01-23-2012, 03:06 PM
Back when Ruby & Sapphire released in the US in 2003, I got them at launch.
Despite my interest in Pokemon somewhat waning by that time, I still managed to enjoy Ruby & Sapphire, but not nearly as much as Gold/Silver/Crystal or even Red/Blue/Yellow. However, I did enjoy the Double Battle mechanic completely, and thought it was Gen 3's biggest contribution(Especially with how they pull it off in Emerald, more on that later).
Everything else though, like the Berries, weren't doing anything for me gameplay-wise. Abilities are another great addition, but those combined with Natures make catching Pokemon a much more cumbersome process than needed. Unlike Gen 1-2 where you could take the first Pokemon you catch, in Gen 3 and onwards you'll pretty much want to catch a Pokemon with a beneficial nature, or at the very least a neutral nature. Even if just doing single-player, if you're stuck with a Pokemon with a horrible nature it WILL hold you back, and it's even worse competitively when factoring in IVs and such.
And that's really just Ruby/Sapphire thus far. Pokemon Colosseum came out in March 2004, acting as both the Gen 3 equivalent of Pokemon Stadium and as a full-on 3D Pokemon game... except you were restricted to the 50 ish Pokemon you could catch in the game, as opposed to the 200ish that Ruby/Sapphire offered, which leads me into my main problem with Gen 3: The Pokedex.
Not only could they have chosen better Pokemon to bring back for the new Hoenn Dex(Lol Wobuffet line over Mareep line?), but they made it a cumbersome process to get all 386 Pokemon due to the absent Kanto & Johto Pokemon.
Later on, Nintendo would go on to release FireRed & LeafGreen, which are remakes of japanese Red & Green(In other words, Blue was never properly remade and still counts as a "seperate" version for you collectors out there).
They were Gen 1 but with Gen 3's new additions, sans the berries which weren't a really good addition anyway! Thanks to FireRed & LeafGreen, it became much easier to get 386 Pokemon on Ruby & Sapphire, but there will still some missing Pokemon.
Enter Pokemon Emerald, which not only fills in most of the blanks of Ruby & Sapphire, but is overall Gen 3 perfected. The Double Battle mechanic introduced in Ruby & Sapphire is expanded upon to where you're not limited to certain trainers; That is to say, as long as two trainers encounter you at once, a double battle will initiate.
Gen 3 concluded with the release of Pokemon X
Gale Of Darkness. An overall much weaker sequel to Pokemon Colosseum, but it did allow capture of Lugia and a few Johto pokemon that weren't accounted for between Emerald, FireRed+LeafGreen, and Colosseum.
I really think that Gen 3 was much better than most people took it for, myself included. It is now, playing through all of the games that I now see it for its true quality. It's definitely better than Gen 4 overall, and maybe even on par with Gen 5. While I still think Gen 1+2 cannot be touched except in remake form, Gen 3 has proven to be much better than what most people took it for. Emerald is the definitive way to experience Gen 3, while FireRed+LeafGreen is the definitive way to experience Gen 1... it all works out.
Needless to say, I was a mistaken young child. Pokemon Gen 3 is fucking bombass, and if you didn't like it or gave it much of a chance before, you owe it to yourself to give it a second chance.
Despite my interest in Pokemon somewhat waning by that time, I still managed to enjoy Ruby & Sapphire, but not nearly as much as Gold/Silver/Crystal or even Red/Blue/Yellow. However, I did enjoy the Double Battle mechanic completely, and thought it was Gen 3's biggest contribution(Especially with how they pull it off in Emerald, more on that later).
Everything else though, like the Berries, weren't doing anything for me gameplay-wise. Abilities are another great addition, but those combined with Natures make catching Pokemon a much more cumbersome process than needed. Unlike Gen 1-2 where you could take the first Pokemon you catch, in Gen 3 and onwards you'll pretty much want to catch a Pokemon with a beneficial nature, or at the very least a neutral nature. Even if just doing single-player, if you're stuck with a Pokemon with a horrible nature it WILL hold you back, and it's even worse competitively when factoring in IVs and such.
And that's really just Ruby/Sapphire thus far. Pokemon Colosseum came out in March 2004, acting as both the Gen 3 equivalent of Pokemon Stadium and as a full-on 3D Pokemon game... except you were restricted to the 50 ish Pokemon you could catch in the game, as opposed to the 200ish that Ruby/Sapphire offered, which leads me into my main problem with Gen 3: The Pokedex.
Not only could they have chosen better Pokemon to bring back for the new Hoenn Dex(Lol Wobuffet line over Mareep line?), but they made it a cumbersome process to get all 386 Pokemon due to the absent Kanto & Johto Pokemon.
Later on, Nintendo would go on to release FireRed & LeafGreen, which are remakes of japanese Red & Green(In other words, Blue was never properly remade and still counts as a "seperate" version for you collectors out there).
They were Gen 1 but with Gen 3's new additions, sans the berries which weren't a really good addition anyway! Thanks to FireRed & LeafGreen, it became much easier to get 386 Pokemon on Ruby & Sapphire, but there will still some missing Pokemon.
Enter Pokemon Emerald, which not only fills in most of the blanks of Ruby & Sapphire, but is overall Gen 3 perfected. The Double Battle mechanic introduced in Ruby & Sapphire is expanded upon to where you're not limited to certain trainers; That is to say, as long as two trainers encounter you at once, a double battle will initiate.
Gen 3 concluded with the release of Pokemon X
Gale Of Darkness. An overall much weaker sequel to Pokemon Colosseum, but it did allow capture of Lugia and a few Johto pokemon that weren't accounted for between Emerald, FireRed+LeafGreen, and Colosseum.I really think that Gen 3 was much better than most people took it for, myself included. It is now, playing through all of the games that I now see it for its true quality. It's definitely better than Gen 4 overall, and maybe even on par with Gen 5. While I still think Gen 1+2 cannot be touched except in remake form, Gen 3 has proven to be much better than what most people took it for. Emerald is the definitive way to experience Gen 3, while FireRed+LeafGreen is the definitive way to experience Gen 1... it all works out.
Needless to say, I was a mistaken young child. Pokemon Gen 3 is fucking bombass, and if you didn't like it or gave it much of a chance before, you owe it to yourself to give it a second chance.