User Reviews (1 - 11 of 128)

Show these reviews first:

Highest Rated
Lowest Rated Newest
Oldest Most Helpful
Least Helpful

If you didn't get Ruby or Sapphire, this is a must-buy

4 Rating: 4, Useful: 120 / 154
Date: May 15, 2005
Author: Amazon User

Pokemon 3.5 (Emerald Version.) An updated version of the third installment in the Game Boy Pokemon RPG series.

Nintendo's Pokemon franchise became a massive success in its native Japan relatively quickly. Although it took the franchise a little longer to catch on in America, it finally did catch on, and when it did, it took the nation by storm. Pokemon games and products sold like crazy, despite the fact that the franchise was virtually unrecognized in America at its time of release. By 2003, the phemonenon was pretty much dead in America, but still, Nintendo went ahead and released the two latest adventures in the series, Ruby and Sapphire. Two years later, the revised Emerald version was released. Read on for my review.

PROS:
-THIS GAME GIVES YOU MORE OF THE SAME MONSTER CATCHING AND BATTLING ACTION THAT YOU HAVE GROWN TO LOVE IN THE FIRST AND SECOND GAMES. To put it simply, if you liked the first game, it's quite unlikely that you won't like this one.
-THE GAME GRAPHICS ARE DRASTICALLY IMPROVED OVER THOSE OF THE PREDECESSOR TITLES. In this game, the graphics are not only improved, but the game is also optimized to make usage of the Game Boy Advance's thirty-two bit technology. It's nothing earth-shattering, but it's as good as a Game Boy Advance game like this can look! And YES, the Emerald version makes graphical improvements over Ruby and Sapphire. Nothing earth-shattering, but it's noticable.
-IT'S NOT JUST A REHASH OF EARLIER GAMES. Although the game uses the same general formulas, the game is entirely new, and the world is much larger this time around. Even after you beat the game, there is still a ton of stuff to do, like capture all of the creatures in the game and train new monsters. The game even introduces the concept of two-on-two battles!
-NINTENDO DESIGNED THIS GAME WITH PLAYER CONVENIENCE IN MIND. Remember how in the first games you had to go through all those menus just to use an item (like your bike or fishing pole?) Well, in this game, you can set the select button to use an item! This really comes in handy and speeds up the general flow of the game.
-TONS OF NEW CREATURES AND ABILITIES. Many of the old Pokemon are gone, but there are tons of new ones! And some of the new ones are pretty damn cool. Needless to say, there are new legendary ones as well.
-YOU CAN TRADE WITH POKEMON RUBY AND SAPPHIRE, AND FIRE RED AND LEAF GREEN . This is necessary to complete your Pokedex, since no one game has every creature.
-THE GAME REUSES THE CONCEPT OF BREEDING POKEMON. If you get a male and a female Pokemon together at the Daycare center, they just might lay an egg! This concept is necessary to get many of the "baby" Pokemon in the game.
-YOU CAN NOW GET GROUDON AND KYOGRE IN ONE GAME! BOTH of these creatures are now available in a single game, at level seventy each no less! And YES, Rayquaza is still available for catching (the cover should give that away), as are Latios and Latias.
-BATTLE FRONTIER. This is the major addition to Emerald over the early Pokemon 3 releases, and it's a damn good addition to the game.

CONS:
-YOU CAN'T TRADE WITH THE OLDER GAMES (Game Boy Color and before)! This is a huge problem which is the major reason the game doesn't get a five-star rating in my book.
-MANY OF THE PROBLEMS THE OLD GAMES HAD WERE NOT FIXED FOR THIS GAME. Examples of this include not being able to rename Pokemon you get in trades, not being able to unlearn HM moves on your own, and the general pace of the game moving too slow.
-CONSIDERABLY MORE DIFFICULT THAN EARLIER GAMES. Chances are you're a gamer who is looking for a challenging portable RPG, but in many ways this game is TOO difficult. It seems that no matter how much you level up your monsters, it just doesn't seem to be enough in many places.
-THE MYSTERY EVENT/EON TICKET CONCEPT IS FLAWED. Why, you ask? YOU NEED AN E-READER FOR THEM! And, to say the least, the E-Reader is a rip-off! Why didn't Nintendo find another way to incorporate these elements into the game?
-WHY DOESN'T THIS GAME USE THE TIME OF DAY AND DAY OF THE WEEK SYSTEM THAT THE PREVIOUS GAMES USED? This was one of the best things about the previous games, and I am disappointed not to see it here.
-WHY DO YOU HAVE TO PLAY THROUGH THE WHOLE GAME TO GET TO THE BATTLE FRONTIER!? This was a huge disappointment, since I've already essentially played through the game already in my older Ruby and Sapphire games.

OVERALL:
Pokemon 3 is a damn fine RPG, even if it doesn't quite top Pokemon 2. If you have a Game Boy Advance, this is an excellent game to add to your collection. A little word of advice - you can NOT get all of the Pokemon in one game, so if you get Ruby, you might want to make sure a friend owns or will buy Sapphire, or vice versa. Also, these games are compatible with the Fire Red and Leaf Green, you may want to get them too (or know someone who does.) Either way you look at it, Pokemon 3 is a damn good portable RPG. And if you're gonna get one version of it and don't already have Ruby or Sapphire, get Emerald.

A good game for pokemaniacs

4 Rating: 4, Useful: 12 / 12
Date: May 06, 2005
Author: Amazon User

Everytime Pokemon gets two different version, there is usually a third superior version that comes out later. When Pokemone Red and Blue got here, Yellow version came a little later. Likewise with Gold and Silver. Crystal version came. Now with Ruby and Sapphire, Emerald is here.

We all know the basic story of Pokemon. Through the versions released, it hasn't really changed at all. At least in terms of storyline. You choose to be a boy or a girl, and then you'll begin your journey to become a pokemon master.

Anyone who has played Ruby and Sapphire basically already know the kinks to it. This review is aimed at those people. There isn't much that's been changed in Emerald. Of course there's the fact that some Pokemon you just aren't able to get a hold of without the other two versions. You can link up to Pokemon Colliseum (which is nice) and you can also use the wireless adapator to trade from all the versions on the GBA.

The graphics have been slightly improved. They look much closer to the SNES graphics than before. Their much clearer than in Ruby and Sapphire and their more crisp. Not quite so many.

There is one major gripe with Emerald. You've got to be a die-hard Pokemon fan to want to play it. If you've already gone through Ruby and Sapphire once, the question is, do you want to travel through what is virtually the same journey again? If the answer is yes, then go on out and pick up Pokemon Emerald now. If the answer is no, Pokemon Emerald may not be the best investment. It would be better if you waited for the next batch of versions to come.

ADDICTED TO THIS GAME. IT'S THAT GOOD!

3 Rating: 3, Useful: 9 / 9
Date: June 15, 2005
Author: Amazon User

I'm a Pokemon noob, never played, never even considered it so my friends helped me through most of it, but I did get through the better half of it on my own.

The game was a pretty standard RPG. You start off saving Prof. Birch from some wild Pokemon, get to pick either, Torchic, Treecko or Mudkip, same old same old I'm told. You get to train your Pokemon, level up, beat people, Gym leaders, the Elite Four, catch legendary Pokemon, there's also a battle frontier. You have a secret base, your "home away from home" to decorate with posters, ornaments and doll. You can also breed, (tip: Catch a Ditto and breed like hell with it!!), trade, battle and all that with other GBA, DS, SPs and all. You can challenge Gym Leaders twice, three times even, this gives a LOAD of money, especially if you had the amulet coin. But the best part of the game are the Pokemon themselves and the idea of "catch 'em all" which is addictive since it takes quite a bit to actually "catch 'em all". There are over 400 of them.

The graphics are decent. Sometimes the battles take too long, for example, it repeats all status problems of each Pokemon, be it poisoned, burned or pelted by hail. The speech are kind of strange but okay. The other thing that is quite is annoying is the wild Pokemon, but they can be taken care of by repel. Trainers are also rather annoying the first time around where they jump out at you, one at a time or two at a time to challenge you. You can take their name down in the PokeNav and challenge again for Exp. points. However, this is tedious, thus the best way to level up is to give Exp. share to a Pokemon and beat the Elite four. The battle system seem very efficient.

The major thing I didn't expect from Pokemon was a really good storyline. There are two Teams in the Hoenn Region, Magma and Aqua looking for the legendary Pokemons. You battle them but they unleash the legendary Pokemons anyways creating odd weather patterns. You have to stop them and save the world. Along the way, beat Gym Leaders, send mail, check out abandoned ships and compete in Contest and win Ribbons.

In the end (not the end of the game), I think that the time I devoted to playing this game was worth it. Just some minor flaws, nothing big. Buy it, play it and enjoy it.

Decent rpg for the GBA or DS

3 Rating: 3, Useful: 29 / 51
Date: July 14, 2005
Author: Amazon User

While i had plenty of fun collecting most of the Pokemon in this game, and playing it thoroughly, it was nothing all that 'special' in the end.

Sure the game is quite long, lasting a good 30 hours, it gets a bit tedious in places. Most of the caves look similiar and most of the grassy fields look similiar too. Plus it doesnt help when the similiar looking areas have similiar names like rout 110 and 111...

Also, some things were not expanded like they could have been. Things like rock smash, flash, and the acro bike, were barely used in the game while things like surf and the mach bike are used plenty. Some skills get a few uses while others get millions and it feels unbalanced in places.

Also, the games difficulty is just too easy. I beat 90% of the game with just ONE pokemon. Since i raised only one pokemon he gained all the experience and rose in levels much too easily. It was weird taking out trainers with 6 pokemon with just my solo Swampert.

Still, the game is lots of fun with its addicting 'catch em all' gameplay and will appeal to tons of gamers, especially younger ones. However, if you want to raise and 'catch em all' than be prepared to spend a few hundred hours on this game...

VERY Good game

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 6 / 6
Date: April 22, 2006
Author: Amazon User

Emerald is way better than ruby and saphire it has more Pokemon more trainners and more places like Battle Frotier... It is a huge hit when I was still triying to beat the 4th gym leader my friends were already catching rayqaza!!

I LOVE Pokemon Emerald!

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 9 / 12
Date: November 13, 2005
Author: Amazon User

I love this game! It ROCKS! The Pokemon you can catch are cool.

These are the good things about it:

-You get to see new places and battle new people.
-You get to train the pokemon to get to a higher level.
-You can enter contests in a city called Lilycove City, and give your Pokemon ribbons.
-There is a HUGE range of pokemon that can be caught.
-You have a lot of choices and free decisions in the game.

These are the not-so-good things:

-NOTHING! THE GAME IS PERFECT!

Overall, the game is great! I reccommend this for kids ages 6 and up.

P.S- If you ever need help with the game, go to gamespot.com for hints, secrets, and walk-throughs.

The Best One Yet!!

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 7 / 8
Date: May 04, 2005
Author: Amazon User

This is the best Pokemon video game they've made yet! If every video game was as fun as this one was, probably everyone in the U.S. would love video games. This was the best 36 dollars I've ever spent!

Perfect Game

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 7 / 8
Date: January 24, 2007
Author: Amazon User

This story has many similarities to Pokemon Ruby and Sapphire, but it differs in some aspects as much as it's the same.

Well, after riding along in the bumpy moving trucjk, you finally arrive to your new home in Littleroot Town in the Hoenn Region. You go off to meet Professer Birch, only to learn he is out doing fieldwork. You head into the field only to find the professer being attacked by a wild Pokemon. You must save him, so you grab a Poke ball from his bag and send out the Pokemon inside. You defeat the wild Pokemon with ease. Professer then thanks you by letting you keep the Pokemon you borrowed earlier, and you head out into the world to face all the trainers and obtain all the Pokemon possible. Along the way, you meet many friends and make many rivals. You challenge Gym Leaders to prove your worth as a trainer by earning their special badges - only the winning trainers are permitted to hold. But this road is treacherous, and along the way, evil teams release legendary Pokemon, Groudon and Kyogre. The battle rages, but the legendary Rayquaza arrives and quells the fight with its incredible power. After that, you head up to Ever Grande to win the Pokemon League, to become the ultimate champion.

After you become a master, you are invited by a man named Scott to an island called the Battle Frontier, the frontline of battling. You must obtain their special symbols by winning rigourous fights.... It's the ultimate test of skill as a trainer. But you choose to take this test. This is your dream. So make it come true.

It's different from Ruby/Sapphire, but not enough

4 Rating: 4, Useful: 8 / 10
Date: August 20, 2006
Author: Amazon User

There seems to be some debate as to how different the storyline is this time around. First I will clear up these matters as well as I can.

Both Team Magma and Aqua are enemies here, and there are several new areas where you will face the two teams. Rayquaza plays a fairly large role in the whole Magma/Aqua struggle. Wallace got a promotion and is now League champion. His gym was taken over by this dude named Juan who is Wallace's mentor. Steven takes a role like Red in GSC, except that I have been unable to get him to battle me more than once. All Contests have been consolidated in the Lilycove location. There is a new area called the Battle Frontier - more on that later.

Concerning Legendary Pokemon: Rayquaza can be caught before the Elite Four- good luck. Both Kyogre and Groudon can be caught here, but not until after you clear the Elite Four. You get to choose whether it is Latios or Latias that you must track down.

The game also has a phone built into the Pokenav, like GSC, only more annoying. This time around, Gym Leaders will demand rematches. The playable characters are slightly redesigned but look worse than their Ruby/Sapphire counterparts. Pokemon have little animations when going into battle, like Crystal.

Besides these things and a few reworked rosters, things are mostly the same as Ruby/Sapphire. Same annoying "rival", same basic path through the game, and same towns and environments. And the new stuff is not worth the price if you have one or both of the original 3rd generation games.

After having the privilege of using the VS Seeker in LeafGreen, reverting to the old PokeNav system of trainer rematches seems like a step backwards. Battling Gym Leaders again is an interesting diversion, but it doesn't come close to the VS Seeker's convenience. Trainers will call you, and mostly it will be pointless drivel. You will tire of their calls very quickly. Also, the Pokemon animations often take too long and aren't worth it.

Now onto the Battle Frontier. This is a amusement park-like place for tough Pokemon battles against bosses called Frontier Brains. Two of the facilities have normal Pokemon battles. One has normal battles with a 3-turn limit. One has you choosing doors with random surprises behind each one. One forces you to wander in darkness, collecting whatever items you can find to survive numerous battles. One puts the Pokemon on autopilot, attacking (or not) depending on their nature. And the last one has you using rental Pokemon.

Using Rental Pokemon sucks. They have bizarre and marginally useful attacks. In fact, the whole Battle Frontier is infuriating. Your opponents have surprisingly good luck- inaccurate attacks like Blizzard and Hypnosis will hit you 9 times out of 10. When you use such attacks, you will miss them 9 times out of 10. Also, they will score five critical hits for every one that you get. Too often, they will snatch victory from you because of a lucky hit. Perfect if you like throwing your GBA across the room.

For hard-core trainers who understand the game's mechanics, there are several features that help you properly raise your Pokemon.

Again, if you have Ruby or Sapphire, this game is unnecessary and a waste of money. But if you don't, go ahead and pick it up. Slightly better than Ruby and Sapphire, but Fire/Red and LeafGreen are the standout games of the 3rd generation of Pokemon RPG's.

Very nice

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 5 / 5
Date: September 14, 2005
Author: Amazon User

I love this pokemon game! jeff you should try it. It has may new things in it which takes it to many new levels over Ruby and Sapphire, (both great games). I like the pokeball capture graphics that were added that is a very nice touch.

The addition of the berry mixing master is also a great one. You can make some level 99 berries with him and really get your pokemons stats up for contest.

One thing I do not like about all pokemon games is the secret or hidden pokemon. In this case it is Deoxy, Ho oh, Lugia, and Mew. No way to get this unless you get to goto New York city, or get a chance to get to pokemon rocks america, Deoxy last year, Ho oh and Lugia this year. Not fair that all these things are over like a million miles form me and most other players. If they do not want people using the cheat things like action replay the they need to make better deals with the pre sales or retailers to get these special hidden pokemon to the public. It is not our fault they want us to collect them all... Now make it a little easyer so we can lay off the gamesharks.

Well other then that last piece I really loved the game. It is nice to beable to fill the hoenn dex and get to pick one of the johto starters... I picked cyndiguil.

Enjoy the game and be sure to check out all the other pokemon games like Fire red, leaf green, ruby and sapphire. Soon pokemon XD coming out for game cube... cna not wait for that can we fans?!

Review Page: 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 Next 

Actions