Format: Advance
Genre: JRPG
Developer: Game Freak, Inc.
Publisher: Nintendo

pokemon on the gba, a classic RPG brought into the "new" era for it's time. The previous era of pokemon games (gold/silver/crystal) were heralded as the penultimate of pokemon for their time, so how did the next generation hold up? Turns out, not so well. Pokemon Sapphire did a few things right over the previous generation, namely Dual-Battles, but severely messed up in several other key areas which made the original pokemon games loveable. To start off, the game is "fine" in that it runs fairly flawlessly. It's to be expect of a AAA first-party title, which naturally means that the score won't be below a 7. The balance of the game, however, is completely and utterly off in terms of what a standard or good rpg looks like. Comparing the previous generations to this one, it's quite clear that they halved the exp rates and doubled the encounters. Most likely this was done specifically to "lengthen" out the game, but when you just want to beat the game, it can be quite taxing to know that you're going to be constantly underleveled while still fighting everything that crosses your path. Another gripe with this game specifically is that in the end-game section, you are REQUIRED to have pokemon with no less than 4 specific HM moves known at all times. That's right, 4... surf, dive, strength, waterfall, flash, and rock smash are all required from Gym #8 until the elite four. This fact alone dropped the total scoring of this game by 1 whole point. In terms of pokemon games though, the sprites and spritework was well done. The music was decent, although somewhat forgettable for this generation. Natures and planting berries were added in this generation, as well as a fair amount of new pokemon. The region is also new, but sadly, not as well designed as the other regions that came before it. At various points there are just "things in the way" to impede your progress to force you into a storyline event that the game wants you to experience. In the previous generations, these events were kept to a minimum and were often unique in their own way of impeding the player. These events however just seem to be intentionally placed without much thought. (like a line of rocks to prevent the player from getting out). This was the last generation before the physical/special split, which makes it pretty decent to play... however.. it can be very arduous to get pokemon that you like in your party. Most of the game you will be running into zigzagoons, or other basic pokemon. In terms of a time sink this could probably qualify pretty easily as a good game, but for me, I'd take gen 2 any day of the week, or at least FireRed/LeafGreen.

Hot Tips: Get a magikarp early, evolve him, and teach him "thrash" in fallarbor town with the move relearner. Stock up on paralysis cures. Get the red/yellow/blue flutes in route 113(use repels for easy gathering). Sableye can learn Flash and Cut early on.

All-in-all, This game is getting a good score and I'm not sure if that's being stingy or being generous. The game has issues with it's balance, not only that exp is very very slow to get, but also that everything in the game knows some kind of paralysis jutsu to ruin your day. Milotic alone took me 30 minutes to defeat whenever trainers had them. The balance between difficulty and rewards is all out of whack with this game. This is a game you want to enjoy but it won't let you.