Reviewed: June 30, 2004
Reviewed by: Loki
Publisher
Vivendi Universal
Developer
Vicarious Visions
Released: January 15, 2003
Genre: Platform
Players: 4
ESRB: Everyone
6
8
6
6
6.4
Supported Features:
Everyone’s favorite dragon is back in yet another GBA title, this time teaming our loveable purple hero with Crash Bandicoot, another GBA signature character. Cortex and Ripto, the enemies of these two series, have joined forces to take over their two worlds and now these two characters join forces in a cross-franchise event that will shake the very foundations of GBA gameplay. Err…was that too dramatic?
Spyro Orange: The Cortex Conspiracy marks the fourth appearance of Spryo on the GBA and Vicarious Visions is obviously trying to revitalize the stale franchise by infusing it with a dash of Bandicoot lovin’. Perhaps the most startling feature is the complete shift from what we’ve come to expect from previous Spyro games.
Spyro Orange now plays like your typical side-scrolling platform title, making it a good match for Crash Purple but hardly a match for existing Spyro fans. Also new to the Spryo legacy are a host of mini-games, again much like the Crash counterpart. The design certainly lends itself to link-multiplayer but the solo game falls a bit short of the mark.
Spyro Orange and Crash Purple are essentially the same game, at least from a story perspective. You play as each title character while the other character will make frequent “guest appearances” in the other’s adventure. The gameplay mechanics vary significantly to complement the style of gameplay previously associated with each character.
I had the opportunity to play and review Crash Purple and Spyro Orange at the same time and for whatever reason (ok – I admit it – I like Crash better) I played Crash Purple first which may have been a slight error on my part. While it doesn’t really matter which game your play first (or even if you play them both) Spyro is definitely the easier of the two titles, so playing it after Crash was a walk in the proverbial park.
If you have played any of the previous Spryo games then you might be in for a surprise. The designers are now delivering a much more varied gameplay experience with dozens of mini-games, and over a hundred trading cards to collect. To collect them ALL you will need to link and trade game-specific cards with each of the game.
There are five worlds, each consisting of two side-scrolling levels, and each of these have portals that lead to the mini-games. You complete these mini-games to earn gems. These in turn will unlock exits to the levels and the worlds allowing you to advance. Of course the downside is that you cannot advance until you complete the mini-games and earn the gems, so you could conceivably get stuck if you suck at a particular game.
The mini-games are at the core of Spyro Orange and while some share some similarities with the games in Crash Purple, others like the homage to the NES game, Metal Storm, are really good. There are some rapid-click games that will test your reflexes as well as some traditional sideways and vertical shooters.
All of these games are unique and challenging in their own right. They get tougher as you progress through the rather lame platform game that ties them all together. The platform sections are simple and not terribly challenging and even if you do manage to screw up there are no real repercussions.
Overall, the entire game is rather short, but you can unlock plenty of mini-games and access them outside the story mode in both single-player and multiplayer challenge modes. The card collection element will also keep you coming back for repeated passes if you are into that sort of thing.
Simple and effective would sum up the visuals in Spyro Orange. The scrolling levels are smooth and detailed and full of color and animated sprites. Spyro is animated very nicely while some of the enemies are a bit clunkier. The backgrounds aren’t as lively in this game making it a bit easier than Crash since there is less details to distract the player. There levels are also less populated, fewer objects, enemies, and random creatures.
Since most of this game relies on tributes to other games (see above) the graphical look is always changing with the specific mini-game you are playing. It gives the game a varied look and keeps things fresh and fun for the duration.
The music in Spyro Orange is quite repetitive and will start to wear you down long before the game is over. It is slightly better than the Crash game and the themes remain consistent with the Spyro franchise, but that doesn’t make it any less annoying.
There are some nice sound effects, pretty much standard stuff, but several of the samples were either muffled or clipped with static. There is even some spoken dialogue, which was a surprising treat.
A single pass through Spyro Orange might take you anywhere from 5-7 hours. Perfectionists will want to collect every last card, which will take considerably longer. There is also multiplayer for up to four players with link cable and you can even link to Crash Purple to exchange cards.
In a brilliant bit of marketing, if you want to collect all of the trading cards you are going to have to play through both titles and trade the exclusive cards to each title with the other via link cable. This is the only way to fill up the pages in the card album to unlock hidden mini-games in each game. It’s a cheap yet effective gimmick that will likely sell plenty of both titles, but your best bet is to have a friend buy one game and you buy the other then switch off and trade the cards.
Alone, the game is a fun diversion, and when combined with its companion game the two become a more significant whole, but by then you are $60 poorer and still don’t have enough original content to justify more than a rental. Of course, if you are in this for the mini-games, repetitive play, and link options then you will find this game offers plenty in that department.
Given the choice between either Crash or Spyro, you should probably know that Spyro is targeted for younger gamers while Crash is a bit more difficult and aimed for experienced players, thus giving you the most and more challenging gameplay experience.
Spyro Orange: The Cortex Conspiracy is a great concept marred by a few design flaws and an overall lack of depth and content. Crash and Spyro lovers are going to love the joining of the two franchises and anyone who enjoys classic platform gaming with challenging mini-games will find several hours of entertainment inside. Whether it’s enough to justify a purchase is up to you and your budget.
