Pokemon Colosseum

"Something new to do in Pokemon.....snagging!"

For the past 10 or so years, Pokemon was about catching and raising Pokemon, battling trainers to get experience, and trying to beat the Elite 4 and win. Well Pokemon Colosseum is a whole new Pokemon game almost completely different from original Pokemon games, such as Red or Blue version.

Story
There is an organization that is locking up the door to Pokemon's hearts, turning them into something called a "Shadow Pokemon", and it's up to you to stop whoever is causing this. You also must snag Shadow Pokemon from trainers and open the door to their hearts, which is also known as purifying them. You are also escaping from the Shadow Pokemon Lab after it explodes in the beginning of the game.

Graphics: 9/10
Being the first 3D Pokemon RPG, the graphics are actually above average, but these are nothing compared to other games on the Gamecube. The Pokemon animations are decent, as sometimes you may see them dancing to the battle music. Each Pokemon has been designed well, and you should easily be able to pick out which Pokemon are which. The trainers have also been designed well, as there are new types of trainers in this game, such as Cipher Peons. Battle animations are also great, such as using Rain Dance or Flamethrower, but some animations could've been better in my opinion.

Gameplay: 8/10
As stated, Pokemon Colosseum is a whole new Pokemon game. Instead of being in Hoenn, Johto, or Kanto, you are in a region called Orre. One thing that has been completely changed in this is that there are no wild Pokemon, as you start out with an Espeon and an Umbreon. To get more Pokemon on your team, you must snag Shadow Pokemon that trainers have. You will know if it's a Shadow Pokemon if your partner, Yuki tells you so at the beginning of a battle. When you snag a Pokemon, you'll need to open the door to its heart by purifying it. Another thing to note is that there are no gyms either. You can only snag Shadow Pokemon from trainers; you cannot snag other Pokemon that they have.

The object of this game is to find whoever's causing the Shadow Pokemon problem and to stop him. You will still battle trainers and such, but all battles are 2-on-2 Pokemon battles, so unlike earlier Pokemon games, you may need to find new strategies to beat trainers, since you will be using and fighting against 2 Pokemon at once. In this game, you will also be fighting many bosses such as Miror B, and the three Cipher Admins Ein, Dakim, and Venus. To win battles, you must know which types are strong and weak against other types, such as fire is strong against grass and weak against water. The battle system still works that way and hasn't been changed.

You will also go through many tournaments and you must beat certain Colosseums in order to proceed further in the game. Another thing you can do is trade with Ruby, Sapphire, FireRed, LeafGreen, and Emerald. Since many of the shadow Pokemon are Pokemon you can't normally get in the GBA games, you can trade them to the GBA using a GBA to GameCube cable to add them to your Pokedex or either use them for all that matter. This game is pretty fun and may be a bit addicting, as you can raise a wide selecting of Pokemon in this game.

Sound Effects: 7/10
Most of the sound effects are pretty much the same old, same old from older Pokemon games. The cry sounds of Pokemon when they are sent out to battle, the sounds of attacking, and so on. One thing that the sound effects could've improved on was having voices in this game, since this game is on a more updated and powerful system. The game still uses text boxes, but it may have been more cooler if the character could actually talk, as long as the voices wouldn't get annoying.

Music: 8/10
The music in this game is pretty good. Although there is no extremely good music in this game, the music can be a little catchy and you may find yourself singing with the music. A few examples are the Pyrite Town music, which has finger snapping, and the Mt. Battle break room, which has really cool music. You also have the good old Pokemon Center music, which is remixed and sounds ok. Other than that, the music shouldn't be too annoying.

Replayability: 7/10
After beating this game, replaying it can be fun. You can start this game over to become a better trainer, catch Shadow Pokemon that you've missed, try going through the game and use Pokemon that you haven't used, and so on. The bad part about the replayability is that it may be hard having to give up your best Pokemon (and if you have all Shadow Pokemon purified) to start over because of all the hard work you've put into them. Or you can just replay this game for fun.

Rent or Buy?
If you're a Pokemon fan, I would say go out and buy this game. With snagging Pokemon and such, this is a whole new experience in Pokemon and you may enjoy it, but if you're a gamer who doesn't like to do stuff like this, then I would say rent it and try it out first, since this is a pretty solid Pokemon game.

Overall: 8/10

Reviewer's Score: 8/10, Originally Posted: 01/25/06