Pokemon Colosseum (E) (3 stars)
Nintendo
GameCube
WHETHER YOU GOTTA catch 'em all or fantasize about Pikachu playing Russian roulette with Barney and Elmo, you have to admit Pokemon has been at the center of some decent games. Now we have Nintendo trying to combine the RPG aspect of the GameBoy titles with the 3D battles of Pokemon Stadium.
Results are mixed. Graphics are stunning, with hundreds of creatures rendered in glorious 3D with incredibly fluid movements, but the game is a disappointingly linear journey, with a plot that is little more than a clothesline from which to hang innumerable, similar battles.
The multiplayer option lets you battle your friends … provided at least one has a GameBoy Advance, link cable and a copy of Pokemon Ruby or Sapphire. It's impossible for you to duel with two standard controllers, making it feel like Nintendo's got you by the Pokeballs.
HARVEST MOON: A WONDERFUL LIFE (E) (2.5 stars)
Natsume
GameCube
What's the point of playing a sim in which you do mundane chores you'd kill to avoid in real life, like, say, farm work? The story is as simple as it gets: work, marry, and enjoy a calm 30 years. With game time advancing only an hour for each minute, that's a lot of milkin' cows and feedin' chickens.
METAL GEAR SOLID: THE TWIN SNAKES (M) (3.5 stars)
Konami
GameCube
Nostalgia has seldom been so sweet! The original Metal Gear Solid revolutionized stealth-action games, and after all these years, it still holds up. Of course, this remake does have a few improvements. Upgrades include a first-person-shooting mode and superior graphics. New cut-scenes spice things up, despite a few having so much slo-mo as to make John Woo seem restrained. The biggest fault is a lack of innovation. A hide-and-sneak multiplayer mode would have gone a long way.
FINAL FANTASY: CRYSTAL CHRONICLES (T) (3.5 stars)
Square Enix
GameCube
The epic franchise returns to Nintendo, with breathtaking graphics, incredible soundtrack, and moogles so realistically rendered, you'll want to reach into the screen and pet them. But you'll be too busy hacking and slashing in gameplay more akin to Zelda and Gauntlet. The single-player mode gets dull occasionally, with a weaker story line than we're used to. But the best feature is the multiplay—again, provided you have GameBoys and link cables for all your friends. Give us a break, Nintendo.
Matthew Scott Hunter has been known to mumble, "Up, up, down, down, left, right, left, right, B, A, start" in his sleep. E-mail him at [email protected].