Pokemon Ruby and Pokemon Sapphire were released for the Game Boy Advance in 2003, and they both started the 3rd Generation of the Pokemon franchise. The 3rd Generation is regarded by many to be the best one to date, and although that may not be my opinion, it is still a great generation. How well does it hold up to other generations? Let's go into the review and find out.

Graphics - 9/10

The graphics got yet another improvement since this is a new generation. Since Generation 3 is on the Game Boy Advance, the graphics are much more clear to see and are less pixelated than the past 2 Generations. Each Pokemon has gotten a cool new sprite, some even updated, such as Haunter. The overworld sprites are awesome, too. Like I said, everything becomes much clearer and easier to see than they were in the past two Generations. There's not really much else I can say about the graphics, other than they're great.

Sound - 8/10

The music in this game is great too. There's just one problem I have with it. What's with the excessive use of the trumpets? It may just be the Game Boy Advance's technology at the time, but it still kind of bothers me. At least the music in this game is fun to listen to. I honestly wish they used some other instruments, if at all possible. The remakes Omega Ruby and Alpha Sapphire did use a lot of trumpets as well, but they also introduced some other instruments mixed in with that. So it may just be the available technology at the time.


Addictiveness - 10/10

This is a Pokemon game. We all know that with each Pokemon game that comes out new things are added to make you want to keep playing. Pokemon Ruby and Sapphire have added 135 new Pokemon, making the total Pokemon count go from 251 to 386. Sadly, Pokemon Ruby and Sapphire are incompatible with the two previous Generations, which means you have to start all over. Pokemon Firered and Leafgreen make up for this, though, so I guess it's alright. Secret Bases were introduced in Pokemon Ruby and Pokemon Sapphire, and they are VERY addicting. Although, I feel as if they didn't work all that well until Omega Ruby and Alpha Sapphire. Nonetheless, there are many more things you can do in this game.

Story - 8/10

The story in this game is a fairly simple one. Two villainous groups named Team Magma and Team Aqua are trying to revive the two legendary Pokemon, Kyogre and Groudon. Team Aqua is trying to revive Kyogre to expand the sea, and Team Magma is trying to revive Groudon to expand the land. That's pretty much it. Like I said, the story is a fairly simple one. I feel that the remakes, Omega Ruby and Alpha Sapphire have used the story much better. The addition of Rayquaza in Pokemon Emerald makes this story better, but it's still fairly simple. That doesn't mean it's a bad story, I just feel that this is one of the weakest stories compared to the other games in the franchise.

Depth - 10/10

I explained part of this in the Addictiveness section in this review. Every time a new core game in the series is added, there is much more to do. This game is no exception. With 386 Pokemon to collect, you'll be playing this game for a long while. Just don't let the internal battery run dry...at least the internal battery isn't as bad as Generation 2's was.

Difficulty - 8/10

Just like every other game in the franchise, the difficulty really depends on the team you are building. I feel as if the Gym Leaders in this Generation are some of the toughest Gym Leaders to date. There's not really any Pokemon you can find that have a type advantage around the area of the next gym, which makes it even tougher. I wouldn't say all of the Gym Leaders are as frustrating as Whitney, but they can still be pretty tough. The same can be said for the Elite 4 and Champion, although I feel as if the Champion got downgraded in Pokemon Emerald...

Overall - 9.3/10

Like I said in the intro to this review, this Generation is regarded as the best out of them all by many, but not to me. It's still a wonderful Generation, though, and it's actually the Generation I play most on this site. Generation 3 takes my 3rd to most favorite Generation, and the games included in this Generation are a blast to play. I hope you enjoyed this review.

Summons -

Eniitan :

Nope, it's Janus

Anyway this was another good review of yours. I felt it was less detailed than the 4th generation one, but I enjoyed it anyway. Good structure and details, and you made comparisons with previous generations, which is always good in my book.