Not exactly what I was hoping for, but a good light-hearted RPG nonetheless.
In terms of RPG-ness, it's very shallow-depthed compared to Crystal Chronicles, FF and Elder Scrolls. It is constantly holding your hand, showing what you need to do, where to go, and going about getting there, picking up a dropped item and putting it in the right position. It seems that it gives you a strategy guide, just not in the format of one.
The Story mode begins with the trainer hastily speeds away on a sort of bike away from an exploding factory, which exploded because he planted a bomb. (OmGosh trouble in Pokeworld!!) Which seems somewhat out of place due to the age group aimed at. It seems as its trying to be...mature. The trainer is older, turned from a "bad guy" to a "good guy". The "bad guys" have made shadow Pokemon, by being cruel to a bunch of colourful, cute fluffballs, they shut the door to its heart, because they think this makes them stronger, but not without side effects of course. Of course, you as the goodie have to restore the trouble in paradise by wubbing your monster with as much affection as you can, and put an end to the evil Pokemon.
Now, I bet your thinking, this is a decent storyline, right? Correct-e-mundo! But it goes all downhill from there. Upon arriving in the "starter city" you are greeted by 2 kidnappers who tell you what theyre playing at and they challenge you to fight. There's nothing subtle about the following text, just a big blurt - "I HOPE NO ONE OPENS THIS BAG WITH A GIRL INSIDE". Honestly its pathetic. And, upon rescuing her, she just so happens to be the only person in the whole world of Orre who can manage to spot the difference between a shadow Pokemon and regular Pokemon. Convinient, no? And she then so happens to decide to come with you.
Phenac City (starter place) is a beautiful place, with lovely flowing water features, various houses, a Pokemon Centre (yay!) and the Pre-Gym, which leads you back to the map. The graphics are lovely (Which I thought would've been better cel-shaded, much like Ultimate Spider-Man)(probaly the only stand-out part of PKMNC) and the 3D interpretations of Pokemon are excellent, but not nearly as good as some of their SSBM counterparts, but still pretty sweet. Some of the faces what they pull look funny sometimes, too, and add the to the comical value. You wish that you had never dropped a huge rock on Wooper's head when you see the pain on his face, or the anger in Bellosoms eyes as she shrugs off an ill-advised water attack.
In the various locations and citys, there are few people to talk to, but the ones you do talk to arn't very interesting, and nothing decent usually comes out of them, just the same lines of text over and over. No discussing the stock market, or how the relatives are going and are you still working there, just the same "Ah ha! I was a good trainer in my day! I was top-notch! Bwahahaha --" "Shut up old man". And they don't actually say it either. Its eerily quiet in Orre, too quiet. This particular world is very quiet, with next-to-no sound effects on in the world, with walking about very, very quiet. I never really payed attention to background noise, until I played this game. The is the usual plinky tune, however, which does get awfully infuriating. Your probaly better off having some music on in the background, your not missing anything, just lots and lots of silent reading. The battles are a relief though, thankfully, with the monophonic-style Pokemon calls, and the rock soundtrack.
The battles - the core and soul of the whole Pokemon web. You start with 2 pokemon which you took with you to destroy the factory. The awfully powerful Espeon and the Meh-stylee Umbreon (who isn't nearly powerful enough, despite he looks awesome). These will serve you for a while and are usually the heart, soul, opening battler and foundation of your squad.
The main disappointment for me is the fact there is no long grass or wild Pokemon to catch (but also, no irritating random battles, yay!). In Orre, original catching isn't what you do, but the snag is the official word. But regardless, you have to snag Shadow Pokemon from other trainers (a previously though felany amongst the other lands, and was illegal). As dispicable as this act may originally seem, your actually doing the justifiable thing because your actually snagging them from the baddies. Common is the shout of happiness when you actually manage to catch the Pokemon that fought back.
So, build up your team of 6, which is the max in all PKMN games, make them varies so you have the best of all worlds and have the main elements covered. As with other PKMN games, training them in battle will reap you EXP points, which you use to level up. This is probaly what makes Pokemon, well, Pokemon. And also what makes it fantastic - the never ending levelling up. Satisfaction is the main feeling when you level up, and the usual question of whats going to happen at this level - evolving? new skill? improved stats? Guilty please at the best of times. Obviously, the better the Pokemon, the bigger the reward you'll reap. Wondering why there isnt a quicker way to level up? Thankfully in this game, there is. EXP Egg is obtainably revetively early. Give this to one of your Pokemon to hold and it pratically trebles (whoop!) the amount of experience earned, and best of all, they don't fight, unless you want them to. They just lay back and soak it all up, so it makes it handy to level up that nagging weak monster that is just existing. You need the most amount of points as possible, your going to need them, due to the fact that the last bosses are incredibly difficult (compared with the rest of the game). But thankfully, there is Mount Battle to give you those much needed levels.
And no, for you hard-core Pokemon GBA players, you cant just run in with your full lvl 99 squad of uber-ness. Nope, thats right. The link-up option isn't optional till you complete it with your squad of not-so-uberness. This means that you can only create your prime team from the ever-so-short list of 51. (Pikachu and Ho-Oh arn't available until the end of the game).
Obviously, this is not as big as the GBA counteroarts, but I managed to rack up 36 Hours of gameplay before I completed it. Unfortunately a lot of this time is taken up by the slow-paced battles. Your opponent sens out each of their Pokemon in turn, you do the same, select your moves, and sit back for a wee bit and watch the limited actions flutter away into the sunset. If you dont see the ever so magical words "Its super effective!" and the "Critical Hit!", you know that you know that the battle is going to last longer than hoped, and chances are longer than reading this review.
Another gripe I have is with the words the characters spout. Theyre rubbish. Really super-childish. For some reason it seems fine on the GBA but with big 3D polygons, it seems just damn wrong. Oh, and your character never says anything. Squall from FFVIII says more, and he's the most monosyllabilic character ever. And the first boss! Miror B. Who thought up him? Why Miror B? Whats Miror?? And why is B so significant? Maybe if i pressed B he'd go away...I'd like to hope so.
Pokemon Colosseum is not the definitive Poke-Experience the world has been anticipating the world has been waiting for, nor is it a must-have purchase unless your a hard-core fanatic. But is fun to see all your favourite monsters in full 3D and glorious colours is definately something to make you turn your head in its direction.