Is Pokémon Emerald that much better than Ruby and Sapphire?

Let’s take a closer look at what makes Emerald so much different than the other games.

Intro: 0:00
Obtainable Pokémon: 1:02
Graphical Changes: 2:42
Battle Changes: 4:08
Battle Frontier: 6:33
The Story: 8:18
Conclusion: 10:40
Outro: 11:23

Pokémon Ruby, Sapphire and Emerald Playlist

Footage credit to Razorker1 (Story section)

Music (check out these awesome artists!):

[grumpygengar]

What is your favorite thing about Pokémon Emerald?

[juandiegotorres]

I think the worst thing (and the game is still great and an overall improvement) was replacing Steven for Wallace as champion as we didn't need a water type a water type champion in addition to a water type gym leader

[wickedboo]

Battle frontier alone deserves atleast an A. This is also one of the only pokemon games that would give you a reason to keep playing after the main story

[Abyss_WaIker]

I think one of the reasons people rank Emerald so much higher on tier lists is because it makes R/S essentially pointless. There’s not really a reason to play them when Emerald exists besides a few exclusive Pokémon and a slightly different story (and a better champion but you can still battle Steven in Emerald anyways)

[Mijzelffan]

Sure the Rayquaza cutscene in Emerald was cool, but nothing will beat the experience of finding Sky Pillar in ruby and sapphire, being greeted with difficult puzzles with no idea what's gonna be at the end of the tower, only to finally be greeted with one of the coolest legendaries ever

[andrewwolff]

Not sure if this has been mentioned, Emerald added field effects for a lot of abilities, like Compound Eyes and Flame Body!

[lloydirving]

Emerald also had a bunch of little quality of life changes, while most are pretty minor they do add up.
- more bag space
- when shopping, it now shows how many of each item you already have in your bag
- when looking at TMs in your bag, it now shows the power and accuracy right there (in ruby and sapphire you had to click TM -> use -> select pokemon -> get to screen that lets you pick which move to replace and only THEN does it show the TM's power and accuracy)

I know I am forgetting some but those are the ones I remember off the top of my head. There are also some changes in Emerald that I don't know if I agree with, or maybe could have just been handled better. For instance, the phone mechanic where you can rematch trainers and gym leaders is awesome, but I really don't like how it interrupts gameplay to force you to take the phone call every time it rings. And the obvious one, replacing Steven as the champion. Steven was so much better as the champion thematically and mechanically, replacing him with Wallace and making Juan the 8th gym leader was a pretty bizarre change. Steven being a super boss in the post game was cool I guess but it was way more impactful having him as the champion. The post game in Emerald is already so expansive with the battle frontier that the Steven fight doesn't really seem all that necessary. If Emerald just had the same Ruby and Sapphire post game but now with this new Steven fight, it would have made more sense.

[rodgrodghk]

Not only does the Battle Frontier make Emerald significantly better than R/S, I believe the Battle Frontier was the single greatest thing ever made in any Pokemon Game. This is the peak of the franchise for me.

[vaughnrudy]

I prefer emerald just because the font is better

[modenoatr]

"Why can't you catch Surskit/Meditite/etc in Emerald?" That's nothing new, making some Pokémon unavailable has never been limited to the paired games. Weedle/Ekans/Meowth/Koffing in Yellow, Mareep/Girafarig/Remoraid in Crystal, in Platinum, just to name like half of the lines you had to trade to get.

[FertonFletcher]

A few other tidbits:

-New music. Kind of obvious and doesn't really effect gameplay, but I think a lot of the new music tracks are bangers, especially the Frontier Brain Battle Theme.

-The Pickup ability was revamped and has a whole new items list based on level.

-Pokemon Contests being isolated to Lilycove City.

-New move tutors

-The international releases removed e-Reader support, but you can still mix records to obtain these items.

-The Trick House and Regi puzzles are a tiny bit different.

-The best designed character in all of video gaming... SCOTT!!

[jbcatz]

Tate and Liza I remember in particular because of how more tactical their opening choices are. No longer can you sweep the field with Surf or Muddy Water, you need to counter Earthquake and Xatu being flying type isn’t affected.

[thehobbit]

Emerald was the only poke game where I maxed the in-game timer out. I also cycled the news crew so many times when I was a kid that they actually stopped rotating, and you'd just need to reload the route they were on for easy XP. Loved the game

[Benobot]

There's something about Sapphire being my first ever portable Pokemon game, at age 9, that felt so full of wonder and excitement. I think I enjoyed my 1st ever playthrough of Sapphire more than Emerald purely because everything was so new and wondrous to me, even though I had the strategy guide. It was amazing. When I got Emerald 2 years later, it felt like a familiar world, and therefore not as impactful on my childhood. Emerald did wow me with it's cutscenes though, for sure! I remember exactly where I was in my old house (the kitchen) when I witnessed the Rayquaza cutscene. I never got into the Battle Frontier or Battle Tower much though, as I found them too difficult, and I enjoyed catching legendary Pokemon the most.

[Holthyr]

Definitely my favorite part of emerald was the battle frontier. It was the reason for me even learning about EVs and IVs. It also has turned pokemon game from 30 hours to +300 hours for me.

[JimFaindel]

I love Emerald to pieces. After having played Sapphire before, I did not expect it to impress me nearly as much as at it did. It just went the extra mile every single time. And those hidden, surprise sidequest npcs made the game feel so alive!

[Atlas]

“Is Pokemon Emerald that much bett—“

Yes, next question

[MyGamingIsRandom]

Emerald was a greatly and needed improved version of Ruby and Sapphire

[Leavemealonenowplz]

I love the contest feature. I just hate that it’s moved all to Lilycove.

I liked traveling from town to town collecting ribbons like badges

[mikiofunamorijr.]

I love the emerald because of the animations in battles, that badass cutscene, the representation of the domains of groudon and kyogre (just look how balanced it is, there is a protruding land, shallow water, and deep water. They can both move freely to have a good fight, after the cutscene the shallow water is gone. What an attention to details), and the battle frontier. About those 7 missing pokemons, I think gamefreak wants you to play with other by trading, that's why there is no single official pokemon game that have all the pokemon.