Pokemon Emerald Version

"A great game for some, and an okay for others."

Pokemon Emerald is an upgraded version of Ruby and Sapphire, sure they do have some slight improvements like new Pokemon, one more legendary Pokemon, or even new area for instance, but no real change.

GAME-PLAY: Everything feels familiar, it still a RPG Pokemon game, where you can walk, run, or even ride a bicycle, but we had these kind of features before.

You will meet many trainers along the way, who will be challenging you for Pokemon battles. Your main goal is to beat all gym leaders and be the best Pokemon trainer in the world, but that is not easy, yes in order to defeat all gym leaders you must have a perfect team, because this time Nintendo increased the difficulty level in the game, you can't just throw any Pokemon and hope he will do fine.

What do I mean with a “perfect team” ? okay if you haven't played any Pokemon game before (which is kind of rare) you will be introducing to the rock-paper- scissor. Each Pokemon has it's own advantages and disadvantages, for instance, Fire Pokemon are weak against Water Pokemon, and strong against Grass Pokemon. You should have a balanced team of Pokemon to prevent having disadvantages against gym leaders.

Pokemon Ruby and Sapphire each one featured either team Magma or team Aqua, however, Pokemon Emerald has both teams, if you don't know, they are the main villains in Pokemon games(R/S/E) you got to beat them before they…you will see to yourself.

As I mentioned above, Pokemon games always feature new area to explore and this one no exception. The battle frontier, a small island with many arenas where you will be facing difficult Pokemon trainers, you will even earn more badges.

Since everything is familiar, you should not expect something new to the battle system. You can hold up to six Pokemon in you pocket, during the battle you will have several options, the most common option is to attack, then you can use an item(s), or if you feel your Pokemon isn't doing great, simply just substitute it with another one.

Aside from battling trainers or beating gym leaders, you have the ability to catch wild Pokemon, in order to do so, you must battle them first and then use your Poke ball to capture them. Pokemon Emerald feature over 200 Pokemon to catch, and with two extra legendary Pokemon from R/S where you had to have both versions to capture them.

STORY: Not a deep story but it serves it's purpose. You are {put a name} who wants to be the world best Pokemon trainer, you will be facing eight gym leaders, that means eight badges, which you will need them to enter the elite league. As you progress you will be having to beat those teams Magma and Aqua.

GRAPHICS: Not a surprise from a Pokemon game, almost nothing changed from R/S/L/F, you still see your reflection on the water, which was a cool thing in R/S, people still look the same, as well as backgrounds, the one and only change is in the battles, when you start a battle your and your opponent's Pokemon will move and make a pose…it's kind of cool.

SOUND: some of the sound/music have been taken from Ruby and Sapphire, which is not a bad thing, but we could use some variety.

CONCLUSION: Pokemon Emerald is not a bad game, in fact it's quite a good game, but if you already have ruby and/or sapphire, you may want to think twice before getting emerald, as there is not much to it.

Reviewer's Score: 4/10, Originally Posted: 05/09/05