00:00Hello and welcome for this 2 for 1 viewer special.
00:05Today I have been requested to review the Spyro Game Boy Advance games, Spyro Season
00:11of Ice and Spyro 2 Season of Fire or as I have it, the Spyro Super Pack.
00:18To me Spyro belongs on a portable system, whether it's replaying the originals on my
00:24PSP or Vita or the remasters on my Nintendo Switch.
00:29The gameplay of Spyro is just perfect for the portable form factor, so you'd think I'd
00:34be really nostalgic for the very first portable Spyro games, especially since I've had both
00:40of these games on Game Boy Advance since I had the system when it was new.
00:45But you'd be wrong, and today I want to revisit these games to understand why.
01:01While on paper the Game Boy Advance is capable of rendering 3D environments and can even
01:06have 3D platformers on the hardware, this wasn't going to be happening right after the Game Boy
01:12Advance came out in 2001, so developer Digital Eclipse did what any good developers do.
01:18They turned Spyro into an isometric 2D platformer with pre-rendered sprites.
01:23On the surface, they did an excellent job.
01:26Spyro of Ice looks like a Spyro game, plays like a Spyro game, and at times even sounds
01:31like a Spyro game.
01:33I would almost say that it is a Spyro game.
01:37Almost.
01:39You see, the game gets close, but I feel Digital Eclipse was too focused on making Spyro work
01:45on underpowered hardware, which results in the gameplay turning into just a repetitive mess.
01:52The main objective for each and every level is to kill all Rhinox, which is admittedly
01:58pretty metal, but it gets old quickly.
02:00When you do, you'll be teleported to the end of the stage, collect your theory, and move
02:05on to the next.
02:06Though, like any other Spyro game, you will need more collectibles to actually make progress,
02:11but these two are just a repetitive slog that I found extremely annoying.
02:17Like go around the stage to light all the objectives, and maybe find the occasional thief
02:23and catch it if you can, and maybe achieve a local request.
02:28It really is easy on paper, but until you actually nosedive off the stage and just have to restart
02:36everything again, you'll find just how tedious this can be.
02:41Season advice demands to have a better checkpoint system scattered throughout the stage, or even
02:46just the ability to record your progress if you take a nosedive off of these narrow platforms.
02:54And the repetitive nature is also reflected in the enemies and the aesthetics.
02:59There will only ever be two enemies throughout the entire game, and they are repeated in several
03:05worlds.
03:06Big, small, and their attack patterns will start repeating after about two worlds, I'd say?
03:12Oh, and with no map and a repeating sprite texture just absolutely plastered everywhere in this
03:18game, get ready to go back and forth between repetitive areas over and over and over again,
03:25just trying to complete the many side objectives and trying to find that one last item that
03:31you didn't collect in order to go and unlock a fairy.
03:35A lot of this would be forgivable if the music too was not reused so frequently, and I don't
03:42think that's inherently bad if it wasn't for the fact that the music is the most generic
03:47GBA chiptunes that I have heard on the system.
03:51I really want to like Spyro Season of Ice, especially since the gameplay feels so close
03:58to the PS1 originals, but considering just how unpolished the experience was, I just couldn't
04:05bring myself to play more of the game than what I did.
04:10Which is why the metaphorical apology letter that was Season of Fire isn't so bad.
04:17Look, if you are going to play any of these games, Season of Fire is going to be that game.
04:22Not only is the game bearable to play, especially with the more dynamic camera, but the levels
04:29have stories that I can actually follow.
04:32They aren't always good, but I can at least remember them.
04:37At this point in the process, I'm kind of getting sick of Rhinox being the baddies at
04:41this point, but the variety here is way better.
04:45And you even get boss fights, which are a fun challenge too.
04:49But honestly, what makes Season of Fire feel like a Spyro game is that the level objectives
04:55are just so much better.
04:57The same is true with the level design too, even if it's still quite blocky.
05:02You even have a map in this game, which makes the repetitive environments easier to navigate.
05:09While the returning T-posing animal friends give the gameplay a much needed spice and gameplay
05:15variety.
05:16It's a night and day difference of just how much better Season of Fire is to Season of
05:22Ice.
05:24While Spyro's Season of Ice made it look like you were playing a Spyro game, Spyro's Season
05:29of Fire made it feel like you were playing a watered down Spyro game.
05:34However, no matter how much work I feel Digital Eclipse could have put into Season of Fire,
05:40I do feel that it was always going to be doomed to pale in comparison with the original games.
05:46But anyways, thank you ever so much for watching.
05:49I hope you have yourself a good day, and as always, take care.
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