GRAPHICS and SOUND

The scenery and introduction of this hack are quite different from Pokémon Ruby. After you start playing, you see Professor Birch as usual, but the silhouette of a Charmeleon pops out of his Poke Ball instead of the Lotad. The moving truck you so cruelly had to ride in the back of is really a copy of Mr. Briney’s boat on the outside. If you pick a girl character, it is still a moving truck. The girl who I will call “May” has hair that changes color as she walks. Once you are in your house, (and if you pick a boy character) you will notice the Pokémon workers are now a Team Aqua member and a moving truck. They still sound like Pokémon, but if you talk to the T.A. Member (or lower Machoke in May’s adventure), he will curse profanely about how heavy his load is. Every time you step into the outside of your new hometown, it will snow and then stop right away. The ground is a blanket of white as are the trees. It could just be frost, hence Pokémon “Frosty”. Get used to this because frost, rain and various levels of snowing are a dominant theme throughout the game. The townspeople are different looking. Professor Birch’s aide is a Magnemite that talks. The person who stops you from leaving town is a Team Aqua grunt. There is what looks like staircases on the first two routes that help you avoid the grass. I quickly learned why I should avoid the grass on the first three routes. (I will give you more on that later.) The sounds and music are usual for the Hoenn region games. The imagery and dialog seem bizarre, yet somehow still enjoyable. I still like the way my character morphs into a little person with a cape when he runs. The bike helmet is not too shabby either. Note: As you catch more Pokemon and fill up your box, you will notice some are slightly discolored when in the box.

STORY

Moreover, on dialog, Professor Birch now calls his laboratory a “tunnel“. The first television broadcast your character sees returns to a show called “The Many Assassinations of Barney”. The T.A. Grunt that bars you from escaping town initially says that Pokémon will violate you if you go into the grass. So far, so good. When you talk to your rival for the first time, it is the same as normal if he is a boy. If it is a girl, she is viewing some unseen (thankfully) “adult material” and talking to herself about it at first. Then as usual May acts surprised, but then swears, introduces herself and offers her “services” to you as long you don’t tell Professor Birch about her leisure time “activities”. Then she briefly mentions snuggling and excuses herself to do STUFF. Yes, in bold type.  Have I mentioned I like this story?  You pick from Charmander, Squirtle and Bulbasaur. I usually pick Bulbasaur. The second town has a hidden compartment that you can enter. The rest of the early game goes off without any major change.

DIFFICULTY

The game is easier in some respects. There is a strong temptation to use dirt cheap Master Balls and Rare Candies to catch level 50 Pokémon and level them up right to the maximum. What fun would that be though? I now know what I would do with veritably unlimited Rare Candies. I’d use them only sparingly for Pokémon that are weaker than is manageable for steady game play and ones like Abra and Magikarp that don’t have attacks to effectively defend themselves in battle. The level 50 monsters on the first three routes are not the kind I like to own. They have already forgotten the level up attacks I really want them to have. I did not catch them in my most recent save file. I prefer to take my time and raise my team normally. The Master Balls for sale are always a big plus. I do not have to spend a ton of time catching a good team. I can just throw a purple ball and have it done. Many other good items are also cheaper than spit. That includes the Mach Bike. Hooray! The route trainers are lined up in nice little rows for you to challenge whenever you please. The gym trainers are easier to get at. The third route tall grass is shaped in the word “COOL” so it is easier to avoid. I suggest learning CUT before challenging the group of trainers on route 116 because accidents do happen. You may find yourself in a situation where you have to CUT your way out.

ADDICTED?

I am. This hacked version of Pokémon Ruby adds so much adventure to the fold that I will probably see this one through to the end. I will maybe log 100 to 200 more plays on this game alone. That is somewhat normal in today’s world. With video game culture so prevalent, who isn't a gamer? Can I get a Hoothoot? (Maybe not in this game.) That is right! I just made a Pokémon double entendre. Ha!

DEPTH

As I explained earlier, this game has as much depth and difficulties as you want it to have. You need only resist the urge to make it too easy for yourself and you will have hour after hour of entertainment. The Pokedex seems to keep up with to reorganized wild Pokémon supply. You can find Pelipper and Wingull by running over water on the fifth route. Yay!

OVERALL

I would say you should try it. The worst that could happen is perhaps losing control and going on a Rare Candy feeding frenzy. Then you might have a bunch of high-level brutes that will not obey you. Does that sound like fun or is my way better? Either way, I believe the choice on that issue is an improvement on the game. Let me know what you think.

Postman3 : That's a pretty nice and brief review,I thought that Pokemon Frosty was a bit ok in my opinion because of all the glitches that happened to me but the sound and the graphics were good.

I thought this was going to be a review for a wrestling game. =|

Son, I am disappoint

legacyme3 : I really just made that the title to be cool and relevant to my review. Sorry to disappoint you. I suppose I could review a wrestling game, but I've played them before and they don't really engage the analytical part of my brain.

mike345 : Thank you so much. I actually had a glitch happen to me right after you posted. I was buying up a bunch of Poke Mart stuff and when I finished buying my character froze. The music was still playing and other characters were still moving so I just loaded my last save file and continued playing. I'm having so much fun, nothing can stop me now.