http://www.fourhman.com/blog/ Semi daily fourhman.com newspost. en-us joe@fourhman.com 2004-08-10T22:05:06-05:00 hourly 1 2000-01-01T12:00+00:00 http://www.fourhman.com/blog/archive/2004/08/pokemon-sapphire-diary-23.html Pokemon Box is essentially free... unless you already have five GBA/GameCube Link Cables and don't need another Memory Card 59, no matter how much translucent colored plastic they used to make it. That's one of the problems with Nintendo's new $20 special-order-only GameCube release, Pokemon Box. The other is that the Box is largely useless. Box is for the devout only. It's merely a pokemon storage tool, providing additional space and sorting options for all the creatures you've collected in your copies of Sapphire and Ruby. To really appreciate Box, you would have to have filled all of your existing in-game storage boxes, which totals to over 400 captured pokemon. The Box can store an additional 1000. I don't think there's a huge call for that. I pretty much just caught one of each species and was done with it. (Although I did move my 40-strong collection of triple-damned Horseas off the cartridge and into the Box, just to be rid of them.) 623@http://www.fourhman.com/blog/ Pokemon Sapphire Diary 2004-08-10T22:05:06-05:00 http://www.fourhman.com/blog/archive/2004/04/pokemon-sapphire-diary-22.html Pokemon Colosseum is an awful disappointment. It hurts me to say that, but it is all too true. Colosseum is the first game I've played where I have actually nodded off while playing. Multiple times. And it's not like this is Nintendo's first attempt at a big-scale Pokemon game. They had two in the N64 Stadium series (three in Japan), and the problems of those games were obvious. Although they sold well, I can't recall a single glowing review. The audio was lousy, the battles were uncompelling, the gameplay was repetitious. Each time, Poke-fans figured "They'll fix it and make the next one so much better." Nintendo did not. They made it worse. By ignoring the failings of the Stadiums, and providing an entirely bonus-free Colosseum, they have turned the game into probably the third most painful game in the franchise. (Right behind Hey You Pikachu and Pokemon Channel.) 550@http://www.fourhman.com/blog/ Pokemon Sapphire Diary 2004-04-11T11:50:56-05:00 http://www.fourhman.com/blog/archive/2004/02/pokemon-sapphire-diary-21.html Sometimes you just get lucky. There must be something about my office lunchroom, because most of my rare catches have occured in its cinder block walls. I wasn't even going to take my GBA into work today, I grabbed it at the last minute going out the door simply because I vaguely remembered having nothing to do during Thursday's lunch. And I don't like having nothing to do. The Feebas hunt had left me beyond apathy. But repetitive fishing seemed better than noontime television, so I cracked open the onyx clamshell. The first thing I did was check the Dewford phrase. Still "GOING TEACHER." Being unsure if that idiot kid was going to change it on me, I reset and went straight to Fortree City to do some fishing. On that hateful river I headed north, right to the base of that skinny waterfall. 534@http://www.fourhman.com/blog/ Pokemon Sapphire Diary 2004-02-28T00:32:32-05:00 http://www.fourhman.com/blog/archive/2004/02/pokemon-sapphire-diary-20.html This entry is dedicated to the Pokemon Mini, Nintendo's forgotten handheld system, about halfway between a Pokemon Pikachu 2 and a Game Boy Pocket. It's roughly 2" x 3", with an inch-and-a-half B&W screen, and has four swappable cartridge games... all Pokemon-based. The system also has an infrared port for multiplayer gaming, a rumble feature, motion sensor, D-pad + 3 buttons, and a pleasingly chunky post-iMac plastic design aesthetic. In the US, you can only get this at the NYC Pokemon Center store (or via their website.) When it was first released in 2002, a complete set of Mini + all 4 games cost over $90. Last December, they kicked it down to $40... plus they threw in all kinds of crazy Mini crap, like a pillow, bath towel, lanyard, notepad and bracelet charms. 528@http://www.fourhman.com/blog/ Pokemon Sapphire Diary 2004-02-16T00:47:48-05:00 http://www.fourhman.com/blog/archive/2004/02/pokemon-sapphire-diary-19.html There's been two main reasons why I haven't done a Sapphire Diary update in a while. One is Mario & Luigi: Superstar Saga, the spiritual successor to Paper Mario... M&L pretty much owned my GBA SP for a couple months. Go buy it! The other is Feebas. The hunt for Feebas has all but sapped my will to keep playing. Part of my problem is that I don't understand how exactly the stupid Dewford hip phrase changes. Does it change every time you talk to the goof outside the building, whether he likes your offered phrase or not? (I know it changes whenever you mix records with another cartridge, but does it change when you just trade?) I have now been up and down that awful river west of Fortree two and a half times... and I think I inadvertently changed the phrase in the middle somewhere, accidentally shuffling the magic Feebas tiles. 526@http://www.fourhman.com/blog/ Pokemon Sapphire Diary 2004-02-10T00:21:42-05:00 http://www.fourhman.com/blog/archive/2003/10/pokemon-sapphire-diary-18.html Safari Zone: caught a Phanpy, Heracross and a Girafirag, which I believe ends my list of Safari Zone exclusives. I forget if you can catch a Donphan in there, so I just plan on evolving up the Phanpy. Finally did some trading with Rhon's Pokemon Ruby: Alakazam, Machamp, Golem and Huntail. One nice thing about trade evolutions is that the receiver gets pokedex credit for both monsters. So by giving Rhonda a Kadabra that immediately evolved into Alakazam she got a +2 to her 'dex. Then trading it right back to me rounded out my list. The Huntail evolves from trading a Clamperl equipped with the Deepseatooth. The Deepseatooth is one of the Ruby/Sapphire "choice" items. You get to choose either the Deepseatooth or the Deepseascale and the other disappears forever (like the Root/Claw Fossils.) Note to self: choose the scale in Ruby. Also scored a Mawile and a Seedot, two monsters found only in Ruby. 478@http://www.fourhman.com/blog/ Pokemon Sapphire Diary 2003-10-26T23:58:11-05:00 http://www.fourhman.com/blog/archive/2003/10/pokemon-sapphire-diary-17.html My time count below isn't going to accurately reflect the lost hours to Pokemon Sapphire for this update. I've been doing a lot of quitting and restarting in my attempts to catch Rayquaza. I also made a few fresh runs at the League with a new team but the spirit just isn't there yet. Before catching Rayquaza, the most exciting news for my Sapphire game is that I'm now playing it on a onyx-colored GBA SP. Now - except for the two hidden pokemon - the only super-rare legendary asskicking monster I need is Groudon. I haven't done any trading with Ruby yet, so the Ruby-exclusives (like Groudon) and the trade-evolutions now account for a big portion of my missing pokedex members. 465@http://www.fourhman.com/blog/ Pokemon Sapphire Diary 2003-10-07T22:34:57-05:00 http://www.fourhman.com/blog/archive/2003/08/pokemon-sapphire-diary-16.html I just had the best game of Pokemon Pinball R/S I'm ever likely to have. Final score: 726,622,179. On the Sapphire table. 5 balls used. I wish I had kept track of how long each ball lasted, but the whole game had to run at least an hour and a half, because I started playing midway through Futurama (which starts at 11:30pm) and I didn't finish until Cowboy Bebop was about to start (1:30am.) If you don't have Pokemon Pinball R/S yet, go re-read my old review of the first Pokemon Pinball. It's pretty much the same thing. It's your regular pinball field decorated in shades of pokemon, with complicated target sequences designed to release and capture random creatures. The R/S version is just smoother, prettier, and has more pokemon to catch. One unusual quirk to Pinball R/S is that, while your pokedex only covers the 200+ R/S pokemon, you can see older monsters decorating the board. Chikorita, Cyndaquil, Aerodactyl. Kind of strange to see pokemon that you can't catch. Makes you wonder if Nintendo has some kind of eCard/Collosseum hidden plan for Pinball. 442@http://www.fourhman.com/blog/ Pokemon Sapphire Diary 2003-08-29T02:01:31-05:00 http://www.fourhman.com/blog/archive/2003/08/pokemon-sapphire-diary-15.html Lots of new evolutions to report: Beautify, Cradily, Kadabra, Ludicolo, Vileplume, Graveler, Masquerain, Flygon. Also finally allowed my precious Voltorb to evolve into an Electrode. It's at level 40 now, but I still prefer the big-eyed red-over-white color scheme to the small-eyed white-over-red. I have also claimed all three Regis. I couldn't say which one was hardest, except that I might never have figured their secret puzzle rooms out were it not for faqs on the topic. Each one - Registeel, Regice, and Regirock - is hiding behind a room that requires some sort of strange movement sequence to enter. Your instructions are written in Braille, which is actually mentioned in the game's manual but I took that as some kind of dopey joke. The capture battles were typical of Legendary fights: save before starting, waste tons of Ultra Balls, restart several times after an overzealous knockout. 433@http://www.fourhman.com/blog/ Pokemon Sapphire Diary 2003-08-04T23:25:39-05:00 http://www.fourhman.com/blog/archive/2003/07/pokemon-sapphire-diary-14.html Today we checked out the EON Ticket / Toys R Us summer tour. Two Poke-representatives (one in a red shirt and one in a blue shirt!) had a tent sent up in the TRU parking lot, right beside one of the famous Pikachu-styled Volkswagon Beetles. I snapped some tiny pictures, and Rhonda and I grabbed some cool freebies. I'm guessing the swag was mostly NYC Pokemon Center overflow stock. Check Nintendo's pokemon games website to see when the tour is hitting a town close to you. The first thing I did was link up with the tour official and receive the EON Ticket item in my Sapphire cart. When we noted that Rhon is still too early in her Ruby game to activate the Mystery Events feature, he commented that I could share my ticket with her when we mix records. 427@http://www.fourhman.com/blog/ Pokemon Sapphire Diary 2003-07-20T20:59:26-05:00 http://www.fourhman.com/blog/archive/2003/07/pokemon-sapphire-diary-13.html Evolution update: Hatched my Pichu. Used a Thunder Stone to turn my highest level Pikachu into a Raichu. Evolved a Magikarp into a Gyarados. Hatched a second Pichu because I forgot to remove the parents from the Day Care Center. Those randy electric rats! Metang evolved into Metagross. Hatched an Igglybuff from an egg, after leaving a Jigglypuff and a Skitty at the Day Care Center. I caught a Latias. I was wandering around the green areas SE of Fortree City, when a Latias jumped me in the bushes. After some heated mental arguments, I tossed my Master Ball at it. My friend Matthew later told me "that was a waste of a Master Ball." I don't know if this is standard issue or not, but my Latias has a naughty nature, knows Water Sport, Refresh, Mist Ball, and Psychic, and she isn't holding any items. 423@http://www.fourhman.com/blog/ Pokemon Sapphire Diary 2003-07-11T14:40:19-05:00 http://www.fourhman.com/blog/archive/2003/06/pokemon-sapphire-diary-12.html Rhonda has begun her own Pokemon Ruby adventure, so I'm getting to see the other side of the coin. She chose the Torchic for her starter, and she's currently working up her low-level pokemon before she guns for Roxanne, the first Gym Leader. Once she gets a few cities in, I'll be able to report on the Ruby/Sapphire connectivity. I ventured back into the Battle Tower. As I've learned since my last Sapphire Diary post, there are some nice prizes awaiting, even if you score no experience and no pokedex entries. Particularly appealing is a couple of ribbons that are probably exclusive to Battle Tower winning streaks. 407@http://www.fourhman.com/blog/ Pokemon Sapphire Diary 2003-06-23T15:29:54-05:00 http://www.fourhman.com/blog/archive/2003/05/pokemon-sapphire-diary-11.html I jumped into the Battle Tower this weekend. You can only register a three-poke team, so I brought in Darkling, Knifejaw and Gringo. Although they make a big deal about "surviving seven matches in a row," your team is completely healed between bouts so it's not such a problem. I beat the lv50 mode. The Sableye did most of the work against the randomized, robotic opponents. ("I'M READY FOR BATTLE ARE YOU") But here's what gets me. You get no experience for Battle Tower matches. So what's the point? And how are you ever supposed to become competitive enough to attempt the lv100 mode? You also don't get any money out of it. My big reward for beating lv50 mode was the Iron item. Maybe after lv100 you get Carbos. Hot damn. 390@http://www.fourhman.com/blog/ Pokemon Sapphire Diary 2003-05-28T10:04:13-05:00 http://www.fourhman.com/blog/archive/2003/05/pokemon-sapphire-diary-10.html I did train up a little bit, but not as much as I had intended. I didn't want to wander around Victory Road for the experience, because I hate stupid Golbat Confuse Ray attacks. So I stocked up on Hyper Potions and Revives and made for the Pokemon League. My party needed a sixth player, so I threw in the Kyogre simply because it was my highest level pokemon stashed in the box. It is not one of my favorites; looks a little too Digimon for my tastes. The following is a play-by-play of my final battles against the Elite Four and the League Champion. Sidney fields quite a mixed bag. He has a very diverse team, but they are all from level 46 to 49, so he was not much of a challenge. First up is his Mightyena, which I countered with ol' Knifejaw. I kept Knifejaw in against his Absol, which isn't the best move when the Absol uses an Aerial Ace attack, but whatever. When Sid brought in the Cacturne, I switched to Razorbeak, back to Knifejaw to handle the Sharpedo, and back again to Razorbeak to polish off the Shiftry. All in all, very little damage and no wasted items. 376@http://www.fourhman.com/blog/ Pokemon Sapphire Diary 2003-05-08T23:27:16-05:00 http://www.fourhman.com/blog/archive/2003/04/pokemon-sapphire-diary-9.html Wallace had my number, so I took some time off to level up my Sceptile. I pushed him from level 38 to level 45, and his newfound power plus grass-over-water type superiorty made quick work of Wallace. After such a showing - several one hit kills - my Sceptile earned a nickname: Knifejaw. (Inspired by Animal Crossing.) So that left me with 8 Gym Badges, the Waterfall HM for Golduck, and vague directions towards Victory Road. Hoenn's Victory Road is an annoying cave labyrinth. Something about caves drives me nuts. I can take overground hedge mazes, but all these underground caves bother me. Perhaps it's the constant attacks from feral Golbats. 341@http://www.fourhman.com/blog/ Pokemon Sapphire Diary 2003-04-20T23:57:14-05:00