Sunday, February 5, 2012

Why I Hate Pokemon Ruby and Sapphire

           Yeah, I feel the need to type out and vent my pent up rage at this. When I was a kid, the first game system I ever got was a Game Boy Color, and the first game Pokemon Gold Version. It remains today in my Top 5 Favorite Video Games, and has had a huge impact on my tastes. Soon after I got Pokemon Yellow. This allowed me to see the transition from Generation I to II more clearly. It also amplified my love of Gold. Seriously, if you ask me Gold is in no way inferior to Red or Blue, and in every way it's superior. It is by and large what I consider the perfect sequel to any game. So, as you can imagine, I was excited as hell for the next generation. My expectations were huge, as I was expecting the same kind of progression I'd experienced in the previous generation switch. What I received sorely disappointed me, and to this day remains one of my least favorite sequels in any series. A lot of people I know are puzzled by this, so I'll explain.

         Gold expanded on Red in every way it could. It had twice as many maps, 100 new Pokemon, 16 gyms, two new types, a phone system, a day/night system, a week system, and it ended with you facing off with the protagonist from the previous game. Ruby expanded on Gold in literally two ways: instead of 100 new pokemon, it had 135, you could grow berries, and it added double battles. Unlike it's predecessor though, Ruby also removed a huge amount of content. One region, 8 gyms, no new types, no phone system, no day/night system (THE CLOCK DOES NOT COUNT!), no week system, no apricorns, Team Rocket was replaced by mentally unsound environmentalists, and all characters from the previous games were gone. It was a huge step down from Gold. The only thing I can complement is the graphics, which are quite pretty. But to me, graphics are the least important of a games components. I still have had this idea in my head for years, though I'm unsure whether it would be a ROM hack or a fresh game, due to the amount of stuff involved. It would be what I was expecting for this new generation: 3 regions, 24 gyms, 3 new types, fighting Red and Gold, the return of Giovanni, double the level cap, and a calender/holiday system in tandem with the system in Gold. It would be a lot, I know, but it's what I imagined growing up as a kid.

          What do you think of the changeover from Generation II to III? Respond with your thoughts in the comments below.

1 comment:

  1. My friend, you can't judge a piece by comparing it to previous titles. You must look at it for what it is in and of itself!

    Gen III was a reboot to the series, updating the code and game mechanics and introducing an entirely new region; it is only natural that characters from past games would not be present. Why would they? This has been the way of things ever since.

    The first two Pokemon games are the black sheep of the series, not only because they had an outdated coding, but because they were and remain the only instance of an entire generation being a direct sequel to the previous. This has not occurred again since; the series was young, and it was uncertain back then whether it would continue past a second generation.

    When its success made it apparent that the series needed to continue, rebooting it and starting the new precedent of each generation being set in a new land separate from the previous was the only viable option, and they continue that trend to this day.

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