Pokémon XD: Gale of Darkness
This article needs additional citations for verification. (January 2009) |
Pokémon XD: Gale of Darkness | ||
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Composer(s) Tsukasa Tawada | | |
Series | Pokémon | |
Platform(s) | GameCube | |
Release |
| |
Genre(s) | Role-playing video game | |
Mode(s) | Single-player, multiplayer |
Pokémon XD: Gale of Darkness[a] is a role-playing video game in the Pokémon series developed by Genius Sonority and published by The Pokémon Company and Nintendo. It was released for the GameCube on August 4, 2005, in Japan; October 3, 2005, in North America; November 10, 2005, in Australia; and November 18, 2005, in Europe. Pokémon XD is the successor to the GameCube title Pokémon Colosseum and 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.
Pokémon XD was first announced in March 2005 as a new GameCube game and not a sequel to Colosseum, though later developments as well as two promotional demo versions confirmed the game would be similar to its predecessor. Shadow Pokémon, first introduced in Colosseum, are a major gameplay element, and a Shadow
The game garnered mixed to positive reviews among critics, with common criticisms being directed at similarities to and re-used assets from Colosseum. Commercially Pokémon XD was a success, selling more than 1 million copies since its release.
Gameplay
Shadow Pokémon
The main focus of the game, like its predecessor, is to capture Shadow Pokémon and fight with them and also file up their information in
Purifying Shadow Pokémon
Once a Shadow Pokémon is captured the player then has to purify it. There are two different ways of purifying Pokémon: one way is to use the Purification Chamber,[5] and the other is to carry the Pokémon in the party just like in Pokémon Colosseum. The Purification Chamber allows the player to place anywhere from 1 to 4 Pokémon in a circle and a Shadow Pokémon is placed in the center of this circle.[5] Depending on the Pokémon that are placed in the circle the tempo will increase, which increases the speed of purifying the Shadow Pokémon.[5] After that the Shadow Pokémon will be purified as the player walks around, and they will be notified when a Shadow Pokémon is ready to be purified.[5] When the player carries the Pokémon in the party and battles with them, they will gain experience when they are purified. If the Purification Chamber is used then the Pokémon will not gain any experience, but with the Purification Chamber multiple Pokémon can be purified at the same time.[5]
Mt. Battle
The Mt. Battle area is an area that is accessible early on in the game and is a 100 trainer challenge.[6] The 100 battles are split into 10 battles in 10 different zones with the trainers in each zone being stronger than the ones in the zone before.[6] The tenth trainer in each zone is called the Area Leader, and after each Area Leader is defeated the player gets a specific number of pokecoupons.[6] When the player defeats an Area Leader the first time the player gets a special item.[6] At the front desk Mt. Battle the player can exchange their pokecoupons for certain prizes.[6]
Poke Spots
One other new aspect to the game is that there are three different PokeSpots throughout the game.[7] At these special locations the player can lay Poke snacks in the area to cause wild Pokémon to appear.[7] At these 3 locations 9 different wild Pokémon can be captured and they can be traded for rare Pokémon.[7]
Story
The story begins five years after the events of
Shortly after this, Krane is kidnapped by Cipher agents. Michael goes after the Cipher Agents to rescue Krane, and soon is led 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.
Development and marketing
This section needs additional citations for verification. (December 2022) |
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.[9]
Japanese gaming magazines
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
Reception
This section needs expansion. You can help by adding to it. (January 2014) |
Aggregator | Score |
---|---|
GameRankings | 66.91%[10] |
Metacritic | 64/100[11] |
Publication | Score |
---|---|
G4 | [19] |
Game Informer | 58%[17] |
GameSpot | 6.9/10[12] |
GameSpy | [13] |
GamesRadar+ | [15] |
IGN | 6.8/10[16] |
NGC Magazine | 86%[18] |
Nintendo Power | 85%[14] |
Pokémon XD received mixed to positive reviews, usually scoring 6–7 out of 10 (8.6 out of 10 was its highest score).[10][11]
The game was commonly criticized for having a large amount of recycled material from the earlier Pokémon Colosseum. This recycled material includes a number of reused areas, some recycled graphics and a modified engine.[16] GameSpot commented that "not much has changed since the original".[12]
Another common complaint were the Poké Spot areas, regarded as very limited and small compared to Ruby and Sapphire.
Like its predecessor, Pokémon XD was a commercial success, selling over 1 million units as of March 31, 2006.[24]
Notes
References
- ^ "Pokémon XD: Gale of Darkness Shadow Pokémon". Archived from the original on 17 February 2012. Retrieved 14 February 2012.
- ^ "Shadow move - Bulbapedia, the community-driven Pokémon encyclopedia". bulbapedia.bulbagarden.net. Archived from the original on 2018-09-11. Retrieved 2018-09-14.
- ^ "Pokémon XD: Gale of Darkness Miror B." Archived from the original on 3 March 2012. Retrieved 18 February 2012.
- ^ "Pokémon XD: Gale of Darkness Miror. B". Archived from the original on 3 March 2012. Retrieved 18 February 2012.
- ^ a b c d e "Pokémon XD: Gale of Darkness Purification Chamber". Archived from the original on 2 February 2012. Retrieved 21 February 2012.
- ^ a b c d e "Pokemon XD: Gale of Darkness Mt. Battle". Archived from the original on 28 September 2011. Retrieved 15 February 2012.
- ^ a b c "Pokémon XD: Gale of Darkness Poke Spot Pokémon". Archived from the original on 10 March 2012. Retrieved 20 February 2012.
- ^ "Pokemon XD: Gale of Darkness GameCube Video Game Review". Kidzworld. Archived from the original on 2009-02-16. Retrieved 2009-04-01.
- ^ Casamassina, Matt (March 9, 2005). "GDC 2005: Reggie Talks Revolution". IGN. Archived from the original on April 5, 2005. Retrieved April 28, 2005.
- ^ a b "Pokemon XD: Gale of Darkness for GameCube". GameRankings. Archived from the original on June 19, 2016. Retrieved July 19, 2017.
- ^ a b "Pokemon XD: Gale of Darkness". Metacritic. Archived from the original on December 21, 2017. Retrieved July 19, 2017.
- ^ a b c Mueller, Greg (October 10, 2005). "Pokemon XD: Gale of Darkness Review". GameSpot. Archived from the original on October 12, 2016. Retrieved July 19, 2017.
- ^ Theobald, Phil (October 11, 2005). "Pokemon XD: Gale of Darkness". GameSpy. Archived from the original on March 17, 2016. Retrieved July 19, 2017.
- ^ Sheppard, Chris (November 2005). "Quite a Catch". Nintendo Power. No. 197. p. 102 – via Internet Archive.
- GamesRadar. June 23, 2007. Archivedfrom the original on March 10, 2017. Retrieved July 19, 2017.
- ^ a b Harris, Craig (October 6, 2005). "Pokemon XD: Gale of Darkness". IGN. Retrieved July 19, 2017.
- ^ "Superman Returns". Game Informer. No. 151. November 2005. p. 193.
- ^ Davies, Jonti (October 2005). "Pokémon XD: Gale of Darkness NGC Review". NGC Magazine. No. 111.
- G4TV.com. Archived from the originalon 2006-01-02.
- ^ Theobald, Phil (October 11, 2005). "GameSpy: Pokémon XD: Gale of Darkness Review". GameSpy. Archived from the original on June 28, 2007. Retrieved August 3, 2007.
- ^ Coxall, Martin (May 12, 2005). "Pokémon XD: Gale of Darkness Review". Eurogamer. Archived from the original on September 30, 2007. Retrieved August 4, 2007.
- ^ Retronauts Live 3 - A Super-Effective Pokemon Talk. 1UP Network. Retrieved 2023-05-25 – via Internet Archive.
- ^ Strafe Maru (November 2, 2005). "Pokémon XD: Gale of Darkness". GamePro. Archived from the original on February 18, 2006. Retrieved February 12, 2021.
- ^ "Consolidated Financial Statements" (PDF). Nintendo Co. Ltd. Archived (PDF) from the original on 2007-09-27. Retrieved 2017-07-18.
External links
- Official website (North America)
- Official website (Japan) Archived 2005-05-16 at the Wayback Machine
- Pokémon XD: Gale of Darkness at )
- The Official Pokémon Website