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 | Pokemon Emerald Game Boy Advance Nintendo  As the latest addition to the esteemed and powerful Pokefamily, 'Pokemon Emerald' stinks of deja vu. It's pretty much an extension of the storyline and gameworld established in 2003's 'Pokemon Ruby' and 'Pokemon Sapphire', but with the graphical improvements and wireless connectivity brought forth in last year's remakes of 'Pokemon FireRed' and 'Pokemon LeafGreen'. Hence those patient GBA owners who have been waiting for the next big thing in the Pokemon franchise will just have to keep waiting. For those unfamiliar with the Pokemon series, let me briefly explain: Pokemon are creatures that live among us humans. There are tonnes of these little critters, ranging from birds to bugs to fish to reptiles and so on. Players take on the role of an up-and-coming Pokemon trainer, working their way through the land and using their skills to capture Pokemon in the wild. Then in a truly sadistic fashion, they use their captured creatures to battle against those of other Pokemon trainers. Successful battles against other Pokemon will strengthen those creatures, and the higher their level, the more powerful they become. Once a player's Pokemon reach a certain level, they can challenge the town's Pokemon Gym leader. The Gym leader holds a specific badge for Pokemon trainers to collect, and by defeating this leader, players earn that badge and the abilities held within it. By collecting all eight gym badges, players earn the coveted Pokemon Master title. Basically, take 'Conan The Barbarian', add a slice of 'The Karate Kid' and present it with cute Japanese anime, and you've got the basics. As with the previous titles, Emerald has a heavy focus on strategic elements. Each creature has its own Type which is stronger, weaker, or equal to creatures with other Types (Fire creatures, for example, are weak against Water Pokemon, but are strong against Plant Pokemon). There are also a number of status ailments that your creatures can either dish out or receive, including Poison, Paralyse, Sleep, and Confuse. You can only carry six Pokemon at a time, the rest have to be stored in PCs which can be accessed at each town, so you really have to think about which Pokemon you want to carry and which ones you want to focus on levelling up. As Pokemon level up they gain new powers, some will even evolve into new creatures. Like FireRed and LeafGreen, Emerald lets the player trade creatures with friends via a wireless adaptor; but unlike FireRed and LeafGreen, the wireless adaptor does not come bundled with '...Emerald'. It's an unusual move by Nintendo; maybe they figured that Pokefans will already have it. In any case, new punters will have to dish out even more bling if they want to trade Pokemon wirelessly. The only thing that saves '...Emerald' is the truly addictive nature of Pokemon games, otherwise, this would have been a disappointing release. As I mentioned earlier, it's basically '...Ruby' and '...Sapphire' all over again. If you haven't been touched by a Pokemon I highly recommend this game as a starting point for the series; but if you're a trainer from way back, be warned: this game adds nothing new to the franchise.  | |
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