Listen, I don't want to take anything away from the Game Boy Advance.
I mean, that thing has one of the best libraries of any handheld, ever.
And in the case of GBA model AGS-101, some of the best hardware ever.
It's AGS-101 for life, and I want you to know it.
We're living in an AGS-101 world.
And I am an AGS-101 girl.
But, at the same time, I think there's a lot of GBA games that are really overrated, simply
for being GBA games.
See, when that thing came out?
It was such a huge leap in handheld gaming, in terms of its power...that people were sort
of blinded by tech.
And as a result, a lot of really average GBA games got a lot of really glowing reviews.
Perhaps none more glowing—and none more average—than this one.
It's Spyro: Season of Ice, for the Game Boy Advance.
So this thing was released back in 2001, just a few months after the GBA launched.
Which is important when you consider some of the reviews it got.
Lots of praise.
Mostly because games didn't look like this before.
Not on handhelds.
I mean, keep in mind, this was still the Nintendo 64 generation.
The Game Boy Color generation.
So to have something this pretty, and this colorful, and this technically advanced...on
a handheld?
I mean, it was pretty incredible.
But as a result, a lot of reviewers got so caught up with the tech...the game itself
didn't seem to matter as much.
Case in point, Spyro: Season of Ice.
Lots of praise...for a series of fetch quests, with bad controls.
Oh, but look at the mermaids!
The mermaids, man.
Anyway, you play as Spyro.
You remember Spyro.
He's the purple dragon who used to have a game franchise, until he was upstaged by tiny
plastic toys.
Anyway, he's on a beach...because that's what dragons do...when suddenly, there's a balloon
floating by with a message.
Oh, the fairies are in danger.
And since dragon's don't clap, Spyro has to go platform.
Although...I mean, not really.
And that's the thing.
This is only a platformer in that weird, twisted, late nineties sense of the term.
There are technically platforms...as in, flat pieces of ground.
But it's not like you're ever platforming in the classic sense.
This is more like the Rareware definition of 3D platformers, where it's like, "Hey,
you're gonna collect every single thing we tell you to."
"And, uh...you know.
Just...f*cking, go collect stuff.
It'll be fun."
That's a direct quote from Tim Stamper.
Actually, the comparison's pretty fair.
Because this is, like...if Donkey Kong 64 were just an isometric GBA game.
It would've been exactly like this.
There's a hub world, and from there, you can access a bunch of different levels.
Although...I say different.
What I really mean is, oh, look.
This one has lava, and the other one has water.
So they're different aesthetically.
But when it comes to their design?
They are virtually freaking the same.
Everything in this game...is the same.
You just walk around, spit some fire balls at the occasional enemy and collect things.
If it's in front of you, collect it.
That's the game.
Fortunately, there are a lot of these levels.
There's more than 20 in total.
And once in a while, you get these little minigame levels where you get to fly around
and stuff.
But 90 percent of this game is, seriously, just walking around.
See, each level has a list of fairies you need to save, and some are out in the open...some
you have to do stuff for.
Like in this level, you have to burn sandcastles.
But in this one, you have to burn cactuses.
See?
Totally different.
Once you get all the fairies, you move on to the next level and do the same thing.
Literally, the same thing.
But fortunately, the next level is always pretty.
This really is a gorgeous game.
The colors are really bright, and bold...lots of little details.
The only catch with the presentation is that the music is annoying, and the isometric perspective
isn't exactly ideal for a d-pad.
So it can feel a little clunky at times.
But you know, actually, the gameplay's clunky, too.
Controlling Spyro, just...it's not great.
His jumps are especially weird, and stiff.
And it's one of those games where the camera's too tight, so you have a really limited view
of the level.
Which means it gets a little tough to navigate.
Especially when every area of the level kind of looks the same.
Sometimes, when a new game device comes out, and it's really breaking ground from a technical
perspective...people get a little excited.
And it's understandable.
You think of all the potential, you're amazed by the way the games look...and critics are
no different.
But I think, when you look at them years later...that's when you can tell which games were worth the
admiration, and which ones really deserved the praise.
This one doesn't.
Beneath the graphics, Spyro: Season of Ice...is a boring game about collecting things.
Although...they are pretty things.
Thanks to our good pal Dylan, from Nashville, Tennessee, for sending it in.