Spyro Orange: The Cortex Conspiracy

PGNx Media

The mini-games are satisfying, despite their slight repetitiveness, and are quite a bit of fun. If there is another mini-games focused Spyro game in the future, the platforming elements need serious work, but overall the game’s style works.

Nintendojo

I enjoyed Spyro Orange much more than the previous GBA installments, although the gameplay was much more simplistic this time around...A good buy for parents to look into.

Pocket Games

When all is said and done, I wanted to keep playing these games to the end, because I was having fun, even though I had seen it all a dozen times in previous levels. [Summer 2004, p.34]

GameSpy

On its own, it has plenty to keep most gamers entertained for hours. Add to that the connectivity options with Crash Bandicoot Purple: Ripto's Revenge and you end up with a surefire formula for success.

Nintendo Power

The graphics and gameplay are a step up from those of Spyro's isometric-view adventures. [July 2004, p.122]

VideoGamesLife

Let down by a slightly unsatisfactory platform element that doesn't make the most of the lead character's abilities, and is outshone by it's counterpart game.

3DAvenue

They may not have used the swap system as well as the Pokemon games and collecting cards is no where near as desired as getting new animals to play with but they have done a solid job with Spyro Fusion.

Computer and Video Games

It's all pretty simple. Crash collects Wumpa fruit, Spyro collects crystals, and they both jump over lots of spikes.

Warcry

While you may enjoy this game for a bit, the lack of any incentive to play the mini games more than a couple times will really hamper your ability to enjoy this game beyond your first time through.

Loaded Inc

Even though it does feel like a quickly thrown together clone of Crash Bandicoot Fusion, I did enjoy this slightly more, due to the overall increased pace of the game.

GameZone

An average game that will give a decent amount of gameplay value, but just doesn't offer much in the way of excitement or thinking. Having lots of mini-games is a good idea, but the games themselves needed to be more varied and not just be various versions of racing games and breakout clones.

GameCube Advanced

Gone is the typical awesome gameplay of Spyro that has been replaced by mini-games galore. If only the mini-games could have been fully realized in a better form, perhaps Wario Ware style?

Game Chronicles

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 experience players, thus giving you the most and more challenging gameplay experience.

Yahoo! Games

It's a shame that a better marriage of the imaginative and compelling mini-games of "Crash" and the interesting platforming segments from Spyro couldn't be found. If you're determined to pick up one of these games, Crash is a slightly better choice.

GameShark

It's not going to set the world on fire for its originality of presentation and gameplay, but for a younger gamer, this a charming and solidly-built platform action/adventure game that should give them some real entertainment with fair value added by the trading card and multiplayer aspects of the cartridge.

GameSpot

On its own, there really isn't enough to Spyro Orange to keep players interested for very long.

Game Informer

Just a mishmash of concepts that never really gel into anything great. [June 2004, p.139]

GamingWorld X

It had promise, but didn’t live up to its expectations; what did I expect? More than this.

Nintendo Insider

Spyro’s new developer, Vicarious Visions, has changed the focus of Spyro to mini-games, which are very easy, boring and repetitive; they have also taken away the 3-D look of the games, which presents some problems in gameplay, not forgetting the fact that the 3-D isometric look simply looked better.

Cheat Code Central

If you haven't already, put your money on Wario Wares Inc. It features hundreds of mini-games and no lame platform levels.

Next Level Gaming

Now on to the biggest problem of this title. It is simply too short.

Play Magazine

Instead of proceeding to that final stage, I was told to backtrack through the entire game, beat every minigame two more times, and then trudge all the way back. Sorry, but that's not fun - that's lazy desing and artifical lengthening through tedious repetition. [June 2004, p.72]

NintendoWorldReport

To sum up Spyro Orange in one sentence: I'd rather slam my fingers in my desk drawer than play those mini-games again.

Eurogamer

The gripes are really mainly relating to the individual games, which for anyone remotely experienced will quickly become far too familiar and untaxing to warrant extended interest.

eToychest

The Frankenstein's monster of a game I played does little more than scratch the underside of mediocrity. Buy this for an irritating nephew, but keep yourself and those for whom you care for deeply away from this game.