Pokémon Sapphire

Let battle commence

Once you're out in the big, wide world, you'll encounter many species of wild Pokémon and fellow Trainers who are eager to show off their skills. Wild Pokémon, once defeated, can be caught and added to your team. Defeating Trainers earns you skill, money and plenty of satisfaction. It's on the battle screen that you'll see one of Pokémon Sapphire's elements - two-on-two battles. You can now pit two of your Pokémon against a pair of opponent's Pokémon, making for a far more strategic experience, as you must think about what combination of moves work best. More battles leads to more experience. Once you're ready, you can go head to head with the best Trainers that each of Hoenn's cities has to offer. Defeat their Pokémon and you will be awarded badges as proof of your Pokémon-commanding skill. Your ultimate goal is to defeat the Elite Four - a quartet of super Pokémon Trainers from the Pokémon League - and claim your crown as Pokémon master. But it's not all about battling.

Pokémon Contests

Another feature of Pokémon Sapphire is the Pokémon Contests. Once you've raised your Pokémon to a good enough level, you can enter them in competitions. Each Contest pits your Pokémon against three rivals in five categories- Cool, Beauty, Cute, Smart and Tough. To increase the chances of your Pokémon becoming the 'best in show', you must feed it PokéBlocks. These are nutritious and delicious sweets made from berries that you find throughout Hoenn. Using a special machine, you can create many different flavours of PokéBlock, making your Pokémon more intelligent or more loveable, for example. Two or more people are required to operate the machine, meaning you can join forces with another character or recruit a human player to help out. Plus, each user who takes part receives a PokéBlock, so there's something in it for everyone.

Multiplayer magnificence

Last - but definitely not least - is the multiplayer mode. Pokémon Sapphire's link-up mode is the strongest yet. By connecting with a friend, you can take part in one-on-one or two-on-two battles. With four players, you can form teams of two and battle against each other. Or you can host your own Pokémon Contests and see whose Pokémon are the cutest or coolest. Or you can team up and make some juicy PokéBlocks for each other. Quite simply, there's more crammed into this tiny cartridge than you'd think was scientifically possible. Blending powerful graphics and sound with the winning Pokémon playability.