As you might have already gathered from my Heart of Darkness review (see the bottom of the review for a link) I will be reviewing Playstation One games. I also mentioned a game called Spyro the Dragon ? one of my favorite games as a child, incidentally released in 1998 (a decade ago) who by? None other than Insomniac Games, creators of Heart of Darkness!
[http://www.imagehosting.com/]
It involved a small purple dragon called Spyro, who has to save all the other dragons after they become trapped inside Dragon-based statues. The culprit? Some ?loser? (the game actually calls the main bad guy a loser) Gnasty Gnorc.
This game was Sony?s Little Big Planet at the time; it was fun for gamers off all ages. Until Crash Bandicoot 3: Warped came out it was the best 3D platformer on the PS1.
http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=wVSflWk4b4Q&feature=related
The game begins with Gnasty simply zapping all the dragons into statues, despite them mentioning he was trapped in a far off world and was no threat to them. But, in all honesty the story isn?t very important; it?s the characters that are.
http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=evpECfnCjPM&feature=related
This video will introduce you to the graphics, music and a later boss.
Gnasty has transformed Gems into his evil henchman and they are very well designed. Each type of enemy is specific to their world and has different attacks / abilities. Spyro himself is a well-developed character, and has some occasionally funny dialogue.
Every Dragon (over 100) has its own individual dialogue and voice. I remember actually being disappointed if the dragon only said "thank you for releasing me", I want tips or jokes!
[http://www.imagehosting.com/]
Along with some inventive dialogue is some fantastic music, it sets the tone; sometimes light-hearted, occasionally darks and intimidating. There was usually about 3 or 4 songs per level, which was a lot of audio back in the day. Stewart Copeland (the composer) gained much acclaim for this audio.
Joining Spyro on his journey is his Dragonfly. This was a new gameplay feature back in those days, as unlike many other 3D platformers, you don?t have to run directly over the treasure, the dragonfly simply pushes it towards you. He also doubles up as a health meter, changing colors and eventually disappearing when you low on health.
Spryo must fly around a number of these themed worlds, into the ?levels?, finding a certain amount of treasure or Dragons to advance. The Worlds themselves (split into about 6 or 7 main worlds, each with portals leading off to the various levels) are themed extremely well ( for example; wizards block your way with magical barriers ? to the more extreme canyon ? with guards firing cannon balls at you. Even a wild bull infested swamp is in this game. )
Whilst the premise is pretty basic, there are many large and interesting levels, often with various ways of passing through them. These include levels based around game-play mechanics such as swimming, lava, charging and so on, again very inventive for its time period.
http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=hEjnkSuLUBU&feature=related
Fantastic video ? gives still-images of every world, to show the mixture of environments.
To complete these worlds Spyro has a huge range of moves. He can glide (he?s to small to fly, aww =P) jump, and canter?yeah its actually in the advert. To take care of the extremely large amount of minion Gnasty has created Spryo can breathe fire, or charge. There is also a super charge with, when you charge onto a large green arrow you get a massive speed boost. This can be used to fly longer or solve puzzles.
That last sentence brought me nicely here; the puzzles. There are some great platforming sections, but puzzles involving platforming is always better. Spryo has to solve some, unusually tricky puzzles, like putting the shapes back into the right place...*gasp*.
Oh, you?ve not closed the browser at my pitiful attempts at humor ? well it is a kids game, so there must be jokes in it. We get the crude ?butt? jokes, guards will moon you if they think they are safe and the first boss is meant to be a joke.
You are told you will have to battle one of Gnasty most dangerous henchman, a masked man which actually turns out to be sheep on stilts?Other boss fights are more enjoyable, with fights involving shooting a large guy from behind due to his amour. Little puzzles like this may be patronizing now, but back then it was fun!
Spyro himself is extremely well detailed, as are many of his fellow Dragons. With some of the larger enemies there are a few cases of "blockyness", but overall the level of detail is adequate. Animation is also fantastic, the only exception being gliding. Occasionally Spyro will hit an invisible wall and drop to his doom.
[http://www.imagehosting.com/]
There?s just so much to do! Save the dragons, beat bosses, complete mini-games and side-quests, collect treasure and save all the dragon eggs from these annoying blue guys who yell ?na na nanana? at you. The game is defiantly value for money.
In conclusion, Spyro the Dragon is a terrific game for everyone to enjoy, Its funny, exciting and occasionally charming. There?s one very disappointing feature; the ending. After getting back all the treasure, saving all the dragons and defeating Gnasty you?ll get a cut-scene where Spyro is being interviewed for television. All of sudden Dragons are imprisoned and Spryo goes ?here we go again?. Wow, and you thought Assassins Creed was bad!
It gains a huge recommendation from me. Those of you with a PS3 have NO excuses as it is available on the Playstation store.
<spoiler=Other reviews from me> Heart of Darkness - http://www.escapistmagazine.com/forums/read/326.78357
It involved a small purple dragon called Spyro, who has to save all the other dragons after they become trapped inside Dragon-based statues. The culprit? Some ?loser? (the game actually calls the main bad guy a loser) Gnasty Gnorc.
This game was Sony?s Little Big Planet at the time; it was fun for gamers off all ages. Until Crash Bandicoot 3: Warped came out it was the best 3D platformer on the PS1.
http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=wVSflWk4b4Q&feature=related
The game begins with Gnasty simply zapping all the dragons into statues, despite them mentioning he was trapped in a far off world and was no threat to them. But, in all honesty the story isn?t very important; it?s the characters that are.
http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=evpECfnCjPM&feature=related
This video will introduce you to the graphics, music and a later boss.
Gnasty has transformed Gems into his evil henchman and they are very well designed. Each type of enemy is specific to their world and has different attacks / abilities. Spyro himself is a well-developed character, and has some occasionally funny dialogue.
Every Dragon (over 100) has its own individual dialogue and voice. I remember actually being disappointed if the dragon only said "thank you for releasing me", I want tips or jokes!
Along with some inventive dialogue is some fantastic music, it sets the tone; sometimes light-hearted, occasionally darks and intimidating. There was usually about 3 or 4 songs per level, which was a lot of audio back in the day. Stewart Copeland (the composer) gained much acclaim for this audio.
Joining Spyro on his journey is his Dragonfly. This was a new gameplay feature back in those days, as unlike many other 3D platformers, you don?t have to run directly over the treasure, the dragonfly simply pushes it towards you. He also doubles up as a health meter, changing colors and eventually disappearing when you low on health.
Spryo must fly around a number of these themed worlds, into the ?levels?, finding a certain amount of treasure or Dragons to advance. The Worlds themselves (split into about 6 or 7 main worlds, each with portals leading off to the various levels) are themed extremely well ( for example; wizards block your way with magical barriers ? to the more extreme canyon ? with guards firing cannon balls at you. Even a wild bull infested swamp is in this game. )
Whilst the premise is pretty basic, there are many large and interesting levels, often with various ways of passing through them. These include levels based around game-play mechanics such as swimming, lava, charging and so on, again very inventive for its time period.
http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=hEjnkSuLUBU&feature=related
Fantastic video ? gives still-images of every world, to show the mixture of environments.
To complete these worlds Spyro has a huge range of moves. He can glide (he?s to small to fly, aww =P) jump, and canter?yeah its actually in the advert. To take care of the extremely large amount of minion Gnasty has created Spryo can breathe fire, or charge. There is also a super charge with, when you charge onto a large green arrow you get a massive speed boost. This can be used to fly longer or solve puzzles.
That last sentence brought me nicely here; the puzzles. There are some great platforming sections, but puzzles involving platforming is always better. Spryo has to solve some, unusually tricky puzzles, like putting the shapes back into the right place...*gasp*.
Oh, you?ve not closed the browser at my pitiful attempts at humor ? well it is a kids game, so there must be jokes in it. We get the crude ?butt? jokes, guards will moon you if they think they are safe and the first boss is meant to be a joke.
You are told you will have to battle one of Gnasty most dangerous henchman, a masked man which actually turns out to be sheep on stilts?Other boss fights are more enjoyable, with fights involving shooting a large guy from behind due to his amour. Little puzzles like this may be patronizing now, but back then it was fun!
Spyro himself is extremely well detailed, as are many of his fellow Dragons. With some of the larger enemies there are a few cases of "blockyness", but overall the level of detail is adequate. Animation is also fantastic, the only exception being gliding. Occasionally Spyro will hit an invisible wall and drop to his doom.
There?s just so much to do! Save the dragons, beat bosses, complete mini-games and side-quests, collect treasure and save all the dragon eggs from these annoying blue guys who yell ?na na nanana? at you. The game is defiantly value for money.
In conclusion, Spyro the Dragon is a terrific game for everyone to enjoy, Its funny, exciting and occasionally charming. There?s one very disappointing feature; the ending. After getting back all the treasure, saving all the dragons and defeating Gnasty you?ll get a cut-scene where Spyro is being interviewed for television. All of sudden Dragons are imprisoned and Spryo goes ?here we go again?. Wow, and you thought Assassins Creed was bad!
It gains a huge recommendation from me. Those of you with a PS3 have NO excuses as it is available on the Playstation store.
<spoiler=Other reviews from me> Heart of Darkness - http://www.escapistmagazine.com/forums/read/326.78357
