![Pokémon Ruby Sapphire Starter Trio](https://images.nintendolife.com/a1697c8c11f64/pokemon-ruby-sapphire-starter-trio.900x.jpg)
In 2003, Pokémon was at a little bit of a crossroads. The primary two units of entries in its canon — Sport Boy debuts Purple and Blue, adopted by sequels Gold and Silver — had cemented the collection as one of many greatest of all time in gaming, defining millennial popular culture. With the arrival of Nintendo’s new handheld, the Sport Boy Advance, Sport Freak was poised to proceed its dominance of the medium with the third technology of critters in Pokémon Ruby and Sapphire, which noticed their European launch on today 20 years in the past.
Nonetheless, it was additionally a time when the franchise was on a decline from its industrial heyday as the children who had thought of the primary two generations as their bread and Butterfree had turn out to be uninterested youngsters. Pokémon Ruby and Sapphire nonetheless turned best-selling titles on the GBA — with reported lifetime gross sales of over 16 million — however this was nonetheless a notable drop from the primary two generations, which had surpassed 30 and 20 million, respectively, suggesting a waning of mainstream reputation. Those that had been nonetheless on board, nonetheless, had been provided a brand new journey within the sunny, standalone area of Hoenn, which popped with 16-bit visible splendour, served up reinvigorated gameplay mechanics and launched favourites just like the meme-able Mudkip, Rayquaza and (typically for barely extra disturbing causes) Gardevoir.
![Pokémon Ruby & Sapphire](https://images.nintendolife.com/95910fc8b8aac/pokemon-ruby-and-sapphire.900x.jpg)
Whereas we’re trying again at Ruby and Sapphire with decades-old nostalgia, what’s attention-grabbing is that nostalgia was really the catalyst for his or her very creation. Following the preliminary pattern of basing the Pokémon world on areas of Japan, Hoenn is predicated on Kyushu, probably the most southerly, subtropical of the nation’s 4 primary islands. It was right here that director Junichi Masuda would spend his childhood holidays, escaping the bustling metropolis of Yokohama to go to his grandparents. He’d spend limitless summer time days exploring the luxurious wilderness, catching fish and amassing beetles. He’d even construct treehouses, which gave life to the Secret Base function the place you possibly can discover and adorn your personal cosy hidey-hole.
In addition to the natural world, the warm-hearted denizens of Kyushu gained Masuda’s affection. The pleasant southerners impressed the respectful relationship between people and Pokémon, a central tenet of the video games’ theme of concord. That is even mirrored within the title ‘Hoenn’ itself, which may be loosely translated from Japanese as “considerable bonds.” The director took this to coronary heart; whereas inspiration stemmed from his grandparents’ residence, his personal daughter, Kiri, was born throughout growth and her namesake would seem as an inquisitive NPC in Sootopolis Metropolis. To Masuda, Ruby and Sapphire are an emblem of familial legacy.
It wasn’t simply the nebulous idea of childlike marvel that knowledgeable the video games, although; Kyushu and Hoenn had been geographically an identical — besides that the latter was flipped 90 levels anticlockwise to higher match on the GBA display. A number of real-life landmarks had been carefully recreated in Hoenn, too; Mount Aso, an energetic volcano on the Japanese island, was the idea for Hoenn’s effervescent Mount Chimney, whereas the quite a few onsen round Aso’s base impressed Lavaridge City. The well-known port metropolis of Nagasaki strains up with Slateport Metropolis’s market harbour and Masuda’s shock at how Kyushu’s sea teemed with fish may need influenced Pacifidlog City, a maritime settlement held above the waves by a shoal of Corsola.
Tanegashima, an island off the coast of Kyushu, was positionally relative to Mossdeep Metropolis, and each had been residence to house centres, with Hoenn’s holding some notoriety. The unassuming location initially didn’t serve any actual objective however featured a wishing rock exterior and a launchpad for rockets. Given that there have been legendary Pokémon programmed into the video games based mostly on needs and aliens — Jirachi and Deoxys, respectively — it’s no shock that there have been rumours about with the ability to acquire them by way of the House Heart, placing many confused gamers in a Spinda. Not me, after all — whilst a child, I used to be too shrewd to fall for such hoaxes. Ahem.
The story differed cosmetically between every model. In Ruby, Group Magma was attempting to awaken the legendary Groudon to develop the land for people and Pokémon, whereas in Sapphire, Group Aqua wished to harness Kyogre’s energy to flood the world for aquatic creatures. These motivations weren’t as manifestly immoral as these of the avaricious Group Rocket — you possibly can even argue that they’re honourable if a bit madcap — however Hoenn was a spot that relied on stability; that Groups Magma and Aqua threatened that pure equilibrium made them enemies of the folks. With such apocalyptic stakes, Ruby and Sapphire had been an extension of the bucolic escapism the collection was based upon, pushed to dizzying extremes.
With this new area of Pokémon additionally got here new methods to deal with them. Aesthetic and narrative enhancements weren’t the one type current, as Technology III had maybe the largest impression on the collection’ gameplay up to now, including options which are Absol-utely integral these days, particularly within the aggressive scene. Pokémon now had bespoke talents and natures that affected how their stats had been distributed, which may flip the tide of battle in addition to make every participant’s group really feel extra distinctive. That’s to not point out double battles and a extra sturdy climate system that will have you ever considering extra tactically about which of your combative companions you despatched out. All of it felt one way or the other the identical but very completely different.
Pokémon has modified over time (to various extents of essential success) however Ruby and Sapphire are plain waypoints on this evolution. It’s becoming that you may nonetheless switch monsters from them to trendy instalments, a form of cross-time connectivity seldom seen in gaming. Legendary designer Ken Sugimori, who was born in Kyushu, advised Nintendo Dream journal shortly after their launch that the theme of Pokémon is “youthful summer vacation adventures.” In that spirit, Masuda’s ambition was to carry his personal nostalgic wanderlust to a brand new technology by way of advancing expertise, producing titles that had been as vibrant as they had been engrossing. If Hoenn has ever hit you in another way in comparison with different video games within the collection during the last 20 years, then he succeeded.