Gaming Target - Game Boy: Spyro 2: Season of Flame

Written by Tim McGrew on October 31, 2002

Review: It's isometric platforming fun! Е Sort of.

The Spyro franchise has come a long way in the past few years. There have been numerous sequels and each had its good points and bad points, but each game was basically the same old platforming gameplay that it is so commonly known for. Once again, as Spyro, you are here to thwart the doings of Ripto and the Rhynocs in order to retrieve the fireflies that gives all dragons their fire breathing power. Although this isn't the only similarity this game shares with the other Spyro titles, particularly the initial GBA game, Season of Ice, it definitely improves over Season of Ice in quite a few areas.

The biggest change in Season of Flame has to be the controls. Platform games rely heavily on tight controls in order to complete difficult jumps and tasks that would be impossible with an otherwise terrible control scheme. The last portable Spyro outing, Season of Ice, suffered from a number of control issues that plagued the game from start until finish. Season of Flame has completely overhauled the controls and have made them tighter than ever and produced a great platform title from them. Thanks to the improved controls and the inclusion of a shadow, the jumps are much easier and far less frustrating than in Season of ice.

The game also has a ton of variety in its puzzle aspect, improving over the repetitive qualities of Season of Ice. Elemental puzzles dealing with ice and fire add a lot of variety to the game allowing the player to freeze shallow water, torch bushes, and affect certain enemies differently with either ice or fire. Some enemies can be frozen and then destroyed as they turn to ice. Others can be just sprayed with flame for a completely opposite effect. Some enemies are more vulnerable to either of the elements adding greatly to the final game. With so much more variety, the game is quite a bit different in its pacing. No longer can you bash through each level blindly. Instead, you can complete all sorts of different tasks and mini games to collect fireflies.

Speaking of mini-games, Spyro is joined by two new characters, Agent 9, a space-age monkey in armor, and Shiela the kangaroo. Each of these characters has their own unique levels where you can collect fireflies. Agent 9's levels play out like a side scrolling shooter where you'll have to jump over gaps and blast Rhynocs into oblivion before you reach the end of these rather long and very entertaining levels. Shiela's levels play out like the classic jumping game Q*Bert, where Shiela will have to jump from square to square attempting to reach a certain area and retrieve the firefly. Although Shiela's levels are fun in their own right, Agent 9's levels are far more appealing and fun to maneuver through. Each of the levels, however, offers a great deal of action on their own and both characters are fun to use and entertaining to watch.

The graphics in the game are basically the same as in Season of Ice, but that says a lot considering that Season of Ice was a beautiful isometric platform title in the first place. The new additions with the Agent 9 levels and the Shiela levels are also nicely done. Agent 9's levels in particular are a showcase of the GBA's power with a few graphical tricks that really make the game stand out. One of the main problems with the final product however is a bit of slowdown in certain areas. Although it rarely ever hinders game play, it's still worth mentioning considering it pops up in some odd places.

One of the newer additions to the interface is an all new map system that can be accessed at any time with previously explored areas being marked while unexplored areas remain darkened. This feature greatly improves the title because it's fairly easy to get lost in certain sections and forget just where you need to go next in order to retrieve more fireflies. In the end, the feature helps greatly, but since the level variety has been greatly improved, players will not need to access it as much as they would have in Season of Ice.

The music in Spyro 2 isn't too bad either. The tunes don't repeat too often and there is a great deal of variety from level to level. It's rather upbeat from start to finish even on the most difficult levels, but it can be distracting from time to time while you're trying to complete those really difficult gliding jumps that tend to zap away most of your lives. Another little decent feature is the small voice samples in the game. Although they are incoherent, they do give Spyro and friends a personality on the Gameboy Advance.