have u ever heard of Pokemon Colosseum?
Pokémon Colosseum (ポケモンコロシアム,
Pokemon Koroshiamu?) is a
role-playing video game developed by
Genius Sonority and published by
Nintendo as part of the
Pokémon series. It was released exclusively for the
Nintendo GameCube on November 21, 2003 in Japan; March 22, 2004 in North America; and May 14, 2004 in Europe. Unlike previous titles, the game does not feature
random encounters with Pokémon, but the player can steal ("Snag") the Pokémon of other
Pokémon Trainers. The game also features several battle modes for
single-player and
multiplayer gameplay.
The game is set in the desertous region of
Orre. The
player protagonist is Wes, a former member of
Team Snagem. Throughout the game, the player rescues "Shadow Pokémon"—Pokémon who have had their hearts darkened by Team Cipher—by Snagging. Rui, a
non-player girl, serves as Wes's sidekick and identifies Shadow Pokémon.
Pokémon Colosseum was exhibited at
Electronic Entertainment Expo (E3) 2003. Pre-orders were packaged with a bonus disc that allows the player to download the Pokémon
Jirachi. Upon release, the game was generally well-received, with praise directed at its graphics and mixed comments at issues such as level design and music. It was a commercial success, with 1.5 million copies sold in the United States and 656,270 in Japan.
Pokémon Colosseum (ポケモンコロシアム,
Pokemon Koroshiamu?) is a
role-playing video game developed by
Genius Sonority and published by
Nintendo as part of the
Pokémon series. It was released exclusively for the
Nintendo GameCube on November 21, 2003 in Japan; March 22, 2004 in North America; and May 14, 2004 in Europe. Unlike previous titles, the game does not feature
random encounters with Pokémon, but the player can steal ("Snag") the Pokémon of other
Pokémon Trainers. The game also features several battle modes for
single-player and
multiplayer gameplay.
The game is set in the desertous region of
Orre. The
player protagonist is Wes, a former member of
Team Snagem. Throughout the game, the player rescues "Shadow Pokémon"—Pokémon who have had their hearts darkened by Team Cipher—by Snagging. Rui, a
non-player girl, serves as Wes's sidekick and identifies Shadow Pokémon.
Pokémon Colosseum was exhibited at
Electronic Entertainment Expo (E3) 2003. Pre-orders were packaged with a bonus disc that allows the player to download the Pokémon
Jirachi. Upon release, the game was generally well-received, with praise directed at its graphics and mixed comments at issues such as level design and music. It was a commercial success, with 1.5 million copies sold in the United States and 656,270 in Japan.
Pokémon Colosseum (ポケモンコロシアム,
Pokemon Koroshiamu?) is a
role-playing video game developed by
Genius Sonority and published by
Nintendo as part of the
Pokémon series. It was released exclusively for the
Nintendo GameCube on November 21, 2003 in Japan; March 22, 2004 in North America; and May 14, 2004 in Europe. Unlike previous titles, the game does not feature
random encounters with Pokémon, but the player can steal ("Snag") the Pokémon of other
Pokémon Trainers. The game also features several battle modes for
single-player and
multiplayer gameplay.
The game is set in the desertous region of
Orre. The
player protagonist is Wes, a former member of
Team Snagem. Throughout the game, the player rescues "Shadow Pokémon"—Pokémon who have had their hearts darkened by Team Cipher—by Snagging. Rui, a
non-player girl, serves as Wes's sidekick and identifies Shadow Pokémon.
Pokémon Colosseum was exhibited at
Electronic Entertainment Expo (E3) 2003. Pre-orders were packaged with a bonus disc that allows the player to download the Pokémon
Jirachi. Upon release, the game was generally well-received, with praise directed at its graphics and mixed comments at issues such as level design and music. It was a commercial success, with 1.5 million copies sold in the United States and 656,270 in Japan.
Pokémon Colosseum is set in the Orre region. Orre is a mostly desertous region in which no wild Pokémon can be found (although the sequel
Pokémon XD: Gale of Darkness adds wild Pokémon spots to the region). Orre consists of many cities, towns, and Colosseums.
[5]
Characters
The game's
player protagonist is by default named
Wes, but as with most
Pokémon games, the player can change his name. Wes's
Starter Pokémon are
Espeon and Umbreon, two fox-like Pokémon who start at higher levels than most Starter Pokémon.
[6] Team Snagem, a
criminal organization that uses the "Snag machine" technology to capture the Pokémon of Trainers, serves as an antagonistic entity in the game.
[7] However, shortly after the game's start, the Cipher Syndicate is revealed to be the main antagonistic force, having partnered with Snagem to obtain Pokémon from Trainers, corrupting them, and distributing them throughout Cipher and other places such as Pyrite Town. Wes is a former employee of Team Snagem. The organization also employs many grunt workers, as well as administrators such as the
disco-loving Miror B., Venus, the scientist Ein, and Dakim.
[8]
Story
The game begins with a
cold open in which Wes bombs the Team Snagem hideout and leaves the organization.
[9] Wes starts at the Outskirt Stand, a dilapidated train in the middle of the desert that has been converted into a shop. With Espeon and Umbreon, Wes's first opponent is a Trainer named Willie.
[10] Wes then leaves the Stand and heads to the
oasis-esque Phenac City in time to see two men dragging a sack.
[11] After defeating them in battle, Wes unties the sack to find Rui,
[12] a girl with the ability to discern Shadow Pokémon. They meet the mayor, Es Cade,
[13] who seems very bothered about the Cipher problem, but seems to do nothing about it.
[14] Later, upon leaving Phenac Colosseum, three Snagem grunts find Wes and Rui. The grunts then reveal to Rui that he was a member of Snagem, and an excellent Snagger.
[15] Wes then confronts one of the grunts, which results in the latter's defeat. Finding out that he is an expert at snagging Pokémon, Rui asks him to join forces with her in finding and snagging Shadow Pokémon.
As the game progresses, Wes becomes a target of a powerful organization known as Cipher. After leaving Phenac, he visits Pyrite Town, where Rui was kidnapped. In Pyrite, Shadow Pokémon are openly offered to winners of the town's Colosseum tournament. The local police force is powerless to stop the practice, so Duking, an influential man in Pyrite, asks Wes to enter the tournament and investigate. Wes enters the Colosseum challenge and defeats four trainers to win. Inside a nearby building, a Cipher
Peon is about to present the Shadow Pokémon prize, but a friend recognizes Rui. The pair then battle their way through the building and a maze-like cave set in the rock behind. Eventually, they face and defeat Miror B., one of four Cipher Admins. Afterwards, Wes returns a Pokémon Miror B. stole from Duking. A team of kids working in Duking's house introduce themselves as members of an anti-Cipher news network, known as the Kids Grid, who pledge their help to Wes and Rui.
Their next stop is Agate Village, a forested village in the mountains. As Rui introduces Wes to her grandfather Eagun, another villager runs into the room, telling them that the Relic Stone—a shrine protected by
Celebi—is under attack. Wes, following Eagun to the center of the tree, fights off four Cipher agents before the Relic Stone is safe. After resting, Wes is given access to the Relic Stone, the only place where he can purify Shadow Pokémon. On a suggestion from Eagun, Wes decides to train his skills at the nearby Mt. Battle.
Upon reaching Mt. Battle, people inform Wes and Rui that Cipher has already taken over the first section of the mountain. After battling nine other Trainers, Wes battles the Cipher administrator Dakim. Dakim owns a Shadow
Entei, who is one of the trio of legendary dogs. After defeating Dakim, Wes heads to The Under, which is an underground city located underneath Pyrite Town, and under the control of Cipher.
[16] More members of the Kids Grid are here. They tell the player of Venus, another Cipher administration, who has influence over The Under. After Wes confronts Venus, the owner of the second legendary dog
Suicune, she flees. Next, Wes and Rui head to the Shadow Pokémon Lab, where Pokémon are transformed into Shadow Pokémon. After defeating numerous Cipher
peons, Wes faces Ein, the final Cipher administrator and the owner of the final legendary dog
Raikou.
Wes and Rui then go to Realgam Tower. All four administrators are there and ready to face Wes again. After doing so, he is granted access to the Colosseum at the top of the building. There, he is greeted by a large crowd. A Cipher man named Nascour tells Wes that he will have to face four trainers. After Wes defeats all four trainers, Nascour fights him. Once defeated, Nascour tries to leave, only to be interrupted by Es Cade. Es Cade reveals that he is really none other than Evice, the head of Cipher, and battles Wes. When Wes defeats him, Evice attempts to escape by helicopter, but the legendary Pokémon
Ho-Oh swoops in and blasts it out of the sky. Evice and Nascour are presumably arrested.
Development and release
Pokémon Colosseum was developed by the Japanese game developer
Genius Sonority, and published by
Nintendo.
[17] Just as
Nintendo 64 predecessors
Pokémon Stadium and
Pokémon Stadium 2 had served as home console counterparts to the
first- and second-generation handheld titles,
Colosseum had a similar role for the third generation.
[18]
The new concept for
Pokémon Colosseum was influenced by classic and modern RPGs over the
Pokémon mold.
[19] When asked in an interview with
Prima Games why the gameplay of
Colosseum did not mirror that of the handheld
Pokémon games,
Pokémon director
Junichi Masuda explained: "How players communicate with each other has been key to the
Pokémon games – it is the backbone of all
Pokémon game designs. I feel that the handheld systems work better than the home-based consoles. It's certainly possible to come up with concepts for home-based consoles, but we might then have to change the core of the game."
[20]
The transition to 3D also brought new graphical changes. Wes was designed to look "hazy" and about 17 years old.
[19] Genius Sonority ported most of the models and animations of first- and second-generation Pokémon from
Stadium and
Stadium 2.
[4] Genius Sonority based most of Orre on
Phoenix, Arizona. As a whole, the graphics were influenced more by
manga than by established
Pokémon convention.
[19]
A preview for the game was hosted at
Electronic Entertainment Expo (E3) 2003.
[21] Upon completion of development,
Colosseum received a rating of "E" (Everyone) from the
Entertainment Software Ratings Board, "All Ages" from
Computer Entertainment Rating Organization, and "3+" from
Pan European Game Information. The game was released on November 21, 2003 in Japan; March 22, 2004 in North America, and May 14, 2004 in Europe.
[17]
Nintendo also published supplementary media to unlock additional content. Pre-ordered copies of the game came with a bonus disc that contains trailers for the game and the film
Pokémon: Jirachi Wish Maker. The disc also downloads the exclusive Pokémon
Jirachi to the player's copy of
Ruby or
Sapphire; this also updates the software to remove a "berry glitch" discovered in 2003.
[22] In Japan, scannable cards for the
Nintendo e-Reader were available for purchase that featured additional trainers to battle and Shadow Pokémon.
[23] Copies purchased upon release in Europe were packaged with
memory cards at no additional charge.
[24]
Reception
Critical response
[
hide] ReceptionAggregate scoresAggregatorScore
GameRankings74.02%
[25]Metacritic73%
[26]Review scoresPublicationScore
Allgame



[27]Computer and Video Games9/10
[28]GamePro70%
[29]GameSpot7.3/10
[8]GameSpy



[4]GameZone8.5/10
[6]IGN7.5/10
[3]Nintendo Power94%
[30]Gamers Hell7.9/10
[31]
Pokémon Colosseum was generally well-received upon release, with respective scores of 73% and 74.02% from aggregators
Metacritic and
Game Rankings.
[25][26] Allgame staff writer Scott Alan Marriott gave the game three and a half stars out of five, although he did not review the game with more depth.
[27]
Critics praised
Colosseum as the first true 3D role-playing installment in the
Pokémon series.
Gamers Hell reviewer John K. called it "certainly a step in the right direction to a good 3D
Pokémon game", although he felt that the limited number of Pokémon and lack of a true
overworld detracted from the experience.
[31] IGN staff writer
Craig Harris said that the adaptation of the
Pokémon RPG formula to the 3D zeitgeist "does a decent enough job" and is "a bit more linear and straightforward".
[3]
The new 3D graphics received mixed remarks. Harris called the game "[g]raphically ... a mixed bag", praising the visual style of the game's Pokémon but criticizing the "poorly modeled and animated, angular" style of the Trainers.
[3] GameSpot reviewer Ryan Davis offered a similar opinion, concluding that "[t]he visual style ... has gone off the deep end".
[8] GamePro writer Star Dingo called the graphics as a whole "insanely cute" but criticized the lack of animations showing two Pokémon attacking in tandem.
[29] GameZone's review took a more positive stance, saying that "[a]nimations are brief but impressive; each attack move is more elaborate and more extravagant on the 'Cube."
[6] Nintendo Power thought similarly, commending the "amazing level of detail".
[30]
GameZone compared the overall town design and environments to those of the landmark
Final Fantasy VII.
[6] Dingo complained that "there are some characters to talk to and chests to find, but no 'overworld' with free-roaming monsters to capture."
[29] John K. stated that "[t]he towns are made with enough detail, but sometimes a bit dull."
[31]
Harris denounced the game's usage of old Pokémon battle cries, a recurring complaint of the series.
[3] Dingo called the music as a whole "a bit too low-tech and synthetic".
[29] GameZone, in contrast, stated that the sound effects evoke nostalgia for
Pokémon Red and Blue, and that the music tracks "have more depth than any of the songs from the previous Pokemon [
sic] games."
[6] John K. said that the music is neither annoying nor entertaining.
[31] Kat Bailey of
Retronauts described
Colosseum as "terrible", citing the reuse of graphics from the
Pokémon Stadium games.
[32]
In 2006,
Nintendo Power listed
Colosseum as the 121st greatest video game to appear on a Nintendo console.
[33]
Sales
Three weeks before its release, pre-orders of
Pokémon Colosseum made it the best-selling game on
Amazon.com.
[1] In the game's first week of release in the United Kingdom, it boosted the GameCube's market share from 16% to 32%.
[34] It was the best-selling GameCube game of May 2004, and fourteenth among all consoles.
[35] In 2005, the game was certified as part of Nintendo's
Player's Choice line in North America, representing at least 250,000 copies sold.
[17] As of 2007, the game has sold over 1.15 million copies in the United States
[36] and 656,270 in Japan.
[37] It is the best-selling RPG for the GameCube.
[38]
Legacy
Pokémon Colosseum spawned a high-profile tournament in the United Kingdom entitled "Pokémon Colosseum Battlemaster 2004". The first round of battles was held at
Toys "R" Us locations, with later battles taking place in
movie theaters.
[39] Across Europe, the game was bundled with GameCube consoles shortly after its release.
[40] Special editions of this set also included a copy of
Pokémon Box: Ruby and Sapphire —a game that allows players to organize and store up to 1,500 Pokémon from their games—as well as a memory card and a Game Boy Advance–GameCube link cable.
[41]
A
manga adaptation of
Colosseum's plot was printed in 2004 issues of the Japanese magazine
CoroCoro Comic and titled
Pokémon Colosseum Snatcher Leo (ポケモンコロシアムスナッチャーズレオ
?).
[42] The game was followed by a 2005 sequel entitled
Pokémon XD: Gale of Darkness. Set in Orre five years after
Colosseum, it features a new protagonist snagging Shadow Pokémon from Team Cipher. Shadow
Lugia is the game's mascot, and serves as an antagonist whom the player can snag.
[43] The game alludes to Wes, Rui, and The Under, though they do not appear.
[16]