Spyro: Shadow Legacy for the NintendoDS is the latest adventure from that loveable purple dragon, from the same team who brought you Crash Bandicoot Fusion on the Game Boy Advance. With either Spyro or Crash yet to make an appearance on the NintendoDS, it's strange that the first title from either of these characters would arrive almost under  the cover of shadows. 

An unknown source has put a spell on the Dragon Realms which has sent the people living in this land to a Shadow World from which Spyro must rescue them. The main objective of the game which is to find the thing responsible for the opening of this Shadow Realm and rescue the people trapped there. You must visit them after rescuing them and performing, sometimes essential, tasks for them. There title features various places to switch between the two worlds and it proves to be a key element to the game, as you will find areas which are only accessible through one dimension, but there would always be plenty of these warp points to go between these dimensions. The structure seems very familiar and doesn’t differ too far from the predictable twin-world system in use since the 16-Bit days.

There is a basic Levelling-Up System where-upon earning Experience is attributed to killing enemies and by helping the townsfolk. You gain new abilities by visiting the Dragon Elders who teach you new spells, attacks or advance skills already learnt, allowing you to progress through the game at an appropriate pace, resolving the need for endless hours spent trying to Level-Up. The Magic System was one of the more interesting features in the title. Having various symbols to draw on the Touch Screen, the action will freeze momentarily to allow you to target on your opponent with little disruption. With these spells you can move objects, teleport between different parts of the three islands you move between and damage enemies. These skills are learnt through both Levelling-Up and as Items you receive for defeating a rather large nasty.

The combat work relies more heavily on Levelling-Up, you have your three basic attacks and upgrades usually performed by pressing, for example; the A button for the standard attack and A + Up on the D-Pad for the advanced move. You also have special Chi Attacks in your arsenal, which are more powerful and break the enemy’s magical shields - which at times looks rather pretty.

The main problem with this game is that it’s clearly been sloppily made. You’ll regularly find yourself drowning or falling off solid ground into water, forcing you to begin again from somewhere nearby – a bug which occurs just too often to be excusable and can become very infuriating, very quickly. The chances of NintendoDS titles suffering from 2D pop-up are slim-to-none; check out the blue flame in a weird far-off place - a poorly presented title, almost laughable at times.

The sound is sometimes quirkily-humable, but mostly annoying. The background music wasn’t the problem here, just the noises which perpetuated each movement or attack you did - some seem quite strange; the squeal which came from a butterfly’s mouth as you hit it almost seemed cruel, like they were torturing a bunny rabbit or something, and the various “Hai-Ya!” noises Spyro makes as he dashes along just grate.

There was a cohesive idea within the title, and it is a well thought-out idea; aimed at a younger audience it acts as a good introduction to the RPG genre. While essentially staying true to Spyros’ Platform game roots, it introduces amounts of numbers and statistics to add an extra level of depth to the gameplay and it feels naturally put together, so on that score it succeeded in what it set out to do. It is just a shame that the construction faults in Spyro: Shadow Legacy really tipped the odds to create an overall impression of the game, as the irritation it caused really lets down what a fun little package it could have otherwise been.