Congratulations Nintendo, you just ruined one of the best RPG franchises and one of your most important series.
Ok, so I lied, I can say good things about this game, but, when compared to how amazing previous games of the series were, this game sucks. Let me explain. Why was Pokémon Red/Blue/Green/Yellow so great when it was first released? Because, while they managed to have a somewhat deep stats system, any mindless dumbass could play it, unlike other RPG series like Final Fantasy or Dragon Quest. Then Gold/Silver came and what was good became the best, most hacked and most beloved game on the GBC. Hell, it was fun to play and fight your friends with your Pikachu lvl 25 that you thought would be unstoppable, just like Ash´s Pikachu from the cartoon . Yay.
Pokémon Ruby/Sapphire still has Pikachu, but it´s not as fun to play. First, the charm from the previous games is gone. The simple music you used to hear all the time is not as pleasant. The attack sprites are not as cool. And Pikachu sucks. Even more. The simplicity is gone. You cannot fight anything you want hoping to get to lvl 100 with a strong pokémon. it´s all based on what you fight. Fight a fast pokémon and you gain speed. Simple? Not as it sounds. Each pokémon has a different quantity of speed you gain. Now imagine this for every stat. Not only the leveling system was ruined, they increased the number of attacks only pros (yes, there´s people who play pokémon profissionaly) use, but didn´t increase much cool moves. Only a couple like Overheat. Yes you can still, get your Blaziken (oh, and the new pokémon names suck. Come on, Blaziken? Jirachy? WTF?) to use only Flametrower, but it will cause much less damage, due to the new leveling sistem that ruins the game.
To summarize, pokémon became a competition title. For pros this is heaven due to more complex leveling sistem, more deep strategy with things like ability and double battles. But for the average consumer that just wanna have fun playing what used to be a great series it´s gonna be a dissapointment. Sure kids will love trying to know every pokémon name (there´re more than 350), but do kids a favor and give them pokémon silver. For those like me who grew playing pokémon this game is: an insult to the series that´s more about brawl than brain and the end of pokémonmania. Plus, you can´t use your Typhlosion anymore. That´s the biggest reason the game sucks.
As always the points of the game:
GRAPHICS:
The charm is long gone. The sprites aren´t as cool as in previous generations, but it´s important to notice the game is beautiful. Thou it lacks the night/day cicle visually every other aspect is beautiful considering how big the game is. Loses points for not being how pokémon should be: simple.
SOUND:
Again, it don´t have the charm from previous generations. It´s just a bunch of annoying things making annoying sounds with an annoying song in the back. Like every other song in the series, and every other sound effect and etc. But the game doesn´t sound like a ringtone anymore, therefore i recommend turn the sound off.
GAMEPLAY:
The simplicity is gone. Only pros and fanatics will bother playing this for a long time. If the game was much, much more complex, it would be a heck of an RPG, but it´s not complex enough for the RPG lover to play, nor it´s simple for children to fall in love with. Pokémon Gold/Silver may be older, but is years ahead of this.
LENGTH:
Pokémon must be the only game that never ends, and this is no exception. You could spend months trying to create the best team possible, and battling with friends never gets old.
REPLAY VALUE:
You won´t likely begin a new game anytime soon. This score depends largely on wheater you like how the new gameplay works or not. If you do, this game could last forever. Really, forever. If you don´t then you won´t bother playing the game after you beat the Elite 4
GRAPHICS: A beautiful GBA game, but not more than it. Nothing special, since the original game´s charm is gone
8,0
SOUND: Evolution can be bad. This is a good example. previous games of the franchise sounded like ringtones, and it was awesome. This sounds like something weird, and it´s annoying 99% of the time
4,0
GAMEPLAY: The pokémon gameplay, just more complex. Wanna a fun RPG that while simple is fun and deep? Try previous games. Wanna something complex that makes you use every part of your brain? Try Fallout. Still, the game is pokémon at it´s heart, and it´s the only thing that saves this game.
6,0
LENGHT: The game never ends. ´Nuff said.
10
REPLAY VALUE: Largely dependant in if you like the game or not. If you do, this could be the only game in the GBA you need
10
OVERALL SCORE: 7