Spyro A Hero's Tail - ReviewedThe purple little guy is back and no I am not talking about Barney. Spyro’s back in Spyro A Hero’s Tail; my favorite dragon comes to the Xbox with many familiar moves and characters, and some cool new improvements. The dragon realms have been peaceful for a long while but now a nasty Red Dragon with a grudge is back. Its Spyro to the rescue once again with his friends Sparx, Sgt. Bird, Hunter, and the Professor. He’s got some cool new dragon breathes and the game play and platforming action is still allot of fun.

If you’ve been following the series on different platforms, including the originals on the Playstation console, you’ll notice that the initial Spyro introduction to the Xbox, aptly named “Spyro,” was cancelled and never made it to the box, or any platform for that matter. Fans of the series will be relieved to know that Spyro’s debut on the Xbox, while not his most stellar performance, does him justice, and whether you’re seven, or thirty-seven, the game can be allot of fun. So let’s go jump all over this review.

Gameplay

As I stated before Spyro has to go after Red The dragon who has put Dark Crystals all over the realms and has made the realms dark and evil looking, filled with evil creatures and plants. The only way to rid the Dragon Realms of the evil curse set upon them is to find and destroy all of the dark crystals, and in doing so you’ll be faced with all the platforming action we’ve become accustomed to from the Spyro series. There are still gems all over that you have to collect so you can get cool stuff from the still overly greedy Moneybags (the shopkeeper in the Spyro universe for those of you who don’t know). Moneybags has a butterfly jar that, in the case that you die you will be restored to full health, an extra hit for sparx, a key chain so you can hold more keys, power ups for your dragon breathes, and a bunch of other cool stuff. Besides dark gems there are chests, light gems, and dragon eggs that help you along the way. Some of the items are optional to acquire, however you will need to find a minimum of them in order to progress through the game.

You can still play as Spyro, Sparx, Sgt. Bird, and Hunter, but there is now a new playable character named Blinx the Mole, the Professors nephew. Each playable character has their own little specialty. Hunter has a bow an arrow and can jump really high, Sgt. Bird can fly for those out of reach areas, Sparx can go into really small areas, and Blinx can go underground to dig for unseen treasures. They will all help you get the dark gems and other collectible goodies. Spyro has some new improvements aside from his fire breath, he also has three new types of breathes. Water to mostly unlock things and kill of fiery enemies, Ice to freeze your enemies, and electricity to shock your enemies.

Spyro is a platformer from beginning to end, so you’ll be happy to know that the purple winged cutey also sports some new moves this time around; wall kick, tail swing, and ledge grab. The wall kick will allow you to reach higher areas by bouncing off from wall to wall, the tail swing will help you platform via things such as poles, and the ledge grab will basically just save your dragon butt if you almost don’t make a jump correctly. While there is nothing new to the genre in these moves, its new to Spyro and does add a bit to the fun factor and lessen the repetitive nature of a platforming game.

As in previous Spyro games you go from one world to the next to get all the dark gems; you have to beat the boss before a new world opens up to you. There are four different types of worlds and three big bosses you have to fight. Your first is a blast from the past, Gnasty Gnorc, next up is Evil Queen Ineptune (a nasty mermaid), and Red the Dragon who you have two battles with. The boss battles can be frustrating until you figure out the best moves for their demise. Red’s lackey are an easy kill for the most part, but to mix it up Eurocom added all different types of enemies on each level. They did a pretty good job at uniqueness with each enemy but there is some repetition throughout the game.

The Professor is still coming up with cool stuff to help Spyro along the way. The fun Supercharged gadget is back and you still have to run after those little men to get eggs and crash into doors. The teleport is the only way to travel to other worlds, the invincibility gadget helps you swim through acid and hide from your enemies, and a new addition is the Ball gadget which helps Spyro navigate dangerous places in a protective sphere.

Control / Playability

The controls are easy to master and going from character to character is simple. You’ll get Spyro’s moves down pat just about as quickly as you can pick up the controller, and the different variations on the controls from character to character is just as easy to grasp. The overall feel of the game while playing is good, the controls are solid, dodging enemies and making those jumps, and double jumps for that matter, all seem natural after a short amount of play time. There are some mini games within as well; things like using a turret to fend off the oncoming baddies that are ruining a farmer’s crop, or using Sparks or Sgt. Bird to collect gems, crystals, and other items, and the transition to each of the characters is quite simple. Here’s a basic controller layout, although it does vary from character to character:

  • A – Jump
  • A+A – Double Jump
  • A+A HOLD – Glide
  • A+A+B – Horn Dive
  • X – Breath Attack
  • Right Trigger – Secondary Breath
  • Directional Pad – Breath Selection
  • Y – Wing Shield
  • B+Hold – to Swim – Dive Underwater
  • Hold A – Paddle Underwater

Graphics

One thing that is noticed right from the start is the stark differences between a world that has been cursed by the Red Dragon and one you have freed from that curse by smashing all the dark gems in that area. The dark areas are gloomy, menacing, and dreary, while the bright areas really are happy, bright, and vibrant. The transition between the two, when you smash the final dark gem of the area, is done really well and shows what Eurocom put into the development of this title. Spyro’s fire breath looks great, as do his other attacks. The characters a rendered well, and the same could be said for the environments, however they could have used a bit more detail.

Spyro A Hero's Tail Screenshot Spyro A Hero's Tail Screenshot

Spyro A Hero's Tail Screenshot

Spyro A Hero's Tail Screenshot Spyro A Hero's Tail Screenshot

View all Spyro A Hero’s Tail Screenshots in the Gallery

Audio

With in-game Dolby Digital the game sounds great. The voice of Spyro is still sarcastically funny and the other character voices are done well. The music score fits the game but can get a little old for a game that can take anywhere from 12-16 hours to complete, depending on how obsessive you are in collecting everything.

Replay Value

As with most platformers the replay value is not great, once its done its done, unless you’re one of those people who has to get everything in the game to consider it complete. It can be fun to run around and use your cool new power-ups and slick new moves. The game has improved with each new addition and I have to say that it is fun and although it can be a little repetitive and quite frustrating at times, it is a great addition to the Spyro series of games.

Overall Score

Overall Score: 6.9/10 [not an average]

Additional Comments

I think the game has improved greatly from the first Spyro I played back on the Playstation 1. It’s obviously a game geared towards children and it does a good job at getting the child’s mind engaged in the game. If you have kids, I would recommend this title as a buy, if not and you still want to have a bit of fun playing as the ever-popular purple dragon, then pick it up for a rent!

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