Released in the United States and Europe in 2005, Pokémon Emerald was the third installment in the third generation of Pokémon games. Ruby and Sapphire had come before it, but Pokémon lovers were still eager to get their hands on Emerald, much as they had been to get Crystal and Yellow in the generations before. After all, the game was not identical to its predecessors, and with the addition of at least one new legendary to catch and various Pokémon in the after-game that were not available in Ruby or Sapphire, that was more than enough for kids who were still riding the Pokémon hype train, such as myself. 

As always, Emerald followed the standard Pokémon formula: a kid is given a starter Pokémon of their choosing by the local Pokémon Professor, given a Pokedex to fill, and embark on a walk about adventure that spans their entire region, from their hometown to the Elite Four, battling trainers and catching wild Pokémon along the way. All of this in hopes of leveling up their chosen team so that they could beat the Elite Four and the region's Champion, taking their place. Of course, the going is not as easy as all that, as nefarious organizations threaten the region and it is up to you, young trainer, to put a halt to their plans and save the Pokémon world yet again! And this is all done with parental consent and encouragement, naturally.

Graphics -- 8

By the time Emerald had been released, Game Boy Advance games had... well... advanced a bit from Ruby and Sapphire. While Emerald's graphics are still gorgeous, they were a bit dated at the time of release, as Nintendo and Game Freak hadn't really done anything to update them. Now, however, their nostalgia factor holds just as true as it does for Ruby and Sapphire, and it's easy to give the game a high score for its graphics. They are bright and colourful, and the sprites are, as always, very well done, with the addition of having animations in battle, which was something new! It is a joy to encounter new Pokémon because they look good, and their animations add to the interest in catching them. There are little to no graphical glitches, the over world is bright and cheerful, with clear boundaries between areas to help a novice trainer figure out where a particular Pokémon type might be hiding.  I recommend that one of the first things you do is speed up your text level, however, as on the default the letters appear incredibly slowly, making you unconsciously start to spell out the words being said instead of reading them as words. This can lead to missing some important information, so speed your text up! Another small graphical "problem" -- if you can call it that -- is that early on, it's fairly easy to get lost if you are not already familiar with the Hoenn region's general layout. Things get more definitive as you go along, but the first few routes can leave you turned around, and the map doesn't help much at first. Remember to use it, however, and you'll get the hang of it before long.

Sound -- 10


Now, I might be just a bit biased when it comes to Emerald's soundtrack, as it is my favourite out of all Pokémon games to date, but above all, it has stood the test of time. The sound is clear and does not grate on the ears if you're using headphones, which is a must. There is no tinniness, which is unusual for a GBA soundtrack, much less one that sounds closer  to 16-bit games instead of 32-bit. The music does get a bit loud at points, but with a trumpet being the main melody carrier, what do you expect? The in-game sounds are never overwhelming, though the Pokémon sounds can be a bit harsh sometimes, but that is to be expected. The music and sounds for individual areas is always clearly delineated and fades one into the other well, and battle music is energizing, as to be expected. It is recommended that, if you are using headphones, to lower your volume just a bit, because the horns can get rather loud, and some of the Pokémon noises turn shrill. If you are sensitive to such things, it's better to have the sound lowered.


Addictiveness -- 9

The game has replay value, yes. Or if not replay value, then 'never ending' value, because there is always something else to try for. Catching Pokémon in and of itself is addictive, as it is pretty difficult to fill the entire pokedex. You must find, battle, train, evolve, trade... sometimes hatch, and hope you have good luck regardless, if you are trying for 100% completion. Breeding Pokémon can be addictive as well, trying for that one perfect IV'ed Pokémon of choice, or attempting to breed for a rare shiny. It takes a long time, usually, and keeps you picking up the game again and again to try just one more time. If you have used the registration function on your pokenav, there will also always be more trainers to re-fight, you just have to remember them. This includes all of the Gym Leaders as well, if you make use of the Match Call function. This can be an interesting way to try out different team combinations, and could potentially be useful in battling other actual players, not the in-game trainers. Testing teams this way could potentially be an endless part of the game.

There is also the fact that you can access the unreachable areas of the Safari Zone after beating the Elite Four, during the end game sections. This gives you access to some Generation II Pokémon that you wouldn't have been able to get otherwise, at least from Emerald itself.  

After beating the Elite Four, you can also access a special area of the region called the Desert Underpass, allowing you to potentially catch Ditto, which will make all of your breeding efforts far, far easier. While on the subject of finding unusual Pokémon, you can also now get to this little area called the Artisan's Cave, near the Battle Frontier, which is the one and only place where you can locate and catch Smeargle in the game. Good if you're going for 100% dex completion!

You can also challenge the Trick House again, if you did it once already. It's mildly frustrating, but since you are rewarded at the end of the challenge, it's worth it, and you can complete the house a grand total of 8 times, for 8 separate rewards. 

You may also finally battle Steven, and believe me, unless you have a team of all 100 - level Pokémon, it will be one you have to train up for. The satisfaction of finally beating him will be worth the extra effort, however. 

If you have the S.S. Ticket, you may also get to play on the S.S. Tidal, a special ship that is stuffed to the gills with trainers waiting to battle you.  They aren't easy battles, either, helping you up your challenge...and this could possibly be a good place to train for the Steven battle, if you think to work on it beforehand. Another good place is the Battle Frontier, which opens up in the end game. The battles here are notoriously difficult, and will be good to help you get your chosen team to level 100, as well as help you test out some more advanced team strategies. Be warned, though. When I say they are difficult, they are difficult! 

Considering the game can't officially be said to be 'over' until the pokedex is completed and every last Pokémon has been registered both as their normal colouration and a shiny, Emerald could easily be considered one of the few 'never ending' games, even beyond the little additional bits (Safari Zone areas, Trick House, etc.) that give you more time to play after the main story has been completed.

Story -- 7

Emerald uses the classic Pokémon formula, which is the same regardless of game, so the score is not higher. An organization of baddies (though in this instance, it's not just one, it's two organizations, Team Magma and Team Aqua)  is trying to do something that would affect not only the region you are in (in this case, Hoenn), but eventually ripple out world-wide, and it is up to you to stop them... all while battling your way to the top of the Pokémon Trainer chain and collecting entries for the Pokedex. And you're not even in high school yet! One advantage Emerald has over both Ruby and Sapphire is that, instead of fighting only one of the teams battling for domination, you fight both of them, allowing you to see a bit more of the story from both sides. It's an interesting tweak, and can actually make the game a bit harder than either of the two previous installations at points. Better for more advanced Pokémon players, to give them a bit more challenge. That does bump the score up a bit, but not much, because things are still overwhelmingly tried and true to Pokémon games in general.

Depth -- 10

Because Emerald does offer so much to the player, I give a solid 10 for depth. To put it simply, there is always something to do in Emerald. Battling outside of what you have to do to advance not really your thing? No problem! Pokémon Contests are here for you.  You can compete in a total of five categories: Cute, Cool, Beauty, Smart, and Tough, though you can only pick one type of contest at a time! Your moveset can help or hinder you, so pay attention. If that's not your thing, of course there's the classic battling, and you can re-fight some trainers when they are ready, so long as you have them registered to call you. There's also the Battle Frontier, which is a new addition to Emerald. It's essentially an extension of the old, familiar Battle Tower, and is a good place to go if battling is your Pokémon life, so  you can get prizes to help you in and out of battle if you win often enough. You can also breed your Pokémon in hopes of obtaining a shiny (a bit more easily than catching one in the wild, though it's still ridiculously rare), and, of course, there's a boat load of things to do in the end-game, after you've beaten the Elite Four and the Champion, claiming your place in the Hall of Fame.  Most of these things involve catching a TON of legendaries through in-game events, but that might keep you busy for another couple of weeks, if you aren't a speed-runner, at least. From the Eon duo (Latias and Latios) to the Regi Trio, and, of course, Kyogre and Groudon -- which you have to go to the Weather Institute for, so you can find unusual weather patterns cropping up that make their respective caves appear, there are multiple legendaries to catch and help you complete your dex in the end game. It's easy to say that Pokémon Emerald is a game that is hard to put down, simply because there is so very much to do even after you get done with the main story line, and even that can take a while if you want to take complete advantage of everything the game has to offer.

Difficulty -- 6 

The game isn't the most difficult out there. However, it does have some additional difficulty that most Pokémon games don't have, in the form of having two enemy organizations (Team Aqua and Team Magma) actively moving against you at the same time. In Ruby and Sapphire, you only had to fight one of the two teams, but in Emerald, you're going up against both! An additional factor in deciding difficulty has to do with the sheer amount of previous and current (for the time, at least) legendaries that there are for you to catch after beating the Elite 4. After all, you only get one Master Ball in the game, so most of your legendaries are going to be caught with some kind of normal pokeball, which tends to up the difficulty just a bit unless you are super lucky. For first-time Pokémon players, the game might be a bit confusing at first, but for those who have taken Pokémon journeys before, the game and its difficulty will be an old friend. 

Wow, that's a good review! I'm almost jealous

The separation between the categories is neat, you give it a lot of details AND make comparisons to past games/ other games from the era. That's what I like about reviews: comparisons. Even if it's comparing to future games (like talking about Breath of Fire II when I reviewed Breath of Fire I) shows one's deep knowledge of gaming, making the review all the more interesting.

Hopefully you don't have to many others; I don't want to lose my jerseys!!

Yunimori : While reading this review, I found myself thinking, "Yes! Somebody actually gets the point of this game."

I completely agree that the real point of a Pokémon game is to perfect that Pokedex while taking on all comers. Finishing that collection is number one.

I strongly disagree that any of the Pokémon sounds here are at all harsh. The only one I ever encountered that was hard to enjoy is Starly's sound. It is nasty. Luckily, it is not in this game.

I further disagree that the map layout was ever hard to figure out. I never got lost even when I first played an adventure in Hoenn by starting a Pokémon Ruby game. They make it so easy a caveman could do it.

The review really did it for me. I found that I really liked the writing style. Some elements were mentioned repeatedly in three categories. I found that you related the subject to your title very well. Pokémon Emerald is not just a recycled game; it is a recycled game with all the best of everything from all previous generations and more besides.

You are so right that Pokémon Emerald is a game with so much to offer and is jam-packed with activities to sink one's teeth into.

Kudos. I shall rate this review high.

P3

Postman3 : Hah, yeah, I guess you're right about the difficulty and being lost, but if this is your first pokemon game (like it was for me) it can be REALLY confusing early on, and it is possible to get lost. That's why I put that up there. I had no clue where to go for a good while in the beginning. 

This is an extremely impressive review. I think you did an incredible job putting this review together. I can tell you put in lots of time and effort to make the review as great as it is. Although I do agree with Postman that the pokemon sounds aren't harsh at all, but that's just my opinion. I think you did an amazing job overall and keep up the good work!

Yunimori : Oh, I see. You never played a Pokémon game before Pokémon Emerald. That makes sense. The whole top-down view threw you for a loop. They made the first routes easier to get through in Pokémon Emerald. In Pokémon Emerald there is less ground to cover and less tall grass for the first few routes than Pokémon Blue, Pokémon Red, Pokémon Yellow, Pokémon Silver, Pokémon Crystal, and Pokémon Gold. Hoenn is actually easier to travel in the early going than Johto and Kanto. The running shoes make it a quick zip over a short distance.

When I played Pokémon Yellow(my first Pokémon game experience) on Game Boy, I had already seen my younger friend from across the street play Pokémon Blue on his computer. The novelty of such a game was quite exciting. I eventually bought a Game Boy Color so that the colours would not just be imaginary anymore.

Yeah. I know what you mean. The buildings in the towns all look kind of similar. You have to keep track of which town is which. Luckily, every town in every Pokémon game has a unique layout and a sign or two to help you learn its unique name. The creators have found a wealth of variations to make new Pokémon world communities. Even the graphics have improved dramatically to make it so that no town ever looks the exact same.

P3