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Reviews - Pokémon Ruby
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| Legendary psychic dragons? Awesome. |
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| Game Info. |
Genre
RPG |
Publisher/Developer
Nintendo/Creatures |
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Peripherals
Game Link Cable (2-4 players) |
Release
3/18/03 |
Pokémon Ruby
A stone cold Pokémon game for a stone cold gamer like me.
Reviewed by Sam - July 11, 2003
While the series doesn't go all out in becoming something you've never seen before, Ruby and Sapphire can be best described as the Super Mario Bros. 3 of Pokémon. More this, more that, bigger areas, better graphics, and so on. But unlike the Gold and Silver series, the two newest games try to get to the point by delivering a solid game, rather than just "version 3.0". How well this is executed, it's really hard to say...
Gameplay
You've probably heard people rave about the four-player battles, and the similar two-player two-on-two battles. Let me be the first to say (yeah right) that these are truly eligible for the best Game Boy multiplayer experience of the year. They're just genious. I'd bet this is what first inspired Nintendo to release a GBA Pokémon (aside from all the yen, I mean).
The game itself is fun - very fun. I found myself much more drawn into the world than in past Pokémon titles, mostly because the gameplay isn't just a hop from one Pokémon gym to the next. There are a few real adventures on the way that for a better reason than any other effect this review's final score being higher than Pokémon Crystal's.
9/10
Control
Menus are better than ever with new features only the most diehard Pokémon fan could even dream of. For example, need to find a red Pokémon to make your team look tough? Just search the Pokédex by color. See, it's the little ingredients like this that make the soup good, and trying them all out for yourself makes it all the world more satisfying, especially if you're a fan of the older games in the series.
The slowness of the old games is forgotten quickly when your character's mother hands you the Running Shoes, which of course, by holding B, allow you to get around a lot faster than standard walking. A choice between two bicycles (one speedy and one more maneuvarable) presents itself further in the game. And finally, when making your way between the game's 16 towns gets annoying, you come upon those classic HM's and TM's we all know and love - Surf, Fly, Dig, Teleport, and more, which are sleeker-looking and more accessible than ever before. Plus the new and very cool Dive, which allows you to explore the depths of the ocean. Brilliant stuff.
One addition that doesn't really make much sense is the option to switch between three control schemes - one that allows you to scroll through menus with L and R, one that allows you to use L and A interchangeably, and one that makes no use of the L/R buttons at all. As bad as it sounds, the third scheme makes the most sense. The others try to make the game easier on you, but really just have no function at all. If the games weren't so rushed, I'm sure they could've thought through things like this with better care. **sigh**, oh well.
9/10
Graphics
Graphics, graphics, graphics. That's what it's all about now, isn't it? When a series moves from Game Boy Color to Advance, you'd naturally expect a drastic visual improvement, but unfortunately, while Pokémon Ruby looks pretty good on its own, it fails to deliver enough change. What little it does add is well-done, though. The new, redrawn battle sprites are amazing - as detailed and colorful as anything on the show. Some attacks, especially old favorites, look intense, and animate fluidly. And the varying battle backgrounds are a nice touch. But outside of battle, the game really just doesn't look like much more than a colorful version of Crystal. While it's nothing to feel dissappointed over, the graphics overall are just not that exciting.
7/10
Sound
Music has always been nice in Pokémon games, and Ruby's is no exception. Not much else to say, except that the "low-HP" alarm no longer covers over the other sound effects or music in battle, which is great.
However, the Pokémon cries have gotten redundant. While the newer ones sound better or more "detailed", I guess is the word, it really doesn't seem like they tried very hard making each one all that different. Another prime reason the game would've been better with fewer new Pokémon, which I'll go into later.
9/10
Replay Value
Over the months I've gone back a number of times to battle with my friends, compete in contests, and such. But one thing that really cheeses me off about this game is how freaking tedious it is levelling-up your Pokémon once you've beaten the game. There's really nothing you can do besides fighting the Elite Four over and over again, which, although it's a very well-developed set of battles, is too difficult for the casual act of levelling-up. And Ruby/Sapphire's Victory Road, a place for the highest-level wild Pokémon in all Pokémon games, just isn't hard enough. It once again seems like the developers were too rushed to think straight with this game, seeing as a new feature opens up for players with Pokémon only at the maximum level 100 once you've beaten the game, but it's practically impossible to make it that far without cheating (which I'm oh so close to resorting to now).
But hey, it's still fun.
8/10
Overall
Aside from the feeling of a rushed development in many of the game's aspects, my biggest complaint is the sheer number of Pokémon there are now, which is 386 - three hundred and eighty-six. Okay, even though you can only catch 200 or so of 'em in the game, just the fact that there are so many to remember bothers me. And while this is just my opinion, it seems that a large number of the new Pokémon species are just not all that exciting. I mean, there are millions of different animals in the real world to draw inspiration from, not to mention mythology, so what went wrong when they came up with Pokémon like Castform and Luvdisc? Jeez. If there are another 100+ Pokémon in the next game, and you KNOW there will be, I may just begin to lose hope for the series.
Then again, I've played a lot of Pokémon, ever since Red was first released Stateside, and at least for a few weeks, this game still remained very exciting for me. Is it the best Pokémon game ever? I'd say so. While a lot of the new Pokémon species are just completely lame, quite a few still are actually pretty cool. As much as I'd like to say, "well, Red and Blue came first, and you can't beat the originals", it's hard not to admit that where improvements need be made, this game... has made... them. If you and your friends haven't yet experienced the thrill of Pokémon battles, go out and get this game. Seriously, what's your problem?
FINAL SCORE: 9/10
=Amazing=
Send feedback to: sam@ngeb.net
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