Dragonopolis too far. Why not give Spyro a try?
From the realm dragons to the arena of visuals, Spyro’s impressive graphical effects bring its world to life. The worlds are 3D and (almost) completely free-roaming. There are 6 main homeworlds which you will travel to and from to get to the game’s 29 levels. Each world also has its own themes. So for example the ‘Dream Weavers’ levels take place on bright, cloud-like environments. The animation on Spyro was clearly painstakingly achieved. Simply put, he looks amazing! Large, cartoony eyes, scales on his back, and horns with that ‘back off!’ look. The rest of the creatures in the game, particularly the enemies, look quite simple. The other Dragons however, look the part. The graphical effects such as Jewel sparkles and the dreaded water effects are all pretty sharp for the most part.
Spyro sounds like a Disney movie crossed with some subtle forgotten island beats. The Artisans has a mix of upbeat drums mixed ingeniously mixed with gradual wind instruments. On the opposite end of the spectrum is Gnasty’s World which is full of drums, percussion and ominous vocals. The voice talents for all of the game’s major Dragons is polished and can often draw a smile, especially with some of the insane accents they come out with. He game’s sound effects also add a great shiny to it overall. When Spyro is charging you hear multiple thuds on the ground and the effects even change slight on different terrain.
Controlling Spyro in this 3D world is as fun as it looks. The iconic button in all platform games is of course the jump button which is suitably linked to the Cross button. Square and Circle function as your attack buttons, one makes Spyro perform a charge (that can also be used to run around faster) and the other jets flames to toast his enemies. As usually the D-pad moves Spyro, however the Left Analog stick can also be used. It is often smoother and easier to control Spyro once you have gotten use to controlling him this way. However, as with many 3D platforms camera control can be a problem. The L2/R2 buttons control the camera and at times move too slowly or in rare moments get court in objects. This can make the game difficult during boss fights or when confronted with a large batch of enemies, but it’s not enough to distill the charm at all.
The ‘health bar’ in Spyro is indicated by Sparx, a golden dragonfly who tails Spyro throughout the adventure. There are four stages to Spyro’s health: gold (3 hits), blue (2 hits), green (1 hit), no dragonfly (and you’re on your own!). Lucky Sparx’s can get a boost by eating a few butterflies. As well as this there are also a number of advanced controls for you to master. The most important of all would be the 'drop guide' which stops Spyro over shooting his mark. Select brings up your inventory which lists the worlds you’ve been to as well as all of your collectables (Dragons released, gems found and eggs recovered). Spyro the Dragon is of pretty reasonable length for a platformer, it should take the average player about 6-8 hours to complete. The extra challenges like egg thieves and bonus levels will keep you interested, should you wish to take it this far.
Spyro the Dragon, is a hugely entertaining game that doesn’t stop giving you challenges and humour to keep you going through the adventure. If your looking for a quick platform romp or a full on collectable challenge, ‘Spyro the Dragon’ should be on your list.