: At the start of the game, players can choose to ignore Professor Oak's classic trio. Instead, Oak can take you to a "Safari" area where you can catch your own starter, such as Larvitar , Houndour , or Gastly , using limited Safari Balls.

Players praise Ultra Violet for feeling to the original FireRed . The graphics, music, and story are untouched. Key differences are subtle:

To understand Ultra Violet , one must first understand the quiet betrayal felt by a generation of players regarding FireRed and LeafGreen . On the surface, these remakes were faithful to Pokémon Red/Green (1996). But beneath the polished interface lurked a familiar antagonist: and trade evolutions . The game’s internal logic—catching ‘em all—was rendered impossible by the game’s own external architecture. To obtain a Gengar, Alakazam, Machamp, or Golem, a player required a second Game Boy Advance, a second copy of the game (or the opposite version), and a friend physically present. For the solitary player, or the adult revisiting the game decades later, these Pokémon were ghosts in the machine, icons in the Pokédex forever marked with a silhouette of shame.

: The map has been expanded with new islands and side quests that house rare and legendary Pokémon.