DS Den: December 2007 Archives

It's been many a year since I've played a Spyro game, the last one being Spyro 2: Gateway to Glimmer back in 1999. The series obviously has maintained a decent level of popularity as next year marks the tenth year in the business and you only have to ask Bubsy the Bobcat how hard that is to achieve. Now I have a little place in my heart for Spyro. OK so it may have got labelled a kids game due to the cutesy graphics but it was very popular with past girlfriends who up until they played Spyro had little interest in games. That was because it was accessible and interesting. I, myself enjoyed the little Dragon's adventures so when I was asked to review the new game for the DS I was genuinely quite excited. Eight years have passed since the last one I played and Spyro has been passed from Insomniac Games (those responsible for the critically acclaimed Rachet and Clank series) to Krome Studios (who are responsible for a bunch of games I've never heard of) and has gone via many other games designers. Can Krome continue the magic whilst evolving the game?

Before I even slipped the cartridge in, I took the unusual step of handing it over to my young cousin, Thomas, to get a child's perspective on the game. Cue much irritation on his part, complaining of several things before reaching for the manual. "Oh dear," I thought. Let's be honest, how many of us have ever reached for a manual on a game before? That gives me the impression that things were not being explained properly. After a half hour's play, he put it down and described the games as, "puzzling but in need of more action." To be totally honest, I think he was being a bit too kind.

Animated family sit-com The Simpsons has had quite a year in 2007 with a Movie release, a 20th year anniversary and reaching its 400th TV episode.

To start with, EA did a wise thing and took their time in releasing the game after the movie had its run in the cinema as opposed to rushing a release. Whilst saying that however; the game itself is not actually based on the movie and presents itself as its own independent adventure.

So here is the DS version of The Simpsons game: A side scrolling adventure featuring co-operative play between the Simpsons, video clips, clichés, and lots of interesting level puzzles ...