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role-playing video game Role-playing video games, also known as CRPG (computer/console role-playing games), comprise a broad video game genre generally defined by a detailed story and character advancement (often through increasing characters' levels or other skills) ...
developed by
Game Freak is a Japanese video game developer, best known as the primary developer and co-owners of the ''Pokémon (video game series), Pokémon'' series of role-playing video games. History Predating the video game company, ''Game Freak'' was a self- ...
and published by The Pokémon Company and
Nintendo is a Japanese Multinational corporation, multinational video game company headquartered in Kyoto. It develops, publishes, and releases both video games and video game consoles. The history of Nintendo began when craftsman Fusajiro Yamauchi ...
for the
Game Boy Advance The (GBA) is a 32-bit handheld game console, manufactured by Nintendo, which was released in Japan on March 21, 2001, and to international markets that June. It was later released in mainland China in 2004, under the name iQue Game Boy Advanc ...
. It was first released in Japan in 2004, and was later released internationally in 2005. It is the fifth version, after both ''Pokémon Ruby'' and ''Sapphire'' and ''Pokémon FireRed'' and ''LeafGreen'', and is the final game of the third generation of the ''Pokémon'' video game series. The gameplay and controls are largely the same as the previous games in the series; players control a Pokémon trainer from an overhead perspective. As with ''Ruby'' and ''Sapphire'', the player's general goal is to explore the Hoenn region and conquer a series of eight Pokémon Gyms in order to challenge the Elite Four and the Hoenn Pokémon League Champion, while the main subplot is to defeat two criminal organizations attempting to harness a legendary Pokémon's power for their own goals. Along with Pokémon that debuted in ''Ruby'' and ''Sapphire'', the game incorporates Pokémon from ''Pokémon Gold'' and ''Silver'' not featured in ''Ruby'' and ''Sapphire''. ''Emerald''s reception was generally positive upon release. Praise was given to the addition of the Battle Frontier and for fixing story elements from ''Pokémon Ruby'' and ''Sapphire''.


Gameplay

The gameplay in ''Emerald'' is largely the same as in ''Ruby'' and ''Sapphire''. Much of the game takes place in an overhead style; players' characters can move in four directions and can talk to other people on the overworld. Players can encounter wild Pokémon by walking into grass, surfing on their Pokémon, walking through caves, and other means. They can also battle other trainers' Pokémon. When this happens, the game shifts to a battle screen where players and their Pokémon are seen on the front-left portion of the screen while opponents are viewed on the back-right portion. Stats of the Pokémon and their trainers are shown on the side of each participant; these stats include the Pokémon's levels, each trainers' number of Pokémon (from one to six), the Pokémon's health, and any status effects, such as poison, paralysis, burn, or confusion. Trainers send out the first Pokémon in their party and they take turns attacking where the first strike is determined usually by the speed of the two Pokémon. Players can choose from one of four options: Fight, Bag, Switch, and Run. Each Pokémon has up to four moves that they can use, which have different effects, number of uses, and types, such as Grass or Psychic. When a Pokémon hits 0 hit points (HP), they faint, forcing the Pokémon's trainer to switch out. Once one trainer runs out of Pokémon, the battle is over. When a human-controlled Pokémon wins a battle, the Pokémon gains experience. Enough experience will earn that Pokémon a higher level, which grants upgraded stats—attack, defense, special attack, special defense, HP, and speed—and sometimes grant new moves and prompt the Pokémon to evolve. Certain battles allow for two-on-two battles; certain moves were designed to support partners while other moves are capable of attacking two or more Pokémon. Unlike ''Ruby'' and ''Sapphire'' which had the player fight two specific trainers, ''Emerald'' allowed for the player to have a 2-on-2 battle with two trainers both of whom they could usually battle separately. Every Pokémon has an ability that often aides in battle, such as abilities that make a Pokémon more powerful if they are close to fainting. Wild Pokémon encountered by players can be captured using items called Poké Balls, which have a greater chance of success the weaker the wild Pokémon is. Players can battle and trade with others using any of the third generation ''Pokémon'' games including ''Emerald'', ''Ruby'', ''Sapphire'', ''FireRed'', and ''LeafGreen'' by linking their Game Boy Advance systems together. This can be accomplished either by using a Game Boy Advance Link Cable or by use of the wireless adapter that was bundled with ''FireRed'' and ''LeafGreen''. It is also compatible with '' Pokémon XD: Gale of Darkness''. This allows players to trade for Pokémon not normally obtainable in ''Emerald''. Aside from the traditional battle and overworld style, players' Pokémon are also able to participate in Pokémon Contests where they can try and win in five contest categories: "Cool", "Beauty", "Cute", "Smart", and "Tough" competitions. The players' characters are given a device early on called the PokéNav, which allows players to view the world map, check their Pokémon's contest stats, and make and receive phone calls with trainers that they have met with whom they can chat or plan a battle. This replaces a function called "Trainer's Eyes", which allows players to register certain trainers and see when they are in the mood to battle. This also allows players to re-battle Gym Leaders, an ability not found in previous ''Pokémon'' games. ''Emerald'' includes several other new features and changes such as animations of Pokémon in-battle and an area called the Battle Frontier which is an expansion of the Battle Tower found in previous games. A man whom players encounter several times throughout the game will eventually allow them to access the Battle Frontier after beating the Pokémon League Champion. The Battle Frontier features the aforementioned Battle Tower in addition to six new areas. Completing these areas awards players with "Battle Points" which can be spent on prizes to use in and out of battle. The Japanese version features compatibility with the Nintendo e-Reader; however, this was cut for the English release due to its lack of success. Also featured is the Trainer Hill area which, in the Japanese version, is compatible with the e-Reader. Rare Pokémon that originated from earlier ''Pokémon'' games such as Mew, Lugia, and Ho-Oh were made available through an in-game event.


Setting and story

The setting and story remain largely the same as ''Ruby'' and ''Sapphire''. Players can choose between either a boy or girl, both of whom have been given new outfits with a green color scheme, and one of three Pokémon before they proceed from their hometown into the rest of the game's world. Players are tasked with filling their Pokédex by catching different Pokémon species and evolving them. They are also tasked to complete eight gym challenges and defeat the Elite Four and the Pokémon League Champion by battling their Pokémon. Along the way, they make two rivals: May or Brendan, the child of the Pokémon Professor Birch, and Wally, a timid child from Petalburg who the player assists in catching his first Pokémon, a Ralts. They also encounter Wallace, the Hoenn League Champion. Along their journey, they face both Team Magma and Team Aqua, who originally could only be faced in ''Ruby'' and ''Sapphire'', respectively. Both have a goal to change the world they believe will benefit Pokémon—Magma desiring to expand the landmass and Aqua desiring to expand the sea—and both plan to accomplish their respective goals by summoning the legendary Pokémon Groudon and Kyogre, respectively. Both teams make repeated efforts to alter the landscape. Team Magma attempts to make a volcano erupt and Team Aqua tries to steal a weather-altering Pokémon. Between the player's visit to the seventh and eighth gyms, both teams summon their respectively-sought legendary Pokémon with mystical orbs stolen from Mt. Pyre; however, the Pokémon refuse to obey either team and begin fighting, which puts the world in a constantly switching state of droughts and heavy rainfalls. The player climbs a tower in order to summon the legendary Pokémon Rayquaza, who quells the other two Pokémon's rage. After the player defeats the Elite Four and Wallace to becoming the new Hoenn League Champion, they are able to encounter two Pokémon flying across Hoenn, Latias and Latios, and can access an area called the Battle Frontier, which adds several new challenges for the player. The player gains access to a battle with former Hoenn League Champion Steven Stone in Meteor Falls, who uses a powered-up version of his team in Ruby and Sapphire. The player is now able to catch Kyogre and Groudon, which can be tracked by talking to the scientist in the Weather Institute.


Development and promotion

''Pokémon Emerald'' was developed by
Game Freak is a Japanese video game developer, best known as the primary developer and co-owners of the ''Pokémon (video game series), Pokémon'' series of role-playing video games. History Predating the video game company, ''Game Freak'' was a self- ...
and published by
Nintendo is a Japanese Multinational corporation, multinational video game company headquartered in Kyoto. It develops, publishes, and releases both video games and video game consoles. The history of Nintendo began when craftsman Fusajiro Yamauchi ...
for the
Game Boy Advance The (GBA) is a 32-bit handheld game console, manufactured by Nintendo, which was released in Japan on March 21, 2001, and to international markets that June. It was later released in mainland China in 2004, under the name iQue Game Boy Advanc ...
. It was first announced in ''
Coro Coro Magazine is a Japanese children's manga magazine published by Shogakukan. It was established in 1977 and several of its properties, like ''Doraemon'' and the ''Pokémon'' series of games, have gone on to be cultural phenomena in Japan. The name comes fr ...
''. It features compatibility with the Nintendo e-Reader and 83 cards launched for ''Emerald'' on October 7, 2004. It is the third version of ''Ruby'' and ''Sapphire'' and follows a tradition of third releases, e.g. '' Pokémon Yellow'' for ''Pokémon Red'' and ''Blue''. The wireless adapter was bundled with Japanese copies of ''Emerald''; this was removed from English versions of the game. Nintendo has done several promotions related to ''Emerald''. Nintendo held a competition for players based on ''Emerald'' where players compete to be the "''Pokémon Emerald'' Ultimate Frontier Battle Brain". The competition took place in seven areas across the United States and Canada, where 14 finalists, two from each area, competed in
Seattle Seattle ( ) is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Washington and in the Pacific Northwest region of North America. With a population of 780,995 in 2024, it is the 18th-most populous city in the United States. The city is the cou ...
, Washington's
Space Needle The Space Needle is an observation tower in Seattle, Washington, United States. Considered to be an icon of the city, it has been designated a List of Seattle landmarks, Seattle landmark. Located in the Lower Queen Anne, Seattle, Lower Queen An ...
for a trip for two to the Pokémon Park in Nagoya, Japan. People could also enter to win a trip to the Space Needle to watch the competition. The competition centered around trivia about characters from Pokémon and their abilities. Nintendo also introduced a pre-order program that would give those who pre-ordered the game exclusive access to a ''Pokémon'' website, a collector's tin holder, and a guide to the Battle Frontier. A limited edition
Game Boy Advance SP The Game Boy Advance SP (SP stands for "Special") is a 32-bit handheld game console made by Nintendo. It was released in Japan on February 14, 2003, and to international markets in March. This model is an upgraded version of the Game Boy Advance ...
was released by Nintendo which featured a silhouette of the Pokémon Rayquaza. It was distributed by Nintendo in Japan exclusively on their website "Pokémon Trainer Online" and was never released outside of Japan. It was featured in the ''Official Nintendo Magazine''s list of rare ''Pokémon'' consoles. Players who brought their Game Boy Advance with a copy of ''Emerald'' and a wireless adapter to Booth 2029 of the 2005
Comic-Con International San Diego Comic-Con is a comic book convention and multi-genre entertainment event held annually in San Diego, California, at the San Diego Convention Center. Founded in 1970, originally showcasing primarily comic books and science fiction/fant ...
were given an in-game item called the Mystic Ticket which allows players the opportunity to capture Lugia and Ho-oh.


Reception


Critical reception

''Pokémon Emerald'' received generally positive reception and holds aggregate scores of 76/100 and 76.65% on
Metacritic Metacritic is an American website that aggregates reviews of films, television shows, music albums, video games, and formerly books. For each product, the scores from each review are averaged (a weighted average). Metacritic was created ...
and
GameRankings GameRankings was a video gaming review aggregator that was founded in 1999 and owned by CBS Interactive. It indexed over 315,000 articles relating to more than 14,500 video games. GameRankings was discontinued in December 2019, with its staff bei ...
respectively. It received an award for excellence at the ninth annual CESA game awards. ''
IGN ''IGN'' is an American video gaming and entertainment media website operated by IGN Entertainment Inc., a subsidiary of Ziff Davis, Inc. The company's headquarters is located in San Francisco's SoMa district and is headed by its former e ...
''s Craig Harris stated that while he was not enthused by ''Emerald'', he admitted that it was a solid game and that it was the best version to get for people who hadn't played ''Ruby'' or ''Sapphire'' yet. '' 1UP.com''s Christian Nutt felt that it was the definitive version of ''Pokémon'' at the time yet was also a rehash. ''
GameSpy GameSpy was an American provider of online multiplayer and matchmaking middleware for video games founded in 1999 by Mark Surfas. After the release of a multiplayer server browser for Quake, QSpy, Surfas licensed the software under the GameS ...
''s Phil Theobald felt that it was a good game in its own right but felt like the same game as ''Ruby'' and ''Sapphire''. ''
GameSpot ''GameSpot'' is an American video gaming website that provides news, reviews, previews, downloads, and other information on video games. The site was launched on May 1, 1996, created by Pete Deemer, Vince Broady, and Jon Epstein. In addition ...
''s Ryan Davis noted that it was a quality experience despite being similar to ''Ruby'' and ''Sapphire'' and that hardcore fans may appreciate its changes. ''
Eurogamer ''Eurogamer'' is a British video game journalism website launched in 1999 alongside parent company Gamer Network. In 2008, it started in the formerly eponymous trade fair EGX (Eurogamer Expo until 2013) organised by its parent company. Fr ...
''s Corey Brotherson felt that it was a good game in its own right but was lacking in compelling additions. He added however that it was a better game for players new to the series. ''Nintendo Life''s Laurie Blake performed a retroactive review of ''Emerald''; she felt that the ''Pokémon'' games have aged well but still feel like they did in 1996. She further stated that the similarities between it and ''Ruby'' and ''Sapphire'' prevented it from being a must-have while still being good. ''
Allgame RhythmOne , a subsidiary of Nexxen, is an American digital advertising technology company that owns and operates the web properties AllMusic, AllMovie, and SideReel. Blinkx was founded in 2004, went public on the Alternative Investment Market, ...
''s Julia Reges felt that the game had a lot of value for younger players but that older players may be uninterested. She compared Nintendo's remakes of the ''Pokémon'' games to the various ''
Star Wars ''Star Wars'' is an American epic film, epic space opera media franchise created by George Lucas, which began with the Star Wars (film), eponymous 1977 film and Cultural impact of Star Wars, quickly became a worldwide popular culture, pop cu ...
'' remakes. ''IGN''s Audrey Drake praised the game for utilizing both of the villain groups and called it a "marked departure" from ''Ruby'' and ''Sapphire''. She felt that the ability to re-battle Gym Leaders created an "exciting challenge" for players. She also included ''Emerald'', alongside ''Ruby'' and ''Sapphire'', in a list of Game Boy Advance games that she wanted to see on the
Nintendo 3DS The is a foldable dual-screen handheld game console produced by Nintendo. Announced in March 2010 as the successor to the Nintendo DS, the console was released originally on February 26, 2011 and went through various revisions in its lifetime, ...
' eShop. ''1UP.com''s ''IGN''s Lucas M. Thomas bemoaned the fact that he had to play through the whole game before he could play the Battle Frontier. Jeremy Parish listed ''Emerald'' as one of the best games to bring onto a plane. Fellow ''1UP.com'' editor Kat Bailey included it in her list of remakes that "left the originals in the dust". She praised the Battle Frontier and its fixes for flaws found in ''Ruby'' and ''Sapphire''.


Sales

''Emerald'' launched in the top spot in Japan with 791,000 copies sold in its first week and 372,000 copies sold in its first day. It was the fourth best-selling game in Japan for 2004. It sold 1.4 million for the year and ranked behind '' Dragon Quest V: Hand of the Heavenly Bride'', ''Pokémon FireRed'' and ''LeafGreen'' (combined), and '' Dragon Quest VIII: Journey of the Cursed King''. The list of the top 1000 best-selling video games in Japan for 2010 featured ''Emerald'' at 779 with 7,724 copies sold for a total of 1,916,505 sold since release. It was the only Game Boy Advance game on the list. More than 146,000 people pre-ordered copies of ''Emerald'' in the US. ''Emerald'' launched in the United States at the number one position in May; it followed in June by falling to the number two spot below '' Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas'' on
Xbox Xbox is a video gaming brand that consists of four main home video game console lines, as well as application software, applications (games), the streaming media, streaming service Xbox Cloud Gaming, and online services such as the Xbox networ ...
with 265,000 copies sold in that month. It had sold 1.72 million copies worldwide by June 1, 2005. It was the second best-selling game for the first half of 2005. In a poll conducted by ''IGN'', readers ranked ''Emerald'' as the most popular Game Boy Advance game for the 2005 holiday season. It ranked second for the whole year of 2005 below '' Madden NFL 06''. By the end of 2005 it had sold 1.2 million in Europe and nearly 5 million worldwide. To date it is one of the three best-selling Game Boy Advance games. Its life-to-date sales totaled 6.32 million by the 2007 fiscal year. In November 2005, ''
Nintendo Power ''Nintendo Power'' was a video game news and strategy magazine from Nintendo of America, first published in July/August 1988 as Nintendo's official print magazine for North America. The magazine's publication was initially done monthly by Ninte ...
'' erroneously reported that "Total sales rom ''Emerald''would exceed the value of an actual
emerald Emerald is a gemstone and a variety of the mineral beryl (Be3Al2(SiO3)6) colored green by trace amounts of chromium or sometimes vanadium.Hurlbut, Cornelius S. Jr., and Kammerling, Robert C. (1991). ''Gemology'', John Wiley & Sons, New York ...
the size of
Neptune Neptune is the eighth and farthest known planet from the Sun. It is the List of Solar System objects by size, fourth-largest planet in the Solar System by diameter, the third-most-massive planet, and the densest giant planet. It is 17 t ...
."


Notes


References


External links

* (US) * {{DEFAULTSORT:Pokémon Emerald 2004 video games Game Boy Advance games Game Boy Advance-only games Game Freak games Games with GameCube-GBA connectivity Japanese role-playing video games Multiplayer and single-player video games
Emerald Emerald is a gemstone and a variety of the mineral beryl (Be3Al2(SiO3)6) colored green by trace amounts of chromium or sometimes vanadium.Hurlbut, Cornelius S. Jr., and Kammerling, Robert C. (1991). ''Gemology'', John Wiley & Sons, New York ...
Role-playing video games Top-down video games Video games developed in Japan Video games scored by Go Ichinose Video games scored by Junichi Masuda Video games scored by Morikazu Aoki Video games set in Japan Video games set on fictional islands Video games with gender-selectable protagonists ja:ポケットモンスター ルビー・サファイア#ポケットモンスター エメラルド