Pokemon Omega Ruby and Alpha Sapphire Patch Update to Version 1.2 on Nintendo 3DS

Dec 03, 2014 05:53 PM EST

Pokemon Omega Ruby and Alpha Sapphire have just updated to version 1.2 today, bringing with it multiple bug fixes for the popular Pokemon game on Nintendo's 3DS system.

The free update is available in the Nintendo eShop, but each game should throw out a prompt that alerts you of the needed patch. At just 271 blocks of memory, the small update mainly fixes the Hall of Fame freezing bug that happens right at the very end, just before the final cinematic after you defeat the final boss in the Elite Four.

Pokemon Omega Ruby and Alpha Sapphire are the latest enhanced versions of the popular Game Boy Advance titles Pokemon Ruby and Pokemon Sapphire from 2002. These new versions for Nintendo's 3DS follow in the same traditional gameplay footsteps as the original games, but bring with them more Pokemon to collect and battle, and new playable character designs. While it was first unclear if these would truly be remakes or just additional Pokemon games, Nintendo president Satoru Iwata confirmed in a press release this year that these would be full remakes.

Back in October, we were treated to a new demo that got us ready for the launch of the game in November. A promo code found in the Pokemon Trainer Club gave access to the demo where we could get our hands on the new visuals, and more importantly, the new Pokemon in their Mega Evolve forms. Latios and Latias showed off their new abilities as they Mega Evolved into Mega Latios and Mega Latias, and a new Area Nav feature let us get a glimpse of special Mirage spots to find the rarest Pokemon.

While there are no entirely brand new Pokemon in Omega Ruby and Alpha Sapphire, these games do offer the first chance for players to collect every single Pokemon on the 3DS through a combination of X and Y and Omega Ruby and Alpha Sapphire.

The games have so far enjoyed the wild success that we'd expect from a Pokemon game, selling a reported 3 million units so far, even before the game went up for sale in Europe last weekend. Of those 3 million copies, it's reported that 1.5 of them were from Japan alone.

The games were originally announced back in May of this year and were launched in Japan, Australia, and the Americas on November 21, 2014, with a November 28th launch for the European version. Unlike previous games, Omega Ruby and Alpha Sapphire follows in the footsteps of Pokemon X and Y by including all official language translations right in the game.

If you haven't received the update prompt and would like to manually download the 1.2 patch, simply head to the Nintendo eShop on your 3DS and search for "Pokemon." Click on the game icon, choose your version (either Omega Ruby or Alpha Sapphire) and click on "Go To Update Page." From there you can choose whether to update now or update later.