Pokémon XD: Gale of Darkness, released in Japan as Pokémon XD Yami no Kaze Dark Lugia (ポケモンXD 闇の旋風ダーク・ルギア, Pokemon Ekkusudī Yami no Kaze Dāku Rugia?, lit. "Pokémon XD: Whirlwind of Darkness Dark Lugia"), is the second console role-playing game from Nintendo's Pokémon franchise for the Nintendo GameCube. It is the successor of the GameCube game Pokémon Colosseum. The game takes place in Orre, the setting of Pokémon Colosseum's adventure mode. All of the Game Boy Advance Pokémon games can connect to this game through trading and Battle Mode.
Story
The story begins 5 years after the events of Pokémon Colosseum with the introduction of Michael (the player may change the name), the main protagonist. Michael first meets Professor Krane, his mother's boss. He introduces the concept of Shadow Pokémon, which are Pokémon whose hearts have been artificially closed. The criminal syndicate Cipher is creating and distributing them for their evil purposes. Krane also introduces the Snag Machine, which is used to capture Shadow Pokémon to purify.[1] Krane entrusts Michael with the Snag Machine to capture these Shadow Pokémon and is given the Aura Reader (the eye piece) to identify them from normal Pokémon.
Shortly after this, Krane is kidnapped by Cipher agents. Michael goes out to save Krane and to uncover and defeat the Cipher syndicate. Michael goes out to many parts of Orre to capture Shadow Pokémon and defeat Cipher. Along the way, Michael finds the Purify Chamber, which allows the player to purify Shadow Pokémon without having them in their party. The player ends the main story of the game fighting the leader of Cipher, Greevil, where he or she may catch shadow Lugia.
Gameplay
The basic gameplay is the same as the first game, players travel various areas and talk to NPCs. However, unlike most Pokémon games the player's primary method of acquiring new pokemon if by using the "Snag Machine" to capture evil "Shadow Pokémon". Shadow Pokémon appear in most battles. When a Shadow Pokémon appears the player is alerted, and a dark purple aura will resonate from the Pokémon. New to the Colosseum games is the "Safari Zone", where players can place Pokémon food in an attempt to lure out wild Pokémon.
Development and marketing
In March 2005, Nintendo of America executive Reggie Fils-Aime said that Pokémon XD would be a new GameCube game, but not a sequel to Colosseum. He said that the gameplay would be more similar to the Game Boy Advance RPGs Pokémon Ruby and Sapphire.[2]
Japanese gaming magazines Famitsu and CoroCoro Comic later gave screenshots and information that revealed that the game would have 3D graphics similar to those of its predecessor, Pokémon Colosseum. It was also revealed that the game would continue the inclusion of Shadow Pokémon and snagging from Colosseum. Nothing of the plot was revealed, other than the fact that a black Shadow Lugia was said to play a large part in the story. It was also revealed that the player starts with an Eevee, and that the levels progress more closely to the main handheld series.
Nintendo released two demos to promote the game. In the demo released to retail stores, the player goes through two battles where the player can snag three Shadow Pokémon. The second demo was playable on the "Pokémon Rocks America" tour.
This game features two Sinnoh related Pokémon species from the Diamond and Pearl generation introduced in Pokémon: Destiny Deoxys, both of which evolve into previous species. They are Munchlax, which evolves into Snorlax, and Bonsly, which evolves into Sudowoodo. However, they cannot be obtained in the Advanced series titles, because they lack the Sinnoh Pokédex, although the player can temporarily use Bonsly during one minigame.
Reception
Pokémon XD received mixed reviews, usually scoring 6—7 out of 10 (8.6 out of 10 was its highest score), mostly positive.[3][4]
The game was commonly criticized for having a large amount of recycled material from Pokémon Colosseum, which included a number of reused areas, almost recycled graphics, and a modified engine from Colosseum.[5] GameSpot commented that "not much has changed since the original".[6] Another common complaint were the PokéSpot areas, regarded as very limited and small compared to Ruby and Sapphire.[6][7][8]
References
- ^ "Pokemon XD: Gale of Darkness Gamecube Video Game Review". Kidzworld. http://www.kidzworld.com/article/6078-pokemon-xd-gale-of-darkness-gamecube-video-game-review. Retrieved 2009-04-01.
- ^ Casamassina, Matt (March 9, 2005). "GDC 2005: Reggie Talks Revolution". IGN. http://cube.ign.com/articles/594/594834p2.html.
- ^ "Pokemon XD: Gale of Darkness Reviews". GameRankings. http://www.gamerankings.com/htmlpages2/925945.asp. Retrieved 2008-10-13.
- ^ "Pokemon XD: Gale of Darkness (cube: 2005): Reviews". Metacritic. http://www.metacritic.com/games/platforms/cube/pokemonxdgaleofdarkness. Retrieved 2008-10-13.
- ^ Harris, Craig (October 6, 2005). "IGN: Pokémon XD: Gale of Darkness Review". IGN. http://cube.ign.com/articles/656/656659p2.html.
- ^ a b Mueller, Greg (October 10, 2005). "Pokémon XD: Gale of Darkness for GameCube Review". GameSpot. http://www.gamespot.com/gamecube/rpg/pokemongc/review.html.
- ^ Theobald, Phil (October 11, 2005). "GameSpy: Pokémon XD: Gale of Darkness Review". GameSpy. http://cube.gamespy.com/gamecube/pokemon-gamecube/657754p2.html.
- ^ Coxall, Martin (May 12, 2005). "Review - Pokémon XD: Gale of Darkness // GC /// Eurogamer". Eurogamer. http://www.eurogamer.net/article.php?article_id=62011.
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