Pokemon XD! (Pokemon XD: Gale of Darkness (GC))

Member Name: heekeer

Product:	Pokemon XD: Gale of Darkness (GC)
Date:	23/08/09 (18 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Capture a few wild Pokemon, fun battles, easier to purify Shadow Pokemon, GBA Pokemon team in 3D

Disadvantages: Very similar to the first.

Pokemon XD Gales of Darkness is a role playing game for the Gamecube developed by Nintendo.

The story stars a new hero called Michael (Wes from the previous titles is gone) and you are a Pokemon trainer. Soon after your friend Professor Crane gets kidnapped due to his research with the Shadow Pokemon. You soon find out that the evil Cipher criminal organisation is once again behind this and they are still creating new Shadow Pokemon so your goal is to stop them as well as rescue the professor. The storyline is a little more basic than what was seen in Pokemon Colloseum but it is still a very different aim from the Gameboy titles so fans of Pokemon will relish it.

The gameplay is very similar to the previous title and the game even uses the setting of Orre so expect to visit many familiar towns and colosseums on your adventure. You do start with a cool Eevee Pokemon which is able to evolve into a number of different forms so you can have a unique Pokemon for multiple plays of the game.The battle system is once again a double battle so you can team up a pair of your Pokemon and use moves that play off the strengths of each to defeat your opponents. Each Pokemon can do up to four moves and you can use items, switch your Pokemon and call your Pokemons name to wake it or snap it from confusion.

Shadow Pokemon also make a re appearance and you have a device called the Aura Reader which allows you to see them and a Snag Machine which lets you catch them. The game adds some wild Pokemon for you to catch though the way you do this is very different from the Gameboy titles, you lay down a treat and then wait to be notified that a wild Pokemon is in this area and you can then return to catch it, the selection of wild Pokemon is very small when compared with a Gameboy title sadly.

Shadow Pokemon still need to be purified though the way you do this is much easier, you have a purification chamber which allows you to place your Shadow Pokemon in and with the help of your Pokemon friends they will purify themselves automatically which is a really nice feature as before you would have to battle with each Shadow Pokemon until it was purified.

The game also includes multiplayer support and you can bring your Pokemon team in from Ruby, Sapphire, Fire Red and Leaf green versions of the game to battle it out on the big screen in 3D.

Graphics have seen a small upgrade from Colosseum with the Pokemon looking slightly sharper, there are some catchy tunes to listen to as well.

Pokemon XD is a good role playing game though it is very similar to Pokemon Colosseum it improves on it in a number of ways.

Summary: A good Pokemon roleplaying game