Pokémon Light Version is one of those fan-made GBA hacks that actually feels polished—like someone took FireRed and gave it a fresh coat of paint. The sprites are cleaner, the colors pop, and the battles move faster without losing that classic Pokémon feel. You still start in Pallet Town, but the routes feel tweaked just enough to keep you guessing.

First thing I noticed? The wild encounters aren’t just the usual early-game bugs and rats. Found a Ralts before the first gym, which never happens. Not sure if that’s intentional or a beta quirk, but hey, I’m not complaining. The rival battles hit harder too—almost wiped me out before Brock because I wasn’t paying attention.

It’s still rough around the edges (beta life, right?), but if you’ve burned through the official games too many times, this one’s got enough surprises to feel new. Just save often—crashes happen.