Spyro: Season of Ice (GBA)
Posted: July 1st, 2019, 6:39 pm
Before I say anything, I've unfortunately never played the PS1 trilogy of games, and these GBA games were actually my introduction to Spyro back in the day.
Anyways, I got this from Amazon the other day to revisit something from my childhood, and I also ordered Season of Flame and Attack of the Rhynocs as I played those back in the day as well. In retrospect, converting a huge 3D platformer into an isometric portable game was an ambitious feat, but Digital Eclipse managed to make it playable.
I really like that you can save at any time, collecting gems is fun, as is fighting Rhynocs and finding out what they'll look like with each new level, as they're in different costumes and you'll have to use different strategies to approach them. The Sparx shooting levels (inspired by Year of the Dragon) are a lot of fun, although I'm not a fan of enemies respawning after you die.
With that said, this game does have a lot of flaws. Switching to an isometric angle allows the game to run smoothly on the GBA, but as is with most people's criticism of this game, the angles and depth perception make it near impossible at times to judge where you can glide and where you can't. The trick is to look at what platform you're on. If it's the same color scheme as a further one, you can jump on it. But it's still brutal in levels like Hummimgbird Fort.
Second, I hate the enemy placement, as many Rhynocs are placed right next to bottomless pits, and since Spyro falls back as he's hit, you'll see a lot of cheap deaths. Third, enemies don't respawn after you die (thankfully), but restarting certain missions after doing so is annoying (lighting certain objects on fire for example). The speedway races of old are back, but they're way too hard.
Perhaps my biggest complaint is the level design. It's not terrible, but all the areas in levels look the exact same, and it's difficult to tell where you're supposed to go at many times. This game desperately needed a map and thankfully it was added in Season of Flame. Some of the missions have variety, but for the most part the game is pretty repetitive, and I hate how you have to 100% the game to fight the final boss.
Overall, I do enjoy the earlier levels of this game, and looking back on it is fascinating, if not infuriating. It's essentially a demo of what was to come on the platform, and the developers treated it that way, as they apparently listened to a lot of feedback from this game to improve the gameplay experience in the next two Spyro GBA games. The sprites look great, though, and the music, for the most part, is pleasant and catchy.
I'll get Season of Flame and AOTR soon so I'll post my thoughts on those as well. Overall this game is alright, but it has way too many flaws that hold it back. Still, the game deserves credit for offering a playable, portable version of the PS1 classics.
Anyways, I got this from Amazon the other day to revisit something from my childhood, and I also ordered Season of Flame and Attack of the Rhynocs as I played those back in the day as well. In retrospect, converting a huge 3D platformer into an isometric portable game was an ambitious feat, but Digital Eclipse managed to make it playable.
I really like that you can save at any time, collecting gems is fun, as is fighting Rhynocs and finding out what they'll look like with each new level, as they're in different costumes and you'll have to use different strategies to approach them. The Sparx shooting levels (inspired by Year of the Dragon) are a lot of fun, although I'm not a fan of enemies respawning after you die.
With that said, this game does have a lot of flaws. Switching to an isometric angle allows the game to run smoothly on the GBA, but as is with most people's criticism of this game, the angles and depth perception make it near impossible at times to judge where you can glide and where you can't. The trick is to look at what platform you're on. If it's the same color scheme as a further one, you can jump on it. But it's still brutal in levels like Hummimgbird Fort.
Second, I hate the enemy placement, as many Rhynocs are placed right next to bottomless pits, and since Spyro falls back as he's hit, you'll see a lot of cheap deaths. Third, enemies don't respawn after you die (thankfully), but restarting certain missions after doing so is annoying (lighting certain objects on fire for example). The speedway races of old are back, but they're way too hard.
Perhaps my biggest complaint is the level design. It's not terrible, but all the areas in levels look the exact same, and it's difficult to tell where you're supposed to go at many times. This game desperately needed a map and thankfully it was added in Season of Flame. Some of the missions have variety, but for the most part the game is pretty repetitive, and I hate how you have to 100% the game to fight the final boss.
Overall, I do enjoy the earlier levels of this game, and looking back on it is fascinating, if not infuriating. It's essentially a demo of what was to come on the platform, and the developers treated it that way, as they apparently listened to a lot of feedback from this game to improve the gameplay experience in the next two Spyro GBA games. The sprites look great, though, and the music, for the most part, is pleasant and catchy.
I'll get Season of Flame and AOTR soon so I'll post my thoughts on those as well. Overall this game is alright, but it has way too many flaws that hold it back. Still, the game deserves credit for offering a playable, portable version of the PS1 classics.