Pokemon: Ruby Version - Nintendo Game Boy Advance

In Japan in 1996 a craze started; by the turn of the century, it had worked its way around the world capturing the hearts and minds of gamers as easily as a level 3 Rattata is caught in a Master Ball. That craze was Pokémon: Nintendo’s pocket monster catching/training/battling powerhouse. The two Game Boy originals Pokémon Red and Blue set the world alight with tight RPG gameplay that made people both young and old want to be the very best, like no one ever was.

Since the early days of the franchise Nintendo has fanned the fires of fandom with hundreds of pieces of Pokémerchandise but only a few core games. By the time Pokémon Emerald came out on the Game Boy Advance the world had been saturated with pocket monsters for nearly 30 years.