REVIEW 'Pok & eacute;mon' game is 1st for GameCube

The quality of the visuals varies, and the pace is a bit slow.
By JUSTIN HOEGER
SACRAMENTO BEE
Though it's lost a bit of steam since its turn-of-the-century heyday, the "Pok & eacute;mon" juggernaut keeps chugging along. "Pok & eacute;mon Colosseum" marks the first proper "Pok & eacute;mon" game for the GameCube.
It follows a pair of Game Boy Advance games that came out last year (and lets players import their collected Pok & eacute;mon from those games with a link cable) with a decently fun game whose plot simplicity and slow combat may turn off those who aren't already fans of the little pocket monsters.
In the game's story mode, players take on the role of an ex-member of Team Snagem, an unscrupulous Pok & eacute;mon-snatching gang that has developed a way to steal the little critters directly from their trainers during a battle. The main character (whose name the player chooses) destroys a large version of the device and makes off with a portable prototype.
The story's pretty light stuff; soon after making his escape, the hero meets a young girl (also player-named) who can see Pok & eacute;mon afflicted with dark auras -- a sign that they'll attack humans, which normal Pok & eacute;mon won't do. The hero's quest is to gather the 50 or so Pok & eacute;mon that have these auras, rehabilitate them, and put a stop to the schemes of those responsible.
Taking on other trainers
The player guides the hero through points of interest in the land of Orre, a mostly barren desert of canyons and burning rock with a few outposts of civilization. Along the way, the hero will meet and challenge (and be challenged by) many other Pok & eacute;mon trainers, both those looking for a good fight and those with more vile intentions.
Once the fray is joined, the hero sends out his Pok & eacute;mon two at a time from an active group of up to six; the enemy does the same. The battle progresses by turns until all of one side's Pok & eacute;mon have been defeated. Each creature has its own set of attacks, some for attack, others for defense, and still others that, for example, put an enemy to sleep.
The shadowy Pok & eacute;mon (the only ones the hero captures) are a bit different -- they start with only one attack, which hurts them to use, but regain their original abilities as they're used -- they have to be exercised back into shape.
Mixed bag
Boiled down, this plays a lot like a somewhat stripped-down role-playing game. The combat's easy to pick up, but not that deep, and it's a bit too slowly paced to be gripping. Likewise, the story's too thin to be very engaging.
The visuals vary. The individual little monsters -- running the gamut from fairly normal-looking animals to some really bizarre critters -- are faithfully re-created and well-animated, and some of the special effects during battles are very nice. But the human characters are a bit absurd in design and simple in construction.
The environments are also blocky and unimaginative, and the music is decent but forgettable, while the sound effects are merely adequate.
These issues aside, the game is pretty good, and probably would be more so for a fan of "Pok & eacute;mon" -- plus, it's bolstered a bit by a variety of multiplayer modes. Up to four players can pit their Pok & eacute;mon stables against one another in several game types, and a solo player can also find lots to do fighting against the computer.
X"Pok & eacute;mon Colosseum," for Nintendo and GameCube, is rated E for everyone.