| Pokémon XD: Gale of Darkness | |
|---|---|
North American cover art |
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| Developer(s) | Genius Sonority |
| Publisher(s) | Nintendo |
| Composer(s) | Tsukasa Tawada |
| Series | Pokémon |
| Engine | Modified Pokémon Colosseum engine |
| Platform(s) | Nintendo GameCube |
| Release date(s) |
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| Genre(s) | Role-playing video game |
| Mode(s) | Single-player, multiplayer |
| Rating(s) | |
| Media/distribution | 1 GameCube Optical Disc |
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 role-playing video 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.
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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 Pokémon is 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. A new element in this game are the "Poké Spots", which are special locations where players can place Pokémon food in an attempt to lure out wild Pokémon. In the previous game, Pokémon Colosseum, wild Pokémon had not been available due to the barren nature of the Orre region.
Other notable changes from Colosseum are:
The story begins five years after the events of Pokémon Colosseum with the introduction of The Hero, (default named Michael) the main protagonist. Michael first meets Professor Krane, his mother's boss, who 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 after the Cipher Agents to rescue Krane, and soon is lead on many adventures throughout Orre. He must defeat the Cipher Peons and Admins and rescue the shadow Pokémon to save Orre from the evil Cipher. At the end of the game, he must get to Citadark Isle and battle the main villain: Master Greevil, who, in the beginning of the game, was thinly disguised as an old rich man named Mr. Verich. After Michael defeats Greevil and snags his shadow Pokémon, he must purify all of them, including the (seemingly) impossible to purify Shadow Lugia. After all of the Pokémon are purified, Michael returns home and puts down his snag machine, but he stores it safely in his room to be used if it is ever needed again.
In March 2005, Nintendo of America executive Reggie Fils-Aimé 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 role-playing video games 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. The Eevee that you are given by default can evolve into any of five Pokémon, Vaporeon, Flareon, Jolteon, Umbreon, or Espeon. Towards the start of the game when the player must enter the parts shop, there is a man who will give you any of the five evolution-inducers: Sun Shard, Moon Shard, Water Stone, Fire Stone, or Thunder Stone.
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.
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 Poké Spot areas, regarded as very limited and small compared to Ruby and Sapphire.[6][7][8] While discussing the mixed quality of the Pokémon console games, Retronauts podcaster Kat Bailey mentioned it as an example.[9]