32_Footsteps's Full Review: Pokemon Ruby for Game Boy Advance (GBA)
In some ways, right now is the best time to be a fan of Pokemon. The absurd level of hype surrounding the entire property has died down, and no longer is it the case that the card game, the movies, the television show, the hundreds of stuffies, or the other miscellania are getting in the way of the game itself. Among other things, I can now play this on the subway without getting quite the number of dismissive stares I used to.
Of course, given the length of the wait for the two Game Boy Advance entries into the Pokemon world, it may seem like it was too late. Did Nintendo miss the boat, or did they spend their time crafting a game worth playing?
To begin, you are, as always, a trainer about to start their journey to become a Pokemon Master. This time set in the land of Hoenn, your goal is the same as in the other games - collect Pokemon and train them to become the world champion trainer. Of course, you have your rivals and some ne'er-do-wells to take on, as you'd expect.
While the plot is the same simple plot that the other six or two games (depending on if you want to consider the Red, Blue and Yellow, along with the Gold, Silver, and Crystal, as two games or six), there are some new wrinkles thrown in. For those interested in archetypes of Freudian power struggles, consider that the main character's father, Norman, is the fifth Gym Leader, who you need to beat in order to advance. For those interested in power struggles, you actually have three rivals, trebling the one-upsmanship that is at the heart of Pokemon. This serves to flesh out the people around you, and does serve to draw you in deeper into the world.
Of course, it wouldn't be complete without a group of scoundrels out to use Pokemon for their own ends. This is one of the notable differences between the games - Ruby and Sapphire have different antagonists. In this game, Team Magma, dedicated to spreading landmass (by erupting volcanos, of course) are your foes, and you'll be periodically assisted by Team Aqua. Ask your friend with Sapphire, and he'll be dealing with the opposite. Not that the plot is wildly divergent, or even that much of a switch, but that they did bother to change things does bode well for the game - no longer are you basically playing a carbon copy, with some Pokemon changes.
The biggest change, which has reprecussions across the entire game, is that you don't journey across the same continent that contains Kanto and Johto, from the first two games. While this is still the same world (in fact, the game begins as your family moves in, having arrived from Johto), you cannot, not in your wildest dreams, reach Kanto or Johto in this game. The changes this brings about are staggering.
Let's start with the pink elephant in the room, shall we? In what may shock many people, you cannot transfer Pokemon from the first 6/2 games into Ruby or Sapphire. This has its benefits and drawbacks. The bad news is, you can't fill up your Pokedex quickly by transferring bunches of pre-evolved Pokemon from the earlier games. So yes, not only will you have to catch many Pokemon you had before, but you'll have to raise them all over again. The flip side is that, due to this being a new world, you no longer will have to deal with some of the nasty and unbalanced Pokemon from the previous games. I personally have a powered-up Mewtwo, Mew, and Celebi in my copy of Silver. Who wants to tangle with me, really?
One other major change is that you no longer have Team Rocket to kick around. I know, with Teams Magma and Aqua about, why would I want to deal with those two-time losers? I'll tell you why - because they were fun. They were silly, incompetent, and sinister enough that it was fun taking them on. Besides, it would have made a great subplot if you met Giovanni, and he asks you to find out who reformed Team Rocket after he disbanded it. Alright, so I wanted to take on Jesse and James as well.
Of course, with all that said, how much has the battle system changed? At first, it appears to not have changed much at all. You still send out your Pokemon against either wild beasties or those belonging to other trainers. You still have four possible attacks you can have equipped, and the types of Pokemon (think "Element" in most other role-playing games) are the same as before. What is notable now is that the types are much better balanced against each other. Weaker types, such as Poison and Bug, have been beefed up with better attacks and better accompanying abilities, while some of the stronger types, like Steel and Psychic, have been further hampered. While Gardevoir, one of the new Psychic types, is certainly powerful, it is much more vulnerable to opponents, even if they aren't resistant to its attacks. At the same time, you'll deal with much trickier and more competent Bug Pokemon, such as Illumize.
However, even beyond the new Pokemon, the battle system has become much more complex due to the addition of Abilities, which essentially function in the same manner as Pokemon Powers do in the card game. While you cannot switch Abilities, or have more than one at a time, what abilities you have in addition to the type and attacks can seriously turn the tide of a battle. A Manetric may not be the most powerful Electric type, but if it has Static, an enemy may end up getting paralyzed just for attacking you. Other abilities include stat boosts, like Ninjask's Speed Boost, and out of battle abilities like a Linoone's Pickup.
Actually, for just an aside, the Pickup ability, on Zigzagoon and its evolution Linoone, is easily one of the best additions this game has. Basically, with the ability, the Pokemon will randomly pick up items for you when walking around. We aren't talking something silly, like Berries. The bare minimum it will pick up is a Super Potion, even at the beginning of the game. Later, as it acquires stat boosting items, Ultra Balls, even PP Ups, you'll realize how very valuable this Pokemon is.
Back to the battles themselves, what makes this game much more balanced is that the most powerful moves are now much more difficult to get. It is no longer the case that you can get the Psychic attack early in the game for a Psychic Pokemon, allowing you to rip through any Pokemon not resistant to it. The abilities are earned at a much slower pace, and fewer "powerhouse" moves fall into your lap without some cost-effective drawback. This does make the game more of a challenge, since you cannot rely on those moves like a crutch. However, since it does introduce more strategy in your move choice and selection, this is the good kind of challenge - namely, you can't just play on auto-pilot anymore.
What is the most talked about new twist to the game is that it now presents two-on-two Pokemon battles, in addition to the traditional mano-a-mano battles the series has always had. These battles are much more exciting, and usually much faster, as the Pokemon start ganging up on each other. Also interesting to note is that several of the moves in the game are built for doubles play - new abilities such as Helping Hand assist partners, and old abilities like Growl can effect both foes. This is why I bemoan the absence of Jesse and James - I'll take on their Arbok and Weezing any time, with my Gardevoir and my Lairon on point. The only real drawback is that the only 2 on 2 battle that is required is in the seventh Gym, where the twins Tate and Liza hold the Mind Badge. More of these battles should have been mandatory.
Of course, a huge part of Pokemon has always been about cooperation and competition side by side, and Ruby and Sapphire are no exception. Of the 300+ Pokemon hiding in this game, only 202 are available with Ruby alone. As always, you have to trade with Sapphire to round out the collection. This time, though, the exclusives even include the so-called Legendary Pokemon. Ruby players will discover only they have a shot to capture Latios and Groudon, and will have to beg their Sapphire-owning friends to let them peek at Kyogre and Latias. This is naturally frustrating if you can't find anyone with the appropriate matching color - about the only drawback of getting to review this early, I must say.
The battle options are where the innovations lie. To begin, Nintendo has finally codified the tournament rules into the game. Thus, to go against another human, you actually play a single Pokemon battle, with three Pokemon to a side. This makes the battles more balanced and quicker, which can be merciful for when you've got a pair of experts, continually using moves like Double Team and equipping King's Rocks to throw the other off. However, if you're up for it, you can go against another person in a doubles battle, bringing a full compliment of 6 Pokemon. Depending on your team, you might be horrible in singles play and yet romp in doubles play - nice that both options are open to you.
What may be best, though, is 4 player duels. In this, you pick sides, and each player chooses three Pokemon. You then play doubles, controlling your three Pokemon. Not that I've had a chance to play this way yet, but the potential for four-way smack talk about Pokemon is too much fun to possibly ignore. Just for the record, I've seen Magikarp that could take down your Camerupt.
This time, though, there are two other multiplayer options. To begin, you can mix records - basically, you can see how your friends decorate their hideouts (similar to the bedroom in Pokemon Silver/Gold/Crystal), as well as any interviews they've given for Pokemon television. While this ability really isn't that fascinating, it is an interesting little perk to add to the game play.
What is more worth your time, though, is the Berry Mixer. With this, you can mix berries together to create candy for your Pokemon, and everyone gets some of the candy. Again, while not important, it does help to make your Pokemon better for the contests.
Pokemon contests? Did I just say that? It seems strange, but yes, one of the new side add-ons is contests your Pokemon can participate in. These contests rate how much your Pokemon falls into a set of adjectives - tough, cool, beautiful, smart, and cute. While not vital, these contests, if won, award you with ribbons - seemingly insignificant, until you notice a Pokemon with said prizes becoming more powerful than a normal Pokemon. Hey, free power-ups without spending any non-renewable resources? Count me in on that. The contests themselves do require some strategy, which adds to the enjoyment. You earn the stat boosts you get from contests.
Along similar lines, but requiring no contests, are your Pokemon's personalities. Each Pokemon has a personality, which will dictate in which way their stats will develop. A relaxed Pokemon may have more hit points than a naughty Pokemon, but not have as much of a Special Attack rating. Choosing a complimentary personality to what abilities you desire is another interesting addition to the game.
The game's controls are rather smooth, and familiar to anyone who has played any previous incarnation. They flow just a little better than previous incarnations, but still maintain the same layout as the second set's controls. The only disappointment that I could find is that they did not find a use for the shoulder buttons on the system. You can set up the Select button to be a "hot key" to an item of your choice. Why can't you set up the L and R keys for the same purpose? It wouldn't have been that hard and it would have made it much more convenient for play.
In truth, though, all of this could have been done earlier, or on one of the previous incarnations of the Game Boy. What makes this game notable, and I mean sterlingly notable, is the dramatic upgrade in graphics and sound. The sound, honestly, is decent even on the three-penny tinfoil the GBA uses as a speaker. The sounds are naturally tinny, but they aren't cloying or cacophonous. The music, while reminiscent of the previous games, has been updated nicely, and the sound effects are better executed. What's more, if you put in some headphones and set the game to play in stereo, the music shifts from passable to great. The music, with proper speakers, easily compares with some of the better soundtracks of the Super Nintendo era. I wouldn't necessarily buy it, but I do play the game with the infamous Sennheisers on.
The graphics, though, are where the game takes a huge leap forward. Perhaps no better parallel exists to show the difference between 8 bit graphics and 32 bit graphics than comparing Ruby to, say, Pokemon Silver. Water has wavy reflections of anyone near it, including yourself. You can even see a partial reflection between the slats of bridges. The detail on a Pokemon's coloring is fine, even down to the shading. Even the background plants and buildings have more detail than even remotely available in the previous games. Honestly, maybe because I was used to the graphics before, I was stunned by what this game has. Even the simplest Whismur has more detail than Lugia had previously.
While the earlier installments of Pokemon have all been high on my list of favorites, this game clearly beats them all out. Finally resolving the balance issues with Psychic types, as well as adding new twists with the Abilities and personalities to the Pokemon, make this easily the most competitive and challenging Pokemon game to date. I know that not everyone will be up for catching scores more Pokemon, but it easily is the most fun to play yet. The only way you wouldn't enjoy this is if you just can't accept Pokemon as fun anymore. And even then, maybe the overwhelming cuteness of Skitty will change your mind.
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