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Pokémon Ruby and Sapphire

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Pokémon Ruby and Pokémon Sapphire
File:PokemonRubyEUBoxart.jpg
File:PokemonSapphireEUBoxart.jpg
Developer(s)Game Freak
Publisher(s)Nintendo / The Pokémon Company
Designer(s)Satoshi Tajiri (executive producer)
Junichi Masuda (director)
Ken Sugimori (artist)
Shigeru Miyamoto (battle director)
SeriesPokémon series
Platform(s)Game Boy Advance
Genre(s)Console role-playing game
Mode(s)Single player, Multiplayer

Pokémon Ruby and Pokémon Sapphire, released in Japan as Pocket Monsters Ruby and Pocket Monsters Sapphire (ポケットモンスター ルビー・サファイア, Poketto Monsutā Rubī, Safaia), released on March 172003 in North America for the Game Boy Advance, mark the beginning of the third generation in the Pokémon series of RPGs. Ruby and Sapphire were totally pwned in 2004 by Pokémon FireRed and LeafGreen and in 2005 by an enhanced remake titled Pokémon Emerald. The games feature 386 species of Pokémon.

Setting and plot

In the Ruby and Sapphire Pokémon games, the protagonist moves to Littleroot Town of the Hoenn region from Johto. Upon rescuing Professor Birch from a wild Pokémon, the player receives the starter Pokémon he or she used to save the professor (Treecko, Mudkip, or Torchic), and begins his or her journey. Like the previous games, the player's goal is to collect eight Gym Leader badges so he or she can challenge the Elite Four and become the Pokémon Champion. In these two games, the rival is of the opposite gender and is more of a friendly helper, checking the player's progress at various times and giving the player items to help him or her advance through the game.

The protagonist's father, Norman, is the Petalburg City Gym Leader. When the player enters the city, he or she meets Norman. Shortly afterward, a young boy named Wally enters, who wants to catch his first Pokémon before he has to move away. The player accompanies him out into wild grass, where he catches his first Pokémon, Ralts.

The main antagonists that the player faces are Team Magma or Team Aqua. The two teams coexist in both games, one team being the villain and the other being good. In Ruby, Team Magma plans to deplete the sea and create more land by awakening the ancient Pokémon Groudon. In Sapphire, Team Aqua seeks to expand the ocean by awakening the ancient Pokémon Kyogre. Through a series of confrontations, the protagonist learns of their agenda and attempts to stop them. In the end, Team Magma or Aqua manages to awaken the ancient Pokémon. However, once they awaken it, it does not obey their orders. Instead, Groudon brings eternal sunshine to Hoenn, or Kyogre brings eternal rain. The player must face the Pokémon and capture or defeat it. Once done, Hoenn is restored to normal.

After the player acquires the eight badges, he or she enters Victory Road, a cave leading to the Pokémon League and the Elite Four. Close to the end of the area, Wally encounters the player and demands a battle.

Once the player defeats the Elite Four, Norman will give him or her the S.S. Ticket, which is needed to use the ferry at Slateport and Lilycove City. Then there will be a news report saying there is a colored Pokémon at flight around Hoenn (Latios in Ruby and Latias in Sapphire.) The player can also now access a place called the Battle Tower.

Differences from previous games

Ruby and Sapphire feature a number of distinct differences from the previous set of games.

Because of numerous changes to battling system, as well as being released on the Gameboy Advance, these two games aren't compatible with the first and second generations. New battling mechanics include Pokémon abilities and natures. Abilities add certain characteristics to a Pokémon that add strategy to battling, while natures modify a Pokémon's stats. Another new mechanic is double battles, where the Pokémon trainers send out two Pokémon at once.

There are more hold items than there were in the first two generations. The berries have also been renamed; they are now similar to names of actual fruit, instead of being names which symbolized what each berry did.

These two games also have Pokémon Contests and Pokéblocks. Pokémon Contests are similar to beauty contests, where Pokémon perform moves before a judge. Pokéblocks are synthesized from berries by blending them. When consumed, they enhance a characteristic of that Pokémon. Feebas is the only Pokémon that is affected by these stats outside of Contests; it will evolve into Milotic after achieving a maximum Beauty stat.

Pokémon Emerald

Main article: Pokémon Emerald
File:Pokemonemeraldboxart.jpg
Pokémon Emerald's box art.

Pokémon Emerald, released in Japan as Pocket Monsters Emerald (ポケットモンスター　エメラルド, Poketto Monsutā Emerarudo,), is a title in the Pokémon series of video games. It was released for the Game Boy Advance in Japan on September 16 2004, in North America and Hong Kong on May 1 2005, in Australia on June 9 2005, and in Europe on October 21 2005. It features the Dragon-type Legendary Pokémon Rayquaza on the cover.

Reception

Pokémon Ruby and Sapphire currently have an aggregate rating of 84% on the compilation site Game Rankings.[4]

The games are best-sellers, having sold more than five million copies in Japan,[5] and nearly six million copies in North America.[6] Combined, Ruby and Sapphire are the best-selling Game Boy Advance games in history. Separately, they are both among the top 3 best-sellers for the Game Boy Advance. In 2007, they were collectively named 10th best Game Boy Advance game of all time in IGN's feature reflecting on the Game Boy Advance's long lifespan.[7]

e-Reader

Ruby and Sapphire had limited e-Reader support. There were two cards that sent special berries into the game. The player could also swipe in cards to battle trainers.

Eon Ticket

Nintendo released an e-Reader card called the Eon Ticket during special events, though it could be obtained by having a subscription to Nintendo Power in 2003. The player uses the Mystery Gift option in order to receive the ticket in the game. The player's father, Norman, will say that he found a strange ticket and hands it to the player. The player can then board the ferry at Slateport City or Lilycove City and reach a place called Southern Island. There, the player will face either Latios or Latias, depending on which version the player is using. In Ruby, the player will face Latias, while in Sapphire the player will face Latios on Southern Island.[8]

References

  1. ^ Nintendo.com Games : Pokémon Ruby
  2. ^ Nintendo.com Games : Pokémon Sapphire
  3. ^ Pokemon Elite 2000 - News Archive - April 2003
  4. ^ [1] [2]
  5. ^ 5,275,000 copies sold in Japan, as of August 2005, according to Famitsu Top[3]. These numbers reflect combined sales of both games.
  6. ^ 3.03 million copies of Pokémon Ruby and 2.73 million copies of Pokémon Sapphire sold in North America as of approximately August 2006, according to the Magic Box[4]. (The Magic Box list does not have a date, but was referenced on the Gaming-Age Forums on August 2 2005[5].)
  7. ^ Craig Harris (2007-03-16). "Top 25 Game Boy Advance Games of All Time". IGN.com. Retrieved 2007-03-18.
  8. ^ Pokémon-Games.com
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