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> Results: Yu-Gi-Oh!: Capsule Monster Coliseum
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Konami is sitting on a gold mine with their popular Yu-Gi-Oh trading card game, so of course the makers of Frogger and Gradius make tons of video games out of it, too. The latest for PlayStation 2 is Capsule Monster Coliseum, a mix of the card game with the tactical strategy of a game like Final Fantasy Tactics.
You play as Yugi, the main character from the cartoon show (yes, Yu-Gi-Oh is that popular) as you battle friends and foes from the series. First, you must pick a marker that will serve as your home base on the field. Markers have an element associated with them, like fire, water, dark, light, etc. Each marker has elemental cards that are associated with it that you use in battle (Hint: pick a water marker for the first battle). Once you place your marker base on the field, you pick some cards out of your deck. These cards will be your playing pieces, as the monsters from the cards come out to form pawns in the shape of their likenesses. You arrange your monsters on the battlefield or let the computer do it randomly. Monsters are then encased in capsules so you'll have to summon them out if you want to move them or attack your opponent.  Summoning monsters, moving them, and attacking takes up Ability Points, and you only have so many AP per turn, so plan your moves accordingly. All the while, your opponent is making his or her moves. Different monsters have different movement and attacking range. Monsters of certain elements have strengths and weaknesses against other monsters (water beats fire, fire beats wood, etc.). Defeated monsters relinquish experience points for the monster that wiped them out. Leveled up monsters can become more powerful and sometimes evolve or merge with other monsters. Also, some areas on the field can give certain monsters an advantage. Place a water monster on a square that's underwater, and it'll be more powerful. The field will also change form from time to time. Parts of the field might become flooded with water, or an earthquake might split the battlefield in two. You win the battle if you destroy all your opponents' monsters, or if you destroy their marker. And that's the game in a nutshell, really. After winning, you can take some of your opponent's cards to give yourself a more balanced deck. It helps to know about the Yu-Gi-Oh card game so you know which monsters work best, but newcomers can also pick a pre-selected deck if they don't want to sift through all those monsters (that's what I did). The clean graphics look good, although the monster attacking animations get old after a while (I think you can turn them off). The game has a great instrumental soundtrack, though. Voices are cheesy, but then, they're the same ones from the cartoon show. Play control is easy to learn (even I could figure it out), and they do a good job teaching you at the beginning. It helps to know about the Yu-Gi-Oh card game, but even newcomers who like strategy games may want to give Capsule Monster Coliseum a try. 
I gotta hand it to the kids. The Yu-Gi-Oh card game is pretty complex, with tons of strategy and countless monsters to figure out. I don't see how they do it (either that or I just get confused easily). But I was able to figure out Capsule Monster Coliseum pretty well, and strategy games like this usually scare me off. Still, it's a Yu-Gi-Oh game, so fans will appreciate it more. Reading skills are needed for this game, or at least a helpful adult. The monster attacking animation violence is no worse than Pokemon, and anything else is just like a chess or checkers board game. Kids who enjoy playing strategy board games will probably get a kick out of this.
Kid Factor by Cary Woodham
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