Pokemon Sapphire

Download Pokémon Sapphire and embark on a journey through the Hoenn region to become the ultimate Pokémon Trainer. Capture, train, and battle Pokémon, earn Gym Badges, and thwart the nefarious plans of Team Aqua. Can you catch 'em all and become the Pokémon Champion? Play now!
a game by Nintendo
Genre: Action
Platform: GBA
Editor Rating: 8.8/10, based on 2 reviews
User Rating: 6.9/10 - 37 votes
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See also: Pokemon Games, Top GBA Games
Pokemon Sapphire
Pokemon Sapphire
Pokemon Sapphire

Pokémon Sapphire is where the series would jump to after Nintendo and Game Freak were done with the Game Boy Color. This is the start of what is known as the Advanced Generation of Pokémon games and it started a trend that would carry on all the way to the Nintendo DS Pokémon games.

Once Again Catch Them All!

The region that Pokémon Sapphire is set in is called, Hoenn. It has a real “Japanese” style to it and I really like the design of the island and its surrounding area. The story here is not going to win any awards and if you know even the smallest bit of information about the world of Pokémon, you know what to expect here.

You start your journey picking one of three starter Pokémon. The ones this game allows you to pick from are, Torchic, Mudkip, and Treecko. Once you pick your starter, you set off on your journey to win badges, enter the Pokémon League and become the grand champion.

Two Pokémon Are Better Than One!

For me, the biggest addition to Pokémon Sapphire is the Double Battles. These are exactly what they sound like and that means you need to have two Pokémon fighting at the same time. I love this as it adds extra strategy to the game, you can even have Double Battles where there are two trainers, with each one controlling a separate Pokémon.

You Are A Special Pokémon

The Pokémon this time around feels more unique. Not just in their design, but they each have a very special ability that can have a dramatic effect on the way a battle can go. This may not sound like much, but it does add an extra element of strategy to the battles. Another way that this comes into play is via the Pokémon Contest. Here you are not just fighting, but you need to wow the judges and you do this by using as many special moves and abilities as you can.

What About The Presentation?

Hmm, I for one really like the look of the game, especially the setting. However, I must admit that really there is not a huge leap in terms of the overall graphics over what the game Boy Color Pokémon games offered. Now, of course, Pokémon Sapphire looks more detailed than Pokémon Gold. However, I do feel that the game could have looked even better than it does. The actual Pokémon, of course, look great, but I just wish they put a little more into making the game look way better than the generation that came before it.

The sound, on the other hand, is a huge improvement over the GBC Pokémon games. I love how there are some classic Pokémon tunes here, but it is the new soundtrack that I think fits your journey very well.

I really do like Pokémon Sapphire and think that it is a solid entry to the series. As part of the first generation of Pokémon games for the Game Boy Advance, I think that they did a really solid job with this and it set the series in the right direction for what was to come on the Game Boy Advance.

8.5/10

Pros:

  • I love the new region
  • Some fun new Pokémon
  • Double Battles are awesome
  • Pokémon Contest is an interesting idea
  • The game is a lot of fun to play

Cons:

  • Not much originality in the story
  • Of all the Pokémon games, this one has my least favorite starters

Download Pokemon Sapphire

GBA

System requirements:

  • PC compatible
  • Operating systems: Windows 10/Windows 8/Windows 7/2000/Vista/WinXP

Game Reviews

Welcome to the beautiful region of Hoenn, home of all sorts of interesting people, places, and Pokemon: Sapphire Version. It's up to you to explore the region and see if you can find, capture, and train over 200 different types of Pokemon. Of course to do it, you'll also need Pokemon: Ruby Version.

Pokemon: Sapphire Version is similar to previous Pokemon games on the GBA. It's more or less a standard RPG style game where you walk around, talk to people, acquire items, train Pokemon and challenge other trainers to duels. In general, I'm not much of a Pokemon fan but I found myself becoming strangely addicted to this game and before I knew it a couple of hours had already passed. Part of the reason for that is how easy this game is to learn. Most actions in the game are menu based and while there are a lot of menus and options it doesn't take long to figure out what's what if you don't mind reading. And there is a lot of reading in this game ' in fact, the box even says 'Basic reading ability is needed to fully enjoy this game'?. They aren't lying, you'll need to read and talk to many people to find out useful information. As you move along in the game new items also become available to you and while the game gives some subtle hints as to what to do with them, it's still up to you to figure out how best to use them. Likewise you'll also need to figure out which Pokémon work well against other types of Pokemon. As you battle other trainers' Pokemon, your Pokemon gain experience, bolster up their attributes, and learn new attacks. And if single battles aren't enough, you can occasionally double your pleasure in two-on-two battles or link up with a friend to trade or battle!

The graphics are very typical for a game released by Nintendo ' clean and cartoony. During the overhead view portion of the game the graphics are a bit iconic, but during battles you can see greater detail of your Pokemon. I was more impressed with the music and sounds, though. There is a lot of different and cool sounding music and it never seemed to get annoying at all. There isn't much to say about the controls since this isn't really an action game. Move the control pad and you move your character or select items in a menu and that's about it. They do what they should when you want so there are no complaints here.

The beauty of this game is that you can play it at face level and just enjoy the battles or if you're really into Pokemon you can research every little aspect in the game and try to collect 'em all and become a human Pokedex. It's range like this that makes this game easily accessible to just about all ages and as such if you're into RPG's at all or want to start playing one, you should give Pokemon a try or if you're into Pokémon then quit reading this and just go pick up a copy because you know you need it.

Snapshots and Media

GBA Screenshots

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