Whether it should've been in or not (it should've) and being rushed/cut are very different things.
They never intended for Battle Frontier to be in it, and it's not the lack of time that influenced the decision.
Pretty much. They came out and said it wasn't included because only a small section of the fanbase would appreciate it and people don't like challenging things.
Though if you ask me, no Battle Frontier being added is just one problem I have with ORAS. The remake did nothing for me and I was left disappointed.
I have been pretty vocal in my dislike for for ORAS as a remake of the 3rd gen. My issues with the titles mostly stem from it failing to incorporate emerald elements that enhanced Ru/Sa and very sparse updates to the world (atleast not on the level of Heartgold/SoulSilver):
- Lack of the Battle Frontier, which for me was a defining feature in 3rd generation. I nearly skipped on Emerald entirely due to my dissatisfaction with Ru/Sa and lack of post game content. That and all the other updates to the Hoenn region introduced puts it up there as one of the best Pokémon games released. Having a model of the Battle Tower and acknowledging that the Frontier will exist but having no plans to ever introduce something like that again was unnecessary and from what I saw, annoyed fans. I understand what they were doing with it, but it left a bad taste in my mouth and just poured salt on the wound.
- Making the game easier than it needed to be like giving you one of the Eon legendaries for free without having to earn it.
- Leading on from my previous point, rather than using the updated gym leader teams, it instead opted to using the team lineup for Ru/Sa. This is made worse by the fact that they made the first half of gym battles even easier than they needed to be. Wattson not having a Manectric is laughable to me for a remake and while they were by no means difficult games, Ru/Sa was reasonably challenging enough that no changes really needed to be made to make the gym battles easier. Lack of gym leader rematches was strange also.
In general, it did it's job at remastering Ruby/Sapphire but to me felt boring while being made easier than it needed to and I didn't get the same feeling I got from playing remakes like HGSS, which not only updated Gold/Silver, but went above and beyond what was required by introducing a new route, adding 8-bit sounds via the gameplay player, special battles like Claire and Lance with your rival, adding the entire frontier from Platinum when they could have easily gotten away with just the Battle Tower, restoring old areas such as the Viridian Forest and the Safari Zone, giving Blaine an actual gym, taking Crystal elements and properly incorporating them into the game, several redesigned areas that added new life to the world as well as the lore and history between Sinnoh and Johto. Graphically, HGSS adds little details which enhances and gives a fresh take on the Johto and Kanto region.
I understand where Joe is coming from that these are Ru/Sa remakes and not Emerald remakes, but given how much HGSS updated the world of Gold/Silver and did more than what was expected to enhance the experience, it was not unreasonable to expect ORAS to do the same and to see GameFreak not give it the HGSS treatment left a bitter taste in my mouth and the experience was not as good as HGSS (or previous titles like BW2). The lore and world building was good, yes, as was the changes to the Secret Bases, Soaring and DexNav, but to me it wasn't enough to keep me playing. In terms of remakes, HGSS to me is superior to all 3, as it took all elements from Gold, Silver and Crystal and melded them together perfectly to form the definitive 2nd Gen Pokémon experience, while still adding new features and stories to the mix to make it fresh. ORAS does well with the Secret Bases, Delta Episode, DexNav, lore/world building and Soaring (which I fully expect to never return in any form ever again as that's how GF rolls) but ultimately falls short of being the definitive 3rd Gen and Pokémon experience today by playing it too safe and not taking what Emerald did to improve Ru/Sa and incorporate it into the remakes, but rather trying to streamline the entire experience and make the series easier in a effort to draw in the mobile crowd which doesn't give a shit about Pokémon, and imo the game suffered because of it.
If I were to sum up my feelings about ORAS, it would that it was wasted potential, with nothing to look forward to once the main game is completed, thus having very little incentive to progress and finish the game. That's just how I feel about it. It's by no means a bad game, but its a game that I was ultimately disappointed with especially when HGSS raised the bar on Pokémon remakes.