Hoenn, I'm coming home

Pokemon Ruby and Sapphire are two games that are very close to my heart. Not only were they my first step into the world of Pokemon, they were also the reason gaming is such a large part of my life today. Choosing Mudkip as my starter, catching the legendary Kyoge, defeating the Elite Four, traking down Latais and working with my friends to complete the Pokedex are memories from my childhood that I will treasure forever. It is these games that pulled me into gaming and introduced me to other Nintendo franchises and eventually to the PlayStation and Xbox. Though 10 years has passed the Pokemon games still take up a large portion of my play time. When I bought my copy of Pokemon X last year I put 17 hours into it on the first day. That's a crazy, especially for me! I'm the type of person who takes a week to finish a 10 hour game, I typically like to gradually chip away with smaller play sessions. Not Pokemon though, you know when you're enjoying a game when you put it down at 4 AM not because you're tired, but because "you just should". 

My ticket into the world of video games

Ever since Heart Gold and Soul Silver (remakes of Gold & Silver on the GB) were released I thought about how awesome a Ruby and Sapphire remake would be. All those familiar locations recreated to look better to match up with the modern day. Though when Black 2 and White 2 for the DS come out it changed my thought pattern. These games were sequels rather than the same game with a new coat of paint the series had come to expect. What if the Ruby and Sapphire "remakes" used this approach? Revisit the Hoenn region and meet familiar characters while experiencing a whole new story. Though to be honest any excuse to revisit these games would get me excited.

The other day I bought a brand new iPad Air and my favourite thing to do on it is play Pokemon Emerald. I was so excited when I found out you can run a GBA emulator without jail breaking your device. But that was nothing compared to how I felt when I checked my Facebook this morning and seen my wall spammed with "Pokemon Omega Ruby and Alpha Sapphire". Oh my Jesus balls, it's finally happening! I've been waiting for these games for years it was really surprising for them to announce them randomly like this. If Nintendo hinted the games it would have been too obvious and wouldn't have had the same impact, so kudos to them for doing it this way. 

I'm aboard the hype train! " Doot doot"!

According to the short teaser trailer a "epic new adventure is coming" and we're going to "explore a dramatic new world". To me this indicates that these will be sequels rather than simple remakes of the original titles, which I'm thrilled about. With all the new additions brought into the Pokemon series over the last decade I think it would be difficult to keep the new titles true to the originals. Let alone all the work it would take to recreate everything in 3D, in someways a whole new presentation with the same story would be wasted potential. We're still not sure what the games look like, but it's safe to assume they will be presented in a similar fashion to X and Y. A good reason to get excited for E3!

After 10 years I'm finally heading home. I'll see you in November, Hoenn.

Expect to see plenty of Omega Ruby and Alpha Sapphire on Life's a Game in the upcoming months.

My ''Real Life'' Pokemon Team

Pokemon X & Y are only mere days away from their worldwide release on October 12th. With all the excitement regarding a whole new region to explore and Pokemon to capture, I thought to myself, if I were a real life Pokemon trainer traveling the country and collecting gym badges, what 6 Pokemon would I travel with? Now this is easier said then done, there are over 650 species to choose from, but I've chosen a hand full of my favorites.

So without further a-do, here is my party of Pokemon!

Name: Charizard
Number: #006
Classification: Flame Pokemon
Height: 1.7m
Weight: 90.5km
Ability: Blaze
Potential Nickname: Greymon







Charizard is one of the most popular Pokemon ever. His fire power and ability to fly make him a fantastic asset to anyone's team, and why wouldn't he be? Though to spite this I'm no hipster, so I am going to go right ahead and claim one for myself. Also with the newly announced mega evolutions this classic Pokemon just become twice as awesome!

Name: Heracross
Number: #214
Classification: Singlehorn Pokemon
Height: 1.5m
Weight: 54kg
Ability: Guts/Swarm
Potential Nickname: Hera-angry





Heracross is easily my favorite bug Pokemon. It's bug/fighting combination makes it a reliable Pokemon to take down foes (unless it's a flying type). And that horn means business!

Name: Lapras
Number: #131
Classification: Transport Pokemon
Height: 2.5m
Weight: 220kg
Ability: Water Absorb/Shell Armor
Potential Nickname: Jacob the Great







Lapras is so awesome. Strong, defensive and able to transport you across the ocean. A favorite I would not go without.

Name: Pikachu
Number: #025
Classification: Mouse Pokemon
Height: 0.4m
Weight: 6kg
Ability: Static
Potential Nickname: Pikadrew






Pikachu would probably be the choice of every 7 year old, but you can't go past him. He's so cute!

Name: Tyranitar
Number: #248
Classification: Armor Pokemon
Height: 2m
Weight: 202kg
Ability: Sand Stream
Potential Nickname: Tyranitarsaurus Rex







Every team needs a Pokemon to take hits and deal damage, and that's were Tyranitar comes in. Amazing attack power and a fearsome look, Tyranitar is going to be included in my team, and he's going to kick arse!

Name: Latias
Number: #380
Classification: Eon Pokemon
Height: 1.4m
Weight: 40kg
Ability: Levitate
Potential Nickname: Latiarse




Now I know what you're thinking ''Drew, how are you going to catch a legendary''? Truth is I have no idea, but I would sure as hell find a way. I have fond memories of chasing her throughout the Hoenn region in Sapphire version. She's cheerful, loyal and powerful, traits any trainer would be proud to have in their team.

So that would be my real life Pokemon team! It would looks something a little like this...

If you could choose 6 Pokemon for a real life Pokemon team, which ones would you choose? Leave your answer in the comments below or on Life's a Game's Facebook page!




Drew turned 10 over 9 years ago and still hasn't received his first Pokemon from Professor Oak. Whats up with that?!!  

Pokestep - Soundcloud Discoveries [23-09-13]

Sound Cloud is a social media that allows users to upload, record, promote and share their originally created sounds. It is a fantastic music discovery tool that gives you access to thousands of artists and genres, both independent and mainstream. I quite often find a lot of new interesting music through this service. The variety of songs you are able to listen to by a huge range of bands, artists, composers and DJ's is amazing. Along my searches I find some pretty neat stuff, and I am here to share my finds with you weekly, every Monday.

Pokemon is one of my favorite video game series and it is also home to my favorite in-game music. So when I found a sub genre on Soundcloud called ''Pokestep'' I knew I had to share it. If you played Pokemon when you were a child, these remixes will give you a nostalgia boner like never before. 

Have a listen!



Lavender Town remix (Dub step)

Pokemon medley that features Forest/Cave Theme, Route 1 Theme, Battle Theme, Victory! (Dub step)

 
Pokemon Red & Blue title screen remix (Dub step)

 
Red & Blue trainer battle remix (Dub step)

 
Red & Blue Pokemon Center remix (Dub Step)

Pokemon Ruby & Sapphire surfing remix (Piano)



Pokemon Ruby & Sapphire ending credits (Orchestral)


Pokemon Red & Blue trainer battle (Dub step)



Lance/Red Battle! remix (Heavy Metal)



Main Theme remix


Pokemon anime theme (Orchestral) 



Pokemon anime theme (Dub step)

To Drew the combination of Pokemon and good music is like chocolate cake and milk, you just can't go past it. Do you have any interesting music to share? Post them in the comments or on Life's a Game's Facebook page!

Quick Thoughts: New Pokémon Mega Evolutions

A few days ago Nintendo released information regarding the new mega evolutions in the upcoming Pokémon X and Y. These alternate forms are activated within battle if a Mega-capable Pokémon is holding the correct item in order for it to transform. For example, Lucario must be holding an item called the ‘Lucarionite’ to evolve into its mega form. Each Pokémon receives its own unique boost and bonus when becoming a mega Pokémon; this might be a different move set, ability, increased stats or an elemental type change. Mega Blaziken receives the special ability Speed Boost which makes it faster in battle, Mega Lucario receives an attack stat boost along with the special ability Adaptability and Mega Ampharos receives the special ability Mold Breaker and a change in type to Electric/Dragon.

The new mega evolutions of Blaziken, Lucario and Ampharos 

I think the whole concept of mega evolutions is a great way to mix up the series and give old Pokémon new ways to be utilised in battle. However, I am a little concerned about how they will affect the balancing of the game. If we still want to use a normal Blaziken or Lucario, will it be useless compared to their mega counterparts? If mega evolutions offer an alternate battle strategy, another flavour per say to the original Pokémon I think that could be quite interesting.  Mega Ampharos seems to be this way with only a change in ability and type, but mega forms such Blaziken and Lucario with stat boosts are less interesting to me because they don’t offer any choices, only making the originals less powerful and irrelevant.

Regardless of how they work in battle, they look cool as hell.         

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Drew Agnew is a huge Pokémon fan, if anything could get him excited, it would be new Pokémon titles on the 3DS. Give Drew’s blog ‘Life’s a Game’ some support by popping over and checking out his content and ‘Liking’the Facebook page!!