Pokemon Aquamarine Review by: zanderlex - 9.5/10
Pokemon AquamarineWhat do I think of Pokemon Aquamarine? I think the game is nothing more than an exact replica of another Pokemon game with a few added features. However, isn't that what every Pokemon game is? Each Pokemon game is really just a copy of a previous game with a few new features such as new Pokemon, areas, and graphics, and that is what makes the franchise so popular. It is also why I would gladly take Pokemon Aquamarine over Pokemon Emerald at any time.
The first change to the game is the addition of new Pokemon such as Eevee and Dratini, and the ability to use Generation one starters. This is a plus for those who used to play the old games and want to use Charmander, Squirtle, or Bulbasuar. The next notable change can be found within the marts, where all items can be purchased at half off their regular price.
In addition to the new prices, items that normally can't be bought, are now available in the game. These items include Masterballs, Rare Candies, various stones, and more. True, the ability to purchase some of these items may take away from the difficulty of the game and make it less of a challenge, but some aspects of the game can now be enhance. (No more having to save before you battle a legendary!)
GRAPHICS The graphics found in Pokemon Emerald are nowhere near what they are in today's games, but they are still one of the best. Then, those graphics are enhanced for Aquamarine to make for an amazing gameplay experience. The graphics are very simple, yet they are strong enough to bring the game to a whole new level with new Pokemon move animations and other small, but significant changes. Therefore, I must give the graphics a healthy 9.
SOUNDThe sound is like any other Pokemon game, fun to listen to and catchy.. The battle music in Emerald has to be one of the best songs in the franchise which makes it a plus that the songs were not taken out of the remake. Here and there lie a few bugs when it comes to the sounds of the game, but none of them are significant enough to make a user turn the volume down. The music adds to the games addictiveness and sense of nostalgia and earns an 8.
ADDICTIVENESS Right away, before going into detail, I will give this aspect of the game a clean 10. The original game, Pokemon Emerald would easily earn a 9 because it offers dozens of hours of fierce gameplay followed by many more hours. Emerald is the kind of game where you would beat the game and then decide to start over. Now you have Aquamarine, an exact replica of Emerald with a few great features. These features will make you want to play the game even more. If you beat Aquamarine, the odds are that you won't want to start the game over when you have ten or so Masterballs, I would not. The ability to have all these Masterballs, Rare Candies, and new pokemon will keep you glued to your screen simply because there is so much more to do in Aquamarine then in Emerald.
STORYNext we have the story, which will also recieve a 10 because no matter how long a Pokemon storyline is, the user will always be hooked to the game, watching all the plot twists and trying to keep up. Aquamarine begins like Emerald (Which begins like every other Pokemon game.) You start in your home town, you meet the professor, your rival, and you get your first pokemon. The game then continues with the Player Character travelling through the Hoen region, gathering all of the badges, catching various pokemon, battling the most evil of villains, and catching legendary pokemon. The story for Aquamarine has nothing too new, but as long as it has anything to do with pokemon, the story will be A+.
DEPTHAh the depth. Pokemon is built around depth, nobody would really play it anymore if the game ended twenty or thirty hours sooner. The pokemon games are this long for a reason, not only to get you to stick with the massive storyline, but to keep you addicted well beyond the point where you become the Pokemon Champion. Like I had mentioned before, a user can spend well over a hundred hours on Emerald, but the new changes that can be found in Aquamarine extend the gameplay experience to a point where you will not want to stop after a hundred hours, you will keep playing until you catch every pokemon, battled every trainer, and completed every little task that you could, and that could take you well beyond a hundred hours. Who knows, one of these days we might see somebody become the Pokemon Champion with more than two hundred hours under their belt. Clearly at least a 9.
DIFFICULTYThe difficulty of this game varies. For the first part of the game, I give the the game a 7 for difficulty, the game has a few more challenges than games that were released before this game, but still, Pokemon fans have had experience and can easily adapt to these changes. Once you get to the point where you can buy the Masterballs and Rare Candies, the game will become much easier because depending on how much money you have, you could have your Charizard gain twenty levels before you even leave the mart. You won't even have to buy a regular Pokeball and worry about the outcome ever again, all you have to do is buy some masterballs and go catch your pokemon. Therefore, once you get to this point, the difficulty will drop to a four. Overall, for the entire duration of the game, it is slightly less challenging than others and gets a difficulty rating of 6.
OVERALLIf you were to give me two Pokemon games, one was Emerald and one was Aquamarine, I would gladly choose Aquamarine over the original. You can always go out and play an original game, but it is uncommon to go out and play a slightly
updated original. Overall, Pokemon Aquamarine gets a healthy 9.5 or A+ and will right away claim the title of second best Pokemon game I have ever played. The game has been made with quality in mind, and I personally believe that Aquamarine should live on for years, and should be played by everyone.
Graphics
9 Sound
8 Addictive
10 Depth
9 Story
10 Difficulty
6
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