Taking Pokemon to a New Level!
For those of you who don't know, the Pokemon series revolves around your character catching different Pokemon. These are monsters that are used in battle. They come in all shapes and sizes and have their own unique abilities. Pokemon can learn up to 4 battle moves at a time. As a Pokemon gains experience, these moves can be replaced with more powerful ones. Some Pokemon even change their form (evolve) under certain circumstances.
This game is different from the rest of the Pokemon series in the fact that it adds a brand new spin to the series: Your character must catch "Shadow Pokemon" from other trainers. These Pokemon are fierce fighting machines that have been made so by people with no-so-nice intentions. That's why you've got to get them back and unlock their hearts by battling with them. This interesting concept is very unique and was good enough to be implemented in another Pokemon game later on: Pokemon XD.
There are also Colosseum matches in this game. This allow you to battle 4 other trainers. The winner always gets a worthwhile prize. There's actually a coupon system that lets you buy stuff after you've won enough matches!
The graphics and sound in this game are very impressive. The entire game is shown in kind of an isometric viewpoint with full towns and dungeons shown in detail. The battle moves of the Pokemon and the Pokemon themselves are shown even better. Some of the battle moves are enough to make even the gamer flinch if they aren't expecting them!
The sound in the game is mainly jazz style music. I, personally, find it very entertaining. There is one boss battle in particular that will be sure to have you dancing rather than playing the game! The musical part of the game does a great job portraying the emotions of the characters at different moments throughout the game.
The game takes about 15 hours to beat. I have to say this is a little bit too short for my liking, but there are lots of things you can do afterwards. One of these things is the ability to trade with GameBoy Advance Pokemon games.
My final recommendation: Don't buy this game if you've never played Pokemon. There are a lot of things in it that a newbie to the Pokemon series wouldn't be able to truly appreciate. If you ARE a fan of the Pokemon series and you're looking for something a little different, try this game. It's worthwhile.