The Best Pokémon Game - Pokémon XD: Gale of Darkness

During the 3rd generation of Pokémon, we received two games on GameCube that many fans have come to know and love: Pokémon Colosseum & Pokémon XD: Gale of Darkness. Packed with unique mechanics and design choices, these two games carved out niches in the Pokémon line-up that keep fans gushing about them to this day. It's me, I'm that fan. Of the two, I believe XD to be the superior game, and even one of if not the best Pokémon game to date. In this video I explore this small section of the franchise and fanboy over all the aspects that made it rise to the #1 spot of all my Pokémon games.

[@Gutripperr]

Colosseum and XD both deserve a lot of credit for taking a gamble with the shadow pokemon concept.

[@richardgdungleman]

I'm really glad KZbin has started showing smaller channels to people more often, both this and your last video were great

[@Xpwnxage]

I get tons of videos recommended to me with 4 or 0 views and at first I was pretty annoyed by it but yeah I agree.

[@stephenh8754]

Pokemon XD gale of darkness wasn't my first pokemon game but has always remained one my top favorite thanks for a great video on the subject

[@105ttt]

The graphical update in XD: Gale of Darkness compared to Colosseum is one of my favorite aspects. Michael's idle animation in battle looks so much smoother than Wes's, but I love them both.

[@Cerdmasterjgcc]

something i love about these gamed is how they forced you to make teams out of Pokemon you might never have used

[@mannydefalk4463]

I was looking for a video like this weeks ago. I replay these two games all the time - i never get tired of them honestly. I'm so glad I finally found a video giving them their dues! Also, forgot to add the Orre region is one of the coolest locations of the game - it's really creative and the narratives around poverty and violence are really well done for a 'kid's' game

[@slimegolem]

One thing that I absolutely adore about XD over Colosseum is the Orre Colosseum challenge where the opponents have crazy optimized teams in terms of both stats, moves and team composition. You cannot just blast through it by brute forcing it with your 6 random story Pokemon. You have to build a wellrounded team with optimized stat distribution (which can be done in mt. Battle very easily btw) I understand that most people didn’t even try this though since it requires quite a bit of knowledge about the game (EV’s, IV’s etc), which wasn’t as common back then. And because it was only in the post game and does not really reward you anything besides a Lucky Egg (being very rare in the gen 3 games)

[@TophDaGreat]

I enjoyed the first game more for the character design, mystery, story, tension and overall environment/tone that is there from beginning to end. XD didn't have that for me but the quality of life gameplay enhancements were very fun and still hold up today.

[@shepskydad]

Very understandable. I think if Colosseum was updated with XD’s gameplay then it would be easy #1 for me. The environment/tone is amazing.

[@EuroMIX2]

It's what I like to call "Bioshock 2 syndrome", though maybe since these games predate that, I should call it XD syndrome instead. The second game is objectively better in terms of mechanics, but the first game tends to be more beloved for the initial impact it had.

[@MatiGra32]

I also like how much they have improved and polished the human characters models from Colosseum

[@firestick25]

I love both colosseum and XD so much I actually still have the XD skin on my GameCube from when I got it back in the day. I didn’t even know until somewhat recently despite playing them both for years that you can find shiny Pokémon in both games, shadow shiny Pokémon are so cool I really hope they get a rerelease someday so people who either weren’t into or weren’t alive back when this was new can get a chance to play it for themselves without giving an arm and a leg. Great video

[@thelegendofdylan4324]

Shadow Lugia is so cool

[@VaePomegGlitch]

People always find lots of flaws in the game to point out, but it's by far the game in the franchise I enjoyed the most every time I played it. I hope they make a game in the series that I'll like even more someday, but so far they haven't managed to

[@heavensdoorofficial4977]

XD wa the first ever Pokemon game i played when i was 5- and while i still play almost every pokemon game to this day over a decade later, XD is still my favorite. Glad to see it getting love!

[@redrazorx-23]

Pokémon XD is legitimately in my top 3 favorite Pokémon games…it is also one of my favorite video games of all time.

[@Haden475]

XD was my first pokemon game and i can just remember how stoked i was to play it every time. i can almost remember what my party was, but i defnitely had ubreon, ursaring, shiftry, medichamp and i think maybe aggron and tyrannitar. i think for a kid my age the 3D graphics and the slower pace made it easier to grasp what was fun about pokemon and allowed me to really appreciate the gameboy editions.

[@ArtistLunatalia]

I miss Gale of Darkness so much. It was such a core memory of my childhood and I loved it to bits.

[@Marcus2RaWw]

This game became a reason why I loved Pokémon again back then. I also had Colosseum before XD but still til this day XD is my favorite Pokémon game. I am hoping sometime soon they remake or port this game to today’s gen!! I think this game is honestly better than what ppl may think or remember.

[@goalhornfanatic9449]

I love these 2 games more than anything. I tried getting a friend who's big into Pokemon but never had a Gamecube into them. Had him try Colosseum first and he gave up right before Mirror B. Devastated me. Recently, I got him to budge and this time try XD, and so far he says he's liking it a lot more already after 2 hours of playing. He did say a big issue to him was the Shadow purification part being so far in on Colosseum, as well as the roster of snaggable Pokemon. Which I can see turning a lot of people away. I think when getting people to try these games, you should always have them do Gale of Darkness first because of all of the quality of life upgrades like being able to Save anywhere, the earlier purification and bigger roster. Then, if they liked it, they could go back and give Colosseum a shot.

[@jesusfreak18093]

This was my first Pokémon game... A friend of mine let me have it as a way of starting out (and later he gave me my first main line game in the form of Pokémon Diamond) I played non-stop for a long time. Its been a bit but this video makes me want to do another playthrough! 😁

[@judyh3707]

Oh man Gale of darkness is my favorite Pokémon game. This was the only way to have Lugia (except events?) after Gen 3 until HGSS, I used the gba-gamecube cable to transfer it to ruby, and from there to Gen 4. Mt Battle was an easy but grindy way to get a ribbon, but idr why I cared about that. I loved the challenge of the battle CDs. Miror B's theme is seriously one of the best things in a game that already has a lot of good stuff going on. Unfortunately XD doesn't have your Eevees riding in your motorcycle sidecar so Coliseum is probably better even though I've never played it. I think the biggest draw of this game for me, considering that I played this game when it was current, was that this was the best way to enjoy Pokémon on your big screen at the time. PBR in Gen 4 was so slow, just like the mainline games, that it was hard to enjoy. It also didn't offer any kind of story mode, required you to use your own Pokémon from diamond or pearl, and the battles weren't what I would call exciting. I guess it felt like just having battle tower on your tv. Whereas the pace of XD's battles was pretty reasonable, and offered a somewhat unique experience (story heavy, no wild Pokémon, double battles only, realgam tower, shadow Pokémon). This game deserves a sequel! Like, a good one, I would hope.

[@EscoMKW]

Nice Video Man! I love Gale of Darkness so much, it was my first pokemon game in general and it will be forever special to me! One Fact, that was not mentioned, that I really like, is the colosseum Orre right at the end with its tough rematches with all trainers in Orre, this was such a though challenge, that i remeber you could not do it with the in game pokemon but you actually had to Breed and EV train on an advance Pokemon game to beat it, that was such a hard challenge but it was so much fun similar to the battle frontier in emerald!

[@monopolyrubix1875]

Excellent video! I like XD quite a bit. I'd love to see the shadow pokemon make a return some day in a main series game.

[@TsuriaDragon]

The fact that the Pokémon still to this day haven’t remake games at all really saddens me greatly.

[@joinmarch76]

I'm glad XD is getting some proper respect. Generation 3 was when I first got into Pokemon, and Gale of Darkness was my first dip into it along with Pokemon Emerald. I couldn't finish one due to my lack of experience, but I remember beating XD with some clarity. I even remember my roster for this: 1. Umbreon 2. Arcanine 3. Walrein 4. Scyther 5. Donphan 6. Hariyama All named, and not necessarily in this exact order.

[@chiefdancingostriche]

i wish they had done a remake of this series.

[@jbeezy1651]

Keep up the good work man i like the couple videos ive seen from you. Didnt realize until looking at the comments that you havent blown up yet and was surprised. Im definitely subbing👍

[@Nightmare-td9jl]

Took one shot for each "Shadow Pokemon"- I'm (in Germany we say) 'rattendicht' Love your videos!

[@shepskydad]

How are you even alive???

[@gooooood3344]

My top 3 are: Legends Arceus, XD Gale of Darkness/Colosseum, and Heartgold Soulsilver

[@Brandon-eo2hj]

I hope to see some pokemon XG and Grand Colosseum reviews. Passion in these games are great when the game adds so much with little to nothing removed

[@ZandorDaysev]

Man, I've been checking your channel for a new vid just YESTERDAY! Even re-watched the previous one just to scratch that itch.

[@shepskydad]

You’re too kind 😭 Hope to start consistently having one video a month or so, potentially more if time allows it!

[@ZandorDaysev]

@@shepskydad I am not kind) Your videos are just amazing) Also, don't worry, I am ready to wait for the next video!

[@ridensroom6957]

I really regret selling the copy of this i bought in 06. I would love to play it again.

[@DarkestVoid]

I sold mine back when I was younger as well and definitely regret it. I bought one recently though and it was kinda difficult finding one that had the poster. I kept all the manuals and stuff in tact when I sold mine so I wanted to have everything back that I originally had.

[@KBzDvSt]

Cannot actually believe they hired the director of Dragon Quest 3, 4, 5, 6, and 7, with programming work on DQ 1 and 2 And then they shoved him into a corner making Trozei spin-offs (To be fair I love them but seriously?)

[@marvelousball]

I'm so glad there's more content from you. Especially I'm a longer format

[@thermophile1695]

I always thought Wes' ambiguity is a big positive of Colosseum. Like, we don't even know if he's a good person. For all we know, the only reason he isn't capturing non-shadow pokemon is to satisfy Rui. We know he leaves immediately after the games, which leaves the reason he opposed Cipher ambiguous.

[@stevenwillians9665]

Dx is one of favorite pokemon all time I hope it come to switch same day

[@yasinulansari7016]

Pokémon Xd gale of darkness should be getting a Nintendo switch version, or a Remake

[@LordHydra1]

I always loved XD Gale of Darkness. It makes me happy its still being talked about!

[@user-nz1pt1fe1u]

In October 2009, Jovi was destroyed because of their defeat in the Angry German Kid vs Jovi Part 2 by Captain Falcon.

[@ilngsisfh]

I still like Colosseum more but that’s more the final boss was harder. Like spamming legendaries isn’t hard, if the AI is stupider.

[@CitadelBrulee]

XD is undoubtedly the best!

[@Bambingobongo]

Technically, the concept of Shadow Pokémon was re-used in Pokémon GO.

[@Psycho_Raged]

I want to see XD and Colosseum remastered on the Switch.

[@ryanhammond8292]

Fun games man i love mirror B

[@tonyplaysguitar101]

I love this game so much 😂

[@arturoehr]

There are some mods like Pokémon xg that make this game even better

[@Nagatem]

Minus points for calling him VeRick when he is clearly Very Rich, Ve-Rich

[@Jess-Cruz]

Colosseum the original or pokemon mystery dungeon r my favs

[@50001elias]

well in japan is considered "cute and lovely" when a girl speaks in 3rd person, so she was created with the opposite intention. yet I wanted her to follow my through the game like Rui in colosseum

[@smillbag97]

0:58 Old School Runescape

[@andrianmelni5616]

Can we appreciate the effort???

[@kadegrenade7527]

Favorite game overall is bioshock 1, favorite pokemon game is probably platinum.

[@lou6742]

I used mareep to get ampharos as a kid

[@abrahamu.numbers562]

Disclaimer: what ShepskyDad says about this video being his opinion is completely false! This video is 100% objective fact!

[@DemetriusPooleJr]

I have Pokémon Colosseum love the game and I didn't get a chance to play Pokémon XD.

[@larryindigo6645]

I need a remake

[@chuckklein2695]

Gold version ✨️

[@pmdlover1807]

There is shadow pokemon on pokemon go I thought for sure they would have their own story mode about these two game bot never did

[@kona5853]

I think colosseum was a better setup story but the mechanics are very slow. XD was much better refined mechanics and structure.

[@megaeeveex]

Shadow pokemon are in Pokemon go but that's about it 😂😭

[@sarcasm-aplenty]

The cities are named after rocks

[@shepskydad]

😳

[@andrewmunro6106]

I struggled with the mirror b radar. Is there something I’m missing when it comes to finding him? I kind of wish there was at least an indicator on the map showing his location.

[@user-mk3qo5ev6e]

In my personal opinion I feel that XD is worse than Colosseum Bec of many things like the worse character models and story. But my opinion is invalid because I grew up with Colosseum but I still feel it’s better then XD after playing both games

[@NidokingOtsutsuki]

If colosseum had the same quality of life upgrades that XD had, it'd be the best Pokémon game ever.

[@shepskydad]

1000% agree. Even if it was just the updated mechanics of Shadow Pokémon alone it would be perfect.

[@amiosi]

based

[@Batterykitten8]

The best Pokémon game is obviously Pokémon Ruby and Sapphire Pinball

[@mattmyze]

Intro was too long ngl

[@justsam9986]

XD

[@Big_Dai]

The best!? Boy, that's a wrong opinion if I've ever heard one. These aren't even good games! Not even in the context they were released in. The developers hadn't even played a PKMn game.. and their boring and simplistic RPG mechanics didn't add ANYTHING to the franchise. The only thing new (stealing other trainers monsters) are just a different way to get "wild encounters", and they did nothing interesting with it. PKMN that gain no experience and the whole purification system just add a layer of tedium.. and I'm sure there's a better way to do this right. Worst of all, I don't think this video does anything for them either.

[@weggygaygay9940]

saying "wrong opinion" here instead of just explaining why you disagree (which you didnt) makes you sound really insufferable

[@Samfran102]

First

[@smillbag97]

0:58 Old School Runescape