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Abe Sargent · 07-27-2006, 08:01 PM

Lots of interest after SimCity 4. Maybe the next game will get your juices flowing too.

17. Pokemon: Ruby & Sapphire
Nintendo
Game Boy Advance
2003
GameSpot Review - 8.1
RPG - Monster Breeding

Pokemon Ruby and Sapphire have around the level of technology of an SNES game. I know that a lot of adult players look down on Pokemon because they think its cute and meant for kids. Pokemon is such a great game, and I want you to listen to this statement. Pay attention.

If Pokemon had been released as an SNES game fourteen years ago, people would remember it as one of the greatest console games of all time.

Pokemon is not the second best selling franchise in video game history simply because it was a fad seven years ago. It keeps selling. These games are good. There's a lot in Ruby/Sapphire, so let's get started.

Like Monster Rancher 3, you are raising monsters (Pokemon) and fighting with them against other trainers. Unlike MR3, this is a more of an RPG game, where MR3 is more of a pure strategy/fighting game.

In MR3, you chose training regimens, here your Pokemon gain by fighting. In MR3 you actually fight, mashing buttons and what. Here, you just choose an attack and it happens behind the scene. No button mashing, no maneuvering.

Let's go over the basic Pokemon game, just to refresh those who are unaware or to inform those who do not know.

At the beginning of the game, you get a Pokemon. You then walk around town, getting acquainted:

After you get familar with your surroundings, you head into the wilderness and fight wild pokemon. This will help level up your guy. You'll also get money. Once you get some money, you'll go buy some PokeBalls for catching pokemon. (Pokemon has the tendancy to be the McDonald's of video games. There are PokeSnacks, PokeBerries, etc.)

You snag some Pokemon and you can add the ones you like to your party to train just like your original Pokemon. You can have up to six Pokemon at one time, although almost all fights are 'Mon-to-'Mon. (One of the things Ruby/Sapphire adds is the ability to have tag matches where two of yours go against two of theirs. This seriously changes the dynamic, as can later be seen in the GameCube Pokemon games Gale of Darkness and Colloseum, which are exclusive tag team.)

As you level up your Pokemon, their stats will get better, and they'll learn new moves. It's very RPG. Your Pokemon can also evolve to a different, and usually better, monster.

One of the beautiful ideas behind Pokemon is the type system. Every Pokemon is one, or at the most, two types, just like elements. Every attack is one type. The seventeen types are Psychic, Fighting, Flying, Electricity, Fire, Ice, Water, Rock, Ground, Steel, Ghost, Poison, Dark, Grass, Normal, Bug, and Dragon. Some types are vulnerable to certain attacks. Grass Pokemon are especially vulnerable to Fire attacks, for example. Fire Pokemon are especially vulnerable to Water attacks. Water Pokemon are especially vulnerable to Electricity.

Some types are less effective against each other. Poison is less effective against Rock. Electricity is less effective against Grass. And so on. Some types are completely immune to certain attacks, although immunity is rare. Normal Pokemon are immune to Ghost attacks and vice versa. Flying Pokemon are immune to Ground attacks while Ground are immune themselves to Electricity.

Different Pokemon get different attacks, and having a well balance selection of Pokemon types and attcks is important to winning. Having the right Pokemon can help you tons. Going up agains a tough group of Water Pokemon is fine if you have a Grass Pokemon with a powerful Grass attack like Absorb. Beware though, because some Water Pokemon, like a Spheal, have other attacks besides Water, in this case, Ice. Water is less effective against Grass, but not Ice.

This system encourages a great deal of diversity. In fact, you'll raise an awful lot more than just six Pokemon. You'll have a battery of Pokemon designed to go into different dungeons and whatnot.

Like any RPG, there are quests and items, and such. You'll eventaully go against the various Gym Leaders in order to level up. As you defeat Gym Leaders, they'll give you a machine that can teach your Pokemon special moves. These moves allow you to go places you wouldn't normally be able to go. For example, Surf allows you to move across water while Flare lights up a
dungeon and Cut slices through certain trees.

So, in addition to having all of these elemnts to worry about, your party also has to have all of these moves as well. Each Pokemon only has room for four moves at a time, so it can be a precarious balance at times.

Here the character's Torchic (so you can see it pre-evolution) is really taking it to a Poochyena:

In every Pokemon, there are also two games, and some monsters can only be found in one version or another. You can trade monsters with each other, and only through doing so can you "Catch 'Em All."

Now, let's talk about some of the things Ruby/Sapphire added.

As mentioned above, the game added tag battles, which creates a new dynamic. Some attacks will affect both opponents, and many just one. Many attacks aren't "attacks" but buffs for you or debuffs for your opponent. In tags, a few buffs work on both your Pokemon, while a fwe debuffs work on both your enemies. As I said, it's a nice extra dynamic.

The game also added farming. There are patches of special dirt around the map and PokeBerries. If you plant one of these many berries and water it, it will grow into a berry tree, and you can pick the berries. You have to plant, and regularly water these spots. This creates a very interesting gardening sub-game. Of course, you never have to participate, if you don't want to.

There are also beauty contests for Pokemon. You can use various moves and some will hurt other competitors and some will help you with the judges. These moves are not always good combat moves, so, again, you have to balance a lot with your monsters.

You can blend PokeBerries into PokeSnacks, brick like food. The blending itself is a minigame all on its own. What berries you choose to use will determine what the Snacks look like and their properties. Feed these to a Pokemon and a variety of things occur, usually potential for growth in several statistical areas when it levels up. You'll need a lot of berries for this, and I wonder where you can get them....

The world is a smoother design than Red/Blue or Silver/Gold. It's the first time I've really respected a world. In Red/Blue, your game was often dominated by a few legendary Pokemon (meaning there's just one) like Zapdos, Articuno and Moltres. This dominated the game too much, and diminshed replay because they were the hands down best critters for you to snag and fight with. Not so in Ruby Sapphire, where you don't get access to legendaries until after you win the game.

The result is a game that adds a lot, has a better designed world, and keeps everything good about the prior versions of the game. The game is complex enough for adults. It's even complex enough for me, and I pretty much demand complexity in my games.

-Anxiety

07-27-2006, 08:01 PM	#62
Abe Sargent Hall Of Famer Join Date: Dec 2001 Location: Catonsville, MD	Lots of interest after SimCity 4. Maybe the next game will get your juices flowing too. 17. Pokemon: Ruby & Sapphire Nintendo Game Boy Advance 2003 GameSpot Review - 8.1 RPG - Monster Breeding Pokemon Ruby and Sapphire have around the level of technology of an SNES game. I know that a lot of adult players look down on Pokemon because they think its cute and meant for kids. Pokemon is such a great game, and I want you to listen to this statement. Pay attention. If Pokemon had been released as an SNES game fourteen years ago, people would remember it as one of the greatest console games of all time. Pokemon is not the second best selling franchise in video game history simply because it was a fad seven years ago. It keeps selling. These games are good. There's a lot in Ruby/Sapphire, so let's get started. Like Monster Rancher 3, you are raising monsters (Pokemon) and fighting with them against other trainers. Unlike MR3, this is a more of an RPG game, where MR3 is more of a pure strategy/fighting game. In MR3, you chose training regimens, here your Pokemon gain by fighting. In MR3 you actually fight, mashing buttons and what. Here, you just choose an attack and it happens behind the scene. No button mashing, no maneuvering. Let's go over the basic Pokemon game, just to refresh those who are unaware or to inform those who do not know. At the beginning of the game, you get a Pokemon. You then walk around town, getting acquainted: After you get familar with your surroundings, you head into the wilderness and fight wild pokemon. This will help level up your guy. You'll also get money. Once you get some money, you'll go buy some PokeBalls for catching pokemon. (Pokemon has the tendancy to be the McDonald's of video games. There are PokeSnacks, PokeBerries, etc.) You snag some Pokemon and you can add the ones you like to your party to train just like your original Pokemon. You can have up to six Pokemon at one time, although almost all fights are 'Mon-to-'Mon. (One of the things Ruby/Sapphire adds is the ability to have tag matches where two of yours go against two of theirs. This seriously changes the dynamic, as can later be seen in the GameCube Pokemon games Gale of Darkness and Colloseum, which are exclusive tag team.) As you level up your Pokemon, their stats will get better, and they'll learn new moves. It's very RPG. Your Pokemon can also evolve to a different, and usually better, monster. One of the beautiful ideas behind Pokemon is the type system. Every Pokemon is one, or at the most, two types, just like elements. Every attack is one type. The seventeen types are Psychic, Fighting, Flying, Electricity, Fire, Ice, Water, Rock, Ground, Steel, Ghost, Poison, Dark, Grass, Normal, Bug, and Dragon. Some types are vulnerable to certain attacks. Grass Pokemon are especially vulnerable to Fire attacks, for example. Fire Pokemon are especially vulnerable to Water attacks. Water Pokemon are especially vulnerable to Electricity. Some types are less effective against each other. Poison is less effective against Rock. Electricity is less effective against Grass. And so on. Some types are completely immune to certain attacks, although immunity is rare. Normal Pokemon are immune to Ghost attacks and vice versa. Flying Pokemon are immune to Ground attacks while Ground are immune themselves to Electricity. Different Pokemon get different attacks, and having a well balance selection of Pokemon types and attcks is important to winning. Having the right Pokemon can help you tons. Going up agains a tough group of Water Pokemon is fine if you have a Grass Pokemon with a powerful Grass attack like Absorb. Beware though, because some Water Pokemon, like a Spheal, have other attacks besides Water, in this case, Ice. Water is less effective against Grass, but not Ice. This system encourages a great deal of diversity. In fact, you'll raise an awful lot more than just six Pokemon. You'll have a battery of Pokemon designed to go into different dungeons and whatnot. Like any RPG, there are quests and items, and such. You'll eventaully go against the various Gym Leaders in order to level up. As you defeat Gym Leaders, they'll give you a machine that can teach your Pokemon special moves. These moves allow you to go places you wouldn't normally be able to go. For example, Surf allows you to move across water while Flare lights up a dungeon and Cut slices through certain trees. So, in addition to having all of these elemnts to worry about, your party also has to have all of these moves as well. Each Pokemon only has room for four moves at a time, so it can be a precarious balance at times. Here the character's Torchic (so you can see it pre-evolution) is really taking it to a Poochyena: In every Pokemon, there are also two games, and some monsters can only be found in one version or another. You can trade monsters with each other, and only through doing so can you "Catch 'Em All." Now, let's talk about some of the things Ruby/Sapphire added. As mentioned above, the game added tag battles, which creates a new dynamic. Some attacks will affect both opponents, and many just one. Many attacks aren't "attacks" but buffs for you or debuffs for your opponent. In tags, a few buffs work on both your Pokemon, while a fwe debuffs work on both your enemies. As I said, it's a nice extra dynamic. The game also added farming. There are patches of special dirt around the map and PokeBerries. If you plant one of these many berries and water it, it will grow into a berry tree, and you can pick the berries. You have to plant, and regularly water these spots. This creates a very interesting gardening sub-game. Of course, you never have to participate, if you don't want to. There are also beauty contests for Pokemon. You can use various moves and some will hurt other competitors and some will help you with the judges. These moves are not always good combat moves, so, again, you have to balance a lot with your monsters. You can blend PokeBerries into PokeSnacks, brick like food. The blending itself is a minigame all on its own. What berries you choose to use will determine what the Snacks look like and their properties. Feed these to a Pokemon and a variety of things occur, usually potential for growth in several statistical areas when it levels up. You'll need a lot of berries for this, and I wonder where you can get them.... The world is a smoother design than Red/Blue or Silver/Gold. It's the first time I've really respected a world. In Red/Blue, your game was often dominated by a few legendary Pokemon (meaning there's just one) like Zapdos, Articuno and Moltres. This dominated the game too much, and diminshed replay because they were the hands down best critters for you to snag and fight with. Not so in Ruby Sapphire, where you don't get access to legendaries until after you win the game. The result is a game that adds a lot, has a better designed world, and keeps everything good about the prior versions of the game. The game is complex enough for adults. It's even complex enough for me, and I pretty much demand complexity in my games. -Anxiety __________________ Check out my two current weekly Magic columns! https://www.coolstuffinc.com/a/?action=search&page=1&author[]=Abe%20Sargent Last edited by Abe Sargent : 05-01-2022 at 11:36 AM.