Reviewed: November 5, 2005
Reviewed by: Mark Smith
Publisher
Sierra
Vivendi Universal Games
Developer
Amaze Entertainment
Released: October 18, 2005
Genre: Action-RPG
Players: 1
ESRB: Everyone
5
5
6
5
5.1
Supported Features:
Spyro the Dragon is one of gaming’s most enduring creations, or at least that is what my niece will tell you. Star of numerous console and handheld titles, Sierra has decided that the NDS market is ready to experience a day in the life of everyone’s favorite purple dragon.
Spyro: Shadow Legacy is indeed a dark shadow on the franchise itself in what can easily be one of the most uninspired DS games on the system and certainly the worst game in Spyro’s [dark] legacy.
I have to admit, it’s been some time since I played a handheld version of Spyro; late 2002 to be exact when Season of Flame stole a few weeks of my gaming attention, but even my distant memories recall a far grander time with Spyro on that ancient system than this NDS version could ever hope to bring to the table.
Spyro has always been a platform title at heart, so trying to merge the franchise with some RPG elements is a bold move, not entirely unwelcome, but bold nonetheless. Now, while Spyro wanders the realm unleashing his various attacks he can upgrade those attacks and abilities to meet the increasing demands of the levels and the creatures contained within. It’s all classic RPG goodness with an experience point system based on monsters killed and items collected.
Amaze has proven themselves to be quite adept in developing for the GBA and they have even knocked off a few good NDS titles, but for some reason they totally lost their inspiration with this game, at least as far as exploiting the inherent capabilities of the handheld. The dual screen is put to minimal use, mostly for inventory management, and could just as easily have been left out.
There is a modest and obviously forced attempt to integrate the touch screen by having you draw symbols on parchment to cast various spells or execute commands that could just as easily have been mapped to a button. It’s slightly cool but compared to Pac-Pix where your drawings spring to life, this is woefully disappointing and quickly becomes a burden.
Additional gameplay issues arise when you consider the context-sensitive nature of the multi-purpose X button that performs various functions based on where Spyro is in the game level. But for some unknown reason, these trigger points aren’t entirely accurate so Spyro will often do exactly what you don’t want him to do, exactly when you don’t want him to do it.
Spyro looks amazing on the DS, at least until it starts moving. The backgrounds are gorgeous, especially by handheld standards, and there is some truly fine work in the character design and 3D sprites. But once all of this wonderful art starts (or rather tries to) scroll across the screen it turns into a jerky, glitchy mess.
The isometric camera angle provides the traditional 3D-esque look to the game but the programming behind the levels is all messed up making it hard to figure out which ledges you can jump or climb onto. There is also severe collision detection problems between Spyro and the environment and even the enemies making combat literally, hit or miss…usually miss. Of course the enemy won’t have trouble attacking you, even through solid objects.
Shadow Legacy delivers two visions of one game world, so at any given time Spyro can bounce between the real world and the shadow realm, which is basically the same architecture with a different texture map. It’s a clever gameplay device that has been successfully done in the Soul Reaver franchise, but the DS is obviously not up to the task.
Perhaps the only bright spot in the Shadow Legacy realm is the wonderful soundtrack, but unfortunately music alone is not enough to carry this game. Sound effects are equally charming and effective, and complement the otherwise lackluster gameplay.
Spyro gets a bit repetitive, especially given the nature of revisiting the same levels with a “shadowy” facelift, but if you don’t mind the repetitive landscapes and problematic controls and poor animation, you can look forward to at least 12+ hours of action with some modest role-playing tossed in.
Spyro: Shadow Legacy is surely a dark day for the Spyro franchise, but I suppose the good news is that it probably couldn’t get any worse. So if and when our beloved purple hero returns to the DS it can only be a better game.
Until then, seek dragon satisfaction elsewhere. I’d even recommend finding a GBA copy of Spyro 2: Season of Flame. It might not be as pretty, but it certainly runs and plays better than this title ever could.
