Overview - Ruby Sapphire and Emerald
Pokémon Ruby and Sapphire were the first Pokémon RPG games to appear on the Gameboy Advance. A major overhaul of the games was done for the third generation of Pokémon. Ruby and Sapphire debuted in the US on March 18, 2003. Pokémon Emerald didn't appear until 2005.
Ruby and Sapphire took great improvements with graphics and sound; taking advantage of the then-new GBA platform. Pokémon sprites looked much more like their anime counterparts. A total of 135 Pokémon were added to the game which takes place in the Hoenn region. Once again, as a new rookie trainer, you'll have to capture all the Pokémon, defeat your rival, beat gym leaders, and become a Pokémon master. There's also some great additions that were added to R/S such as Pokémon contests, double battles, and Pokéblocks. Notable features and places of interest are as follows:
Features
- 386 Pokémon to capture. (Although only 200 could be caught in the game, the other 186 Pokémon could be obtained from Fire Red and Leaf Green versions released a year later.)
- Greatly improved graphics, sprites, and sounds
- Hoenn Region
- Berry Mixing to create Pokéblocks
- Pokémon contests
- Double Battles
- New Team Magma/Aqua villains
- Contest Halls
- Return of the Safari Zone (Much missed from Gold/Silver/Crystal)
- The Battle Tower
Release Dates
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March 18, 2003 |
 |
November 21, 2002 |
 |
July 25, 2003 |
Emerald Version
As with past generation trends, a third game version was added: Emerald. Emerald featured slight graphical tweaks including animated sprites like in Crystal. The storyline was slightly changed a bit also; there are a few more places to check out. The biggest addition on Emerald though is the Battle Frontier. Players can truly put their battle skills to the test in this huge area against tough AI.
Release Dates
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April 30, 2005 |
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September 16, 2004 |
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October 21, 2005 |
