands. I liked that they had remixed Johto music, and they let us have some Johto Pokémon, and I thought the extended Team Rocket storyline was pretty good. Basically, the Sevii Island post-game was good, but everything was a bit too half-hearted. There's small references to the radio-evolution experiment they conduct in GSC. And an even bigger deal? "No, your not Giovanni's kid, his kid has red hair."
And then they let us fester for 7 years on the fact that our rival in GSC was Giovanni's son. All in all, I've always thought there was more to be done for the whole Kanto/Johto storyline that they've decidedly left unsaid, but I'm very much nostalgic about the whole thing.
5. They were slapped together in a rush, and it shows. Take a look at the staggering list of unused
maps and
sprites in FRLG's data.
A lot was left out of these games, and it's not hard to see why. Unlike, HGSS and ORAS, FRLG were released
less than a decade and only one handheld after their original counterparts, which in retrospect, was akin to remaking Diamond and Pearl (instead of Ruby and Sapphire) for the 3DS in 2014. And,
why were they rushed out so early? Because, GF couldn't be bothered to find another, more creative way to complete the National Dex in Ruby and Sapphire (such as a second postgame region). Unlike HGSS and ORAS, FRLG weren't carefully developed and released as a favor to fan nostalgia (as there was none in 2004); they were slapped together for purely utilitarian purposes, almost as an expansion pack to RSE rather than standalone games.
I think, all in all, it's important to remember a couple things when discussing FRLG. Firstly, players had a long, long time to get used to Kanto Pokémon, because they were present throughout the first and second generations of games. 3rd gen arrives, and suddenly it's all these new Pokémon. A lot of Pokémon that were (arguably) considered favourites weren't available, like the original fossils, the likes of Arcanine, Gastly's line, and a lot of others. RS were seen as a bit of a reboot to the franchise. It's hard to say, but maybe they really did approach FRLG as a bit of an expansion to RSE rather than their own games. They wanted to stay faithful to the originals, so they really just left out a lot of potentially new material: for example, once I discovered there was now a female Player character, I fully expected them to go the RSE route and have her as at least a secondary character in-game, as an opponent or otherwise. But nope, she doesn't exist if you play as a boy, and vice versa.
Basically, because of the lack of connectivity between 2nd and 3rd gen (something they thankfully never let happen again), FRLG served only to reintroduce the Kanto (and a verrrrry select few Johto) Pokémon to help players fill up their Pokédexes. Colosseum, Gale of Darkness and Emerald later filled in the remaining gaps.
The remakes of GSC and RSE have both significantly added to the features available within their generations; in fact, I think it's pretty fair to say the HGSS and ORAS are the best games of their generations. The same can't be said for FRLG, definitely not, because of... well, all that they're lacking. I think it's safe to say that Game Freak have sinced learned from their mistake, and have managed to retain nostalgia in their remakes without ruining things by keeping them too close to the originals. Unfortunately in most cases of things being remade, staying "faithful" to the originals usually means sticking with something that is old, dated, and basically.. in need of renewal.