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Hands-OnSpyro: Season of Ice

We check out Spyro's Game Boy Advance adventure.

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Universal Interactive stopped by today and gave us a look at Spyro: Season of Ice for the Game Boy Advance. Developed by Digital Eclipse, the game has traded in sprites for polygons and manages to capture the look and feel of Spyro's PlayStation games. The story, told through a combination of text and static screens, finds Spyro and his friends resting after defeating the Sorceress (the villain in Spyro: Year of the Dragon on the PS). However, like all mascot vacations, it's cut short when a Rhynoc librarian gains access to the Sorceress' spell library and proceeds to wreak havoc on the dragon realms by imprisoning Spyro's pal Zoe and all the other fairies throughout the land.

The game's control is faithful to that found in Spyro's PS games. You'll be able to jump, glide, and hover by pressing, tapping, and holding the A button. You'll trigger Spyro's fire breath with the B button and head-butt with the R shoulder button. The same can be said for how the game unfolds, as you'll still access the game's 25 levels from a central hub area. In addition to the game's standard isometric view, a 3D mode, in which you'll find yourself flying, places the camera behind Spyro as he flies through rings and must blow up balloons. You'll also find yourself controlling Sparx the dragonfly from a top-down view in 2D-shooter-style levels. If you can manage to make it through the whole game and collect all the fairies, an entirely new game, called Dragonfly X, will be available to play as well.

Spyro: SOI offered detailed graphics and responsive control. Digital Eclipse looks to be producing a very solid game by focusing on the best aspects of what the Spyro games have always offered. The jump to the GBA doesn't seem to have hurt the series at all, thanks to the game's solid design. Gamers can look for Spyro: Season of Ice this November.

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