Spyro the Dragon review *SPOILER WARNING*

[Blazeymix 890]

Introduction:

So I just beat the game a bit ago. It's still fresh in my mind. Of course this wasn't my first playthrough. Spyro the Dragon and I go way back... When I was around 7 or so I loved to play it on my dad's Playstation. I remember one fine day in our local Toys R Us, he asked me to pick a game I wanted. So I looked at all the games, and I was drawn to Spyro. Maybe it was because the last time I had been there I played a demo of Spyro and got excited when I freed my first dragon. Either way, I picked Spyro and I began playing it when I got home. I was hooked.

 

Spyro as most of us likely know is a cute little purple dragon who is brave and adventurous. In the first game, this one, he comes off as confident and fearless. The game is about a large family of dragons being trapped in Crystal by the main antagonist of the game, Gnasty Gnorc. He just does it from his World, obviously he's very very OP. But for some reason he missed Spyro, so as the only dragon still mobile, he goes on a quest to free his kind. He travels all 5 worlds of the dragons along with Gnasty Gnorc's banished world. At least I asume he was banished there. Just gives off that feeling I guess.

 

 

Story:  7/10

The story is pretty simple. Gnasty Gnorc is watching a broadcast of some dragon's talking about him, and they didn't have very nice things to say. They said essentially that he's no threat and that he is ugly. And oh boy. As soon as the word ugly was uttered from that Dragon's uhh.. scaly lips, Gnasty decided to show him who was ugly! By trapping all the dragon's in.. beautifully sculpted ice. Huh. Guess he has a lovely artistic side to him. So Spyro, for some reason, I suspect it's because he's the only "kid" dragon, was spared from the sculpting and knew right away he had to save his kind from the Crystal. I also wonder why there's no other kid dragons around. Oh well, it's a kid's game. The story was made for them. It's simple and gets the adventure going quickly. What more do kids need? Heck, even as an adult, I find the story fine! It's short and to the point. It makes sense and it works for Spyro. So once he travels all the worlds via air balloon and frees enough dragons, rescues enough dragon eggs, and collects enough stolen treasure, he finally gets to face Gnasty Gnorc in his lair and defeats him. He laughs in the villains face as he poofs into oblivion and heads back home to celebrate. Simple but a worthy ending.

 

My gripe here is that there really is no story. It's very Mario or Sonic-esque, but that doesn't take away too much from the game itself to me. Spryo's personality is charming and the game's atmosphere really makes you feel like the story tells itself.

 

 

Gameplay: 8/10

This game is fun. It's a platformer done right. The gameplay is well paced and Spyro controls very well. You walk or Charge to move around, and you jump and glide to move from platform to playform in the game. Gliding is a key element. It's sometimes used in very clever ways that can challenge you to think or test your reflexes. With only these key elements in mind, the entire game is centered around it and the game truly shines because of that. You normally run around as Spyro and collect gems. You can charge small enemies or small armored enemies and you can flame non armored enemies both big and small to defeat them. They drop gems once they're gone, so the incentive to flame every last one is there. It's a collector game. Find all the gems, free all the dragons(By stepping onto their crystal plates), chase all the egg thieves and get the Dragon Eggs back. The gems are very easy to collect too, Sparx will help you collect them as you run or walk close to them. When you lose sparx due to low health, collecting gems is actually kind of tedius and it really makes you want to get Sparx back pronto. Every stage is well designed, encouraging exploring freely for the most part. There's really no linearity here, you can even beat the game and skip a world or maybe two entirely! However if you want the true ending, you'll need to collect EVERY gem and free EVERY dragon and get back every egg. This leads to the most fun part of the game to me. Finding gems and getting to them. Some levels make you think and work hard to find those last 20 gems. One level in particular HAUNTED me for years because I could never find the hidden area no matter how hard I tried. But once you figure them out, it's incredibly satisfying and rewarding.

 

After the beginning of the game, which is a breeze naturally, the game starts to get harder and harder. Especially in the 4th, 5th, and 6th worlds. The challenge is there and it's a refreshing to play a game that doesn't stay consistantly easy the whole way through. One thing I love about the gameplay is the atmosphere. The worlds feel magical, you really feel like you're in a mythical world. The worlds are all but empty except for gems, Crystalized dragons, and enemies. Lots of them. It really makes you feel alone, it adds to the atmosphere and is a fun and unique feeling. It somewhat makes the adventure feel bigger.

 

What's interesting is your health. You are protected by Sparx, your dragonfly companion. He shines bright yellow when at full health, but changes color as you take a hit. After three hits, you're on your own, and one more hit means you're a goner. You can replenish Sparx's health by charging or flaming little critters around the worlds that poof into butterflies that he'll devour. It's fun and amusing to watch him chase after them and CHOMP them. Though sometimes this gets annoying when you're trying to keep moving and collect gems and Sparx is still chasing the butterfly instead of helping you get the gems. RARELY do I actually like these moments, because on ocassion my rebel side will kick in and I'll say, "Yeah! I'll collect them on my OWN!" and charge into gems.

 

The bosses are... unique in this game. Actually, when I was little, this was the only game with boss fights where I had no idea they were boss fights! Let me explain. The bosses in this game are integrated into the level, somewhat like Sonic bosses are. You do a stage, and at the end of it, you fight the boss. However, the bosses feel way too much like normal enemies and less like.. well bosses. They take one hit, usually they run away, you hit them again usually after they attack, then they run and you repeat a third time for the kill. The reason to me why they don't feel like bosses is because for one, the music doesn't change or emphasize they are a big threat. For two, you can do damage to them like any normal enemy. Just a flame attack and they run off. It's way too easy and they just seem to be "special enemies" because of that. Though the second boss fight you have to speficially flame their back. It doesn't give you the feeling that you're in a boss fight. The only boss fight worth noting as interesting and somewhat boss feeling is one that is a giant robot and you have to charge these electric rods while they are not active and destroy them to defeat the robot. Other than that fight, even the final boss fight with Gnasty is incredibly underwhelming and forgettable and easy. You just chase him, flame him, and chase him again through the linear pathways and flame him a second time for the win. Yeah only twice this time for some reason. It's really too bad that the bosses were so easy and underwhelming in the game. But at the same time, there's a certain charm to them as this is the only game I know of with bosses quite like these. They're unique and it's refreshing to try something new. Still lame though.

 

Now, while the gameplay is good and quite new and innovative at the time, especially with enemies that could taunt you and this was pretty unheard of until then, some things can hinder the experience. While the majority of the levels are fun, a couple of them can boring. Some levels are vast, huge, and require a lot of exploring to find everything and navigate. But then you get others that are just simple and uninspired and it makes me dread the moment when I playthrough it again. After the charm of the games wears off, and this really depends on the type of gamer you are, you might get sick of how quiet and empty things really are in the game. It's really just you out there, with little to no interaction with any signs of life except killing baddies. Some might find this a GOOD thing for Spyro but it makes the game and the levels less interesting over all. The key point to play Spyro the Dragon is to simply enjoy the gameplay elements. There's no characters to love or stories to tell. And that's a shame.

 

 

Music and Sound: 10/10

Without a doubt, Spyro the Dragon has a fantastic and memorable musical score. The composer brings life to Spyro's world and every tune is fun and has that glint of mystical aura. You feel like you're in a land of fairies and invincible fools when you hear the music of that level. And it's so catchy and pleasing to the ears.. I love the soundtrack and I guarentee most others would too. It's great background music that blends well with the game and adds to that atmosphere. If you go into a swamp land and the music makes you feel like you're in a swamp, you know it's a darn good soundtrack. Music is all about the way it makes you feel. The sound is also fantastic. I get a kick out of the baddies sound effects. Especially when you charge or flame the little ones. It just sounds so funny and makes killing them enjoyable and fun. It's not a sick or sadistic feeling, but rather something that brings out my inner childhood. Collecting gems sounds great, the charge and flame attacks sound good, and breaking wooden treasure chests and glass treasure chest sounds so awesome. It's a lot of fun charging through like ten of them in a row just for the chaotic sound they make.

 

 

Replayability: 7/10

The game really doesn't give you reason to play it again. But I gave it a seven because I always find myself playing through it again. It's just that fun! The game is addicting and never gets old, and that makes the replayability factor a plus. I'll always come back to Spyro after a year or few at least. Maybe even when I'm older.

 

 

Summary: Spyro is a great game. I love it, I always have. And it's the kind of game that's really fun to come back to after a couple years. This is the true Spyro experience at it's core, the atmosphere is at it's best in this game, and the exploration is also the best here as the sequels are much more linear and straightforward in level design. Though the empy and lonely feeling can be a turn off for some people, and it makes the sequels a bit better as a result. I'd place this as my #2 favorite Spyro game of all time. But that might change once I replay and review Spyro 2 and 3 again.

 

Final Score: 8/10

[blade_tigerx 192]

This is a really good review Been a while since I've read a review that actually had some nice detail to it. I never played the Spyro games, only played the demo version of this one and maybe a bit of Spyro 2, like the 2 levels of it. But I'd actually really like to give this game a try

[Weltall84 559]

Like Blade I never sat down and played the game outright. I played the demo, tried my hand at one and two at a friends house which was more him trying to get me to try it out than a full playthrough. That said, this review makes me smile as I can feel the love and nostalgia this game invokes within you Sal; the level of detail helps illustrate how this game can be grabbing for the casual player, and how it left an impact on you as a child. Overall a fantastic review and now you got me imagining that seven-year old you playing this game and looking so excited and happy.

[Blitscreet 552]

I myself remember that I completed this game a couple times 100% and I agree with all your points. Something that the newer Spyro games cannot match up the original trilogy is hoow much openness the worlds have. Even the most linear world in Spyro the Dragon was still ridiculously open and huge. Though for me that was one of the down sides of how open they felt. Sometimes it was just too Open and the world felt so empty, which is why I'm glad they fixed that to a degree in the sequal and the third installment of the original Trilogy.

[dragonmaster77 188]

I've actually worked out the boss levels all have there name in the world name so you can at least know who the top agent of Gnasty Gnorc's army is called. But yeah I'm a major Spyro fan and I enjoy the series.