A major improvement from the first, but gameplay is not the only thing that got majorly ramped.
I did play the first game in the series, A New Beginning, but I was turned off by it's quite boring gameplay and overused cliches. When I borrowed this game, I expected the same ungodly easy game with the same boring "It is my DESTINY!" line thrown around every 5 minutes. Instead, the game developers at least made the game challenging and made it look less like Spyro was bound to defeat boss X. The bosses in this game have a much better built AI and are less predicting. You actually have to press more than the Circle key the entire time.
When I first started playing this game, the first thing I noticed was the multistaged bosses that changed abilities and started doing different things. But what frustrated me was the fact that the bosses are like running into a brick wall from the mobs you find roaming around. Just beating Ravage Rider took me 2 and a half hours. It was a major step up from the Blundertails.
But what disappointed me was how easy the boss after Ravage Rider was. It took me 2 attempts to beat him my first time around.
What I am trying to get at is that the bosses are terribly "ordered" in this game. They should have made the Ravage Rider difficulty closer to the end of the game instead of how close to the beginning it was.
However, the plus side to this, is like how I said earlier, makes the game less of Spyro being bound to defeat boss X. It actually is like you had to break your back to survive instead of scratching a claw to beat a boss you would have beat anyway. I will give a 8.7 because of what I said earlier about the boss difficulty being a tad out of order.
Another thing I noticed, the graphics. They are gorgeous. At times they did look a little cheesy, but most of the time, they were really good for PS2 graphics. A 9.5 for attempt there.
After I did beat the game, I just starting thinking about how I did not run into any bugs. Bugs really do not bother me, proof of my love for Twinsanity, but a game does get pretty good points from me when it is well debugged.
Although, there is something I am not sure of that would be considered a bug, but if you are in Earth Element before switching to Darkness, you will actually use mana to use your Triangle attack. A minor inconvenience.
9.7 there.
The elements.
Where do I begin here?
Well for one, most of the elements are actually useful... Except for Earth. It is useless as hell. I mean really developers? Earth Flail? What happened to it being a actual breath? It was useful that way! You do not even have to use it except maybe 2 or 3 times throughout the game anyway, but it makes going through the Earth Temple a pain when the element is gimpy and useless.
Fire. It is great for single and multiple targets. You can torch multiple enimies at once or use your triangle attack to dash through enemies.
Ice. Perfect for survival. I would suggest this if you are going through the game for the first time. Why? Well you get a Ice Bomb breath attack that you can use to freeze and slow down enemies. It is really useful for when you are surrounded. Ice Tail is also pretty useful, but it really does not help for demolishing enemies in the least amount of time.
Thunder. Use in situations where you need to take out a ton of enemies and do huge amounts of damage in a small amount of time. Lightning Tornado not really useful for doing the AoE damage thing, but works for when you want to take out tough enemies.
Shadow. Pretty much a unbeatable element. But it is only available when you beat the game and complete dragon challenges. Thank you developers for that!
8.9 for balancing. Score is dropped due to Earth's uselessness while Thunder is pretty much overpowered.
The story is alright. Sometimes the cutscenes are boring and get very annoying when you do not know how to skip them. (R1 button)
One factor that makes the story annoying is Sparx. What. The. Hell. Were. They. Thinking? He is not even remotely funny. I mean maybe for younger audiences, but that would only work if the younger audience were watching a older sibling play... Or they were me and were very good at games when they were only 11.
Spyro is no longer doing things because it is his destiny, he is doing it because he has a affinity for Cynder and wants to save her and the world from a evil dragon, known as the Dark Master (terrible name for a villain by the way) from causing havoc.
Another thing that bothers be though, why does Spyro have to relearn his elements? I mean really, I already had to learn them in A New Beginning, why would Spyro forget how to use them because of a fight? That is like forgetting how to use a bicycle.
It is getting a 7.2 from me.
Overall, despite the bosses being tough as nails, and Sparx being annoying, and Earth being a little underpowered... It is a game worth getting if you like touching your destructive side and like games that will wear your thumb plain out. Not to mention, this is the best game out of the Legend of Spyro series and is ALMOST worthy of being part of the Spyro Franchise. Almost. Mainly because Spyro is not a destructive dragon that beats things up to beat things up.
Final score, 8.0.