P-day is nearly upon us! This time next week, the latest entry in Nintendo's critter-catching, raising and battling series - Pokémon - will hit stores. As always, Nintendo are releasing two complimentary versions of their latest Pokemon game - Omega Ruby and Alpha Sapphire. While the two are mostly identical, there are a few key differences between the two colours, and those differences - including a handful of Pokémon that are exclusive to either Ruby or Sapphire - may help decide which version you plump for. In other words, it's a decision with the same gravitas as whether you want apple pie or that ice cream sundae for pudding - a decision which shouldn't be taken lightly.
Thankfully, we here at Everybody Plays have done the hard work so you don't have to, rounding up the differences between the two games. Tl:dr; Alpha Sapphire is the one for the cool kids though, because it has pirates and an oversized dolphin legendary.
Exclusive Pokemon
Omega Ruby and Alpha Sapphire may see us returning to the Hoenn region over a decade after our first foray in the GameBoy Advance Ruby/Sapphire games, but it seems things haven't changed all that much in the twelve-ish years. In fact, in terms of exclusive Pokémon, they haven't changed at all, as the exclusive 'mons for each game this time are identical to back then.
Ludicolo is the only one that seems happy to see you...
Ruby players get the dark/grass creepy forest folk of Seedot, Nuzleaf and Shiftry, while Sapphire folks get the dopey water pineapple-thing Ludicolo, and his pre-evolution grass/water lilly pads, Lotad and Lombre. Steel and fairy-type Mawile with her bizarre snappy head piece (that's the stuff of nightmares) and new Mega Evolution is another Ruby exclusive, while her insectoid soul-stealing contempory, the dark/ghost Sableye and it's Mega Evolution are Sapphire specific. Kind of boring sun and moon psychic rocks Solrock and Lunatone are also split between Alpha Ruby and Omega Sapphire respectively, whilst mortal enemies Zangoose and Seviper are once again separated by versions, with Seviper in Sapphire and Zangoose in Ruby.
Legendary Pokemon
As always, the most obvious difference between the two Pokemon versions is in the legendary Pokemon - the super powerful, only-one-in-the-entire-game 'mons that grace the covers. Again, these are basically identical to the original GameBoy games, with Omega Ruby folks nabbing themselves the angry red dinosaur-y dual ground/fire type Groudon, and Sapphire folks netting the oversized dolphin Kyogre, a water type. Both legendaries have learnt new tricks in the interim however, and can now undergo a transformation known as Primal Reversion, which seems to be their equivalent of Mega Evolution, powering up your Pokemon's moves when in this state, provided they're holding the relevant item.
Kyogre would win, obviously. Water beats both ground AND fire, after all.
But those aren't the only legendary 'mons you'll be able to get your hands on. Both games also include a flying Latias/Latios, a much cuter legendary Pokemon that comes in a colour that's complimentary for whichever version you chose. Dual psychic and dragon type pokémon, folks who plumb for Sapphire get the red Latias, while Ruby guys have a blue Latios instead. Handily, one of the new features for this game is the ability to soar through the skies of Hoenn on the back of either your Latias or Latios, rather than simply being effectively teleported from town to town via the Fly move - so you may want to pick your version by your preferred Latias/Latios colour. Even if we do think both are equally cute.
Bear in mind the only way to get Latias and Latios is through the upcoming Eon ticket distribution!
Plot
Perhaps the biggest difference between the two games is that each features a different team of bad guys, with different characters and different motives for world domination (because, lets face it, that's what the story always involves). Ruby-ists get the fiery Team Magma, who plan to expand the landmass of the world, using the power of Groudon, to make more room for the humans to flourish. Team Aqua meanwhile - who, for all intents and purposes are a band of pirates - want to rouse Kyogre and increase the size of the seas in Sapphire, in order to bring back a load of Pokemon habitats that were destroyed by humanity.
If the original Ruby and Sapphire game's stories are anything to go by, the stories won't actually be all that different. but it's at least nice to see them trying. Both present in the original games, Team Magma and Team Aqua committed pretty much the same crimes, with pretty much the same result, in every part of their schemes. As such, we'd be very surprised if the Omega Ruby and Alpha Sapphire stories were drastically different enough to be a deciding factor, but still.
Scientists or pirates?
So there you go - the three main differences between the two versions, summarised in one handy article. We recommend picking the game with the largest number of Pokemon you like in, as well as coercing a friend into getting the opposing version for trading. Unless you're a Pokenut like our own Marti anyway, in which case you'll get both!
