Quote
What about Johto? and Pokemon Contests? Is this game a straight update of the first two? If so what about the Pokemon Nintendo locked away from us when GSC were made incapatible with Ruby and Sapphire? Do they appear in Kanto now?
Whoa, whoa, slow down! First off, Johto is not accessible in Fire/Leaf, although:
There are extra islands to travel to after beating the Elite Four. They weren't in the original and they contain SOME (not ALL) Pokémon from G/S/C, along with a breeding center. Once you complete RPG Mode in Colosseum, you can trade over the Pokémon you've captured from there to your GBA games. There's more stuff on the Fire/Leaf Islands that I won't reveal here.So, to answer your question, no, the game is not a straight update of the first two. It's more like an 'upgrade'. The original game is there, but there is new stuff too to keep owners of the original games on their toes.
There are no Pokémon Contests in Kanto (I could be mistaken, but I'm fairly sure about this), but I don't see why you can't enter your Kanto Pokémon in Hoenn Contests by transferring them over. I doubt it would be a problem.
Quote
The levels are still the same?
Yes, aside from graphical enhancements and some minor tweaks such as more trainers along routes, some items replaced with others (ie. there's no more 'HP up' in Mt. Moon anymore), two on two battles, the levels are still the same. Not sure if any two on two battles take place in the gyms yet. Because I'm crap.
EDIT: Sup Ben we have "spoiler" tags.