The Video Game Critic

[QUOTE=Koopa W.]
PIKAAAAAAAAAAAA...CHUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUU!!!!
[/QUOTE]

You're not helping me forget that annoying animated series when you do that.  It just makes it worse.

While the game was good, I too found the series annoying. And I had a Girlfreind at the time who thought it was "SOOOO CUTE!" and made me sit through that damn Pokemon movie! Really, the game is nothing like that awful cartoon. I think of it as a combination SIMPLE Rpg/strategy game, with the monsters having their own powers and elements, and fighting against other groups. as I said, I normally loathe these types of games but Pokemon blue engaged me a long time (why blue? AlienBLUE likes Blue!.... also I liked Squirtle better..)

You know what would make the cartoon SO cool!? Pikachu gets rabies and attacks Ash, eating out his insides like the rats eat the dead Kenny on South Park! PIKARARR!

I really find the entire judgement of the series as shown in this thread quite ridiculous. You guys play Mario, right? A fat man who can jump 10 times his own heigth and grow to double size when eating a mushroom, walking mushroom men, fire-breathing dinosaurs in flying bathtubs, smiling clouds and bushes.. and a whole bunch of cartoon series of debatable quality. So why the hate on Pokemon? I described the gameplay above - it's not simple in any way, it has an incredibly complex battle system, and it requires a lot of dedication to create a powerful team. Seriously, if you think it simple, pick up Diamond/Pearl when it's out, make a team, then enter the game's online mode and watch yourself get horribly mauled to death before you can do much.
Or simply post your team here - while I'm no expert, I can certainly point out a whole plethora of holes in a team designed by someone who thinks the battle system is simple.

Alright...There seems to be enough love for Pokemon's gameplay that I will give it a shot.  It certainly not fair to judge the game based on the cartoon or movie, so I'm gonna give it a shot.  Hell I still play monster rancher and that game had an awful anime cartoon as well.

I'm planning on getting one of the GBA games.  I was leaning towards getting Pokemon Ruby or Sapphire.  Any ideas on which is the best one to grab. 

Go for Emerald over Ruby and Sapphire. It's an enhanced remake of those two games with a slightly more involving story (though you don't play these games for the story) and a couple new areas, including the Battle Frontier, where you have to test your skills in 6 all-new challenges.

Okay, I sound like a commercial, but seriously, there's absolutely no reason to go for Ruby or Sapphire over Emerald.

[QUOTE=Adamant]Go for Emerald over Ruby and Sapphire. It's an enhanced remake of those two games with a slightly more involving story (though you don't play these games for the story) and a couple new areas, including the Battle Frontier, where you have to test your skills in 6 all-new challenges.

Okay, I sound like a commercial, but seriously, there's absolutely no reason to go for Ruby or Sapphire over Emerald.[/QUOTE]

Can you still find Emerald in stores or is it something I should hunt down on ebay?  I really want to try the game, but I don't want to waste my time looking high and low to find it.  Any advice?

Emerald is the latest game in the main series, and it's not [I]that[/I] old, so I guess it should still be possible to find. I'm not really familiar with american practises regarding older games, though - stores might've gotten rid of all their copies due to it's "age". Try looking around.

If you have a DS, the new Diamond and Pearl games will be available for that in a month or so, though.