Pokemon Alpha Sapphire is a remake of one of my favorite games of all time, the Pokemon Ruby/Sapphire/Emerald cluster/trilogy/family/generation (?). I am cheating a little bit by including this as a completed game, as I had previously beaten Pokemon Omega Ruby, a very similar game, but I lost my copy of the red game and wanted to go on an adventure in Hoenn again, and I technically have never beaten it, so I'll count it.
The game is very similar mechanically to the Pokemon X/Y generation, featuring a largely 2D world map with 3D battles, and a few 3D cutscenes here and there. As I truly think that Pokemon X/Y is the best Pokemon game of all time, although not my favorite (Pokemon Red for life!), the mechanics of this game are flat out fantastic.
As the third generation games upon with Alpha Sapphire is based are about as close to perfect as video games get, why make a remake? It certainly couldn't be cash, could it? In all seriousness, they didn't have to do a ton to this game to make it an A+ experience, and they altered little enough in the game to preserve the essential feel of the games while updating them with some of the modern conveniences introduced in the internet era. The graphical additions are fine, but offer little improvement. They're technically superior to the GBA, and are certainly among the finest on the 3DS, while also preserving the cartoony and childish spirit of the Pokemon franchise, but it's not a reason to buy the game. The primary additions here are the ability to trade Pokemon and battle online, as well as an additional side quest at the end of the game. The side quest is fun, but trading online opens up a world of Pokemon collection and exchanging that we could have only dreamed of in 2002 while exchanging Pokemon over cables connecting our Game Boy Advances.
If there's one weakness to the game, it's that I felt that they could have leaned in a bit more and tinkered with the game to more fully express the strengths and changes of the sixth generation of Pokemon. In some areas, they do a nice job. For example, Wally (your young ward who you encourage to go on a Pokemon adventure) now has a Gallade rather than a Gardevoir as his final Pokemon, and his Gallade can now Mega Evolve. This puts enough of a twist on the story and presentation to keep it fresh and interesting to newcomers. However, characters like the Elite Four could have included newer Pokemon in addition to their old standbys to reinforce the notion that these characters are indeed expert Pokemon trainers, but not a single member of the Elite Four has a Pokemon which can Mega Evolve, and they still have the same old Pokemon, which is baffling as several of them still have two of the same kind of Pokemon, with plenty of relevant Pokemon who could have been inserted into their lineup. These kinds of creative swings could have made this a more compelling remake, although I do think that adding the online elements are more than enough to warrant its existence.
They also made the game a bit too easy by failing to increase the levels of your opponent to account for the new Exp. Share item, which automatically distributes half of the experience earned in battle to all of your Pokemon, rather than distributing it only to the Pokemon who appeared. I love the new Exp. Share, but it needed to be balanced better than it was in this remake, with all trainers having Pokemon a few levels higher to balance the challenge presented to the player. I was able to comfortably clear the Elite Four on my first run through, despite making a few mistakes during the fight, which really shouldn't happen if the game is balanced correctly for difficulty.
They also could have cleaned up some of the weaknesses of the third generation, and most specifically the use of HMs. Game Freak went way overboard on the HMs (moves that can be used outside of battle to solve puzzles and progress through previously blocked off areas of the world) by having an absolutely brain bending 8 HMs! HMs are generally worthless in battle, and each Pokemon can only hold 4 moves at once, meaning that you need to have every move slot for two of your six Pokemon filled with HMs, which really reduces your ability to build cohesive teams. They stumbled onto a great idea that they then fully incorporated into the seventh generation, with an item which allows you to call your Latias to you and fly around the world, rather than needing to use the HM Fly to get around, but you still will need all seven other HMs, which is a bear. Thank goodness for Ride Pokemon, as including them almost cancels out the cancerous lack of a National Pokedex in Pokemon Sun/Moon/Ultra Sun/Ultra Moon. But the weakness is still in this game, so be prepared to carry a Gyarados with you solely for the purpose of having 4 HMs.
It's easy to nitpick at a game I've played so many times, as I know it extremely well, but let me be clear, Pokemon Alpha Sapphire is an excellent remake of an excellent game. I'd recommend it to any Pokemon fan, and certainly to any person who never got the chance to play the original. I'll give it a 9.0/10. I'll be compulsively trying to fill out my Pokedex until I get done or bored, and then I'm going to finish off a game that I've been hanging on to since high school. Here's a little teaser below:
-TRO
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