By Ben Mapp
Later than promised and now genetically evolved Apes rule the box office. However the more perceptive of you will remember that last month the international box office was won by dragons, and this article pays tribute to the achievement of those fictional reptiles by revisiting the nostalgic gaming mascot that is, of course, Spyro the Dragon. We already talked about the classical era, but Spyro has also seen a couple of very different reboots.
So let's jump in!
Later than promised and now genetically evolved Apes rule the box office. However the more perceptive of you will remember that last month the international box office was won by dragons, and this article pays tribute to the achievement of those fictional reptiles by revisiting the nostalgic gaming mascot that is, of course, Spyro the Dragon. We already talked about the classical era, but Spyro has also seen a couple of very different reboots.
So let's jump in!
Where were we? Ah yes!
With his golden reputation now tarnished, Spyro was given only one chance to make amends before facing the reboot. This task was handed to experienced developers Eurocom and Traveler’s Tales, who mutually decided to create some distance between this game and Enter the Dragonfly which is simply referred to as Spyro’s ‘last adventure’ and then never mentioned in-game again.
Spyro: A Hero’s Tail (crap pun intended) was released in 2004 and picks up some time after the painful events of Enter the Dragonfly, featuring a whole new antagonist simply known as ‘Red’, an exiled Dragon Elder who Spyro (along with his various companions) must defeat in order to save the Dragon Realms. The game expands on certain elements first introduced back in Year of the Dragon such as the multiple playable characters and the variation of mini-games, and also features the return of many of the characters who had featured in previous games. Whilst a success for the most part, having received a much warmer critical reception than Enter the Dragonfly, A Hero’s Tail sadly became the last Spyro game of this continuity for consoles. The series would ultimately be rebooted by Sierra Entertainment and developer Krome Studios with a darker and more complex themed game in The Legend of Spyro: A New Beginning, released in 2005.
With his golden reputation now tarnished, Spyro was given only one chance to make amends before facing the reboot. This task was handed to experienced developers Eurocom and Traveler’s Tales, who mutually decided to create some distance between this game and Enter the Dragonfly which is simply referred to as Spyro’s ‘last adventure’ and then never mentioned in-game again.
Spyro: A Hero’s Tail (crap pun intended) was released in 2004 and picks up some time after the painful events of Enter the Dragonfly, featuring a whole new antagonist simply known as ‘Red’, an exiled Dragon Elder who Spyro (along with his various companions) must defeat in order to save the Dragon Realms. The game expands on certain elements first introduced back in Year of the Dragon such as the multiple playable characters and the variation of mini-games, and also features the return of many of the characters who had featured in previous games. Whilst a success for the most part, having received a much warmer critical reception than Enter the Dragonfly, A Hero’s Tail sadly became the last Spyro game of this continuity for consoles. The series would ultimately be rebooted by Sierra Entertainment and developer Krome Studios with a darker and more complex themed game in The Legend of Spyro: A New Beginning, released in 2005.
A New Beginning turned the traditional platforming into a more action-based experience, shifting away from the exploratory gameplay style of previous games, and featured a much darker storyline and tone of the previous series entirely. The story placed a heavy focus on fate, destiny and war with the voice talents of Elijah Wood, David Spade, Gary Oldman and Cree Summer. This storyline would be directly continued in two sequels, The Legend of Spyro: The Eternal Night and The Legend of Spyro: Dawn of the Dragon, eventually adding Christina Ricci, Blair Underwood and Mark Hamill to the cast. The reboot series was notable for containing severely linear gameplay when compared to its predecessors, but still went on to achieve moderate success upon its release (although The Eternal Night less so out of the three, which was cited as being ‘pointlessly difficult’ by critics).
Whilst most certainly very different to what had come before, A New Beginning had positioned the character for a strong comeback and The Legend of Spyro trilogy turned out to be a generally successful move for what had now become a multi-platform franchise. However, Spyro entered a period of dormancy following the release of Dawn of the Dragon in 2008 and would not awaken again until 2011 for another reboot.
Whilst most certainly very different to what had come before, A New Beginning had positioned the character for a strong comeback and The Legend of Spyro trilogy turned out to be a generally successful move for what had now become a multi-platform franchise. However, Spyro entered a period of dormancy following the release of Dawn of the Dragon in 2008 and would not awaken again until 2011 for another reboot.
In 2011 Activision published in the first in the Skylanders series, entitled Skylanders: Spyro’s Adventure. The character was given to Toys for Bob (developers of the PlayStation classic platformer, Pandemonium), who developed the game by merging traditional gaming styles with real life toys. Unlike the grittier themes and atmosphere of the previous reboot, the new Spyro would be completely rejigged to appeal to a wider, young audience of children who had perhaps never known the character before. Aside from including the Spyro (and Cynder) character, this iteration of Spyro had no connection to any of the earlier games and inhabited its own distinct canonicity. It is also notable that whilst originally Toys for Bob worked to recreate a full Spyro game during the early production of the project, Skylanders eventually evolved into a brand new IP of its own and has since gone on to leave Spyro (and Cynder) behind.
Once more – it seems – the future of everyone’s favourite purple dragon remains thoroughly in limbo with no sign of imminent revival in sight. That said, looking back over the breadth and complexity of Spyro’s career in gaming, it is commendable that such a character ever became so popular and lasted until very recently. The battlefield of gaming is a harsh one, dominated by mascots such as Super Mario, Sonic the Hedgehog and the Master Chief and Spyro emerged as a combatant just early enough to make a name for himself before being sadly washed away by the ongoing horrors of the console war. Whether or not he manages to claw his way back again remains to be seen.
Once more – it seems – the future of everyone’s favourite purple dragon remains thoroughly in limbo with no sign of imminent revival in sight. That said, looking back over the breadth and complexity of Spyro’s career in gaming, it is commendable that such a character ever became so popular and lasted until very recently. The battlefield of gaming is a harsh one, dominated by mascots such as Super Mario, Sonic the Hedgehog and the Master Chief and Spyro emerged as a combatant just early enough to make a name for himself before being sadly washed away by the ongoing horrors of the console war. Whether or not he manages to claw his way back again remains to be seen.
How to reboot your dragon
Spyro's time may have come and gone, but the memories will always remain.
Are there any heroes of nostalgia you'd like us to visit here at IWG?
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Are there any heroes of nostalgia you'd like us to visit here at IWG?
Come find us on Facebook or Twitter and let us know!
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