Pokémon Sapphire Version

1001 Video Games

Pokémon Sapphire appears in the book 1001 Video Games You Must Play Before You Die by General Editor Tony Mott.

Anime

The girl character in Pokémon Ruby/Sapphire became the basis for Haruka, one of the new characters to appear in the sixth anime series of Pocket Monsters: Pokémon Advance Generation. It was scheduled to debut in the U.S. in the fall of 2003, and Haruka's name was changed to May. Team Magma and Team Aqua were the subjects of several episodes in this series, and the boy character received a number of cameos.

Real-Time Clock Issues

Early production runs of Sapphire and Ruby contained a glitch in which the in-game clock would stop functioning properly after 366 days, causing daily events to freeze until another year had passed. Once the glitch was discovered, Nintendo released a patch that could be downloaded through communication with other Pokémon games or special demo stations. However, once the cartridge's internal battery runs dry, the in-game clock will stop working entirely until the battery is replaced, which will eventually cause the glitch to resurface in cartridges that experienced the original issue.

ROM Hacking

Pokémon Sapphire Version and its counterparts, Ruby and Emerald, have become popular games among ROM hackers, and are the focus of large and dedicated hacking communities. Several completed hacks have become well-known across the internet, and many specialized programs and scripts have been developed to assist ROM hackers for these titles.

Awards

• GameSpy
  • 2003 – #7 Game Boy Advance Game of the Year (together with Pokémon Ruby Version)