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Pokémon: Ruby/Sapphire (GBA) Review

By Foxx

Remember when Pokémon was so popular; kids would practically explode at the mere mention of Pikachu? I heard they had to shoot tear gas into a middle school to quell the Bulbasaur Riot of ‘99. Okay, I made that part up, but the craze was pretty out of control. Present day, the Pokémon craze has died down considerably. Jigglypuff is no longer a four-letter-word, but the games continue to sell.

Pokémon: Ruby/Sapphire versions offer the same appeal as the original red/blue titles. You still have hundreds of Pokémon to collect (some available only on one of the two versions) and multiplayer battles and trading (so you can collect all of those, not available on your cartridge). All of these features come wrapped up in the same RPG formula as the originals. So why play it? It sounds exactly the same, right? Wrong. First of all, this game contains more than 350 Pokémon. That’s about 200 more than the original. Ruby/Sapphire also come with some mini games, E-Reader compatibility, connectable with GameCube for future games, sharp colorful graphics, and all of this in a 40 hour quest.

The graphics and style remind me of a game for the SNES, called Earthbound. Earthbound had more of a present day/future look than the typical Final Fantasy games of the time. The characters and terrain in Pokémon: Ruby/Sapphire have this same feel. I liked the look of the game, but Nintendo is not using the full power of the GBA.

Overall, this game is a big improvement from the original titles. Although the Pokémon craze is pretty much over, Nintendo keeps their “pride and joy” from getting stale.

Graphics: The graphics are cute and fitting for a Pokémon title. Nintendo is obviously not taking advantage of the GBA’s capabilities in this one. It would have also been nice to see some more animation in the battles.	7.5
Sound: The music works fine for this game, but the Pokémon sounds are still pretty lacking.	7.5
Game Play: Call the collecting a gimmick, but you still have a very deep game and a 2D RPG that breathes new life into the genre.	9.5
Replay Value: Pokémon is about a 40 hour quest and even after you beat it, there is still plenty to do.	8.5
Overall: Whether you’re new to the series or your jacket is already covered in gym badges, Pokémon: Ruby/Sapphire is sure to please.	9.0

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