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Pokemon Emerald Review
Written by Modojo Staff on Friday, April 29, 2005
User Score
Nintendo isn't messing with the Pokemon formula, and it's as fun as ever.
Nothing new to see here, so don't expect anything different from previous versions.
I recently learned that Nintendo has sold over 136 million Pokemon videogames worldwide, a staggering statistic when you consider that the latest additions to the series have been rehashes of the older games, but therein lies the power of marketing, a science that Nintendo's seemingly mastered. As the company prepares to roll out its latest member of the Poke family, that being Pokemon Emerald for the Game Boy Advance, there's no doubt in my mind that it'll add considerable numbers to that massive total, the reason being that, aside from the expert advertising, Pokemon is still incredibly fun to play.
Pokemon Emerald is basically Ruby and Sapphire except with some new critters to collect, a few new areas to explore, and a bevy of connectivity features. The fact that it's based on old news should weigh heavily on your decision to purchase it, but rest assured that if you're a diehard Pokemon nut or even better, new to the series, then this is a solid addition to the Nintendo family. The game is based on the same tried and true gameplay concept that's helped launch those 100 plus million cartridges into homes worldwide. Of course, seeing as how Nintendo and developer Game Freak haven't taken any serious measures to make Emerald drastically different from the previously-released games means you'll be covering a lot of old ground.
After moving into the town of Littleroot and getting acquainted with your new home, you soon run into the resident Pokemon expert Professor Birch, a man who's so addicted to field research that he can hardly contain himself. After saving him from a wild Pokemon, he presents you with one as a gift. You're able to choose one of three (Treecko, Torchic, or Mudkip), and after doing so and running into his daughter (or his son if you elect to play as a girl), you set out to become the best Pokemon trainer in the Hoenn region, which is the same area you explore in Ruby and Sapphire.
To be the best trainer, you'll need to hunt for wild Pokemon (which are found in tall grass, caves, and in water) and constantly battle them in order to increase the level of your creatures as well as capture new ones, which is done by tossing a Pokeball onto the battlefield. Along the way you'll run into a myriad of different trainers, all of which want to kick your butt. Early on, they're far too weak to do much damage, but once you begin battling in Pokemon gyms and competing for badges Emerald becomes more difficult. Thus, it's incredibly important that you battle often to raise the level of your Pokemon as well as catch and raise as many as you can. Almost immediately you'll find yourself in 2 Vs 2 battles, and while it's not important at the outset for your newly acquired Pokemon to be as strong as your first, later on not leveling up will come back to bite you.
That is unfortunately (or fortunately, depending on your preference) the gist of it. Combat is certainly a whole lot deeper than just pitting two Pokemon against one another (water Pokemon are stronger than fire Pokemon and fire Pokemon are stronger than grass Pokemon, and so forth), but if you've played any Pokemon game you'll know what to expect. Just as in Ruby and Sapphire, you're still following the story of Team Aqua and Team Magma (both of which are trying to engulf the world with their unique abilities, water and fire respectively), except this time more focus is placed onto them instead of the narrative simply revolving around your quest to be the greatest trainer ever.
The game has some subtle improvements including some new episodes, plot twists, and a cool new feature called the Battle Frontier (where you can engage in a myriad of different battles governed by a varied assortment of rules), but if you played the games Emerald is based on things will feel very familiar. Personally I'm attracted to having the best of both worlds on a single cart, so being able to tote around a Ruby and Sapphire special edition is very appealing.
One thing's for certain; if you love connectivity, you're going to flip over Pokemon Emerald. Not only can you use those snazzy wireless adapters (you know, the ones with the awful range) to battle other players using Pokemon Emerald, FireRed, and LeafGreen (as well as trade with them), but you can also expand your creature collection by linking your GBA to Ruby, Sapphire, FireRed, LeafGreen, and the GameCube title Colosseum. Sure, you can do some of this stuff with Fire and Leaf, but as you can clearly see, Nintendo just keeps lumping more stuff onto its ever-growing foundation.
Just as Nintendo hasn't messed with the gameplay formula too much, the same can be said of Emerald's graphics, which closely resemble FireRed and LeafGreen. The game's not ugly, but it's very simple looking. We can certainly argue the developers' decision to keep things this way because it's in the tradition of the series, though considering the power of the SP hardware, I would really like to see the company kick things up several notches. However, I am sort of smitten with Emerald's cutesy appearance, especially since many of the Pokemon are of the cuddly wuddly variety. Also, the game's old school appearance harkens back to the SNES days, though the more I think about it, most SNES RPGs look ten times better than Pokemon Emerald.
I also enjoyed the music in this game. A lot of it is stuff I've heard before (in part because most Pokemon music sounds the same) and it's enjoyable to listen to as you explore and dive into battles. It's not epic by any means, but it serves its purpose.
So do you pick up Pokemon Emerald or leave it on the shelf? Nintendo certainly thinks you need to own this game and I have no doubt that millions of people who know that they don't need it will buy it anyway, but look at it this way. If you played Ruby and Sapphire to death and have grown tired of the franchise then Emerald won't thrill you at all because it's basically just like all of the other Pokemon games. However, if you're a crazed Poke fan and you absolutely must own every single battle monster game that Nintendo releases OR you're brand new to the series (and if you are, I truly envy you), then you absolutely need to pick up Emerald when it's released May 1. Not only is it packed with just enough content to warrant a look, but for beginners it's a great starting point...well...as great a starting point as any of the Pokemon games.
posted April 11, 2007