Hey gamers! Today I’ll be looking at a game that I’ve probably gone back and played the most amount of times of any Pokemon game, Pokemon Emerald.

Pokemon Emerald was the last main series Pokemon game released for Generation 3, and the last one released for its console, the Game By Advance. It came out in September of 2004 and followed Crystal’s example of being a third enhanced version to Ruby and Sapphire.

Graphics - 8/10

The graphics were very clean for their time and console. Every texture felt alive, I’m shocked certain locations like Meteor Falls originated from the GBA, they’re just so pretty. Some character designs also got redone a bit, like Brendan and May utilizing more green in their design than their Ruby and Sapphire counterparts.

There’s a reason why so many rom hacks and fan made games use the Emerald textures as a base. They look great, aren’t too heavy on the game making them the perfect base. You can always add on to them, of course, but Emerald is king when it comes to this.

Character design is phenomenal. Hoenn has some of my favorite characters designs in Pokemon like Flannery, Drake, and Wallace. In fact there are very few designs in this game i don’t like. Maybe people like Brawly and Wally, if I had to name any, though they look better in the Gen 6 remakes.

Pokemon designs are on point. A huge amount of fantastic designs. All three starters look great, cool Pokemon like Aggron and Salamence dominate the Pokedex, with cute ones like Altaria complimenting them very well. There are of course a few, uh, exceptions (Volbeat for example) but they don’t bring the dex down at all. Also, this game continued Crystal’s tradition of making each Pokemon have their own battle animation when sent out of the Pokeball which is awesome.

Sound - 10/10

The Hoenn soundtrack is one of the more divisive ones lately I’ve noticed. You have people saying they’re amazing (I’m on this team), while others say it’s the most overrated one. I don’t know, I just find the horns used in the OST magical. Completely different to what we’re used to from Gen 1 and Gen 2, and I like that they took a risk of change here. I can just picture myself playing through the game and enjoying the accompanying music along the way.

Oh and let’s not even talk about tracks like the Abandoned Ship or Mt Pyre Exterior, truly masterpieces in the franchise. That Elite Four theme smacks as well.

Depth - 10/10

Pokemon games are usually a bit notorious for their lack of depth. Well, not this one. Pokemon Emerald, more than any other Pokemon game save maybe Platinum, has so much to offer post game. There are a few places you can now explore, there are some tough fights with the likes of Steven Stone that you can now attempt to beat, and of course, who can forget the Battle Frontier. The Battle Frontier is the single best post game content we have ever had, and it’s such a shame that it hasn’t come back after gen 4. Even worse is the fact that they keep teasing its return, like come on GameFreak.

To gain all golden emblems and beat all the frontier brains can take dozens of hours or even days. And the facilities are different enough that you never get bored of them either.

Story - 8/10

Emerald really enhanced the somewhat lacking Ruby and Sapphire story. Instead of following suit but with Rayquaza as the legendary instead, they chose to go wild and have both evil teams and legendaries from RUby and Sapphire go after each other. This leads to one of the greatest cutscenes ever made for Pokemon.

Throughout the game you often find yourself flipping from helping team Magma to helping team Aqua, and Archie and Maxie are way more complex of villains than Giovanni was, or even their previous selves were. For Pokemon I found the story perfect. It doesn’t go out of its way to be overly dramatic, it just flows nice and has a great ending.

Addictiveness - 10/10

Emerald, like I said, is the game I go back to the most of any Pokemon game. It single handedly made me fall in love with Gen 3, as I was never a RUby and Sapphire fan. Everything I’ve talked about up until here has been perfect, the game is so much fun to play through. It’s also perfect for challenge runs like nuzlockes. No parts of the game had weird level gaps, it just flowed nicely which meant you never really have to grind for too long to continue.

Oh and the Battle Frontier is so much fun. New players always say it’s an overrated feature and we have a Battle Tree or Tower or whatever now, but it’s just not the same. The creative Frontier design and feeling will always be a fond memory of mine.

Difficulty - 8/10

Emerald isn’t the most difficult Pokemon game out there, but it’s by far not the easiest. There are some commonly recognized difficult battles (Flannery, Norman, Winona, Tate & Liza) as well as an above average elite four in my eyes. It provides a good challenge but is never too unfair, which makes it get an 8 from me.

Overall - 9/10

A score well deserved. Pokemon Emerald is the first game I ever even played here on Vizzed, so I actually have it to thank for me being where I am now. It has perfect replay ability and doesn’t take too long to complete, unless you’re aiming for all gold symbols lmao

Thanks Pokemon Emerald for all the good memories. I hate Plusle and Minun and the move Spark.

Very nice review! I think one of the best things about any video game is how much depth it has, and post-game content seems to be SO overrated.

Honestly Emerald was the Crystal successor that hyped everything up even more and made the game so much more crazy in depth. Wally waltzing around the region in his pajamas was definitely a special thing for me. Volbeat is a beast so don't even try me. And I agree with you on how this game's battle soundtrack was amazing on so many levels. Definitely unforgettable in my book.