Pokémon Omega Ruby and Alpha Sapphire

Pokémon Omega Ruby
Pokémon Alpha Sapphire

The cover art for Alpha Sapphire featuring the legendary Pokémon Kyogre in its new Primal Kyogre state. Omega Ruby‍ '​s cover art features Primal Groudon.
Developer(s) Game Freak
Publisher(s) The Pokémon Company
Distributor(s) Nintendo
Director(s) Shigeru Ohmori
Composer(s) Minako Adachi
Go Ichinose
Hitomi Sato
Junichi Masuda
Series Pokémon
Platform(s) Nintendo 3DS
Release date(s)
  • JP November 21, 2014
  • NA November 21, 2014
  • EU November 28, 2014
  • AUS November 21, 2014
Genre(s) Role-playing
Distribution Nintendo 3DS Game Card, Download

Pokémon Omega Ruby and Alpha Sapphire (ポケットモンスター オメガルビー&アルファサファイア Poketto Monsutā Omega Rubī & Arufa Safaia) are two 2014 role-playing video games developed by Game Freak and published by Nintendo for the Nintendo 3DS family of systems. They are part of the sixth generation of the Pokémon series, serving as enhanced remakes of the 2002 Game Boy Advance titles Pokémon Ruby and Sapphire.[1] The games were announced on May 7, 2014, in a teaser trailer released by Nintendo.[2][3] Omega Ruby and Alpha Sapphire were released in Japan, North America, and Australia on November 21, 2014, exactly twelve years after the release date of the original Ruby and Sapphire; the European release was one week later on November 28, 2014.

Gameplay

Main article: Gameplay of Pokémon

Pokémon Omega Ruby and Alpha Sapphire are role-playing video games with adventure elements, presented in a third-person, overhead perspective. It is the third Pokémon game to have 3D functions. The player controls a young trainer who goes on a quest to catch and train creatures known as Pokémon, and win battles against other trainers. By defeating enemy Pokémon in turn-based battles, the player's Pokémon gains experience, allowing them to level up and increase their battle statistics, learn new battle techniques, and in some cases, evolve into more powerful Pokémon. Alternatively, players can capture wild Pokémon, found during random encounters, by weakening them in battle and catching them with Poké Balls, allowing them to be added to their party. Players are also able to battle and trade Pokémon with other players using the Nintendo 3DS's connectivity features. Like in previous games in the series, certain Pokémon are only obtainable in either Omega Ruby or Alpha Sapphire, or can only be found in prior editions in the Pokémon series, with players encouraged to trade with others in order to obtain all Pokémon from both versions.

Setting and plot

The setting and plot of Omega Ruby and Alpha Sapphire are mostly the same as the original Ruby and Sapphire games. The player character has just moved to the Hoenn Region with his/her mother, as their father Norman has been hired as a Gym Leader for the region. The player character begins their Pokémon Trainer journey by saving Professor Birch from a wild Pokémon, choosing either Treecko, Torchic, or Mudkip as their first partner Pokémon. They then travel around the Hoenn Region to complete their Pokédex and battle the eight Gym Leaders of the Hoenn Pokémon League. Along the way, the player character encounters the antagonist group Team Magma in Omega Ruby or Team Aqua in Alpha Sapphire who wish to use the power of the Legendary Pokémon to change the world to suit their desires. Team Magma wants to use Groudon to dry up the oceans to make the world a haven for terrestrial Pokémon while Team Aqua wishes to summon Kyogre to flood the lands to suit Water Pokémon. With the help of Steven Stone and the Gym Leader Wallace, the player character defeats Team Magma or Team Aqua and then captures the Legendary Pokémon to end their plans for good. The player then advances on to the Pokémon League, challenging the Elite Four and then the champion Steven to become the new Hoenn Pokémon League Champion. The player also has the option of participating in the various Pokémon Contests throughout Hoenn, using their Pokémon to put on a performance for an audience and judges.

A new side quest featured in Omega Ruby and Alpha Sapphire is called the Delta Episode.[4] The player character must work with the new character Zinnia to find a way to stop a meteor from crashing into the planet, which requires capturing the Legendary Pokémon Rayquaza in order to stop the meteor which contains the Legendary Pokémon Deoxys.

Development

Speculation about remakes of Ruby and Sapphire had been going on for years, most notably references to the games and their region, Hoenn, in the 2013 predecessors Pokémon X and Y.[5][6] In fact, "Hoenn Confirmed" became an internet meme that accompanied speculation.[7]

Nintendo announced the remakes in a press release on May 7, 2014. Omega Ruby and Alpha Sapphire were released in Japan, the Americas, and Oceania on November 21, followed by Europe on November 28, 2014.[8] As with X and Y, the games include all official translations, unlike previous generations where each game contained only a single language.[9][10] The only detailed information given before released was that the games would "take the players through a dramatic story within a spectacular new world".[11] Following the announcement, it was initially unclear if Omega Ruby and Alpha Sapphire were remakes of Ruby and Sapphire or entirely new games, due to the wording of the press release. In a financial results briefing that occurred a day after the reveal, the president of Nintendo, Satoru Iwata, confirmed that the new games would be full remakes of their 2002 counterparts.[12]

During Nintendo's live Electronic Entertainment Expo 2014 video on June 10, 2014, (and later produced in print in Japan's CoroCoro Comic) a trailer for Omega Ruby and Alpha Sapphire displayed new gameplay footage, including the new playable character designs[13] and new Mega Evolutions for Sceptile and Swampert that were not featured in X and Y as Blaziken was. A press release from Nintendo hinted that other Mega Stones (in-game items required for Mega Evolution) could only be found in Omega Ruby and Alpha Sapphire‍ '​s setting of Hoenn.[14][15] The press release and official websites for the video games also announced that the new forms of Groudon and Kyogre featured on the games' box art were their Primal (ゲンシ Genshi) forms, accessed through a method known as "Primal Reversion" (ゲンシカイキ Genshi Kaiki), which in the games' story is theorized to be related to Mega Evolution.[14][16][17][18][19]

Reception

 Reception
Aggregate scores
AggregatorScore
GameRankings83.79% (OR)[20]
82.73% (AS)[21]
Metacritic83/100 (OR)[22]
82/100 (AS)[23]
Review scores
PublicationScore
Famitsu37/40
Game Informer8.75/10[24]
GameSpot8/10[25]
IGN7.8/10[26]
Joystiq[27]
Nintendo World Report9/10[28]
Polygon8/10[29]
Hardcore Gamer4/5[30]

Omega Ruby and Alpha Sapphire have received positive reviews from video game critics. GameSpot's Peter Brown praised the 3D visuals and the super training mechanic, but believed the game failed to fully resolve general issues in the game formula.[31] IGN's Kallie Plagge also praised the game's 3D reinvention of Hoenn and online functionality. Plagge was critical of the over-abundance of HMs needed to play the game as well as the perceived imbalance favoring Water-type Pokémon (she played Alpha Sapphire which features Team Aqua as the villains) and the reliance on water-based routes. She remarked that while the Dive feature was novel in the original release, it had since become tedious.[32]

The games sold 3,040,000 copies in their first three days of sale. Of the total sales, 1,534,593 copies were sold in Japan, the rest were sold in North America and Australia.[33] Omega Ruby and Alpha Sapphire had the biggest launch in the series history in the United Kingdom, beating the previous record held by Pokémon Black and White.[34] At the end of 2014 the games have sold 2.4 million copies in Japan.[35] As of December 31, 2014, the games have sold 9.35 million copies worldwide.[36]

References

  1. ↑ "Pokémon Omega Ruby and Pokémon Alpha Sapphire". Pokémon.com. Nintendo/The Pokémon Company. Retrieved May 8, 2014.
  2. ↑ Scullion, Chris (May 7, 2014). "Pokemon Ruby & Sapphire remakes coming to 3DS". Computer and Video Games. Retrieved May 7, 2014.
  3. ↑ Ong, Larry (May 7, 2014). "Pokemon Omega Ruby and Alpha Sapphire Out for Nintendo 3DS in November 2014 (+Video)". Epoch Times. Retrieved May 8, 2014.
  4. ↑ "The Delta Episode: A New Story Brewing in Hoenn!". Pokemon (official US website). Retrieved December 28, 2014.
  5. ↑ Brian. "Pokemon X/Y references Hoenn, some fans think Game Freak could be teasing Ruby/Sapphire remake". NintendoEverything. Retrieved May 7, 2014.
  6. ↑ Hernandez, Patricia (October 15, 2013). "The Latest 'Clues' We Might Get A Pokémon Ruby and Sapphire Remake". Kotaku. Retrieved May 7, 2014.
  7. ↑ Harding, Xavier (May 7, 2014). "Pokémon X And Y News: Hoenn Remakes Confirmed! Pokémon Omega Ruby And Alpha Sapphire Coming This November". IBT Media. Retrieved May 7, 2014.
  8. ↑ Sarkar, Samit (May 7, 2014). "Pokemon Omega Ruby and Alpha Sapphire coming to 3DS in November". Polygon. Retrieved May 7, 2014.
  9. ↑ "『Pokémon Omega Ruby』及『Pokémon Alpha Sapphire』(日文版)　新資訊介紹". Nintendo (Hong Kong) Ltd. (Taiwan). Retrieved September 23, 2014.
  10. ↑ "『Pokémon Omega Ruby』及『Pokémon Alpha Sapphire』(日文版)　新資訊介紹". Nintendo (Hong Kong) Ltd. Retrieved September 23, 2014.
  11. ↑ GameCentral (May 7, 2014). "Pokémon Ruby and Sapphire remakes coming to 3DS | Metro News". Metro.co.uk. Retrieved May 8, 2014.
  12. ↑ Iwata, Satoru (May 8, 2014). "Financial Results Briefing for Fiscal Year Ended March 2014". Nintendo. Retrieved May 9, 2014.
  13. ↑ "冒険の舞台は自然豊かなホウエン地方！ | 『ポケットモンスター オメガルビー』『ポケットモンスター アルファサファイア』公式サイト". Pokemon.co.jp. Retrieved June 10, 2014.
  14. ↑ 14.0 14.1 CoroCoro Comic (in Japanese) (Japan: Shogakukan, published June 13, 2014) (July 2014). July 2014. Missing or empty |title= (help);
  15. ↑ "Pok'©mon Omega Ruby and Alpha Sapphire launch date announced, Legendary details revealed | GoNintendo - What are YOU waiting for?". GoNintendo. June 10, 2014. Retrieved June 10, 2014.
  16. ↑ Makuch, Eddie (June 10, 2014). "E3 2014: Pokemon Omega Ruby/Alpha Sapphire Launching November 21". GameSpot. Retrieved June 12, 2014.
  17. ↑ "Pokémon Omega Ruby And Pokemon Alpha Sapphire Release Date Announced". Siliconera. June 10, 2014. Retrieved June 10, 2014.
  18. ↑ "Omega Alpha". Pokemonrubysapphire.com. Retrieved June 12, 2014.
  19. ↑ "パッケージを飾るポケモンが判明！「ゲンシグラードン」・「ゲンシカイオーガ」 | 『ポケットモンスター オメガルビー』『ポケットモンスター アルファサファイア』公式サイト". Pokemon.co.jp. Retrieved June 10, 2014.
  20. ↑ "Pokemon Omega Ruby for 3DS - GameRankings". GameRankings.com. CBS Interactive Inc. Retrieved November 25, 2014.
  21. ↑ "Pokemon Alpha Sapphire for 3DS - GameRankings". GameRankings.com. CBS Interactive Inc. Retrieved November 25, 2014.
  22. ↑ "Pokemon Omega Ruby for 3DS Reviews - Metacritic". Metacritic. Retrieved November 25, 2014.
  23. ↑ "Pokemon Alpha Sapphire for 3DS Reviews - Metacritic". Metacritic. CBS Interactive Inc. Retrieved November 25, 2014.
  24. ↑ Hilliard, Kyle (November 21, 2014). "Pokémon Omega Ruby & Alpha Sapphire Review". Game Informer. Retrieved November 21, 2014.
  25. ↑ Brown, Peter. "Pokemon Alpha Sapphire/Omega Ruby Review - GameSpot". GameSpot. Retrieved November 18, 2014.
  26. ↑ Plagge, Kallie. "Pokémon Alpha Sapphire and Omega Ruby Review". IGN. Retrieved November 18, 2014.
  27. ↑ "Pokemon Omega Ruby / Alpha Sapphire review: A real gem". Joystiq. Retrieved November 18, 2014.
  28. ↑ "Pokemon Omega Ruby and Alpha Sapphire Review - Review". Nintendo World Report. Retrieved November 18, 2014.
  29. ↑ McElroy, Griffin (November 19, 2014). "Pokémon Omega Ruby and Alpha Sapphire Review: Fresh Paint". Vox Media, Inc. Retrieved November 19, 2014.
  30. ↑ Whittaker, Matt (November 25, 2014). "Review: Pokémon Omega Ruby and Alpha Sapphire". Hardcore Gamer. Hardcore Gamer. Retrieved November 30, 2014.
  31. ↑ Peter Brown (November 18, 2014). "Pokemon Alpha Sapphire/Omega Ruby Review - GameSpot". GameSpot. Retrieved November 20, 2014.
  32. ↑ "Pokémon Alpha Sapphire and Omega Ruby Review". IGN. November 18, 2014. Retrieved November 20, 2014.
  33. ↑ Phillips, Tom (November 26, 2014). "Pokémon Omega Ruby and Alpha Sapphire sell 3m copies in three days". Eurogamer. Gamer Network. Retrieved November 26, 2014.
  34. ↑ Phillips, Tom (December 1, 2014). "Omega Ruby and Alpha Sapphire UK's biggest Pokémon launch ever". Eurogamer. Gamer Network. Retrieved December 1, 2014.
  35. ↑ Phillips, Tom (January 7, 2015). "Japan's console market at lowest point for 24 years". Eurogamer. Gamer Network. Retrieved January 7, 2015.
  36. ↑ "Consolidated Results for the Nine Months Ended December 2013 and 2014" (PDF). Nintendo. January 28, 2015. p. 3. Retrieved February 20, 2015.

External links