Pokemon Sapphire Version

"They're naming Pokemon after gems? They must be valuable!"

Remember the good old days where if you had 150 Pokemon, your Pokedex was complete? After Gold/Silver came out, it was over, because another 100 were added (like Kingdra, Ariados and Scizor) as well as the dark and steel types. If you had 250, then you had a complete Pokedex. As of 2002, not anymore! Pokemon Ruby/Sapphire introduce a grand total of 135 Pokemon for a total of 386 (four are hidden and can be received from special events; Mew, Celebi, Jirachi and Deoxys)! There are all-new Pokemon like Dusclops, Volbeat, Azurill, Lunatone, Groudon and Kyogre, so let's get to the review, shall we?

Story: 5/10
Same old same old. You move to Hoenn, Professor Birch is attacked by a Poochyena, you save him, you go on an adventure, you save the world from-- WHAT?! Team Rocket is gone!? IT'S A DREAM COME TRUE! Anyway, this game is unique because a specific version has a different villain. In Ruby, Team Magma is evil, but Team Aqua is on your side, but it is the other way around in Sapphire. Pretty unique, huh? But, really, that's the only thing that saves the plot from the evil number that is 0.

Gameplay: 9/10
This game introduces brand-new features to the Pokemon world. For instance, there is now 2-on-2 battling, where two trainers join forces and battle you. There are now moves that have effects in double battles. For example, Follow Me aims all attacks towards you, protecting your partner, and Earthquake hits all foes on the battlefield. Speaking of Earthquake, Weezing can't be hit by it anymore! Ruby and Sapphire introduce abilities. For example, Weezing can levitate in the air and avoid ground-type attacks, and Minun and Plusle power up if they are both in a double battle. Also, Pokemon have personalities that affect their stats, and a new minigame is introduced: the Pokemon Contest. Your Pokemon are scored because of intelligence, cuteness, toughness, beauty and many other factors. For instance, Ice Beam is classified as a beauty-type move, so in a beauty contest, it scores you tons of points. Also, two legendary Pokemon, Groudon and Kyogre, are version-exclusive, a feature that will return for Diamond and Pearl with Dialga and Palkia. However, even though 135 new Pokemon have been added, several old ones are gone, like Hitmonchan, Hitmonlee, Tyranitar, Charizard, Eevee and all of its evolutions. Don't worry, there are other games to fix this problem (as the new games are unable to trade with Gold, Silver, Crystal, Red, Blue or Yellow), but back in 2002, they didn't exist. However, the new gameplay features make this game revolutionary.

Graphics: 8/10
Hooray! Colour, meet the Pokemon world. Pokemon world, meet colour. From now on, it will be your best friend. Great news! Pokemon aren't chubby and/or ugly anymore! OK, maybe some of the Kanto ones are a bit ugly (Alakazam's sprite in this game still haunts me in my dreams), but at least Pikachu isn't chubby. Also, trainers are totally redone, and they look so incredible, you won't want to look away. In other words, without Ruby and Sapphire, Pokemon would still be black-and-white.

Sounds/Music: 7/10
At least Pokemon cries don't sound like Pokemon that already exist. The music still isn't anything special except for a few occasions.

Recap:
Story: 5/10
Gameplay: 9/10
Graphics: 8/10
Sounds/Music: 7/10
Final Score: 8/10

Overall, purchase this game. If you want to catch 'em all, you'll need Pokemon Ruby and Sapphire. As for this specific version, I say it's underrated (practically everybody I know has Pokemon Ruby, but not Sapphire), especially since we get some good version-exclusive Pokemon (look at Ludicolo and Kyogre for crying out loud!). Either way, get this for sure. It will be worth your time. Gotta catch 'em all!

Reviewer's Score: 8/10, Originally Posted: 04/12/07