Review: ‘Pokemon: Omega Ruby & Alpha Sapphire’ From The Editor

An evolution of a classic you remember!

The danger of messing with a classic game is that you’ll take away the magic. Sometimes, the joy of 16-bit images and sounds doesn’t translate into modern, more sophisticated forms.

So Nintendo was playing with fire (and water, ground, electric, steel, fairy, and the rest) when it updated the classic Pokémon Sapphire and Ruby games. Good news for previous players of the collect-and-battle pet games: Alpha Sapphire and Omega Ruby not only don’t screw up the originals, but they improve on them.

More than just a remake of the original Ruby and Sapphire games on the Game Boy Advance, “Pokemon Alpha Sapphire and Omega Ruby” will also feature new mega evolutions and primal evolutions, as well as a host of other gameplay improvements.

“Pokémon Omega Ruby and Pokémon Alpha Sapphire kick off the holiday shopping season with games that both old and new Pokémon fans will love,” Scott Moffitt, Nintendo of America’s executive vice president of Sales & Marketing, said in a press release yesterday. “The games let players explore and experience the world of Pokémon like never before, with hours of portable entertainment perfect for long holiday trips.”

It’s hard to overstate how much the graphical update adds to Sapphire and Ruby for players of the earlier games. The grass blades waving around you when you go hunting move around you with beautiful detail. Surf at night and the stars reflect on the water.

Sprite changes mean Pokémon that were already cute (like the pink cat-like Skitty) are now overwhelmingly adorable. People have actual facial expressions.

The only part that’s in 3D are the cutscenes. I didn’t miss it much while playing, but then, Nintendo’s 3D usually just gives me a headache after a while.

Contests have been around since the original Ruby and Sapphire, but they get new elements in this version. These enable you to put your Pokémon in the ring versus others based on a wide variety of traits: coolness, cuteness, toughness, cleverness, and beautifulness (yes, in Pokémon, being cute doesn’t make you beautiful).

Now in those contests you’re given an overpowered Pikachu from the start (mine was wearing the same dress as my character), so if you want to avoid the whole berry-candy-making grind that characterized earlier versions, you can. If you want to enhance the traits of other Pokémon for contests, you’ll still need to make them.

If you max out the bar that measures audience approval, you see fun, dramatic cutscenes featuring your Pokémon. Win the coolness competition for example and your monster will be on a cliff, in front of a moon, as red lightning strikes.

What’s that in the bush? A tail? Ears? Tiptoe up to it and you’ll often bag a Pokémon that’s rare or has better-than-average abilities. Sneaking is a grand addition to trainer Pokéabilities.

Stop walking and then press lightly on the circle pad and it’ll cause you to sneak, tiptoeing slowly, one step at a time. Sure, it takes forever to move across the screen, but it’s so worth it. And like everything else in this remake, it looks great.

All long-time Pokémon players remember their first game with fondness, and mine was the original Sapphire. The Pokémon universe has gradually expanded and improved since, but I have a special place in my heart for those early Hoenn trainers and landscapes.

Alpha Sapphire and Omega Ruby are a love-note to longtime Pokémon fans. They are nearly identical to the originals, but with all the graphical and gameplay updates from later installments plus some fun new extras. Much of the dialog remains the same.

I won’t spoil the opening cinematic for you, but it’s stuffed with references for experienced players, such as the images it shows or the Pokémon that appear, and it looks gorgeous by the series’ standards.

That’s true of the entire game. The trainer Rich Boy Winston is still there to use wildly overpriced heals on his low-level teams. Your room is still the same, though a few smaller items have moved around. You mom still shoves you in the back of a truck at the beginning — nothing much has changed in the land of Hoenn.

The soundtrack from the original games contained the cheesy 16-bit beep-boop kind of tunes you’d expect. These versions contain many of the same melodic themes, but with multiple tracks that do a remarkable job of balancing synthetic and real-life instrument sounds. They’re complex, delicate … and actually enjoyable.

If you have kids, you might actually ask them to leave the volume on while they play in the car. Regardless, you’re going to find yourself humming the cheerful bicycling theme in the shower.

Pokémon Alpha Sapphire and Omega Ruby are worthy updates of classic games from the Pokemon pet battle series. They add modern graphics and sound, the gameplay updates of the previous few installments, and the new evolutions without ruining the nostalgia of the original Sapphire and Ruby titles.

If you played the original games, you’ll definitely want the updates. If you’re new to the series, it might be worthwhile to start with an earlier installment (like Pokémon X/Y) that includes more instruction. And if you didn’t play the originals but have been playing more recent Pokémons, dive in.

Selling more than 16 million copies on the GBA, “Ruby and Sapphire,” despite one of the weaker Pokemon additions and what many consider the least intriguing storyline of all the games in the series, is the best-selling game on the system.

For more information on “Pokemon Omega Ruby and Alpha Sapphire,” head to the game’s official site.

Will you buy “Pokemon Alpha Sapphire and Omega Ruby”? Sound off in the comment section below and let us know.