Pokémon Omega Ruby / Alpha Sapphire (Nintendo 3DS) Review

Arriving a year after Pokémon X and Y up-ended the tea table and brought the series kicking and screaming into the realm of true 3D space and model-work, Pokémon Omega Ruby and Alpha Sapphire build off that foundation to show the world of Hoenn in a new light. The story of the original Game Boy Advance games is preserved, but essentially follows the same tried-and-tested formula as other mainline Pokémon games. Starting off as a new trainer, the player must journey through the region, collecting and nurturing critters to challenge other trainers with, and eventually reach and defeat the Elite Four to truly become the best. Recent changes to the series, namely Mega Evolution, throw a curveball or two into the plot of Pokémon Omega Ruby and Alpha Sapphire, making for a familiar, yet still new, experience for veteran Pocket Monster fans.

Unlike other duo titles in the franchise, the criminal organisation in these two games differ depending on the version being played. Omega Ruby pits the player against Team Magma, whose leader Maxi wishes to use the power of the legendary ground-type Groudon to terraform the sea. Alternately, Alpha Sapphire gives the spotlight to Archie's Team Aqua, which desires the water-type Kyogre's flooding of the landscape. A villainous team in one version will aid the player in the other, leading to surprisingly more story and narrative incentive than previous generations to pick up both titles, exclusive Pokémon aside.

Pokémon Omega Ruby and Alpha Sapphire follow the perfected template of the older games mechanics-wise, but take full advantage of the host hardware. Nintendo 3DS utilities like wireless and internet connectivity put the touch screen 'Nav' function to good use, and allow for easy map navigation and trading opportunities. Pokémon-amie and Super Training return from Pokémon X / Y, letting the player bond with their Pokémon through stylus petting and mini-games, respectively.

One Nav function of note is the newly introduced concept of the DexNav that allows the player to instantly see which Pokémon breeds are in the current vicinity that have already been seen, and instantly searches for one of them with a simple touch. The radar-like beeping of the DexNav and the new sneaking mechanic done by lightly pushing on the Circle Pad allows for the creeping up on rustling grass or soil patches, leading to more intensive and specific searches. This tool drastically improves wild Pokémon hunting, both for Pokédex collection purposes and for building stronger teams with certain moves and potential.

Both Pokémon Contests and Secret Bases also return, giving the player much more freedom in activity outside of the main adventure. Pokémon Contests trial a chosen creature's ability to captivate the audience with certain moves in selected categories, earning prizes and ribbons for doing so. Secret Bases in the past were fun to trade with friends over Link Cables, but have now received a whole new lease of life through Streetpass swapping, letting the player build his or her dream hideaway and visiting those of fellow local Pokémon players. QR code functionality also allows for base swapping over the Internet, and allowing other passers to inhabit the player's base like a mini-gym gives a vast amount for flexibility in how it can be set up.

Visually, the game is a treat, bright and colourful with tonnes of subtle personality touches, usually through character or Pokémon animations. Many towns and cities have been spruced up or redesigned completely, and key characters have been given more distinctive clothing and development. Character clothing customisation is sadly not retained from Pokémon X / Y, although the player's male or female avatar does don other garments at select points of the game. The 3D engine also looks to be the same functionally as last year's duo of games, in that the frame rate still chugs at times in battle; more so with the 3D slider enabled.

Remixing the vast majority of tunes from the originals, Pokémon Omega Ruby / Alpha Sapphire bring what is questionably the best sounding Pokémon soundtrack yet, keeping the trademark trumpet bellows, but developing them to the point of musical bliss. Voice work is still a no-go for the series, but the excellent translation and witty NPC dialogue more than make up for it.

Pokémon Omega Ruby / Alpha Sapphire fix many of the original games' flaws. The watery routes of Hoenn remain in all their splendour, but the wild encounter rate when surfing is drastically reduced, and when using a certain Pokémon with the ability, movement speed is doubled. The new Eon Flute item makes it easier than ever to navigate the region by the explorable sky, freeing up a move slot for the player's team and rendering the Fly ability all but unneeded. Technical Machines, or TMs for short, return with now unlimited uses, and the quick-select for key items like the Bike and Fishing Rod now reside on the Y button, allowing up to four pre-selected choices.

When the originals were released on GBA, Nintendo decided to make them, and subsequently all future titles, incompatible with the Game Boy games, leaving lots of beloved creatures stuck on them. Pokémon Omega Ruby / Alpha Sapphire have no such issue, being fully harmonious with Pokémon X / Y, and by extension any monster transferred all the way up from, ironically, the original versions of the games. Adding to that is Pokémon Bank, the 3DS app that acts as an online Pokémon deposit box, accessible in-game as soon as the player receives the Pokédex. Not only that, but Game Freak has enabled all Pokémon bar event creatures like Mew and Jirachi to be obtainable between the remakes and Pokémon X / Y, opening up the catching landscape to an immense degree later on in the game.

Pokémon Omega Ruby and Alpha Sapphire do not retain the Battle Frontier area that was included in the third version of the original duo, Emerald, but it does include a whole new scenario for the post-game, titled The Delta Episode that takes the story on a vastly different path to the rest of the series.

The game does have a small number of issues, however, most of which are due to its remake status. The Hidden Machines, or HMs, are back in abundance with both the Rock Smash and Dive techniques once again HM06 and 07, respectively. Whilst Pokémon X / Y downplayed the importance of HMs by placing their wider usage on optional explorable paths in the game, Pokémon Omega Ruby / Alpha Sapphire require them to progress in the main story, with Victory Road the worst offender. Even if one of the HMs is lowered in importance by the reliability of the Eon Flute's Soar function, that leaves six to juggle in the player's team and taking up valuable move slots. Much like the restrictive HMs, the choice of two bikes that perform differently also limits where the player can go, although they can be swapped when needed and both can be gained at the same time later on.

Due to the ready accessibility of Pokémon Bank, and the easily-obtained EXP Share item that now awards every Pokémon in the team half of the battle's experience points, Pokémon Omega Ruby and Alpha Sapphire might very well be the easiest games in the series yet; good for beginners, but a bane for the wider fan community. Although self-restrictions can be imposed to make the game harder, such as turning off the EXP Share or purposely using the wrong type in a battle, for example, the lack of a difficulty toggle shows through far more in this entry to the series than any other.

That being said, like all the other mainline games, Pokémon Omega Ruby and Alpha Sapphire contain a potentially monolithic number of play hours, depending on the player's needs. Complete the story? A couple of dozen hours or so. Train a team to perfection? Fill the 700+ entries of the National Pokédex? Worn-out 3DS units are a possibility. Despite remnants of age-old problems in the Pokémon lineage, Omega Ruby and Alpha Sapphire are very much recommended for newcomers and veterans alike.