GCN REVIEW: Pokemon Colosseum

Pokemon Colosseum was released in 2005. Now, you're probably wondering why I am writing a review for a game released almost four years ago. Because I can. This is actually a game I've been playing for a couple of days and I have previously cleared it back in 2006, when I got the game.

My scale is five categories. Each category is on a scale of 0-20

Storyline - 14/20
Now, I'm a huge storyline guy. If the game doesn't have a storyline I can easily relate to, the game automatically isn't really that great. Biased, yes, but I just prefer the storylines over the gameplay itself.

I'll try to make this as spoiler free as I possibly can.
The game starts out at the Team Snagem hideout. Team Snagem is a criminal syndicate that takes Pokemon from their trainers, transforms them into fighting machines, and uses them against the people and other Pokemon. Well, you, Wes (You can change the name) are a member of this team. You, with your Umbreon and Espeon, blow up a good portion of the hideout, and take the Snag Machine. After stopping at the Outskirt Stand, you run into a couple of people of the other crime syndicate, with a body in a sack. You easily beat the crap out of them with your Pokemon and release the girl in the bag, Rui. They captured her because she can detect these fighting machines, called Shadow Pokemon.

I'll stop there. I believe the Shadow Pokemon storyline works well, however I would've expanded it a little more, not make it so cliched. Actually give somewhat of a backstory of the characters. I didn't feel like I could actually be placed in Wes's position in the event something like this would happen. "But Josh, it's a video game! It can't happen in real life!" I don't give a rat's ass.

Gameplay (Story) - 12/20

I actually feel that the gameplay was similar to the Game Boy Advance and Nintendo DS games, however, with only a maximum of 51 pokemon to catch out of the (then) 386, I feel as if we've been duped. You cannot catch wild pokemon in the game. Only the 48 Shadow Pokemon, the two you start out with, and one you get as a reward. I felt as if the developers were just working on this game to see if it would work with the gamers. It did, however this again leads me to a rant about Nintendo NEVER gives us what the gamers, the most important aspect of a game development company, want. But that's a rant for my other blog.

Multiplayer - 14/20

Even though I couldn't really use Multiplayer, I've heard from many people that the multiplayer aspect was great. Unfortunately, I cannot really comment besides deducting three points for lack of online play. I would deduct more, but seeing as it's a console problem, not a game problem, I only deducted three. The GameCube does not get online play, only LAN play. In comparison to it's competition at the time of release, the PS2 and the Xbox, I felt as if the game's multiplayer would've thrived on other consoles.

Music - 20/20
I absolutely LOVE the music in this game. I feel as if the game combines the great elements of Techno beats, Guitar riffs, and a little bit of (no racism intended) Hispanic dance party music. I find it incredibly easy to just get up and dance to the music. I would pay someone a million bucks (with the help of the DONATE button at the bottom of the page O_~) if they were to make a guitar remix of the songs in the game. I would also make the songs as customs for Guitar Hero, but that's beside the point. The point is, if you love to listen to music from a video game, this game is for you. Truthfully enough, I liked the music more than the game itself.

Difficulty (Three parts, in order from 0 being hardest and 10 being easiest)
For Novices - 4/10
For Experts - 8/10
Total - 12/20

If you are not used to the Pokemon games, it's basically a turn based RPG. It can be easy to challenging, but overall, it's a relatively easy game if you've been playing the games for a while. Even the experts can have a difficult time, but novices can do pretty well when they know what they're doing.

The game overall
.....
.........
................

72/100 C-

Most everything in this game is actually really great, and I would recommend this mostly for Casual Gamers.

MY SCALE
Casual Gamers - Wouldn't play this game for 8 hours straight. Would barely play for 2 hours straight.
Hardcore Gamers - Would easily play this game overnight.

But seriously, pick up this game.

You could easily find this game used for about 15 Bucks on Amazon.com. It's a great pickup for kids that love the Pokemon series.

http://www.amazon.com/Pokemon-Colosseum-Gamecube/dp/B00009WAUF/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=videogames&qid=1239585188&sr=8-1

Thanks for reading!
FEEL FREE TO REVIEW THE REVIEW! COMMENT BELOW!!!!
AND REMEMBER TO REQUEST FOR GAMES TO REVIEW AND DONATE IF I DON'T HAVE THE GAME YOU WANT ME TO REVIEW!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

-Josh