Pokémon Alpha Sapphire Standard Edition - Nintendo 3DS

I'm a longtime Pokemon fan. I still own my original GBA copies of Ruby and Emerald. The reason I bought Alpha Sapphire is because I originally played Ruby and wanted to try something different this time. It's great seeing Hoenn remastered in 3D. For anyone who's played pokemon, the concept is still the same. Start off in your hometown, get your 1st pokemon from a pokemon professor, start your journey to become pokemon league champion, get a rival, beat some gyms, couple sidequests along the way, beat the elite four, become champion, and enjoy post-game (or start over). Yet for some reason, I can't help myself but to buy into it year after year. I'll make this review short by outlining some key things to consider before buying this game. - No battle frontier - No character customization like in X/Y - Lots of legendary pokemon to catch post-game - Nostalgia for days - lots of throwbacks and references to the original RSE - Upgraded flying system. You now have the option to fly to specific routes/places on top of cities. (i.e. route 121, Safari Zone, etc.) - More mega evolutions if that's your thing. Also primal evolutions - Same shiny rate as X/Y - Wally. That is all. - The pokemon league aethestics were amazingly well done by gamefreak. Shout out to them on that. - Mirage spots replacing original Mirage Island from RSE - PSS is back along with O-Powers wonder trade and all that good stuff - New dexnav feature apart of the pokenav which has that pokeradar feel to it. Its nice that gamefreak added something like this considering there was no item like this in the original RSE. Pokeradar wasn't until Gen IV. - Streetpass integrated into buzznav (another pokenav feature which has a love/hate relationship with most pokemon players currently; not all players have great streetpass reception) - Delta Episode (post-game story) is amazing - Learn little more about pokemon game universe (how some games might be connected to ea other i.e ORAS and X/Y) I don't want to say much more about this without spoiling so I'll leave it at that. - Apparently too much water Point is, if you're a pokemon fan, you should definitely buy one of these games. Even though this is the Alpha Sapphire page, I recommend buying whichever one you feel suits you best. There are guides that will explain to you the differences between omega ruby and alpha sapphire.

I have been a long time fan of Pokémon and I life this version of the game

I originally got this for trading with my son and boosting his Pokedex, but I found I am playing it regularly and enjoying it. Some of the changes from X&Y are seen here which I like. The battles are well-paced, the story and locations are interesting, and the Pokemon are nicely varied. The transfer system and companion Pokebank App are easy to use too. The social features burned through my battery on my 3DS XL fairly quickly though, so you may wish to leave those off.

Having played both the original version on the Gameboy Advanced and this version for the 3DS I can say that the improvements made to the game play and graphics make this version worth purchasing. All the features from the original Ruby and Sapphire return such as Beauty Contests and yet the gameplay in Omega Ruby and Alpha Sapphire have been enhanced by inheriting gameplay elements from XY with Megastones, Pokémon Amie, Super Training, Horde encounters and Wonder Trade as well as adding completely new elements unique to this game such as cosplay Pikachu and the Pokénav Plus. Also note if you are and adult thinking about purchasing this game for your young child and are not familiar with the Pokémon games they are very text heavy so if your child in unable to read well he or she may not be able to fully enjoy this game if they are playing by themselves.

While I'm disappointed about the lack of character customization in the re-release of Sapphire/Ruby/Emerald, I understand that they want to make each region of the Pokemon universe known for it's own signature motif. In Kalos it was fashion, as per a stereotypical French visionary experience, there were many beautiful vistas, as well as cafes and french culture. In the Hoenn region the big deal was the secret bases and the isolationism of culture. While I miss the character customization of X/Y, I enjoyed my time with Alpha Sapphire, and the ability to catch many Pokemon, including legendaries, that were unavailable in X/Y at the time was a very nice addition. The game feels much more like the original games for those of us that are older and experienced Pokemon in our youth. I highly recommend one of the two versions if you are a fan of Pokemon.

I got this to see how it changed since original release and I was blown away. I've played through the original Pokemon sapphire quite a few times, but I still had no issue doing a play through on the new Alpha version. It felt like a new game to be honest. There were so many changes and I was happy I picked it up to compare to the older version. Would recommend even if you've played the original ruby/sapphire.

So I bought this game, and then got immediately into Smash Bros as that came out for the Wii U the same day, so this game got pushed to the side. A friend encouraged me to pick it up so that she could StreetPass with me, and I was suddenly addicted to Pokemon again. I figure it came from a goal I've always had of getting a full, living Pokedex, and once I found that between X, Y, OR, and AS, you can catch all 719 Pokemon (excluding events) I was on track. I had already caught a lot in Y which I immediately transferred through Pokemon Bank, and it was great because I didn't feel like I had to start over from the beginning again. Also lots of nostalgia because I did play Ruby on GBA back in the day. Great game. Too much water? No.

They enjoy playing it and I am happy it is one that I don't have to worry about as far as violence goes. This was a hassle to get a hold of around the holiday season as I ordered it online black Friday and was to pick up in stores. It ended up out of stock and shipped so I just barely got this a few days ago. Considering the average price I have seen this go was always close to $50 or $60, I jumped on the great sale price it was on and am very happy I had!