Reviewed: October 17, 2002
Reviewed by: Loki
Publisher
Universal Interactive
Developer
Digital Eclipse
Released: September 24, 2002
Genre: Action
Players: 1
ESRB: Everyone
8
8
8
9
8.8
Supported Features:
Spyro 2: Season of Flame is the latest GBA installment in the ongoing saga of our favorite purple Dragon, and sequel to last year’s Spyro the Dragon: Season of Ice. I didn’t have the opportunity to play the original game, as I didn’t have my GBA at the time, but I’ve talked to one or two other GBA owners who did play the original and they confirm that Season of Flame is definitely a much better and finely tuned game. I’ll have to take their word on that, but here are my thoughts on the game I did play.
Season of Flame apparently picks up where Season of Ice ended making it not only a sequel, but a direct continuation of the previous game. For those of you wondering if playing the original is a prerequisite I can comfortably say that I had no trouble picking up and playing this game with no knowledge of the events of last year’s game.
The story starts off with Spyro and his buds returning home from whatever they did in Season of Ice only to find that all the fireflies from the Dragon Realms have been fly-napped by some evil dudes working for Ripto – the head evil dude who wants to activate a dormant volcano and destroy the Dragon Realms. Fireflies are the source of dragon breath, so you will have to explore other traits of our purple hero as you play this adventure.
It’s up to you, Spyro, and two of his playable friends to rescue 100 fireflies scattered about 25 challenging levels. Some of these are simply pick-ups while others must be earned by competing in mini-games or talking to the right character at the right time.
Gameplay is traditional platform action with traditional item collection forcing you to explore each level in exhausting detail. To advance through the levels you need to collect a preset amount of fireflies to unlock the gateway to the next level, but there are also areas in the earlier levels that you cannot access until you gain certain abilities that let you reach them. This means you will be going back and forth through the levels to find every last pick-up.
Control is flawless and you can move your characters around and perform their various attacks and other actions with ease. There were a few places I had some problems but these were due more to level design than control issues. These mainly consisted of moving platforms that were hard to stick to and easy to fall off, and some poor enemy placement that caused your forward momentum to send you off a ledge after a running attack.
Spyro has some new breath attacks at his disposal for this adventure, at least once he starts finding those fireflies. Fire, Ice, and Lightning can now be used to wipe your foes from the face of your GBA screen.
The level design is expanded by the introduction of some new characters that actually become playable in their own custom levels. Sheila is a kangaroo so you can expect some jumping puzzles with this character. Her levels are more arcade in nature where you must jump around a playing grid activating switches all the while taking care to defends yourself from the enemies that are trying to stop you. Old-school gamers will see obvious influences from the 80’s game, Q’Bert.
Agent 9 is the other featured character. He is a space monkey (hey, I’m not making this up) and his levels are also arcade in nature. His side-scrolling shooter levels are colorful and fun but not that challenging.
The graphics in Spyro 2 are gorgeous, full of detail and alive with vibrant colors. The game is played with various camera perspectives including isometric views and side-scrolling levels. Spyro casts a shadow that helps you safely land those dangerous jumps. His animations are also very nice whether he is running, jumping or simple standing still doing fun little idle animations.
Some of the levels get really “busy” with lots of enemies and items and plenty of special visual effects. You can tell the power of the GBA is being put to the ultimate test, but it holds up nicely and I only noticed a very small bit of lag, and it was never life threatening.
I must also make mention of the excellent auto-mapping feature that lets you call up a map showing you everything you have previously explored. This is a great tool for finding your next objective or getting back on track if you ever get lost.
The sound effects and music in Season of Flame are quite nice. They rank right up there with some of the best audio tracks I’ve heard on my recent batch of GBA titles. The music is fun and upbeat, perfect for the game and the target audience. This is one of the longer GBA games I have played and the music was always original and never got on my nerves.
The sound effects are equally as fun and compliment the gameplay perfectly.
Spyro 2 is a lengthy game by kid or adult standards. It took me nearly 20 hours to glide through this title getting all the fireflies and playing all the mini-games, including a special one at the end. Some of this length is due to the backtracking involved, but the layout of the levels and the clever use of locking areas out by either ability or fireflies was implemented perfectly.
The addition of the two new playable characters was a very good idea on the part of the designers. It broke up the monotony of playing as Spyro the entire game and offered some classic style arcade fun. The battery save feature was a welcome addition, as I don’t always have something to write down passwords.
Spyro 2: Season of Flame is a great game for both kids and adults. There are some challenging levels and the mini-games are a blast. There is a substantial quest to be found beneath the charming visuals and excellent sound and music, and I can easily recommend this game as an addition to anyone’s GBA library.
