By JARROD POTTER
POKEMON OMEGA RUBY and ALPHA SAPPHIRE
Available on Nintendo 3DS
HOW do you improve on something that’s 20 years old and been repeated over and over?
I’ll tell you how – you blow the roof off previous editions and make this the must have game of the Christmas period.
Even though OMEGA RUBY and ALPHA SAPPHIRE are remakes of the early 2000s Pokemon games Ruby and Sapphire, they certainly do not feel like polished up repeats.
There’s more to the remakes as everything feels fresh, despite this being a trip through nostalgia for some of its older fans.
On your journey through the Hoenn region players can uncover the mystery of the Mega Stones, fight off Team Magma and Team Aqua – nefarious criminals intent on changing the world for their own foolish gains – and of course … catch and train anything that moves.
There’s plenty to do in this game as the developers have given the reins to the fans for an unrestricted fly around with the new soaring feature aboard Latios or Latias, as well as my personal favourite – sneaking up on exceptional Pokemon and capturing only the finest.
Make sure to stock up on Repels once you’re in the ocean though as they are long and tedious, but that’s a minor complaint about what is otherwise another exceptional creation from Game Freak.
All the great features of Pokemon X/Y – Wonder Trading, Pokemon Bank interaction and Super Training – return for the latest incarnation, plus all your old favourites from Ruby/Sapphire especially Contests.
Whether you’re a dyed-in-the-wool Pokemon fan like yours truly or new to the franchise, grab a copy and get submerged in the best release from the franchise yet … 10/10 and would catch them all again.
