When it comes to Pokemon, Nintendo can do little wrong. Pokemon Red and Blue were a triumph, as were Pokemon Yellow, Gold, Silver, Crystal, Ruby, Sapphire, Pokemon Stadium and Pokemon Stadium 2. The series is legendary, but it's always been lacking a 3D role-playing adventure; a console game in the series that ardent fans can really get sink teeth stuck into. And though Nintendo's Pokemon Colosseum isn't strictly a hardcore RPG, it does deliver something more than its Pokemon Stadium predece ... more >>

When it comes to Pokemon, Nintendo can do little wrong. Pokemon Red and Blue were a triumph, as were Pokemon Yellow, Gold, Silver, Crystal, Ruby, Sapphire, Pokemon Stadium and Pokemon Stadium 2. The series is legendary, but it's always been lacking a 3D role-playing adventure; a console game in the series that ardent fans can really get sink teeth stuck into. And though Nintendo's Pokemon Colosseum isn't strictly a hardcore RPG, it does deliver something more than its Pokemon Stadium predecessors.

Firstly, and most importantly, Colosseum features a Story Mode. A large portion of the game, players keen to further explore the world of Pokemon and get to know a bunch of Pokemon-owning NPCs have come to the right place. The core adventure itself if fairly linear and will take an average of 30 hours to complete, though much of this is due to a high proportion of Poke-fighting. It's a lot like the handheld offerings, though it has been toned down considerably.

The second most prominent play mode in Colosseum is of course, Battle Mode. Like in Pokemon Stadium, you can link the GBA Pokemon games to your GameCube in order to battle it out against the computer or your friends in full 3D. Alternatively, you can compete in tournaments to prove your Poke-master worth. There are one-on-one battles, two-on-two battles, and for the first time up to four players can compete together.

It's easy to mistake Pokemon Colosseum as a 'best of' release that merely combines all the best aspects of previous Pokemon outings, but there's much more to it than that. It's classic Pokemon in so many ways, but there are so many things to explore in Colosseum that you'll be playing for months. << less