There's no denying the success of Pokémon is based on a very worthy formula, and much to a degree deserves its long running triumph. Nintendo has crafted a game that takes the more accessible elements of children's story narrative (relatable brave child entering a vast and unknown world of discovery), toy/card collecting (you find your Pokémon of varying abilities, train them into a fighting force for combat and trading), and RPGs (slow turn-based battles, and friendly townsfolk who don’t mind you rifling through their houses and taking their items). From these ingredients, Pokémon is cooked into something worth far more than the sum of its parts, if a little cookie cutter several years on from the original.
Emerald has the same level of insanely addictive collecting and battling where you catch the creatures and have them fight against other Pokémon in a selection of moves with a top trumps/rock-paper-scissors style stratagem. Poor choices, like selecting a fire elemental Pokémon against a water one, can quickly lose you fights. This is the backbone of the gameplay and it still works wonderfully, as does the ultimate choice of whether to capture or finish off a wild Pokémon when they reach their final vestiges of health; risking a missed imprisonment and prolonged brawl should you fail to get your target. The rarer the beastie, the harder and riskier it is. Obvious, yet well balanced.
Pokemon Emerald
Layered on top of that is the upgrade system and expansion of your little pets, which sees them grow, adapt and evolve under your tutelage. Some Pokémon can be given special abilities by items, others gain them from experience won in fracas. They become unique to you and thus the true genius of Pokémon pops out and traps you with its compulsion. Within an hour of the game, you're hunting down rare beasts, affectionately giving them silly names, and crushing all-comers, whether those are CPU trainers from the story or link-up/wireless human players. It's fun and addictive. It's also inevitably samey and flawed.
Pokemon Emerald
Pokemon Emerald
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