Most notably, Pokemon Colosseum offers a new single player story mode which gives context and meaning to the classic Pokemon battles. There are two modes of play. Story mode, which represents the first RPG for Pokemon on the GameCube, allows players to control an ex-villain. This character not only needs to "beat" the head of the evil organization Cipher, he wants to defeat his fomer team, Team Snagem, as well. Players must snag corrupted Shadow Pokemon from either evil or unsuspecting trainers. The goal is then to purify players' new Pokemon. 

After the destruction of Cipher's head, players gain access to a trading center, allowing them to send purified Pokemon into their Ruby or Sapphire GameBoy Advance games (if they own one or both versions). Pokemon fans will be happy to discover that most of the Pokemon they purify in Pokemon Colosseum cannot be found in Ruby and Sapphire versions.

In Battle Mode, players have two initial choices: Colosseum Battle and Battle Now. Battle Now lets trainers choose their opponent's difficulty level, after which they are given a team of random Pokemon, who battle a computerized team. Colosseum Battle gives players even more options to choose from. They can register their Ruby or Sapphire version Pokemon or their purified Pokemon from Story Mode. They can then use their registered team in Mount Battle and the Colosseum, earning them PokeCoupons that can be spent on rare items. Finally, they can battle friends who own a Pokemon Ruby or Sapphire version. (Up to three players can join).

Although it doesn't boast as many activities as its two predecessors (Pokemon Stadium One and Two for N64), Pokemon Colosseum still has the charm of the older games. Colosseum is missing the mini-games and rental Pokemon (Pokemon instantly prepared for battle) that children enjoyed in the two Stadium games. Our younger testers missed these two features, while an older tester found Pokemon Colosseum more engaging because of the new-to-GCN story mode. The lack of a rental Pokemon feature can discourage younger children from battling more experienced players.

Note that the multiplayer Battle mode requires that additional players use a GameBoy Advance as their controller. 

As a warning, Pokemon Colosseum loses about 50% of its appeal if kids don't own a GBA-GCN link cable, a GameBoy Advance, and either Pokemon Ruby or Sapphire version. This is because in Battle Mode, players are able to compete in the Colosseum or Mount Battle--if they can't connect their GameBoy Advance game, they are limited to deploying only the Pokemon they have purified through Story Mode. On the other hand, if they can connect their GameBoy Sapphire or Ruby versions, they are able to transfer their raised Pokemon directly to Colosseum for battle.

Pros: Story line offers both context and meaning to Pokemon battles. New opportunities to use strategy. More appealing to older Pokemon fans (ages 10+), yet remains enjoyable for younger fans.

Cons: Lacks some of the features that made Pokemon Stadium (1 & 2) a hit. At times, the game is slow-moving (some repetitive screens cannot be skipped).

Our Rating:   B+

[For more information, user reviews, or to buy: Pokemon Colosseum]

Reviewed May 2004

See also: Our review of the new Pokemon FireRed and LeafGreen games for the Gameboy Advance

See also: Our review of the new Pokemon FireRed and LeafGreen games for the Gameboy Advance

To Buy this Video Game:

Buy Pokemon Colosseum at Amazon.com

Buy Pokémon Colosseum  at Amazon.ca