Pokemon Emerald Version

"Pokemon Emerald is Truly a Gem"

Right of the bat, I'm going to say that I love pokemon. I've loved pokemon since the Red and Blue versions were first released. I collected the cards, watched the show and the movies, and bought all the game sequels. But don't think for a minute that my history with pokemon makes me biased. The reason I give this game a 9/10 is because it is truly a great game, with just a few flaws.

For those of you familiar with the pokemon format, this game is no different than any other. Battle formats are the same, though with the addition of double battles. Story progression is the same, with eight badges to collect, followed by the Elite Four challenge. However, Pokemon Emerald adds the Battle Frontier, a place of endless challenges to which I have devoted hundreds of hours. But first things first: for those of you not in the know, let me explain the wide world of handheld pokemon.

As you begin playing, you will be introduced to the world of pokemon by an expert professor. Pokemon are creatures whom are befriended by humans and used in battles, contests, etc. As you progress in the game, you will be able to catch said creatures and use them to your own ends. Pokemon Emerald is similar to other RPGs in the sense that you must battle to gain experience, you must gain experience to level up, and you must level up to get stronger. This is expected and acceptable. Pokemon battles are taken in turns, with the pokemon with the highest speed stat attacking first. Attacks are chosen from a list of four moves. Every pokemon has its own unique movepool, and as it levels up, it has the opportunity to learn more powerful attacks, support moves, and moves detrimental to your opponents' stats. Attacks most commonly deal damage to the enemy pokemon, and when a pokemon's HP reaches zero, it faints, can't be used in battle anymore, and must be healed in a town. However, attacking isn't the only thing you can do in your turn. You can use items, switch pokemon, or run from fights (running only works when fighting wild pokemon. You can't run from a trainer, but more on that later). Most importantly, by using the item command and selecting “pokeball” from your list, you can catch a wild pokemon.

There are two types of battles: trainer fights and fights with wild pokemon. As you progress through the world of pokemon, you will soon find that you're not the only one out for the title of Pokemon Master. Rival trainers will challenge you to battles, where your team will compete against theirs. Experience-wise, pokemon belonging to trainers will give more of it, and they are generally at higher levels than those of wild pokemon in the area. Defeated trainers must also give you money. So why on earth would you even bother with wild pokemon? The answer is simple: you can't catch pokemon belonging to trainers. Any attempt will be met with failure. To make a better team, it helps to have a wide selection of pokemon to choose from. Also, you can only fight a trainer once, but wild pokemon can be fought an endless number of times.

So what if I don't want to battle all the time? What then, you may ask. Well, there are several other things you can do, mainly pokemon contests. I found these to be quite entertaining. Instead of using attacks to damage enemy pokemon, you will use them to show off to judges in a contest to win a ribbon, basically the badge of contests. As well as having a set base damage, every pokemon move has a set contest effect and rating. The higher the rating, the more points your pokemon will receive. Three other pokemon will compete against you in two rounds: appeal in appearance and the aforementioned contest round. To make your pokemon more attractive, you must blend pokeblock, another interesting feature. Basically a minigame, you must press the A button at exactly the right time to make the best pokeblock you can. The better the pokeblock, the more attractive your pokemon will become.

The story behind Pokemon Emerald is pretty easy to follow. You start out as an aspiring pokemon trainer in a small town. As you venture out into the world, you'll see a middle-aged man being attacked by a wild pokemon. When you run over to help him, he'll tell you to grab a pokeball out of his backpack and use it in battle. Thus your pokemon career begins. The ultimate goal of the game is for you to beat an elite set of trainers, appropriately named the Elite Four. However, Pokemon Emerald adds a new twist: the Battle Frontier. Upon beating the Elite Four, you will be admitted into this wonderful place, where you can face intelligent trainers with high level pokemon. I won't spoil it, but it's definitely a reason to buy this game.

For the experienced pokemon trainer, not much has changed in terms of sound and graphics, which, in this age of pixels, isn't a good thing. Your character is represented by a sprite. Your pokemon are represented by sprites. Your neighbor is represented by a sprite. Everything is represented by a sprite. This is about all the GBA can handle, but luckily the picture quality has been greatly improved since Gold and Silver versions, and even Ruby and Sapphire. Music in the game is repetitive. All your battles sound the same and just about every town sounds the same. I found it useful to play with the sound off while watching TV.

It's almost impossible to stop playing this game upon beating the Elite Four. There's just too much else to be done, like contests, the Frontier, and so many other things. Personally, I've logged about 450 hour into Pokemon Emerald. It only took me 30 to beat the Elite Four.

Final Recommendations:

Buy this game, but only if you don't own a DS. If you do, wait for Diamond and Pearl. Otherwise, this could easily be the most involving game you ever play.

Reviewer's Score: 9/10, Originally Posted: 02/26/07