ORAS Vs Emerald - The Definitive Comparison

There has been a heated debate about which version is better, and today we're going to answer that question. Use the spreadsheet below to track your own scoring and see what split you arrive at.
Track your score here:
tinyurl.com/22dvkh6a
A big shoutout to Austin John Plays and BLAINES who were a big inspriation in the development of this video!
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Music by GameChops
Poké & Chill
• Poké & Chill
0:00 Intro
1:43 Story
04:15 Delta Episode
06:07 Rival
07:05 Steven
08:08 Latios/Latias
09:21 Music
09:59 Pokenav
11:25 TMs
12:01 PokeDex
12:48 Berry Blending
13:33 Contests
14:35 Battle Tents
15:02 Secret Bases
15:41 Fairy Type
16:10 Trainer Hill
16:44 Sea Mauville
17:21 Safari Zone
18:05 Physical/Special Split
18:50 Internal Battery
19:43 Sprites
20:12 Gym Leaders
21:18 Elite 4
21:35 Mega Evolutions
22:15 Legendaries
22:50 Post Game
24:39 Conclusion
#pokemonemerald #pokemonoras #analysis

[@michaelfragoso6572]

Both Emerald and ORAS should combine into Pokémon Delta Emerald the true version Hoenn

[@squidlivers5677]

With Steven as champion I hope

[@michaelfragoso6572]

@@squidlivers5677 yes and Wallace can be the champion in the elite 4 rematches

[@squidlivers5677]

@@michaelfragoso6572 top tier idea

[@moomanchu608]

@@michaelfragoso6572 that really fricken works. Beat steven, he quits to research, then wallace steps up

[@michaelfragoso6572]

@@moomanchu608 and Steven can be a mega boss after finishing the battle frontier

[@Whiteythereaper]

In regards to Zinnia's refusal to allow Steven's plan go ahead in the Delta Episode, the reason isn't because the energy is Pokémon life energy (it's actually Pokémon EVOLUTION energy), but because their plan is to use a LINK CABLE (yes, as in the GBA Link Cable) to teleport the meteor to another universe so it doesn't hit their planet. The technology for Link Cable trades is said to produce wormholes to other worlds, which is how Trading works for players. You trade with another universe, that being someone else's Save File. Zinnia's opposal to the plan is simple; she doesn't want to make the meteor another Earth's problem in case it ends up being sent to "a Hoenn without Mega Evolution, one where the Ultimate Weapon was never fired", aka a Hoenn of Ruby/Sapphire/Emerald.

[@GameSmith45]

Wow! I didn’t know that. Thanks for clearing that up. I thought it was just somewhere else in the universe

[@PoppaFred]

Maybe this is why we see Deoxys in FireRed/LeafGreen at Birth Island since if we’re talking about wormholes, there may be an alternate universe where we did go with Steven’s plan, and the meteor hit Kanto!

[@rogue1248]

so it would seem like by trading with others, we are essentially opening temporary Ultra Wormholes.

[@epicbullrun8003]

remember the old pokemon mystery dungeon :)

[@SUPERSMASHJONY]

I was going to comment the same thing! When I played the Delta episode I was shock when they confirm that the remakes are alternate universes and they do expand that in Sun & Moon also Ultra Sun & Moon. R/S/E take place at the same time of FR/LF then D/P/PT with HG/SS take place at the same time but 3 years after Hoenn and Kanto, then Unova. However X/Y seems to be an alternate universe where X/Y take place at the same universe with ORAS and S/M. After that no one knows what universe does US/UM, S/W, S/V take place.

[@Moltenq]

While I agree that having a battery sucks for Emerald and Ruby/Sapphire. In these games the battery is no longer used to keep save files. Instead they are used for time based events and for randomness to some degree if you look up shiny hunting in Emerald you will be able to learn more on the randomness.

[@GameSmith45]

I think I saw something about that, but I didn't dive into to since I thought it would be too technical. It's good they've fixed that issue

[@miloticas2795]

Is the rng broken in ruby sapphire? Because I definitely found a shiny spheal on my dead copy of sapphire

[@Moltenq]

@@miloticas2795 The effect on RNG is really small in a normal playthrough it basically doesn't matter if your battery is dead. It really only matters if you are resetting back to a save over and over again. For example saving infront of Kyogre and resetting back to the save to find a shiny Kyogre. Also in emerald the battery doesn't change the RNG at all it has a bug where it always treats the battery as dead for RNG.

[@braumishere4890]

And to be fair on the battery, my battery just ran out last year.. I had the game since launch. A 17 years is pretty decent for a battery (however, I'm not sure on how it compares to the average)

[@garburias]

@@miloticas2795 It is if you managed to have a dead battery cartridge, but in Emerald it doesn't matter

[@debbstraw579]

Emerald and Fire Red was my first introduction to Pokemon Games. Emerald being my first game. I recently purchased Emerald to feel that nostalgia again! ORAS was an excellent remake and probably has more content for a more enjoyable game. But if you played Emerald and the original games as a kid, it just holds a little more weight for me

[@GameSmith45]

Can't blame you there. It's an awesome game

[@futureDreamer4]

Both games are great. All ORAS was missing was the battle frontier.

[@aaronwong235]

You forgot to mention that in emerald, you can fight steven as a secret final boss in post game

[@GameSmith45]

That’s true. I forgot about that one. I think it’s a pretty big grind to get there though

[@grydon6422]

And that is a good thing

[@zjzr08]

​@GameSmith45 I think you only need to see Steven in Meteor Falls to battle him but I guess I just used Rayquaza to sweep hehe.

[@gengarclefairy3475]

⁠@@zjzr08yeah right after you beat Wallace Steven will always be sitting in the back of meteor falls. 2nd strongest trainer other then red I believe as well since he has level 70s

[@grimms-vi1874]

Considering you mentioned the decade of quality of life updates, I wouldn't have given points for stuff like Physical/Special split (added in Generation 4), infinite use TMs (added Generation 5), and Pokemon Amie and Fairy Type (rollover from X/Y) since those were things under that innovation rather than actual new features. Similarly, it's strange to count the battery and music when you said you weren't considering hardware specifications. There are good original songs, but listening a bit more critically to the remixes will show that a lot of them are closer to remasters that coast on the buffed sample quality and use of drum fills rather than any drastic changes to the arrangement itself. You actually can share your Secret Base with someone in Emerald, but you have to use one of the Cable Club facilities for it (Record Mixing) rather than just passively doing so via Streetpass. Surprised there weren't any points awarded for either version of Mauville, since Emerald had the Game Corner and the New Mauville dungeon, but OR/AS has some new shops and another battle facility borrowed from X/Y that has a decent gimmick and rewards players with useful resources.

[@bartelvandervelden9894]

It's indeed strange and unfair to give points for keeping innovations that were made between those games and kinda make the comparison pointless if you don't want to make the comparison anachronistic ("Emerald no internet connection? - bad" etc)

[@MrLachapell]

Exactly

[@MrMonkey2150]

Lol u really got offended that he said oras was better 😂

[@MrMonkey2150]

@@MrLachapelloras was better tho 😂

[@MrMonkey2150]

@@bartelvandervelden9894dude oras was better

[@Chase-hv2lt]

Hey only the Gameboy Pokemon games use the batteries to save. On the gba it's just for time based events, and it also breaks the rng in emerald but not in a noticeable way to most players. Just with shinys. Video was great and I really enjoyed it, can't wait to see you upload again!

[@gaspardsavoureux8680]

Wait really? My emerald battery is dead and I had no idea it affected shinies

[@Imar13]

Actually, a dead battery affects the RNG in Ruby and Sapphire. Emeralds RNG was broken from the very start due to an oversight.

[@pabloallende1914]

So, is possible to catch a shiny on emerald?

[@Imar13]

@@pabloallende1914 it is definitely possible, just that the way shinies work, you could figure out exactly after how many seconds you need to encounter something for it to always 100% be shiny. Its fully dependant on your save file basically. And so it is possible that you try to hunt a shiny but your shiny frame is 3 hours in and you'll never see that shiny because you'd have to wait 3 hours per reset to hit the right frame

[@TopsyTurvy686]

One point I feel is missing is Sky Pillar. The bike challenge in Emerald I thought was a lot of fun. Very frustrating to do as a kid, but I remember it fondly. ORAS had it visually redesigned with interesting murals, but its just a linear path with no challenge. I miss the old bike challenge, but I won't lie that it visually was pretty bland in Emerald.

[@rogue1248]

i kinda wished they reworked it and had cracks and stuff too at the triangular pillar.

[@stupidusernamestaken]

I can't believe I'm not the only person who wanted a point awarded just for the sky pillar bike challenge! I would include the Wallace walking puzzle in the 8th gym too personally, Emerald had a lot of fun with its movement puzzles.

[@last5902]

I honestly love oras i think the game felt like a proper remake and overall felt like pokemon.

[@DisastrousIntentionally]

Fuck that bike challenge, I enable walk through walls cheats in every single Emerald run I ever do specifically at the bike challenges.

[@tripled2096]

The bike challenge is literally just poor design, im sorry but nothing about it is a positive and replacing it with a beautiful story location is 100% an improvement

[@iviyohane]

Wallace as a Champion makes sense when you realise he represents the sea, while Steven represents the land. Delta Episode also provides a canon explanation to this, with Steven admiting that Wallace is better suited as a Champion than him, and asking his -boy- friend to oversee the Hoenn Region while he's absent.

[@JonJon-pj9ly]

Although Wallace would defeat Steven in a battle, Steven is almost always way harder to deal with than Wallace

[@PeruvianPotato]

​@@JonJon-pj9ly Fr. I remember always struggling to beat Steven in my first Alpha Sapphire playthrough while I beat Wallace in my first time in my Emerald playthrough

[@It-Will-All-Be-Okay-I-Promise]

@@JonJon-pj9ly That’s mostly because Steven’s team is much more balanced. Cradily for waters and grounds, Anorith for grasses, claydol for fires and fighters, skarmory for more bulk, aggron for…taking hits, and metagross for what’s left. He almost always has a Pokémon to come in against you. Wallace’s whole team can be beat with sceptile, Crobat, and vaporeon. You almost always have a switch in against him.

[@JonJon-pj9ly]

@@It-Will-All-Be-Okay-I-Promise I agree 100%. Metagross sweeps whole teams in Nuzlockes, hes the star of the show, and the rest doesnt leave to be desired. Water type is very good too and can counter one of his weakness with Ice, but Wallaces Mons dont hit as hard.

[@jaretco6423]

​@@It-Will-All-Be-Okay-I-Promise It also doesn't help that we've already faced an Water type specialist not long ago in the last gym. So having another Water type enthusiast is pretty unbalanced. I wish Emerald could've kept Steven as Champion and Wallace would be the superboss.

[@thohillesland]

- I don't think there is anything that is stopping you in Emerald from trading with any of the other gen 3 games before you beat the league, so you can trade with colosseum, FR or LG to get pretty much any gen 1 or 2 pokemon to use. - While the dex nav is a cool feature for completing your pokedex and building a competetive team, it is also absurdly broken, especially since you get it almost as soon as you start the game. The fact that you are able to get something like a tailow with brave bird and boom burst, surskit with hydro pump, shroomish with drain punch and seed bomb, all before the first gym is absurd. - ORAS did also cut the Game Corner. while we all know why The Game Corner has been cut since gen 4, it is still a feature that Emerald has, that ORAS does not. - As other people has pointed out, the emerald battery has nothing to do with your save game, so if it dies, only time based events affected. - Next year, the 3ds eshop and online services will go offline, this means that online functionality like battling and wondertrade will no longer work with ORAS. It also means that you won't be able to download the post release patches that the game got that fixed numerous bugs, one of them being that the game could freeze after entering the hall of fame. - While the physical special split is overall a good thing for the franchise. I am gonna be honest and say that it is not that big of a deal on RSE. The only 2 pokemon that gets really screwed by it that i can think of is Mightyena, Absol and maybe Azumarill. The others that people like to bring up in gen 3 like Sharpedo, Crawdaunt still has a very respectable 95/90 special attack and can therefore run a very effective mixed set. Furthermore something i feel almost no one talks about is the pokemon that got hurt by the physical special split, because believe it or not, there are actualy some pokemon that did not enjoy the physical special split very much at all. For example, Crobat lost access to physical sludge bomb, and now has to use the much worse cross poison. Muk, since the TM for poison jab can only be gotten from random mirage spots, you will not reliably get a physical poison attack before level 49 in gunk shot, while in emerald it gets both sludge and sludge bomb from level up. Dusknoir, the best physical ghost type attack it gets in gen 6 is base 60 power Shadow Punch. Sceptile, while this is not that important for a regular playtrough, Sceptile lost basically all of its special coverage moves like Thunder Punch and Crunch, meaning that if you want to use a non mega sceptile, using it as a physical attacker is probably the better option, because its special movepool is horrible. One thing i also would like to point out in Emerald and the rest of the gen 3 games, is how much easier they are to replay over ORAS. Almost only because the gen 3 engine is just so much quicker then the gen 6 engine. Emerald has quicker battles, quicker animations, less loading time before and after entering battles. ORAS also added a bunch of loading zones in the overworld where in Emerald there previously was none. Emerald also has less unskippable cutscenes, which again slows down everything. Just because of this, if i would like to play trough a Hoenn game, i would even choose Ruby and Sapphire before i choose ORAS

[@Protofall]

There are limitations for trading over pokemon not in hoenn (That being the 202 pokemon that make up the hoenn dex). Until you get the national dex upgrade after becoming the champion, you'll get obscure messages when trying to trade over pokemon like Slowbro or Murkrow, but I think trading something like a Pikachu from Fire Red *might* be allowed, don't quote me on that. There are a few work arounds. I hear Pokemon Colosseum and Ruby and Sapphire Box are two gamecube games that free-ly allow trading. This is because they pre-date FRLF and Emerald, therefore they use R&S logic which is "anything goes". I know for Ruby and Sapphire Box, you must have caught at least 100 pokemon before a GBA game can connect to it, but you can achieve that early on in Emerald by trading pokemon back and forth from a more complete GBA game. Also I didn't realise how broken the dex nav was, lol! I barely used it in my gameplay. And yeah Gen 3 Sceptile is broken! I have one with "Dragon Claw, Leaf Blade, Thunder Punch, Crunch" and its a beast.

[@gta71000]

Guess what. They only shut the eShop down they didn't turn any online features off at all because Pokemon bank requires it. Do your information on the whole closure. Nintendo said they were only closing the eShop. Not the online functionality of the consoles due to them using basic wifi which they do not fully have control of since proxy servers exist as well but they have no intent on shutting the wifi features of games with wifi off due to some games needing it regardless to even do anything. Pokemon bank is one such example. Otherwise they would have said they would and would have just not made Pokemon home have the ability to link to bank at all and close bank forever.

[@jimmyh2137]

For Phys/Special split you should also count gen 1 and 2 pkmns, like Gengar. You can use them in Emerald.

[@thohillesland]

​@@jimmyh2137 You CAN use Gengar in all of Emerald, however the only way to get any of the gengar family is trough trading with FR/LG. My comment was more about the pokemon that you can easaly get and use in a RSE playtrough. Aka the Pokemon part of the RSE regional dex. Also i'd say Gengar is a horrible example here, yes it doesn't get stab from its best attacking stat, but it still has a great special movepool. Getting Psychic, Thunderbolt and Giga Drain from TMs and since you already have to trade to get it, you can also trade it to a completed emerald copy to teach it Ice Punch and Fire Punch. There is a reason why Gengar is a top 7 Pokemon in Gen 3 OU.

[@SuiteLifeofDioBrando]

I side with Emerald since battle frontier gives meaning to the postgame. Difference between 40 hours and 100+

[@fionat.6411]

You rewarded one point to ORAS because of Emerald's battery problem. While I agree it's also worth mentioning that the first releases of ORAS had faulty cartridges where the game would just stop working after some time. It won't start anymore. My OR cartridge suffered from this :/ (which is also why I now have custom firmware on my 3ds to enjoy it again)

[@GameSmith45]

I didn't know that. Thanks for sharing!

[@GURGLEGUY12345]

Wait, what? I'm going to be so mad if my copy no longer works. I recently got the idea that I wanted to try finding a perfect Ralts for fun... Well, "fun."

[@michaelalonzo9575]

Emerald had the ability to share secret bases. I don't remember how if it was after battling them once or trading but your friends base would appear in your game where they have it located in theirs.

[@rogue1248]

yea i think its about trading records in the upstairs section of the Pokemon center, you can even use it to level up your mons to whoever has a Blissey in their team.

[@jimmyjohn6479]

oras has this too tho

[@SheenaMalfoy]

This. My brother and I would regularly do "secret base hide and seek" and basically try to find the most obscure spot ever to put our bases and then race each other to find them.

[@michaelalonzo9575]

@@SheenaMalfoy that sounds fun as hell.

[@Springy05]

The best thing of the ORAS Soundtrack, is that some tracks reference the old soundtrack from the GBA era. For example, the intro cutscene in ORAS start exactly like the GBA version, graphics and all, before hopping to the 3DS graphics and musics. Another example is the battle against Primal Groundon or Kyogre. The music keeps jumping from the bit version from the GBA to the new version of the 3DS.

[@lindasegal9992]

It’s possible for Emerald to get remade someday. The Let’s Go games are still remakes of Yellow so it’s possible for the third game to get remade. But if that happens then Crystal has to get remade first. And given the Terra types coming up look like crystals then it’s possible

[@GameSmith45]

That would be awesome if they did

[@iviyohane]

Crystal was remade when GF developed HeartGold and SoulSilver, as these remakes are essentially Crystal splitted in two.

[@pabloallende1914]

They can make an "legend..." games instead of the remake of emerald

[@piranhalettuce]

@xid Exactly, the worst part about let’s go Pikachu/Eevee is the lack of wild battles and it got replaced by forced motion controls, I also hate how Pokémon can run away from you (which is a reason why I can care less if oras didn’t have the safari zone mechanics.) LGPE would’ve been good if it didn’t have forced motion controls, included the sevii islands from FRLG, and included Gen 1 to 7 pokemon (or if game freak wanted to be lazy at least include cross gen evolutions to Gen 1 pokemon.)

[@PeruvianPotato]

​@@piranhalettuce Finally someone else that didn't miss the Safari Zone.

[@noahpearson2190]

Gamefreak seriously needs to make another gen 4 remake sometime considering how good ORAS is compared to BDSP.

[@rogue1248]

same, i want the real pokemon contest back. complete with being able to dress up your pokemon and stuff.

[@shelbybayer200]

That isn't until YEARS to come The next one on the chopping block for a remake us Black and White/Black 2 And White 2

[@RileyBirb]

Honestly I think they might remake gold/silver again. It's about time

[@g10viwho70]

nah, they should remake crystal or emerald

[@g10viwho70]

@@RileyBirb not gold and silver GOD NO we already had a remake on the ds, they should make a remake based on crystal since it never happened

[@lostboymasx]

Biggest difference is they ruined my immersion that the male MC had white hair. Unforgivable.

[@Aaron.Seabolt]

I love your in depth reviews of these games. You deserve so many more subscribers!

[@GameSmith45]

Much appreciated! Thank you!

[@CoffeeEmblem]

Loved the video! As much as I love Emerald (still think it's the best), I do love ORAS for its improvements. Just wish they didn't gimp the Battle Frontier and made the difficulty curve same as Emerald; it would've been the definitive Hoenn experience IMO!

[@GameSmith45]

Thank you! I appreciate that!

[@holzman00]

I picked up a copy of Alpha Sapphire and was shocked by how good it was. It fleshed out Hoenn and its characters significantly more than the originals.

[@artycuz6877]

I spent the most time in oras than any other pokemon game. The shiny hunting mechanics were so good. From the Dex Nav, horde hunting, chain fishing masuda. Mirage islands were so good too, truly amazing remake.

[@frobonetic]

As someone who grew up playing both, simply play both One game doesn't tremble against the other, they're both great games you need to experience.

[@jayq2571]

What i love about both of these versions is that if you try to mix/mashup the themes this game has, it blends so well like Route 120 for example and the Gym leader theme.

[@CharlieZColt]

This is a great idea for a video and I’ve thought about this a lot!

[@GameSmith45]

Thank you!

[@CYBER_FunkER]

The way I personally judge Pokémon remakes is using what I call "Dual Stream to Pool" method. In short, this method is to isolate the comparison of the remakes to both the Original (for mostly main game content) as well as the 3rd Version (for mostly post game, side content and QoL), and then looking at it's own features/upgrades; then to combine the water system as a whole. I do this because I think too often people ONLY compare these games to 3rd versions and not the gen as a whole. I'll take ORAS here as my example for it: Ruby and Sapphire's stream to ORAS - I'd say it's an overall good, nothing outstanding but does a good job. Emerald's stream to ORAS - I'd give it a big X for this one, too much of the post game and side content was removed. ORAS' pool - I'd say it's pretty good: Dex Nav is very fun to play with, Soaring is great, and the online features make the Secret Bases really fun to collect (PSS was so based and I hate it hasn't come back). Overall rating - I think it's a good game, would have been better if it weren't for the lack of Emerald content.

[@GameSmith45]

That seems like a good system

[@tomasluna9460]

Great video! Thank you for your effort. You’re right, I agree that the quality of life updates in ORAS give it the edge. The team building features were also amazing, too bad they aren’t in the new games.

[@GameSmith45]

Thank you!

[@alexthoman96]

Great deep dive comparison. I adore the updated pokedex and movesets with ORAS

[@GameSmith45]

Glad you enjoyed it!

[@GodSlayer330]

I still got to give emerald the edge, Oras wouldn’t be what it is if it weren’t for the quality of life mechanics which carry it, without these quality of life mechanics the game would just fall flat on its face and wouldn’t hold a candle to emerald. Emerald stands on its own while Oras needs the constant quality of life features to stand because without them it wouldn’t stand. Emerald stands on its own merit, emerald has so much content and the battle frontier bassically just adds another 100-300+ hours of post game content that the delta episode doesn’t because beating the delta episode only really lasts for an hour, which is sad and pitiful, gamefreak would have been better of remaking emerald because it’s the true canonical plot.

[@PeruvianPotato]

​@@GodSlayer330 Lmao bros meat riding the Battle Frontier for all it's worth when it wasn't even that good and Platinum had the superior one BY FAR

[@Idabrofonian]

My personal preference will always be Emerald, with reasons being a better difficulty curve, less handholding telling you where to go, more explorability in areas that were reduced in size in ORAS, and the story with both teams and all legendaries. Battle Frontier is also just a huge bonus. While I appreciated the quality of life changes that ORAS brought to Hoenn, I didn't care for how much it took away at the same time. It made the experience overall less enjoyable and less replayable over Emerald. Also as a side note regarding the battery in GBA cartridges, I still have my original Emerald cartridge and can play and save game files just fine even though the battery needs to be replaced. It doesn't hold save information like original GB / GBC cartridges did, only time based events which are optional for completing the game anyway.

[@TheWarlordShogun]

Respectfully, it feels unfair to give points for hardware issues (the battery is only for day/night stuff not saving) or for QoL improvements that ORAS specifically did not do. For example, the physical/special split was a diamond and pearl innovation. Infinite TMs are a black and white innovation. I actually prefer limited use TMs because it makes the games more challenging and you feel more commitment to the pokemon you give them to. It makes the pokemon feel more special to use the TMs on it. You give points to Emerald for difficulty, but then give points to ORAS for making things easier. I also cannot agree with giving points to ORAS for just having more legendaries. Having more legendaries just dulls the value of getting said legendaries. You even said in the video that getting latios for free was disappointing, yet you give points to ORAS for more legendaries that are just as free to obtain? Quite strange. Also a lot of the times you give points to Emerald, you only give one when you give 2-3 for other arbitrary things for ORAS. Just my observation. Since no one in the comments has pointed it out to my knowledge, (I scrolled a bit to look) I want to point out that the reason Emerald has Battle Tents instead of Contest Halls is because after Ruby and Sapphire release, people hated contests. So they removed the tents and located contests to only Lilycove. I personally loved contests and think they were better in Emerald than ORAS.

[@GameSmith45]

Thank you for your thoughtful feedback. Honestly these games are so close in terms of gameplay everyone is going to weight them differently. Did you happen to see the video I posted today? I talked about how the result from this video.

[@Gingerlion777]

I have warm memories about these remakes. I was out of playing pokemon for a while and these got me back me in! Remakes that are actually improving on their source material! Bought the doorstop 2ds specifically for playing these (most comfortable ds btw!)

[@GameSmith45]

Love it

[@adrthegreatball4596]

I love this type of analysis video. Your demeanor reminds me of Johnstone or Jrose. I mean this as a high compliment. I subbed and look forward to more.

[@GameSmith45]

Thank you! I appreciate that.

[@BlackKoiRecords]

It's infuriating because if ORAS just added everything Emerald had AND it's other features, it could have washed the old games with the exception of its sprites!!!

[@GameSmith45]

Exactly. Would have been epic

[@MalakaiMoveThem]

I didn't play emerald when I was a kid, so I didn't have as much nostalgia or gameplay as RS and ORAS. Though I have played emerald and know that it's a masterpiece game

[@KINGTONY6]

I'd like to preface my comment by saying I think this is a well done video, I enjoyed both this one and the Platinum/BDSP one thoroughly. I will however have to disagree with a few of your points and your verdict. I'm certainly somewhat blinded by nostalgia as I played all 3 of the RSE trilogy when I was younger and absolutely adore Emerald to this day. That said I can still take a step back and look objectively at the differences between features, and I think you do a good job highlighting what each game does well. My biggest gripe is just at how many points ORAS pick up for simply being more modern. It's not that those changes don't make a huge impact on gameplay (they certainly do) but that it feels like ORAS is earning points by piggybacking off of changes almost all made by games that came between it and Emerald, while doing the bare minimum to upgrade features from the games it's remaking if upgrading them at all. I dislike how they handled certain aspects, like the Berry Blending being taken out, Safari Zone being neutered, and a bunch of other small things that were just not given the love they deserve in the remakes. I also feel I have to disagree on your point about the music, ORAS's soundtrack CERTAINLY benefits from the higher fidelity audio and instruments, but It's just always fallen short in my mind. Most of the soundtrack feels like all they did was upgrade the original tracks with modern instrumentation, I've always liked how modern games and remakes would spin old songs into the new style, and I just think ORAS lacks that character in its soundtrack. I will say though that I probably value the Delta Episode even more highly than you did. I felt that alone made up for a lot of shortcomings in the remakes as games, the writing, original content, and fun packaged inside that relatively small bonus portion of the game was some of the most fun I had in a pokemon game. With all that said I don't think your conclusion is at all invalid and I really appreciate seeing the perspective of someone going into this with an open mind for both games. I hope you consider making more videos along these lines in the future. Also as a sidenote for anyone who may be interested, there are a plethora of Emerald rom hacks that add a surprisingly vast amount of the modern quality of life changes and content to the original game and make for a very fun playing experience.

[@GameSmith45]

Thank you! I think that's what the video really highlights. Not what is better, but where each shines and falls short.

[@lwfawn]

A couple of things: 1: You can find Pokemon outside of the Hoenn dex after beating the main story with the DexNav. (i.e. Zorua, Sewaddle and Lillipup on Route 101) 2: There are also Triple Battles in the ORAS Battle Maison. 3: Masuda moreso said people don’t have time to do lengthy, tedious postgame stuff in the more modernized world, but close enough! Good video overall! I enjoyed watching it.

[@sambroughton3496]

The reason why fairy is immune to dragon is because in myth fairy comes from the fey they some are tricksters some are nature oriented and some have magic they use to help humans slay dragons besides dragon type was op before fairys came along and got rid of quite a few normal types

[@chaosenforcerdhm969]

I mean fairy didn’t stop dragon but replaced it

[@seandaniels7938]

Emerald is the go to for sure you get all 3 weather trio and get to pick what eon duo you want

[@iron-mage]

for emerald ruby & sapphire the battery is not needed for saving only for the in game real time clock, firered leafgreen don't have battry and save just fine, however once you replace the battery most ruby and sapphire carts will experience something called the berry glitch, and all ers carts will have issues with the rtc which can only be fixed by using a flashcard to reprogram the rtc after replacing the battery dry battery = saving but no rtc replaced battery = eevee evolutions + tides can change but no other events such as growing barries or daily TMs replaced battery+rtc rewrite = all events now work again batteries usually last 5 years maximum but ppl will do a mail in service to replace them for about $7, I've never seen someone do a mail in service for the rtc rewrite but from what i understand it's only becoming mainstream knowledge in the community in the past year thanks to a video by the channel yello's island

[@DragonhunterJareth]

This should get interesting

[@Shyguymask]

There are many areas that ORAS butchers that you didn't bring up. Granite Cave being made basically optional, Trick House, Mt. Pyre, New Mauville dungeon, Sky Pillar and Game Corner. And then there is also the fact that music is largely subjective and that battery issues are a hardware issue & have nothing to do with Emerald and how it's designed.

[@sonicmaster206]

Both are literally my favourite games in the series

[@solaris3450]

Other people have pointed out about the GBA battery not affecting saving, but I think it’s unfair to award a point to ORAS for this when there’s a well known issue with those cartridges as well. Certain ORAS cartridges were part of a bad batch and straight up do not work anymore. Many people lost their save files because of this issue, and (based on a quick search) it seem the only way to fix it is to re-solder a chip inside the cartridge.

[@GameSmith45]

Oh I didn’t know that. Had I known that I would have made it a wash

[@AndySomething]

This video was incredible 👏 I havent played pokemon since the nintendo advanced days (LeafGreen was my last game). Been watching reviews & comparisons of all the games the past couple days but this has been by far the best. Both of these games look wonderful so I will likely pick both up at some point to get a lil noatalgia fix 😄

[@GameSmith45]

Thank you! Much appreciated

[@telfordparks6083]

BRO NO, when you gave the music points to oras I got so mad, the hoenn trumpets on the gba cant be beat man, the best soundtrack

[@GameSmith45]

Lol it must have been quite the hit seeing as how I gave it two points.

[@pn2294]

I have to disagree about the music. While ORAS’ original tracks such as Zinnia’s theme sound phenomenal, its remixes were lackluster. It somehow had too much nostalgia and not enough. You could hardly hear any of the background melodies that were in the Originals. The only one I really liked was the Rival theme.

[@rockmanfan5104]

Oras could have been the best pokemon game, but they dropped the ball so hard. Screw you Gamefreak

[@andretorres700]

nice video, keep going

[@GameSmith45]

Thanks!

[@HerooftheWild]

Honestly aside from Gens 1,2 and 4, Gen 3 is a generation I hold close to my heart Had fun playing Emerald but never finished it but recently played Omega Ruby and completed it, one of the few Pokémon games where I beat the Elite 4 and the Champion

[@justthenamekevin]

lost of little mistakes in this one but overall liked this style of review/comparison

[@JamieS1992]

19:00 it can save without the battey its only the time based events for gen 3 the save files not saving is gen 1 and 2

[@GameSmith45]

Yeah got that one wrong unfortunately. Had bad source material

[@blksheepramirez]

I have such fond memories of both games, Hoenn is my favorite region and in my opinion is the best. From the starters to the legendary Pokémon and the overall feel. I’d have to say ORAS is bit more special but not by too much

[@austinbusumbru123]

Everyone I really really really really need your help ( my omega. Ruby, game cartridge got corrupted recently I was using powersaves last week and before you know, it doesn't read on my Nintendo 3-D XI and even more annoying power save doesn't recognize. I've used it for about a year now with lots of Code being added, and it's only after I got corrupted is now saying unsupported game, even though it's working perfectly fine for months. It all started basically want to add a one Pokemon to the coding and then a couple minutes later, added another code that's when it happened. Please anyone give me a solution to fix this. Is there any place or store I can go to to get this fixed anywhere I can reset my 3DS anyway I can get my powersaves to recognize my cartridge in order to get it back up. Literally anything will help. Please help

[@simon3713]

I’m surprised there was no mention to the added difficulty of more double battles that made the overworld battles with trainers more exciting in my opinion

[@GameSmith45]

Oh that’s a good point. I overlooked that

[@seanperez1773]

Like you said it’s nostalgia. Everyone knows the new games are better but since we’re getting older we judge them more harshly. I grew up on GBA and will always prefer the 3DS & Switch over that😅 tho if ORAS had battle frontier I guarantee more people would have loved it.

[@animeladka1264]

another 25-50 we can see it.😊😊😊😊

[@abrahamramirez8882]

Love your background music 🩵 What's the name of it ?

[@GameSmith45]

Thank you! It's Poke and Chill by Gamechops. There's a link in the descripion.

[@GalekC]

i actually prefer the older music. to me, the instrumentation in ORAS is very same-y with a lot of other anime-stylized games on the DS & 3DS, making it come off less unique for me. plus, the youtuber "Jammin Sam Miller" is currently commissioned to do a restoration project of the R/S/E GBA soundtrack, & so far it's purrty phenomenal. take a listen to route 111, and maybe the poke'mart or mt. pyre or interior once those come out this week(i think)

[@shellostara]

Just so you know saves are not tied to the battery, only time Is at lese for gen 3

[@Hawkcam1996]

I wish they would’ve kept the Soar feature from ORAS for later games. I liked flying around on Latios/Latias.

[@piercewilson9167]

great video!

[@GameSmith45]

Much appreciated!

[@TheNylu]

15:15 FYI You could share secrets bases since even Rube sapphire with record mixing. Also saving in gba carts is not related to the internal battery, only the internal clock

[@GameSmith45]

Yeah I found out later my source material was wrong. I made a follow up video on this one where I mention the mistake

[@adrthegreatball4596]

Great video!

[@GameSmith45]

Wow! Thank you!

[@joon0]

You can visit other player's bases in R/S/E too.

[@GURGLEGUY12345]

17:10 Sea Mauville is where you encounter _who?_ How did I not know this? Oh, right. Hoopa.

[@FreedomDaveX]

ORAS would have been near perfect for me if they had just given the gym leaders their improved Emerald teams as well as allowed post game rematches with them. I can let battle frontier slide, but the way the left the gym leaders is an unacceptable gaping hole in the game for me.

[@GameSmith45]

Yeah that was very disappointing. Really wish they had kept them as they were in emerald

[@colt3578]

The only pokemon game I truly want is a remake of emerald on the switch

[@GameSmith45]

Would be epic as long as they do it right

[@jbcatz5]

There was a second iteration of the Battle Frontier in gen 4, in Platinum and HGSS. The argument that it’s under appreciated was to explain why it wasn’t in ORAS yet so many people did indeed miss it. The whole idea that games need to be easier has been detrimental to the franchise, with some games being too hand holding (SM and USUM looking at you) and unbalancing the game in the player’s favour (the way the EXP share has been handled being a prime example).

[@SidequestSean]

I made a free beat out of the R/S/E version of the My Pyre Peak theme if anyone needs copyright free music (ORAS wins though for sure)

[@jytan740]

battle frontier was the best thing i enjoyed in pokemon emerald, i spent most of the time enjoying the challenge, not sure why they took it out in oras

[@iamalwaysalone73]

Great comparison mate Hope you will play gen 5 games (Pokemon Black and White, Black 2 and White 2) they are my favourite games and i know you will also enjoy them There comparison would also be pretty interesting

[@GameSmith45]

I'll check them out. Thanks for the idea

[@Hax_R_Us]

I'm starting to realise we undersell how fortunate we were that pokeballs work on deoxys💀

[@ender7278]

The fact that he manages to pronounce "maison" almost perfectly then decides to not pronounce it that way anyway is a hilarious chad move.

[@GameSmith45]

Lol I wasn’t sure if I was saying it correctly so I didn’t want to butcher it a bunch of times

[@alexanderstilianov]

Now imagine a hypothetical Pokemon: Gamma Emerald, which has gym leader and E4 rematches and both Emerald and Platinum's Battle Frontiers.

[@frickinfrick8488]

I’m really impressed with how in depth this is, especially for your first time playing these games. As a huge hoenn fan myself I agree with a lot of your analysis and think you represented these games really well.

[@GameSmith45]

Thank you! That means a lot!

[@shira0160]

Don't forget that emerald turn constantly at 60 fps. ORAS only at 30 fps and can lag. With the cartridge there's already some ORAS that are out of order. And Steven is a secret boss in emerald, a bit like Red

[@rishabpendharkar8549]

One thing has to be said about the world design of ORAS and Emerald. The world of Emerald feels cohesive and a continuous where as ORAS feels very segmented with transitions between routes or parts of routes and cities being fade to black transitions. It's one of my big reasons for favoring Emerald over ORAS

[@obits3]

I played Alpha Sapphire for the first time during the lockdowns. Afterwards, I was honestly shocked to find out how many people thought Zinnia was “annoying.” Did no one read what she was saying? The scientists were literally willing to risk the destruction of an entirely different world, killing potentially billions of people who would have even less time to prepare than the ORAS people. Oh, you’re mad she stole some mega stones? You’re mad she stops the plan? Really? Her actions are completely justified both towards saving the ORAS world and stopping the deaths of billions of people in a another world. How is she supposed to know you are the chosen one who will surpass all her teachings and training? Zinnia did nothing wrong.

[@GameSmith45]

Good points. She goes from thinking she’s the main character to understanding that you are. Probably a tough realization

[@obits3]

@@GameSmith45 Yep. I love how they characterized her in the Pokemon Evolutions episode. You can really feel her heartbreak as she realizes that her role was just a setup for you to finish the story.

[@frozenandchosen]

This is hard for me, Emerald Carries so much nostalgia for my childhood, but ORAS has a lot of nostalgia for my teenage years, I’d have to give the edge to Emerald in the end but both games are amazing

[@calebfurlong]

I definitely prefer Emerald but ORAS has sooo many quality of life changes that it’s hard for me to go back. Also my Emerald battery died so that sucks.

[@Jakkob697]

The chad Emerald design for Brendan vs the Virgin ORAS design for Brendan

[@dalV_Studio]

I have a strong Hoenn nostalgia, and no other region will ever compare to it To be honest, if you will play both, you won't regret this

[@vivigarr]

I thibk the only thing i wantsd tk ve different avout the delta episode was to make it more like the Deoxys movie and have another Deoxys around somehwere, with that ine being the one you end up catching. I can see a plot where catching jt and befriending it and using it to calm to more vengeful deoxys searching for it, with it deciding to atay with you after.

[@GameSmith45]

That would be a cool way to do it!

[@Viper-py4pg]

1) Black/White Two _then_ One were peak Pokemon imo. Hydreigon's all face no hands lookin ass was *my baby* (Dragon/Dark) then this FAIRY TYPE NONSENSE came through and absolutely crushed my dreams I just wanted my little emo glass cannon to put in work, instead he was neutered by some of the lamest pokedudes on offer. So sad 😖😭😩💔 2 )Why yes you have 100% earned my sub! So chill, thoroughly researched and wonderful presentation. I would love to see you cover gaming anomalies, cut content, lore analysis, etc. Your style is so tranquil and I'll definitely be putting this video on my sleepy gamer essay playlist for future snoozin xD Thanks friend! I look forward to the next one~

[@GameSmith45]

You just made my night! Excellent suggestions on content. Glad I could help with the snoozin lmao

[@frannavarro-efejota-5018]

I didn't love the inclusion of Fairy type myself, but only because I didn't feel like they balanced the gym leaders teams around it. It's way too easy to cheese that Altaria now.

[@KSD-2526]

The save data in gen 3 carts isn’t tied to the battery. My copy of ruby had a dead battery so time based events won’t work but the save is fine and I can still play it no prob.

[@GameSmith45]

Yeah I must have found just the wrong article or something. Had a bad source. Glad your game works though!

[@delta_power3049]

Remember, right before the release of ORAS, Nintendo copyrighted the name "pokemon Delta Emerald" for the sole purpose of no fan ever enjoying the package as a whole.

[@GameSmith45]

I can’t tell if you’re joking or not but that is funny

[@delta_power3049]

@@GameSmith45 nope, they really did that

[@GameSmith45]

@@delta_power3049 Lol wow. I wish they cared about Nintendo online as much as they cared about stuff like that

[@delta_power3049]

@GameSmith45 yeah, it was trademarked a few months before the release of ORAS, so for a while, fans thought they might actually make the game. But, in hindsight, it was probably to prevent people from using the name in rom hacks or fan games.

[@IAmTrash1995]

“Didn’t try to make a close score?” Yeah. Agree to disagree there.

[@GameSmith45]

You are free to do so

[@finnedreaper7069]

both emerald and oras are easily some of the best pokemon games, i consider oras the 2nd best games, right after usum

[@AzureFlute]

I'm quite fond of Emerald. ORAS does have some improvements with a little extra postgame story, soaring, and a few other things, but I just find Emerald better paced, I like the Battle Frontier, I like how both evil teams are weighted equally in the story, and I really like how the original RSE just *flow*. ORAS has that modern design problem of stopping the player way too many times and way too long, where in RSE the stops are minimal and don't usually last long, so you can just take in the adventure

[@alfernix]

*ORAS:* -Remastered OST -Remaked designs for characters -Improvement in Team Magma's and Team Aqua's personalities and appearances in the history -New Mega-Evolutions and Primal Forms -Every legendary catchable at the post-game -Delta Episode -Lissia and better Pokémon Contests. -Wally's character changed (in the originals, his parents don't support him to make a journey and he has to count only on himself to make it. In ORAS, his parents support him, he gets Mega-Gallade and a stronger team. Which version is better is subjective.) -Exploration flying Hoenn with Mega-Latios and Mega-Latias. -Improvement for Secret Bases. -PSS (the best Internet system Pokémon has ever had) -New methods to Shiny-hunt -One of the Biggest Pokedex we've ever had. (Because since Sword and Shield now we don't have all of them at every game.) *Emerald:* -BATTLE FRONTIER

[@rapidretrovenue563]

lol this video is solid for a funny reason because you gave questionable bonus points to ORAS throughout the video but then gave emerald a fuck ton of points for the frontier so it evens out xD

[@GameSmith45]

Yeah it really highlights where they both shine. A ton of attention to the main game on one side and a ton of attention to the post game on the other. The battle frontier is sorely missed for a reason

[@edselyong7609]

2004: Pokemon Emerald 2014: Pokemon OR/AS 2024: … (may GameFreak notice the pattern and act upon it!)

[@ultimate_pleb]

16:03 ground is immune to electric, dark is immune to psychic and ghost is immune fighting it's not ridiculous especially since just like psychic in gen 1, dragon was getting very OP in gen 5 and needed some kind of nerf in order to keep the game balanced and healthy. The most ironic part of all of this is now fairy is kind OP now. Not as OP as gen 1 psychic or gen 4/5 dragon but still OP

[@katalystkatapatheticalyssa5987]

R/S/E had the most unique, fun, and innovative additions to the games. They're even more impressive given the limits of their tech. Secret Bases, the puzzles to find the Regi trio, Pokémon contests, weather based elements, customizing boxes...). GameFreak went all out in creativity and introduced new concepts. The soundtrack slapped too.

[@GameSmith45]

They did an amazing job

[@PokeHokage]

While I love the battle frontier it should lose some points due to the high bar to entry. Ev training in emerald is hell, but iv beeeding is practically impossible, not to mention the lack of reuseable tms means you only get one lf each kf the tms with useful moves in them.

[@no2hiswear]

I wish instead of remaking the original versions of a region ( R/S, D/P) they’d remake the definitive versions like Emerald and Platinum instead. But they just wanna sell both versions.

[@animeladka1264]

Another 15-30 we can see Emerald remake ok! 😊😊😊😊

[@bbro43]

I love the idea of the Battle Frontier, I hate the execution because it is so grindy. I rather not need 50 straight wins to battle a Frontier Brain's. Had silver symbols been awarded just for beating the Brains and Gold Symbols for completing the entire challenge, I feel like the Frontier would be a staple in every region. And like still keep facility gimmicks like double battles, rentals only, ect. But don't lock the achievements behind several days worth of grinding for children. I don't think I have ever beaten a single facility (though last time I played emerald and even tried I was 10 so).

[@danielgibson3422]

One point I would give emerald as it goes for secret basese is in that game you can actually use a full team of 6 pokemon to make an actual challenging encounter when you swaped bases with your friends. In ORAS they lowered the amount you can have to 3 so it's never really going to be a true challenge, which was kinda disappointing. They also removed the game corner in ORAS depending on your disposition twards that.

[@michaelfragoso6572]

ORAS could have been the best remakes ever if they had More difficulty More emerald elements Better story Maybe a mythical event for jirachi An easier way to get the lichi berry More variety with the Pokédex Character customization Trainer hill Mirage Tower Desert underpass full of ditto Emerald Gym leader teams and rematches Missing gym leader Juan More land Team magma’s volcano hideout And finally the battle frontier as the cherry on top

[@GameSmith45]

If they combined the best parts of emerald with it they would have been amazing for sure

[@pueohoot543]

I jad so much fun in emerald i literall played it for three years straight lol. Different times now days but i still play Emerald because i have an unsatisfied itch i cant scratch any other way.