Conan Edogawa
01-30-2005, 11:06 PM
Pokemon Ruby/Sapphire Review:
It’s been a couple of years since the last Pokemon game, Pokemon Crystal, was released in the U.S. Since then, many things have changed in the world of Pokemon. This chapter divulges what’s in and what’s out.
Pokemon Ruby and Sapphire feature the same type of game play that made the Pokemon games so popular. As in the previous games, the main story features a young Pokemon Trainer on the road to defeating the Elite Four at the Pokemon League. On the way, he (or she) has to collect and raise Pokemon, turning them into an unbeatable team, while facing challenges from rivals and unknown Trainers alike. After securing Badges from the eight Gym Leaders spread throughout the land, the hero (or heroine) goes up against the Elite Four and the current Pokemon Champion to see how good a Trainer he (or she) is.
While the story is similar, the details make Pokemon Ruby and Sapphire unique. This time you play as the son or daughter of a Gym Leader, a position that grants you respect among the Trainers in the land. You now have a protégé of your own to train and your “rival” is a kid whose father is a member of the “Pokemon Elite.”
Instead of Team Rocket, the land of Hoenn is now threatened by a radical environmentalist group of Pokemon Trainers. If you have Pokemon Ruby, you face Team Magma, a group trying to advance the primacy of land-living Pokemon. If you play Pokemon Sapphire, Team Aqua is your nemesis as they try to make water-living Pokemon the most populous. As you try to stop the bad guys’ schemes, you’ll work in conjunction with their rivals.
In addition to a new story, Pokemon Ruby and Sapphire also sport more streamlined game play. The Pokegear is out! Now you revive a Pokemon Navigator (better known as the Pokenav) in addition to your Pokedex. Both items contain an area map, but that’s where the similarities end! The Pokenav was designed for serious Pokemon Trainers. It contains the Rainer’s Eye, a feature that allows Trainers to wirelessly change information and indicate when they are ready for a rematch. The Pokenav tracks your Pokemon’s condition and the number of ribbons they’ve won in Pokemon Contests.
In Pokemon Ruby and Sapphire you set a clock, but the whole system of Morning-Day-Night differences and a seven day week initiated in Pokemon Gold, Silver, and Crystal no longer exists. In Pokemon Ruby and Sapphire, time determines only the tide’s level and Berry growing. Pokemon appear 24 hours a day instead of at specific times of the day, making it easier for you to “catch ‘em all!” Some events happen once a day.
Here are some more things that have changed in Pokemon Ruby and Sapphire:
(Old => New)
Johto and Kanto => Hoenn
Pokegear => Pokenav
Radio => TV
Cell Phone => Trainer’s Eye
Head-butting trees => Secret Bases
Team Rocket => Teams Magma and Aqua
Riding over Whirlpools => Diving
Apricorns => Pokeblocks
All but 64 of the original 252 Pokemon! => New Pokemon
It’s been a couple of years since the last Pokemon game, Pokemon Crystal, was released in the U.S. Since then, many things have changed in the world of Pokemon. This chapter divulges what’s in and what’s out.
Pokemon Ruby and Sapphire feature the same type of game play that made the Pokemon games so popular. As in the previous games, the main story features a young Pokemon Trainer on the road to defeating the Elite Four at the Pokemon League. On the way, he (or she) has to collect and raise Pokemon, turning them into an unbeatable team, while facing challenges from rivals and unknown Trainers alike. After securing Badges from the eight Gym Leaders spread throughout the land, the hero (or heroine) goes up against the Elite Four and the current Pokemon Champion to see how good a Trainer he (or she) is.
While the story is similar, the details make Pokemon Ruby and Sapphire unique. This time you play as the son or daughter of a Gym Leader, a position that grants you respect among the Trainers in the land. You now have a protégé of your own to train and your “rival” is a kid whose father is a member of the “Pokemon Elite.”
Instead of Team Rocket, the land of Hoenn is now threatened by a radical environmentalist group of Pokemon Trainers. If you have Pokemon Ruby, you face Team Magma, a group trying to advance the primacy of land-living Pokemon. If you play Pokemon Sapphire, Team Aqua is your nemesis as they try to make water-living Pokemon the most populous. As you try to stop the bad guys’ schemes, you’ll work in conjunction with their rivals.
In addition to a new story, Pokemon Ruby and Sapphire also sport more streamlined game play. The Pokegear is out! Now you revive a Pokemon Navigator (better known as the Pokenav) in addition to your Pokedex. Both items contain an area map, but that’s where the similarities end! The Pokenav was designed for serious Pokemon Trainers. It contains the Rainer’s Eye, a feature that allows Trainers to wirelessly change information and indicate when they are ready for a rematch. The Pokenav tracks your Pokemon’s condition and the number of ribbons they’ve won in Pokemon Contests.
In Pokemon Ruby and Sapphire you set a clock, but the whole system of Morning-Day-Night differences and a seven day week initiated in Pokemon Gold, Silver, and Crystal no longer exists. In Pokemon Ruby and Sapphire, time determines only the tide’s level and Berry growing. Pokemon appear 24 hours a day instead of at specific times of the day, making it easier for you to “catch ‘em all!” Some events happen once a day.
Here are some more things that have changed in Pokemon Ruby and Sapphire:
(Old => New)
Johto and Kanto => Hoenn
Pokegear => Pokenav
Radio => TV
Cell Phone => Trainer’s Eye
Head-butting trees => Secret Bases
Team Rocket => Teams Magma and Aqua
Riding over Whirlpools => Diving
Apricorns => Pokeblocks
All but 64 of the original 252 Pokemon! => New Pokemon