ro Orange: The Cortex Conspiracy

• About this item This single-player side-scroller teams up C and ro for a new level of adventure Classic platform-hopping adventure where timing and swift reflexes are everything Use ro's breath and tail attacks against the monsters that Cortex sends to destroy him Old-school giant bosses at the end of each level Link with up to 3 friends for wild multi-player action, in modes like Party Games, Wager Games and Card Trading.

Product Description ------------------- Two game worlds merge as ro and C team up to battle their worst enemies, Dr. Neo Cortex and Ripto. Enjoy single-player action with more than 25 challenging mini games or link up to 4 players for numerous multiplayer modes including Party Games, Wager Games and Card Trading. Connecting both titles gives gamers the option of unlocking special content and allows them to trade or wager cards with their friends. Review ------ pyro's new Game Boy Advance cart is a weird collection of differing ideas. It breaks from the dragon's latest handheld entries by abandoning an isometric view in favor of a side-scrolling vantage point for the platforming sections – which, for us, is a good thing. But, unfortunately, the jumping is painful as all get-out. Another shift for the franchise is the card trading option offered in conjunction with C Bandicoot Purple: Ripto's Rampage. This feature isn't particularly compelling, mostly because the cards don't look terribly cool and they don't do anything besides open up characters to use in the linked games – a bonus that I could care less about. And about those minigames, most are like a single level from a classic title – Breakout, Asteroids, and the Test Your Might sections from Mortal Kombat are each used over and over. You'll encounter five per world and probably dread each one. I will say that the minigames in ro are far more fun than its sister title, though. ro Orange is just a mishmash of concepts that never really gel into anything great. Concept: Mix a y dose of minigames into the action/platform soup. Include something about cards – kids love cards these days Graphics: 3D-esque character models and environments with many levels of detail try to make this stand out Sound: It's GBA…and it's a little below current portable par Playability: Boss battles are tough, but not fun Entertainment: With no part executed particularly well, this is one sad little cartridge Replay: Low Rated: 5.75 out of 10 Editor: Lisa Mason Issue: June 2004 2nd Opinion: Wow, five years ago the prospect of C and ro joining forces would have been pretty damn exciting. Today, I just don't really care about these characters anymore. ro Orange (like its C counterpart) is largely a selection of minigames loosely strung together with turgid side-scrolling platforming. In theory, the card-trading and cross-game sharing features are cool, but I highly doubt this mediocre addition will generate a kiddie game phenomenon. Rated: 6 out of 10 Editor: Matt Helgeson Subscribe to Game Informer ( http://www..com/exec/obidos/ASIN/B0000AN45D/ ) -- Game Informer Review