Jade Cocoon allows you to seek and collect millions of different monster combinations. You catch the beasts in the course of your quest to save your hometown. Once caught, the monsters help you build strength and power through combat as you prepare for the final showdown.

Jade Cocoon is a graphical tour de force from beginning to end. The animation of the characters and monsters are smooth, and the special effects for spells and other attacks are stunning. The audio is equally impressive.

While the multimedia effects may have held our attention, it was the gameplay that kept us coming back for another round of play. Success in combat relies on the strategic development of monsters, coupled with immediate tactical decisions during each battle. We spent hours testing possible monster combinations, thanks to a well-implemented preview window that lets players preview a monster merger before committing to the change. There's little guidance in the manual on effective combinations, but with a little common sense and a lot of mad-scientist experimentation, you will ultimately prevail. And although this isn't Pokémon, possibly "catch 'em all." --T. Byrl Baker

Pros:

• Terrific graphics
• Detailed storyline
• Millions of potential monsters

• Cut-scenes are too long