Pokemon Emerald

Any veteran gamer will tell you that we’ve been playing Pokémon titles on GameBoy Advance long before the Pokémon Go fad came knocking. One of the most notable classic titles would be the Pokémon Emerald for GBA. If you’ve played anything on the GBA, you’ll definitely love the allure and immersive nature of this turn-based RPG that went live on April 30, 2005.

Graphics  5/5

Pokémon Emerald was a decisive turning point in the Pokémon franchise graphics. This you will notice at a glance if you have played any other games prior to this interesting title. While the graphics aren’t as realistic and outstanding as we would love them to be, Pokemon Emerald still manages to strike the perfect balance between looks and playability by giving you a game that looks great, plays fluidly with perfect animation and makes you feel like you are in a more interactive game than ever before.

Gameplay 5/5

Pokémon Emerald lets you capture a bunch of creatures whose capabilities and appearance vary wildly. You can capture them with your Pokéballs and will then breed these creatures, evolving them into something meaner, sleeker and more efficient.

In addition to this, you will have to fight your Pokémon against enemy Pokémon as you traverse the simple Pokémon emerald world. Your work will revolve around:

• Finding or hunting and capturing new Pokémon
• Evolving them into their higher level meaner versions
• Fighting them in offensive or defensive battles

In all sections of the game, you will do the majority of the interactions by reacting to text prompts between characters in the game. You will spend time-fighting, looking for fights, breeding Pokémon, planting berries and gathering other materials to help evolve or capture Pokémon and so much more.

Controls 4/5

Most GBA games had no option but to stick to a simple for direction movement since that’s basically all the motions the GameBoy can give you. Couple this with the interactive enter button and you basically have all it takes to play the game efficiently. This simple approach has not only made Pokémon easier to play as long as you know the lore and the basics but also contributed to letting Nintendo publish an interactive and smoothly playing game on an otherwise low-powered gaming console. Its controls work with it to ensure that it is the perfect game for the casual gamer.

Replay Value 4/5

Anyone picking up a game always considers replayability. With Pokémon Emerald, your options are limited unless you are very keen on the Pokémon lore and capturing as many creatures as possible. With time, the game might become a mundane interaction since you will be repeating the same thing over time only with different Pokémon. If you find pleasure in breeding Pokémon and squaring them up against others, then the replay value of this game will be, well, invaluable.

In-Game Purchases

At the very start, Pokemon - Emerald version wasn’t that keen on in-game purchases, trades or anything. All they wanted was a simple interactive game that is as similar to other Pokémon titles as possible. They, however, introduced a wireless GBA adapter that links up with other players. This will let you trade or battle Pokémon. You can also use the GameCube link cable to play your creatures in the Pokémon Colosseum.

Bottom Line

Pokemon Emerald for GBA is still an interesting title that will prove to be interesting and worth it if you have the GBA or are using a GBA emulator.