Spinoff/Mobile Why you should be excited about Pokémon Colosseum and XD returning

[bobandbill]

I wrote words about Colosseum and XD! They'll be available on the Nintendo Switch 2 via the Switch Online + Expansion, and that's great. If you are thinking 'what the heck are those games', well, that's what the article aims to address - and why you should be giving Nintendo those credit card details excited!

And this article has a bit of fancy formatting as well, so do give it a gander! Link above or here: https://daily.pokecommunity.com/202...ted-about-pokemon-colosseum-and-xd-returning/

 

[Yume Tsuki]

YESSSS!

I'm so glad more options for access to these games will become available. The pricetags for these games had become immense when Youtubers started highlighting these games during the pandemic. Although, with the pricetag to the switch 2 attached to it, I am also a little concerned.

But there's hoping this additional accessibility will give rise to even more fan works in regards to Orre. For as imperfect as the writing is, it grants so much oppurtunity to get creative with all kinds of media outlets. And the fan community I've mingled with have overall been really kind people, hyping eachother up with their headcanons.

 

[Devalue]

Never knew they had such interesting battle animations. And on the Gamecube, no less.

 

[Hiroshi Sotomura]

I was quite excited to know the games were coming to Nintendo Switch Online, but I am ultimately concerned that outside the story, we aren't getting the full experience the games would typically give. Don't get me wrong - I'll happily go through a playthrough! But I can't help but think that the Pokémon I capture and put effort in will just end up stuck in the games.

The reason is this: the Nintendo Classics service hasn't announced or previously demonstrated any kind of linking. So if they aren't going to have any kind of transfer in or out, or say, battling with teams from the gen 3 games (which admittedly would require them to be released on the Switch at all) then you'd only be getting a part (albeit major) of the Colosseum/XD experience.

Whether you pay exorbitant amounts for the game (and hardware) or choose the less legally-savoury route, you'd be able to experience the games to the full. I can only hope that Nintendo and The Pokémon Company have put some kind of thought into a solution.

 

[Corveone]

Sadly the battle mechanics, move pools and balance are just awfully outdated for my taste, and that's considering battles are the main focus in these games, so I'll pass. I would be up for replaying them if it wasn't for that.

 

[bobandbill]

YESSSS!

I'm so glad more options for access to these games will become available. The pricetags for these games had become immense when Youtubers started highlighting these games during the pandemic. Although, with the pricetag to the switch 2 attached to it, I am also a little concerned.

But there's hoping this additional accessibility will give rise to even more fan works in regards to Orre. For as imperfect as the writing is, it grants so much oppurtunity to get creative with all kinds of media outlets. And the fan community I've mingled with have overall been really kind people, hyping eachother up with their headcanons.

Yeah, hundreds of bucks for GCN games (not just Colo and XD) is disgusting. Granted, yes, the Switch 2 is also a lot of money, but you can play other games on that too.

And agreed, Colo is a fun game to adapt and riff on I found, haha.

Never knew they had such interesting battle animations. And on the Gamecube, no less.

Even Stadium has some good animations. There's a few examples of those shown in the article linked in this one, but here's the direct link.

I was quite excited to know the games were coming to Nintendo Switch Online, but I am ultimately concerned that outside the story, we aren't getting the full experience the games would typically give. Don't get me wrong - I'll happily go through a playthrough! But I can't help but think that the Pokémon I capture and put effort in will just end up stuck in the games.

The reason is this: the Nintendo Classics service hasn't announced or previously demonstrated any kind of linking. So if they aren't going to have any kind of transfer in or out, or say, battling with teams from the gen 3 games (which admittedly would require them to be released on the Switch at all) then you'd only be getting a part (albeit major) of the Colosseum/XD experience.

Whether you pay exorbitant amounts for the game (and hardware) or choose the less legally-savoury route, you'd be able to experience the games to the full. I can only hope that Nintendo and The Pokémon Company have put some kind of thought into a solution.

I was thinking about that too, but felt it would be better discussed in a separate article rather than this one.

I'm a bit worried on this because Stadium/Stadium 2 do not have that functionality on the Switch VC. And it's a shame! I can't say I would care to battle in Colo with an RSE team for instance, but it would be nice to transfer across Pokemon caught in Colo/XD to HOME and etc.

Sadly the battle mechanics, move pools and balance are just awfully outdated for my taste, and that's considering battles are the main focus in these games, so I'll pass. I would be up for replaying them if it wasn't for that.

Each to their own. I agree, pre-gen 4 movepools and the typing split is... weak. But it doesn't turn me off personally from still enjoying the battles. How the battles look goes a long way with that.

Plus, as these games use double battles, there's more variety to be had (some moves actually have a use in that format!). And XD has double the roster and even 'wild' Pokemon at least.

 

[Hiroshi Sotomura]

I was thinking about that too, but felt it would be better discussed in a separate article rather than this one.

I'm a bit worried on this because Stadium/Stadium 2 do not have that functionality on the Switch VC. And it's a shame! I can't say I would care to battle in Colo with an RSE team for instance, but it would be nice to transfer across Pokemon caught in Colo/XD to HOME and etc.

I suppose a bit of cautious optimism is fair; we don't know if Colosseum/XD will have HOME compatibility simply because the games haven't had a formal announcement. If HOME did have two-way compatibility though, supposing TPC/ILCA are willing to implement it, I'd be happy because I feel like it'd open things a lot.

With Pokémon Champions on the way, I guess I wouldn't miss Colosseum/XD not having link battles if they did at least have transfer capabilities... heh.

 

[Venia Silente]

A whole different vibe​

Oh man even though this section is pretty good, it actually manages to undersell a bit how cool the intro to Colosseum was. One bit I would have added for context, is that narratively you are playing the same role that you played int he intro of Final Fantasy VII, for example: essentially an ecoterrorist doing their brand of good and walking away without looking at the explosions – before Iron Man (re)made that cool!

Other than that I love how this section describes the general vibe of the two games as a combined thing, rather than taking the vision I've seen sometimes in the fandom that Colosseum in itself is revolutionary or something. Like, come on, we had Rescue Team and protagonists dying just about in the same years. But more importantly, you brought in real examples of how despite "supposedly aiming for darker & edgier", the games still had what made them fundamentally Pokémon (besides, well, the Pokémon).

Double battles galore​

In fact, it's easy to point to many examples where these animations have been more entertaining than those in main series Pokémon titles.

Showing pretty good animations I see! It was certainly one of the highlights of the games. Heck, I want to contribute one I found!

(url in case that's not seen)

A price and accessibility problem​

I feel like, this particular section was somewhat insincere, or too apologectic towards the current state of gaming. While sure the games are coming to the NS2, that comes at the cost of the console's already obnoxious and unjustifiable price tag, plus the NSO subscription. Then the section goes to add that "no current generation system can play them". That however is relatively false: PCs from ~2019 onwards can play them via Dolphin Emulator, and while not the best experience ever (widescreen is documented to cause issues, and - really, don't you WANT to feel the physical discs spinning in the GC drive?), it's not like the games are really unreachable in this good year of Arceus of 2025.

As the good Gabe says, there's a service problem. Requiring the exclusivity and price tag of the NS2 to replay a game from literally the era before the Avatar, is a good show of that.