Play Pokemon Emerald : Catch 'em All! Online

Pokémon Emerald is the Hoenn adventure that finally got it right—Ruby and Sapphire were great, but this one polishes everything up. The rival battles actually feel challenging now, and the way Team Aqua and Magma keep clashing across the region adds way more chaos than before. Also, double battles? Finally.

I spent way too much time in the Battle Frontier as a kid. Those facilities are brutal, but in that good "one more try" way. And the pixel art still holds up—something about the way the water shimmers in Route 119 just hits different. No dead batteries ruining your save file either, which is a small miracle for a GBA cart.

If you’ve only played the newer Pokémon games, Emerald’s slower pace might feel weird at first. But stick with it, and you’ll see why people still argue this is the best version of Hoenn. That moment when Rayquaza swoops in to stop Groudon and Kyogre? Chills.