With the recent release of the Pokemon Omega Ruby and Alpha Sapphire, both fans new and old are ecstatic. Pokémon went back to Hoenn region of their original third generation games of Ruby and Sapphire, originally released in 2002. Nintendo made sure these games weren’t just remakes.

To start, Pokémon had its origins in the early 90’s as a strategy game using monsters to fight and battle others. With the original features of trade, battle, and to catch them all, their original game Pokémon Red took storm in Japan then to the world. Pokémon is one of Nintendo’s, a video game company, biggest selling game series producing a new game every year. Once the player attained eight badges, they advanced to try the elite four and take the place of champion. This year the Pokémon company took a step back and went back to their Ruby and Sapphire models to create a remake with totally new features than the original third generation games.

Using enhanced 3D graphics, these games have a ton of new features. Users are able to trade with people all over the world with their internet connection. Also, the mega stone, a stone that increases the stats for the Pokémon holding the stone, listed Pokémon increased to new mega evolutions such as Beedrill, Steelix, and Salamence. The Pokémon company added mega evolution to some legendaries, which are extremely rare Pokémon, such as to Latios, Latias, and Rayquaza. So what’s the deal with the box art legendaries Groudon and Kyogre?

In these games Groudon and Kyogre do not use mega evolution, but rather primal reversion. In primal reversion these two legendaries go back to their ancient forms where their base power increases. Both are radically different than their modern forms back in 2002.

Overall, the games are fantastic. As a veteran fan, playing these games was not the same as playing the originals. Enhanced battle tactics such as new items, move sets, and abilities make this an excellent strategy game for any age. Each game version is the same overall story except with version exclusive Pokémon, for example, Groudon is for Omega Ruby and Kyogre is for Alpha Sapphire. The games have small nostalgic hints of the original which will bring back memories for older players. With all this said, my rating for these games is a 9.5/10 because of the graphics, story, and overall new features.