Pokemon Emerald Version

"Emerald version fixes many of the flaws that were present in Ruby and Sapphire."

Pokemon Emerald was released in May 2005, and takes it place as the coveted "special edition" of the third generation. Like Yellow and Crystal versions before it, Emerald builds upon the foundations of Ruby and Sapphire versions by making slight graphical tweaks and gameplay improvements, and yet still adding many new features.

One of the most noticeable (and most welcomed) graphical tweaks comes from the new typeface. It's no question that Ruby and Sapphire featured the ugliest, most illegible typeface of any generation. Emerald features the greatly improved typeface first used in Pokemon FireRed and LeafGreen versions. This makes reading a largely text-based game much, much easier. Other graphical tweaks can be found in the over-world of Hoenn. Many sprites, such as trees and rocks, have received a slightly lighter pallet, due mainly to the fact that as of 2005, both the GBA SP and the DS feature lit screens, which made the darker pallets of Ruby and Sapphire appear drab in comparison. But what about the Pokemon sprites themselves? Animations have made a return from Crystal version, even though they should have been present in Ruby and Sapphire versions, as well. Finally, the item management was overhauled both in practicality and eye candy. It's extremely easy to move your items around, and there are now icons for each item. (Although both of these features were introduced in FR/LG.) And, also like I'd hoped, you can now give and receive items directly from Pokemon in the PC without having to move them to your party. Though minor additions, it just makes using the menus far more intuitive, which increases my overall satisfaction of this game.

The plot of Emerald version has the same foundations as the plot of Ruby and Sapphire. You are still trying to become the best Pokemon trainer you can be, and you are still going to have fateful encounters with evil organizations. But in Emerald, there is simply more to do. Instead of fighting one organization, both Team Aqua and Team Magma are against you. And instead of the plot ultimately ending up focused on either Groudon (Ruby) or Kyogre (Sapphire), Emerald puts the focus onto Rayquaza, a Dragon type that balances the powers of Groudon and Kyogre. There are some other minor plot twists throughout the game, as well. The beginning has been altered slightly, as has the ending. There are even some bigger changes, such as old trainers having new rosters, and even some gym leaders being replaced entirely.

I said earlier that Emerald added several new features, and I meant it. Emerald introduces the "Battle Frontier," which may very well be the biggest revolution since the day and night system of the second generation. The Battle Frontier is like an amusement park with a Pokemon theme. It features different arenas that are designed to challenge you in different ways. While the Battle Tower focuses on classic brawling, the Battle Palace tests your friendship with your Pokemon. Each arena has a "Brain," who are similar to gym leaders. By winning battles in the amusement park, you can earn points which can be exchanged for moves like Body Slam and Substitute. Several Pokemon can only learn these powerful moves from the Battle Frontier, so it's worth fighting every battle and challenging the "Brains." There are two more new features that I feel are worth mentioning. The first is "Trainer Hill," which functions like a preview to the Battle Tower. But the difference here is there is no level restriction, so the battles can be more exciting than those of the Battle Tower. Another new feature is known as the Match Call. This brings back the phone of the second generation games. It also replaces the "Trainer's Eye" of R/S. You will receive calls from trainers who may want to have a rematch with you. But new to Emerald is the ability to have rematches with gym leaders! Fighting the gym leaders in a double battle with high leveled Pokemon is one of the best additions added to Emerald.

Pokemon Emerald, in my opinion, is the best game of the third generation. It takes the already great gameplay of Ruby and Sapphire and fixes some annoyances while adding several of its own new features. Because of this, I feel the game has improved the third generation in its entirety, which is I bumped up the rating to 80%, even if it is largely similar to R/S. If you are in need of a RPG for the GBA, Pokemon Emerald is highly recommended.

Reviewer's Score: 8/10, Originally Posted: 04/14/06, Updated 11/15/06