Pokemon Alpha Sapphire

 3DS
User Score
7.6

Generally favorable reviews- based on 852 Ratings

User score distribution:
  1. Positive: 631 out of 852
  2. Mixed: 89 out of 852
  3. Negative: 132 out of 852
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  1. Cynthetik
    Dec 9, 2014
    6
    This is NOT the Pokemon I have played 11 years ago.

    I pre-ordered pokemon Alpha Sapphire since august, and sacrificed quite a few games at GameStop to get it. Played it for the first few days and find myself dissapointed. Although this was the remake of Pokemon Ruby/Sapphire, there were too many changes made to the game that completely butchered my childhood memories. It no longer feels    This is NOT the Pokemon I have played 11 years ago.

    I pre-ordered pokemon Alpha Sapphire since august, and sacrificed quite a few games at GameStop to get it. Played it for the first few days and find myself dissapointed. Although this was the remake of Pokemon Ruby/Sapphire, there were too many changes made to the game that completely butchered my childhood memories. It no longer feels like the Ruby and Sapphire version I knew when I was a kid. Just another X and Y with a linear RS story line. Ruby and Sapphire from the old days used to be much less linear than their so called remakes.

    Here are the features that Nintendo completely butchered from the Original Ruby and Sapphire.

    -They removed the berry blender we had from the Original Ruby/Sapphire. It was an extremely fun minigame to make pokeblocks with. Pokeblocks arent that huge of a necessity unless 1. You want to evolve Feebas. or 2.) You want to participate in the pokemon contests, which haven't had that much improvement since the original.

    -Game Corner is now removed from the game. All to cater to one country that complained about Childhood gambling, Nintendo decides to ruin it for the rest of the countries. Game Corner was a very fun, time wasting feature to do when you're bored. You could spend hours at the slot machines until you had enough coins to get your TM or pokemon doll.

    -New Mauville is innaccessible until you obtained the 7th badge. In addition to this, the wild pokemon levels in New Mauville were not raised or boosted to compensate for how late in the game one can enter. In Pokemon Ruby and Sapphire, you just needed to defeat the 5th gym leader and obtain Surf.

    -Omega Ruby/Alpha Sapphire has become much more linear than their original counterparts. In Ruby and Sapphire, you would run into small roadbloacks before exploring further, it wasn't a big deal, and one would explore quite a bit and discover newer routes and catch new pokemon without any issues. I could get to Dewford Cave, talk to Steven and deliver the goods before I challenge the 2nd Gym, or Reach Lilycove, buy a Thunder TM, or catch a Pikachu in the Safari Zone before I challenge the 6th gym. Now I have to beat X gym leader to go any further and explore the game. It's annoying mechanic that was never an issue prior to 5th Gen where you can explore a lot of areas without any issues, now from 5th Generation versions on, exploration becomes completely gated. Omega Ruby/Alpha Sapphire is sadly no exception, where you could explore side areas with no issues.

    My expectations weren't all that high, but I expected it to be the same as Heart Gold/Soul Silver, and Fire Red/Leaf Green. What made these games so amazing? They added more fun features to the game without taking away what made their originals what they were.

    Onega Ruby and Alpha Sapphire on the other hand? Took away too much that it no longer feels like the game I used to play 11 years ago.    … Expand
  2. Evergreen00
    Jun 13, 2015
    7
    It was very fun and nostalgic to replay my favorite region of the Pokemon franchise in 3D. That being said, I was very disappointed that GameFreak gave ORAS the The Sims 4 treatment and took out the stuff that made the prequels (RSE and XY) great.

    - Removing the character customization. Why tease us with this feature in XY if you weren't going to keep it for ORAS? They could've spent    It was very fun and nostalgic to replay my favorite region of the Pokemon franchise in 3D. That being said, I was very disappointed that GameFreak gave ORAS the The Sims 4 treatment and took out the stuff that made the prequels (RSE and XY) great.

    - Removing the character customization. Why tease us with this feature in XY if you weren't going to keep it for ORAS? They could've spent their time making new customization items instead of focusing on the Mega-Evolution fad.
    - Where is the Battle Frontier? This is Hoenn region, not XY. Copying and pasting the Battle Maison from XY is just lazy. Again, could've made a Battle Frontier instead of stupid Mega-Evolutions.
    - Pokemon Contest animations were disappointing. Wish they would've taken advantage of the 3DS tech and made it more visually appealing.    … Expand
  3. Otaku_Nation
    Feb 4, 2015
    7
    7.8 too much water..............................................................review 150 long damn..................................................
  4. TheDarkMudkip47
    Jun 27, 2015
    7
    it's pretty good but 1st of all most of the cool features from x/y were just put into this game randomly like pokeamie, super training, the PSS, the battle masion, battling and trading stayed exactly the same and loads of more features that were in x/y also everything from ruby/sapphire stayed the same like pokemon contests and secret bases but still ok game but not the best pokemon game
  5. IM-NOT-DEADPOOL
    Jul 6, 2017
    6
    Awesome Remake!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I like this remake!!!!! Now you may be wondering "But person. You scored this game 6 out of 10. You don't like this." But the only reason it's at 6 out of 10 is because it has too much water.
  6. Tuneison
    Dec 23, 2017
    5
    Yet another Pokémon game that doesn't try much new and, is more or less X & Y in Ruby & Sapphire. I played it and, it just felt like another game in the pack of ever growing, overhyped Pokémon releases. Everything I thought about X & Y I think about this game because they feel one in the same. If you liked X & Y you'll like this game.
  7. ReedYT
    Nov 8, 2020
    7
    7.8/10 too much water like holy cow that’s insane how much h2o contaminates this game
  8. JoePapaReviews
    Jan 13, 2020
    7
    Sevan point eight out of ten too much watar also me team of 6 magikarps can not beat game I thought it was best poke mon.
  9. ND-Bringer
    Nov 30, 2022
    6
    Like Pokemon X and Y, it's pathetically easy to complete. It has a lot of great side content for customization and exploration. On top of that, their's a lot rare Pokemon to collect in the post game. It's just a pretty bland adventure. Its hard to appreciate the lore they added into this remake when every trainer crumbles like a stone hit by a thousand waves. Not a terrible remake, but aLike Pokemon X and Y, it's pathetically easy to complete. It has a lot of great side content for customization and exploration. On top of that, their's a lot rare Pokemon to collect in the post game. It's just a pretty bland adventure. Its hard to appreciate the lore they added into this remake when every trainer crumbles like a stone hit by a thousand waves. Not a terrible remake, but a disappointing one. Raise your hand if you're tired of fighting Swimmer Trainers.… Expand
  10. Cinept
    Mar 7, 2022
    5
    5/10. One of my favourite mainline Pokemon games. Entertained me as a child, but doesn't hold up too great today.
  11. Toasttt
    Mar 26, 2022
    6
    meh .
  12. ZangBang
    Oct 30, 2022
    5
    50/100
    Pokémon Alpha Sapphire makes the bold choice of retelling and reinterpreting the story, characters and lore of the Hoenn games with new lenses, drawing from the ideas and concepts that X and Y introduced. This undoubtably makes them lesser products as mere remakes, but the changes made ultimately make these a much more varied and deep experience than the originals'. The changes    50/100
    Pokémon Alpha Sapphire makes the bold choice of retelling and reinterpreting the story, characters and lore of the Hoenn games with new lenses, drawing from the ideas and concepts that X and Y introduced. This undoubtably makes them lesser products as mere remakes, but the changes made ultimately make these a much more varied and deep experience than the originals'. The changes made to some characters' motivations make them less childish in concept, and a new original story after the main campaign gives certain characters a more compelling conclusion to their arcs while diving deeper into the lore of the original games. Additions made by XY like the Petting of Pokémon, the Super Training and the Megaevolutions make a return, the latter even being integrated in the narrative in ways that expand on original concepts. Pokémon Contests and Secret Bases are visually revamped with a lot of new content to make them even richer side-activities, but also new features that allow players to hunt Pokémon with more precision or soar the skies of the region while uncovering new secrets in the clouds, which is visually breathtaking and an amazingly immersive concept. Even with the usually repetitive core gameplay, ORAS had the potential to become the best main games in the franchise but are held back by underwhelming care put in the battle aspect of the game, being excessively easy with the Battle Frontier being replaced by an inferior facility with less content.    … Expand
  13. BalamP
    Jul 14, 2022
    7
    Mantiene muy bien la esencia de el juego original, y sinceramente me encanta la inclusión de las "mega-evoluciones", pero al mimo tiempo parte de ahí mi problema con el juego, ya que el desbalance de la dificultad es absurdo, de por si sin "mega-evoluciones" el juego es muy fácil con ellas es un juego regalado, aunque entiendo que esté problema viene desde toda la saga. Aún con estéMantiene muy bien la esencia de el juego original, y sinceramente me encanta la inclusión de las "mega-evoluciones", pero al mimo tiempo parte de ahí mi problema con el juego, ya que el desbalance de la dificultad es absurdo, de por si sin "mega-evoluciones" el juego es muy fácil con ellas es un juego regalado, aunque entiendo que esté problema viene desde toda la saga. Aún con esté problema es un gran juego y muy recomendado para alguien que ansía un remake de un gran juego como lo es Ruby.… Expand
  14. AlexMakesToast
    Dec 16, 2022
    5
    Alpha Sapphire = 5/10
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Awards & Rankings

8
#8 Best 3DS Game of 2014
5
#5 Most Discussed 3DS Game of 2014
11
#11 Most Shared 3DS Game of 2014

Critic Reviews

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Metascore
82

Generally favorable reviews - based on 52 Critic Reviews

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 47 out of 52
  2. Mixed: 5 out of 52
  3. Negative: 0 out of 52
  1. Atomix
    Jan 28, 2015
    85
    A much better experience than what was expected. The change in the rhythm and the emphasis in the story elements manage to captivate the player in a way that the Game Boy Advance versions couldn’t.
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  2. DarkStation
    Jan 19, 2015
    80
    If you have any interest at all in Pokémon this game will surpass your expectations.
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  3. Eurogamer Poland
    Jan 14, 2015
    70
    Another good game with pocket monsters, providing hours of fun for fans. But it does not offer the same breath of fresh air as last year's X and Y.
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