Pokemon Emerald Version (Nintendo Game Boy Advance, 2005)

I have played every Pokemon game (the games in which you are a trainer after the gym badges), from Yellow version on the GBC to this year' Soul Silver version, and I keep coming back to this game. The appeal of the original Pokemon games, the immersion into a new world filled with wonderous creatures and the thrill of capturing and battling with them, was captured in this game. The third generation of Pokemon introduced 134 new monsters, more than any other excepting the first. These Pokemon are some of the cooling-looking and most-powerful that were ever rolled out by Game Freak, and are some of the first reached for by competitive battlers still today, they rock. In this generation of games you are exposed to almost exclusively new Pokemon (a strategy used in the award-winning Pokemon Black and White released in Japan in September) and it works. The most compelling thing about Pokemon Emerald is that it took all the great things from Ruby and Sapphire and made them even better. Emerald improved on graphics, storyline, and content. Emerald is also the most difficult Pokemon game to date, so if you're looking for a challenging Pokemon game (which is more fun in my opinion) then look no further. Altogether Pokemon Emerald is one of the best pokemon games because of the amount of things to do (Battle Frontier (which is a multiplayer sanctuary), Pokemon Contests (which you can do with friends as well!), making PokeBlocks (multiplayer), catching Johto pokemon in th Safari zone, diving under water to find treasure and new pokemon, walking through blistering deserts, wandering abandoned ships, foiling the plots of team Magma and Aqua (the story is so much better with both of them in it!), turning off powerplants, filling out the pokedex, going through the main story, and just exploring!), all the legendary pokemon (from ruby and sapphire plus even more!), and the difficulty level (it makes a game that much more compelling).

The pokemon franchise has grown tremendously over the years. Lately the games and whatnot have taken a different turn. I think for all those out there who enjoyed the oldies+gold, silver.. Then this is the game for you. It combines 2 games into one.
Gameplay: It is a genuine pokemon game. Feels good and plays well. Moves are balanced and the flow of the game is nice.
Graphics: Upgrade from the GBC era, but for a GBA game, it's average.
Sound: Again, your usual pokemon game. Sounds are nice, the music has nice little twists in it, and you don't get super tired of listening to the same stupid soundtrack for 60+ hours.
Story: This is Pokemon to the core. You start out in your hometown w/ your mother. This time you also are with your dad later. Nice twists here and there. You're playing to stop the forces of evil, team aqua, and magma. Leveling, training, all that throughout the game.
Replayability: This is where, IMO)in my opinion( the games shine, there is soo much customization that you really can't "beat" the game. I'll admit after you've gone through it and caught most of the pokemon you will want to move on. But a few years down the road you will dig it up, turn it on, and love it JUST as much as you did in the past.
Learning Curve: I'll admit, i'm a pokemon veteran. I played this when it first came out, from red, to gold, and now to emerald. In my opinion the learning curve of emerald is actually pretty steep. If you want to just coast along you can...but if you want to dive into berry mixing, growing, breeding, training, trading, etc. Then the manual doesn't even cover it all enough. I say easy for ages 10+

Overall:
Great game, great value. Definently find yours while they are out there. Get a new one if possible so it will for sure work. This is worth it if you have Any interest in the pokemon series.

This video game works to a point, but when you attempt to SAVE, it erases all your saved data. It has happened three times so far. Needless to say, my 11 year old son was quite upset when he lost all the data he had worked so hard to obtain. After the third time at attempting to SAVE, we new the product purchased was a lemon. My son has many other video games and nothing like this has ever happened before. When the game arrived (way beyond the date stated) it appeared new and everything in order. After this incident though, I would not recommend purchasing this product as it is questionable if the product is a fake or copy. Especially after reading other reviews of this same product.

Pokémon - a great game for RPG Fans that don't care much for a plot and love the gameplay.

Review and Features:
Emerald Version is, as many know, an "update" to the Ruby/Saphire Version(s) featuring new character outfits, increased storyline, neat (and sometimes annoying) battle entry scenes for all Pokémon, more Pokémon in the Safari Zone, being to catch all three legendaries (Groundon, Kyogre & Rayquaza)... and many, many more add-ons that make this game truly worthwhile experiences.

This game was also the basis to the (great) DS Pokémon Games, Diamond/Pearl/Platinum, with features like the "Everstone-Breeding" which allowed the baby Pokémon you bred to have its mother's Nature by a 50% chance. That REALLY makes a difference when training competitive sets.

In the end, Emerald was the best 3rd Gen Pokémon Game and, though it is dated back to 2005. It's usefulness to any committed geeky-Pokémon Trainer such as myself is unmeasurable.

Dowsides:
"Gotta buy them all to catch 'em all - That's the Nintendo way!"

The only downsides to this game really were the annoying battle entry scenes for each Pokémon (which is something you begin to ignore after a little while though), the fact that it doesn't yet have the Attack/Special Attack Split that DS Versions have and... the oldest problem with all Pokémon games - you have to have all versions of a Generation to have all Pokémon.

I actually bought it just to have some Pokémon moved to my Pearl version such as Pinecco, Gligar, etc.

Final Score - 9.4 / 10

BUY IT!!!

POKEMON EMERALD displays the same respectable quality of graphics as displayed in previous Pokemon games and players will feel as if they are in a Pokemon episode or comic book. As with the television series, Pokemon would not be complete without the appropriate corresponding sound effects from characters and battles and this game does not disappoint. In addition to the expected features, POKEMON EMERALD is the first Hoenn Pokemon adventure that lets the player trade and battle wirelessly. The player can experience all new areas and exhilarating plot twists. From foreign neighborhoods to choosing from three Pokemon, begin the quest to become the world's best Pokemon trainer. Practice, skill, and intuition are key in balancing strategy, craftiness and reasoning to win. Both experienced and novice Pokemon fans and trainers can find the opportunities to develop and utilize these skills in preventing imbalance in the world. Each area that is entered before the final battle is an exercise in training to perfect the skill needed to achieve the ultimate goal.