Pokémon Ruby and Sapphire
Pokémon Ruby and Pokémon Sapphire (ポケットモンスター ルビー&サファイア), released on March 172003 in North America for the Game Boy Advance, mark the beginning of the third generation in the Pokémon series of RPGs. Ruby and Sapphire were succeeded in 2004 by Pokémon FireRed and LeafGreen and in 2005 by an enhanced remake titled Pokémon Emerald.
Gameplay
Like Pokémon Red and Blue and Pokémon Gold and Silver before them, Pokémon Ruby and Sapphire are console role-playing games focused on the adventure of an aspiring Pokémon trainer, vying to become the Pokémon League champion, collecting and training Pokémon along the way.
In Ruby and Sapphire there are eight Pokémon Gyms, home to experienced trainers called Gym Leaders. These Gym Leaders act as bosses in a sense, testing the collective strength of the player’s Pokémon team. The protagonist must also simultaneously overcome a villainous criminal organization, unique to the version played: Team Aqua in Sapphire and Team Magma in Ruby. In addition, the player is encouraged to collect as many species of Pokémon as possible and record their entries into their Pokédex. There are 200 Pokemon available in Pokemon Ruby and Sapphire, a number which can only be reached by trading between the two versions- however, this number can be increased to 386 with the addition of Pokemon found in Leafgreen and Firered.
Pokémon Ruby and Sapphire offer multiplayer gameplay options, a feature that has been greatly emphasized in previous advertising campaigns, allowing players to participate in battles with each other and trade Pokémon through use of the link cable.
New developments
Compared to its predecessors, released for the older Game Boy and Game Boy Color, Pokemon Ruby and Sapphire feature greatly improved graphics. The Game Boy Advance provided the games with a larger color palette and the ability to feature higher-resolution sprites.
One of the most prominent new features advertised was the introduction of "two-on-two" battles, in which each trainer is in control of two Pokémon at a time. Some techniques were created especially for these double battles, such as Helping Hand, which is used to heighten a partner's power.
Ruby and Sapphire feature Pokémon Contests, competitions similar in structure to dog shows, in which Pokémon compete with one another by using their techniques to appeal to the judges and receive points. Pokémon techniques are not only categorized by their type but by their effect in a Contest; for example, the attack Tackle is considered Normal-type in battle and as a Tough move in Contests. Players can enhance their Pokémon's Contest traits by feeding them PokéBlocks.
With help from a new Technical Machine, an item used for teaching techniques to Pokémon, players can create and decorate "secret bases", personal areas found scattered around Hoenn in caves and bushes. A secret base can be furnished with a variety of items, such as dolls in the likeness of Pokémon. A base can be transferred over to another player's game by "mixing records" with one another through use of the link cable.
Pokémon Ruby and Sapphire add a number of things to differentiate Pokémon from each other and to increase the number of possible permutations for battles between players. "Pokémon Abilities", similar to Pokémon Powers and PokéBodies in the Pokémon Trading Card Game were introduced. Abilities are always in effect and can make small or great differences in the flow of battle. Roselia, a rose-like Pokémon, has thorns that can poison enemies who attack it, and Mr. Mime, a mime Pokémon, is immune to sound-based attacks. Also introduced in Ruby and Sapphire were Natures, personalities for Pokémon that raise one statistic and lower another. For example, a Timid Pikachu would be faster than most but would be unable to strike as powerfully with Physical attacks. Natures can also affect what kind of PokéBlocks a Pokémon prefers.
One somewhat obscure new change is the new limits on "effort values," the hidden statistic boosts Pokémon gain by battling other Pokémon. Previously, a player could raise all six of a Pokémon's statistics to their full potential, but in Ruby and Sapphire, and later games, a single Pokémon can only have a maximum of 510 "EV" points. This means that competitive players, to whom these relatively narrow margins matter, were now forced to decide between raising, for example, Physical attack or Special Attack, or offensive attacks or defensive resistance.
Another minor addition is that the game records what type of Pokéball a trainer uses to capture their pokémon. This is more or less a purely aesthetic change, as it only affects a pokémon's summoning and recalling.
Certain features present in previous games were disregarded and absent Pokémon Ruby and Sapphire. Unlike Pokémon Gold, Silver and Crystal, players cannot visit regions featured in previous games, and while the game has an internal clock used for select events, the diurnal cycle from Gold, Silver and Crystal was removed.
Storyline
In Ruby and Sapphire, the protagonist moves to Littleroot Town of Hoenn and, upon rescuing Professor Birch from a wild Poochyena, receives a Pokémon and begins a journey. The main antagonists that the player faces are Teams Magma and Aqua. The two teams coexist in both games, though the focus shifts from one to the other.
In Ruby, Team Magma's plans to deplete the sea are considered "evil"; in Sapphire, Team Aqua's goal of expanding the ocean are also considered "evil". Through a series of confrontations the protagonist learns of their agendas and attempts to stop them. Team Aqua eventually awakens the ancient Pokémon Kyogre and Team Magma Groudon. Following this, heavy rain begins to fall in Sapphire and bright sunlight shines in Ruby until the legendary Pokémon is defeated or captured.
Critical and commercial response
Pokémon Ruby and Sapphire were met with mostly, if not universally, positive reviews from critics.[1] The games are best-sellers, having sold more than five million copies in Japan,[2] and nearly four million copies in North America.[3] When their sales are combined, Ruby and Sapphire are the best-selling Game Boy Advance games in history. Separately, they are both among the top 3 best-sellers for the Game Boy Advance.
Initial fan reception, however, especially in the Pokémon fan community, was not entirely positive.[citation needed] Game Freak removed a number of features which had been introduced in the previous generation of games, Pokémon Gold, Silver and Crystal. Compatibility with the two previous generations of Pokémon games was impossible due to changes in game mechanics and link cable connectivity. In Gold and Silver, the time of day was reflected in the game's outside world by altering the lighting - creating a morning, day, and night. Ruby and Sapphire discarded this feature. It is being brought back, however, in the Nintendo DS games Pokémon Diamond and Pearl, which make use of the DS's clock feature and added several new lighting modes on the three introduced in the second generation's original clock system.
Also criticized were the design of the new Pokémon introduced. Ken Sugimori, who had acted as the lead character designer for the first two generations of Pokémon, took a more supervisory role in the creation of the third.[citation needed] The 135 new species introduced in Ruby and Sapphire have been seen as less "cartoony" than their predecessors; their designs favor a naturalistic, detailed style. For example, Butterfree, from Pokémon Red and Blue, and Beautifly, from Ruby and Sapphire, are both based directly on butterflies, though the execution of their designs differs greatly. Butterfree has a soft, simplified, anthropomorphic style, whereas Beautifly has greater detail, including the proboscis, complex eyes and lobed wings. This change in style was not entirely well-received. Some other Pokémon look a bit too abstract, mechanical or inorganic in certain elements of design as well, such as Groudon, Rayquaza and Kyogre. However there are still many "cartoony"-looking new species such as Wailmer, Makuhita and Salamence.
Game Freak's decision to disclude many pre-existing Pokémon was also met with criticism; of the 251 Pokémon from the past two generations, only 67 appeared in Ruby and Sapphire.[citation needed] This would not be remedied until the release of the FireRed and LeafGreen versions over a year later, where the older Pokémon could be traded over. Other games that connect to Ruby and Sapphire, Emerald and the GameCube games Colosseum and XD, also made new Pokémon available, e.g. Ho-oh, Lugia, and Kangaskhan (the latter of which was only found in FireRed and LeafGreen's Safari Zone).
The narrow, tall font used in dialogue and menus in releases outside of Japan have been considered by many to be largely illegible; it was replaced in later games, most notably in Pokémon Emerald. In the game the player can go to a game corner where there are machines-like game slots. This is a reference to gambling.
Eon Ticket
The Eon Ticket is a special Nintendo promotion for Ruby and Sapphire that allows the player to catch either Latios or Latias. Through typical gameplay, after the player defeats the Elite Four, the Pokémon of the other color is unlocked; i.e. if the game is Sapphire, the player can catch Latias, the red variation. The Eon Ticket grants the player the ability to sail to Southern Island where he or she can battle and capture the other Pokémon that's usually unobtainable.
It can be put into a Game Boy Advance cartridge via a special e-Reader card. Players must link up an e-Reader connected with a GBA with Ruby or Sapphire. Once the card is scanned and the ticket loaded into the game, the player goes to his or her father's gym in Petalburg City. He gives the player the ticket, which allows access to the Eon Ticket is used to go to Southern Island, the resting spot of the elusive Latios in Sapphire and Latias in Ruby. The island will thereafter appear on the player's map, but is inaccessible once he or she leaves. This means that the player only has one chance to capture the legendary Pokémon by using the Eon Ticket.
The Eon Ticket has been made available through several different means; originally it was awarded to participants in various Nintendo and Pokémon promotions in 2003 and 2004 and was also given away in an issue of Nintendo Power magazine. The Eon Ticket could be then be shared by trading records with a cartridge that contained one. Less "official" methods include eBay and using cheat devices like Action Replay.
 | It has been suggested that this article be merged with Notable glitches in the Pokémon video games. (Discuss) |
Berry glitch
One new feature in Pokémon Ruby and Sapphire is the ability to plant berries (Berries previously being introduced in Pokémon Gold and Silver) in "patches of loamy soil," allowing the player to cultivate berry gardens of whatever berries that player wants. This feature came with a significant bug; after a saved game of Pokémon Ruby or Sapphire had been played for a year or longer, the berry plants wouldn't grow, and all time-based events stopped working.
Nintendo created a program that fixed this problem with the game's clock and began a program to make players aware of the glitch and the fix; in the United States, beginning in March of 2004, Nintendo included a berry fix program on the GameCube demo discs distributed to GameStop and EB Games stores, for use in their demonstration GameCubes. (These game stores often have kiosks with current video game consoles for customers to try out games.) Connecting Game Boy Advance running a copy of Pokémon Ruby or Sapphire to a GameCube running one of these demo discs will fix the berry glitch, as well as transfer over a Shiny Zigzagoon with a Liechi Berry as a hold item to the copy of Ruby or Sapphire.
This program was discontinued in North America by the end of 2004, but Nintendo included the berry fix program in other products, as well. The demo disc given to those who pre-ordered Pokémon Colosseum has a program similar to the one included on the EB Games and GameStop discs, but, instead of transferring a Shiny Zigzagoon, it transfers a Jirachi to the connected game.
Later Pokémon games, including Pokémon FireRed and LeafGreen, Pokémon Emerald, Pokémon Box, and Pokémon XD also include a hidden mode that can fix the berry glitch, albeit without the additional gifts included with the other versions of the berry fix program.
Footnotes
- ^ - Gamerankings has aggregate scores of 84% for both Pokémon Ruby and Sapphire. [1] [2]
- ^ 5,275,000 copies sold in Japan, as of August 2005, according to Famitsu Top[3]. These numbers reflect combined sales of both games.
- ^ 2.03 million copies of Pokémon Ruby and 1.83 million copies of Pokémon Sapphire sold in North America as of approximately August 2005, according to the Magic Box[4]. (The Magic Box list doesn't have a date, but was referenced on the Gaming-Age Forums on August 2 2005[5].)
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