It's been a while since I wrote a Review. Come to think of it, it's been a while since I wrote anything. But, I just finished playing Pokemon Ruby, and since I never got around to reviewing Silver though I wanted to, I want to get this game out of the way as soon as possible.
Ruby is half of the third installment of the Pokemon series, the other half being Sapphire. This follows Red-Blue-Yellow (hereafter RBY) and Gold-Silver-Crystal (hereafter GSC). Like their predecessors, Ruby and Sapphire are nearly identical games, with only a few minor differences. The most important difference is that some Pokemon appear in Ruby but not Sapphire, and vice versa. Less important is that in Ruby you'll have to deal with Team Magma, while in Sapphire they're called Team Aqua. Most of the differences are just in the details, however, and so the only reason to play both versions is if you're a Pokefanatic and have to catch each of the 186 new Pokemon by yourself. If all you care about is acquiring those Pokemon, just find a friend with the opposite version and use a Link Cable to trade.
The Pokemon series is distinct from most other RPGs because you have a lot of choice as to the make-up of your party. Your party can consist of any six Pokemon you've caught, and you can get new moves for them by training them or using an HM or TM. Once again, you're on an adventure to defeat the eight gym leaders so you can then challenge the Elite Four and, if you're truly skilled, become the Champion.
Now for the Review. Each section is scored on a scale of 1-10, 10 being best.
Graphics: 3
Hm... well, they're better than the last set on Gameboy, but they don't stand up to what you can find in other GBA games. In particular, I'm thinking of Golden Sun, which really had nice graphics. Here, field mode is pretty good. The colors are a lot crisper, and there are some nice effects. But battle mode barely looks better than in the last series. The background is nearly non-existant, the Pokemon themselves don't look any better than before, and the attacks only slightly. Part of the reason for the poor graphics is probably because Nintendo wanted the battles to look similar to those from previous games. However, I think it would have been better had the graphics more closely approximated those from the Pokemon Stadiums for Nintendo 64. Sure, the GBA isn't going to get that good, but it could have been a whole lot closer. I was not at all impressed by the battle graphics, and since you spend so much time in battle...
Music: 2
Blah. The only tunes I really liked were battling Team Magma and when you get a gym leader's badge. The rest of the music is average at best, and a bunch of it is annoying stuff that I have no interest in hearing again. Like the graphics, the music could have been much improved upon.
Story: 1
This almost received NA instead of 1, the story is nearly non-existant. As mentioned before, you set out on a journey to become the next Champion. Not terribly important. You start out fairly non-chalantly too. After saving the local professor from a little trouble, he tells you that you have natural talent and should go out and train, and maybe you can beat your father, one of the gym leaders. So hey, what else do you have to do? I mean, your town only has three buildings: your house, the professor's house, and the prof's lab. Strangely enough, there are a bunch of people wandering around town who don't appear to live anywhere.
Team Magma complicates the story a bit, and are the only true villains in the game though you'll battle lots of trainers. But their mission doesn't make a whole lot of sense, and what makes less sense is why it's up to you to do something about it. Probably Nintendo just wanted to give you something to do between gyms.
Pokemon: 7
Usually this is the characters section, but the game isn't so big on characters. A few follow you through the game, but you probably won't care about them. No, it's about the Pokemon. But if you're thinking you're going to become friends with them based on their personality, you're totally wrong. They don't talk to you or anything, they just fight when you tell them to. The high score is based on the fact that there are 186 new Pokemon, more than in RBY or GSC, and each type is represented, including steel and dark, which were introduced in GSC but were still quite rare.
I took off points because many Pokemon from the earlier series are not available in this game, and you can only trade with Sapphire, not the previous versions. So if you want a Chancey, you're out of luck. (Surprise surprise, Pikachu is still here.) I was hoping to see some new Pokemon types, but no such luck. Also, happiness is no longer a factor. In GSC your Pokemon would be happy to varying degrees, and some would evolve if they were happy enough. Not so here, so say goodbye to Crobat. (Oddly enough, one opponent does actually have one of those.)
Gameplay: 2
If you've played any of the previous games in the series, the gameplay will be immediately familiar. You go from town to town, seeking out gyms so you can get your badges. On your way you'll have to beat rival trainers, but before you can do that you'll have to walk around in the grass killing scores of wild Pokemon, perhaps making the occassional capture, so that your party can be slightly less pathetic. And of course, from time to time you'll need to deal with Team Magma. But really, what kind of villain gives up when you've beaten his pet? What about the heavy artillary?
Anyway, the problem with the gameplay is, too much time is spent battling. It can take a long time to earn a level up, and each party member only earns points when they enter battle, unlike in Mario RPG where Peach will gain levels for doing nothing. The result is that a huge percentage of your time will be spent in battle against mostly the same foes, while only a little bit of time will be spent in the fun battles (captures or against a trainer) or exploring various areas. This game would have been much better if it took fewer battles to level up, or if your entire party gained points together.
I also found it odd that this game pretty much ditches the clock from GSC. In GSC, there were constantly clock events: some Pokemon could only be caught at night, while you might only be able to do a special event on Mondays. Ruby has a clock, but it's not useful for very much. There's no nightime, nor any daily events. The game would change very little without it.
Length:
Time: 10
Quality: 1
Well, if you're looking for a way to kill some time, you can't do much better at this price. It took me 103 hours to become the Champion, and there's a little bit to do after that if you feel like it (which I don't).
Unfortunately, as I hinted in the last section, the vast majority of those hours were spent in repeated battles so I could earn level-ups. So, I played for a long time, but most of that time was rather boring. How much time was spent exploring, catching, and battling trainers? I didn't keep track of that, but I'd say 20 hours, 30 tops. Not a very large percentage of my total playing time.
Difficulty: Varying
If you pick strong Pokemon (and there are some clues as to which these are) and train a lot, most of the game will be a breeze. If you pick weak Pokemon and try to skimp on the training (and I don't blame ya), that's when you'll run into trouble. But mostly, if you have a party that includes several different types of Pokemon (lightning, water, grass, psychic, etc.) and keep in mind the type of your opponent, you should do pretty well. Just watch out for those steel opponents. They're resistant to almost everything.
Field Mode: 6
This is where you do your exploring. Talk to people, search for items, and find the next town. It's ok, I guess, I don't have a whole lot to say about it. There is a fair number of hidden items, however, and some of the things people say are mildly amusing. I also appreciate the newfound ability to run... but why not indoors?
Battle Mode: 3
Without considering the poor graphics or how often you must fight, the battle scene is still rather dull. Battles come in three types, trainer, wild: catch, and wild: kill. In a trainer battle, you must defeat all your opponents' Pokemon. Careful, there's no running away! These are the best battles and are worth the most points, but you can usually only battle each trainer once, or at least only once in a while.
In wild: catch, you must weaken a Pokemon as much as you can without killing it, then throw a Pokeball and hope the Pokemon stays inside for four shakes. This is probably the hardest mode because it's very easy to accidentally knock out the opponent. Some don't like to stay in Pokeballs either. But it's probably also the most important because it's the primary way of adding Pokemon to your team, as well as embellishing your Pokedex. Unfortunately, you get no points for catching a Pokemon, and Pokeballs cost money, a limited commodity.
Most of your time will be spent trying to kill wild Pokemon for points. You'll just walk back and forth across the grass until you're attacked, knock out the enemy in a couple of turns, and repeat until you're strong enough. It can get quite repetitive.
Before getting this game, I was excited about the introduction of 2 vs 2 battles. For the first time, Pokemon can battle on teams of two. I thought it would be cool because you could combine attacks, like maybe use a water move and a lightning move to create something interesting. But no, each Pokemon's attacks are separate from one another, though moves occassionally work somewhat differently in 2 vs 2. Really, 2 vs 2 battles are no big deal, it's no more exciting than Mario and Mallow battling two Goombas, except that it's never been done before in the Pokemon series. There aren't even that many 2 vs 2 battles. They are all with trainers, never wild Pokemon, and you're always given advance warning so you can make sure your party is ready. Really, I thought they were a big disappointment.
But the worst part of battle mode is how long it takes to start each battle. In Mario RPG, you touch an enemy and you're set to pick an attack within, what, a second? Two? In Ruby, between the screen fading out, your character sliding across the screen, then your Pokemon appearing, we're talking more like six or eight seconds before you can input your first attack. This may not sound so bad, but that really adds up when you're battling so many times, and it gets annoying. If you're anything like me, you'll turn off the sub-par battle animations so at least the battles will move a little faster.
Strategy: 5
Well, there's a lot of strategy in deciding which Pokemon you'll train, what moves you'll let them know, and who you'll teach TMs to. But all of the strategy takes place before the big battles. By the time you get into battle, your strategy has pretty much been decided for you. Why couldn't each Pokemon know more than four moves? It would be easier to have some interesting combos then, or at least have all or most attack types represented in your party. Plus, if battles required thinking, they'd probably be a little more exciting. But no, most of them are just a lot of button tapping.
Replay Value: 1
Pah. I can't imagine playing this game again. What, do all those battles over? Yeah right. Not to mention, I'd have to trash my first file in order to do it. Ruby still has only one save file.
Fun Factor!: 6
Catching Pokemon is fun, and it's good to talk to the peoples. But all the good stuff is interspersed among the frustration of having to do so many battles. Overall, it's about average for fun.
Overall: 3
I can overlook bad graphics and music when a game has exciting gameplay and perhaps an interesting storyline. Pokemon Ruby does not deliver, however, and nearly all of it comes down to the fact that there's just way too much time spent battling. Seriously, if you gained more points from each battle or had the whole party gain instead of just the Pokemon that appeared in the battle, this game's fun value would go up significantly. But as it stands, 3/10 is all I can give for this game.
Recommendation: I'd pass, unless you're very patient and don't mind all the battles. Or, if you really want to play, go find the rom and play most of the game while holding down the spacebar. If your computer is powerful enough, you'll be able to play at about three times normal speed, so the battles won't seem so long.
Pokemon Ruby: Nice thought, good ideas, poor execution. Not recommended.
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