By Ben Mapp
To celebrate the UK cinema release of the highly anticipated How To Train Your Dragon 2, we’re looking back at one of the most memorable and recognisable dragons in the history of gaming.
Whilst his games seem to have drifted into lowly spin-off territory now (just check out Skylanders, and cringe if you must) but Spyro the Dragon has starred in a grand total of thirteen games, spanning a range of consoles since 1998 – which I think you’ll agree is impressive for any adolescent reptile.
To celebrate the UK cinema release of the highly anticipated How To Train Your Dragon 2, we’re looking back at one of the most memorable and recognisable dragons in the history of gaming.
Whilst his games seem to have drifted into lowly spin-off territory now (just check out Skylanders, and cringe if you must) but Spyro the Dragon has starred in a grand total of thirteen games, spanning a range of consoles since 1998 – which I think you’ll agree is impressive for any adolescent reptile.
Spyro, along with his dragonfly companion Sparx, were created as a precursor duo to the well-known Ratchet & Clank characters, which were also later developed by Insomniac Games. Spyro’s first adventure arrived in 1998 (a couple of years after the successful release of Crash Bandicoot) for the Sony PlayStation, and the release marked another strong platformer entry for Sony, who at the time was a very new player in the gaming world and quickly proving to be a solid rival to both Nintendo and Sega.
The game in question followed the quest of the titular purple dragon as he travels myriad worlds through strange portals in an attempt to rescue several Elder Dragons who have been taken captive by a fearsome creature known as Gnasty. Throughout the game Spryo’s health meter is represented by Sparx, whose colour fluctuates dependent on Spyro’s condition, which at the time was quite an innovative mechanic and helped to enhance the player’s immersion within the game world, despite the disadvantages of its time. It would become a staple of the series. Spyro the Dragon was ultimately praised for its graphics and gameplay as well as its light satirical commentary, which would also be carried over into the Ratchet & Clank series, and spawned a sequel just the next year. Spyro 2: Ripto’s Rage (or Spyro 2: Gateway to Glimmer depending on whether you live in North America or Europe) was released in 1999 to a similar critical reception, and featured slightly improved visuals with updated gameplay as well as a whole stock of new abilities and attacks for the player to utilise. The game followed on from the events of the previous story with Spyro and Sparx now seeking a vacation away from the recently saved Dragon Realm. However, after heading through a portal meant for the tropical Dragon Shores, Spyro and Sparx are intercepted and summoned instead to the far world of Avalar by its frantic residents, who require a dragon to defeat an evil interloper known as Ripto (who is trying to take over their lands). Whilst doing chores for the various people of Avalar (such as for Moneybags) in order to unlock abilities, Spyro’s main quest is to find and defeat Ripto and his various minions and – ultimately – find a way to Dragon Shores at last and take a well-earned vacation.
I have a particular fondness for this entry in the series since it was probably the first game I played on my own initiative as a young gamer, and finished all by myself! By this point, Spyro was quickly becoming a household name starting to equal the Crash Bandicoot character as a secondary mascot for Sony.
The game in question followed the quest of the titular purple dragon as he travels myriad worlds through strange portals in an attempt to rescue several Elder Dragons who have been taken captive by a fearsome creature known as Gnasty. Throughout the game Spryo’s health meter is represented by Sparx, whose colour fluctuates dependent on Spyro’s condition, which at the time was quite an innovative mechanic and helped to enhance the player’s immersion within the game world, despite the disadvantages of its time. It would become a staple of the series. Spyro the Dragon was ultimately praised for its graphics and gameplay as well as its light satirical commentary, which would also be carried over into the Ratchet & Clank series, and spawned a sequel just the next year. Spyro 2: Ripto’s Rage (or Spyro 2: Gateway to Glimmer depending on whether you live in North America or Europe) was released in 1999 to a similar critical reception, and featured slightly improved visuals with updated gameplay as well as a whole stock of new abilities and attacks for the player to utilise. The game followed on from the events of the previous story with Spyro and Sparx now seeking a vacation away from the recently saved Dragon Realm. However, after heading through a portal meant for the tropical Dragon Shores, Spyro and Sparx are intercepted and summoned instead to the far world of Avalar by its frantic residents, who require a dragon to defeat an evil interloper known as Ripto (who is trying to take over their lands). Whilst doing chores for the various people of Avalar (such as for Moneybags) in order to unlock abilities, Spyro’s main quest is to find and defeat Ripto and his various minions and – ultimately – find a way to Dragon Shores at last and take a well-earned vacation.
I have a particular fondness for this entry in the series since it was probably the first game I played on my own initiative as a young gamer, and finished all by myself! By this point, Spyro was quickly becoming a household name starting to equal the Crash Bandicoot character as a secondary mascot for Sony.
Insomniac Games would go on to develop one final game for the Spyro series, rounding off their trilogy before moving onto Ratchet & Clank in preparation for the upcoming PlayStation 2 console. Spyro: Year of the Dragon was released in 2000 and was met with a high reception just like its predecessors. Some critics noted that the game had truly built upon the formula of the previous games by adding in several new abilities and, perhaps more particularly, highly expanded the worlds that the player has to navigate, as well as introducing new gameplay elements such as playing as characters other than Spyro himself and also introducing several fun, complex mini-games which are spread out across the various worlds. The story of Year of the Dragon sees Spyro attempting to recover dragon eggs which have been scattered throughout an ancient and forgotten dragon kingdom before an evil sorceress can use them for her own nefarious purposes, namely using them to become immortal. Although the game received success, even going so far as to become the fourteenth highest-rated game for the PlayStation (at least according to Gamespot), it was not enough for Insomniac Games to stay and – after five years on developing the Spyro trilogy – they moved on to begin development for their original next-gen series.
Their departure also saw the exit of quality from the Spyro games, which continued in 2002 on both the PlayStation 2 and the Nintendo GameCube with a fourth entry entitled Spyro: Enter the Dragonfly. The game was developed by Check Six Games and Equinox (both of whom never made games again in the fallout) with a rushed winter deadline set by Universal Interactive. The game was critically panned upon release. Described as a ‘replica game’ by critics and ‘an absolute travesty’ by Insomniac Games who had monitored the release, Enter the Dragonfly received criticism for its terrible frame-rate issues, various bugs, load issues and horrible controls. The game deviated away from its original vision due to the strict deadline, and the result saw the series enter a period of mediocrity which it never truly escaped from.
Their departure also saw the exit of quality from the Spyro games, which continued in 2002 on both the PlayStation 2 and the Nintendo GameCube with a fourth entry entitled Spyro: Enter the Dragonfly. The game was developed by Check Six Games and Equinox (both of whom never made games again in the fallout) with a rushed winter deadline set by Universal Interactive. The game was critically panned upon release. Described as a ‘replica game’ by critics and ‘an absolute travesty’ by Insomniac Games who had monitored the release, Enter the Dragonfly received criticism for its terrible frame-rate issues, various bugs, load issues and horrible controls. The game deviated away from its original vision due to the strict deadline, and the result saw the series enter a period of mediocrity which it never truly escaped from.
Join us for Part Two - Next week!
Next time we'll be jumping into the final installment of the first series, as well as exploring in detail some of the changes made for the reboot, entitled The Legend of Spyro, which emerged in 2005. In the meantime, have you got any memories of Spyro from his first trilogy?
Come let us know on Facebook, via Twitter or even in the comments below. We'd love to know what you think! You can also check out our review for How To Train Your Dragon 2 here, which is out in cinemas now!
Come let us know on Facebook, via Twitter or even in the comments below. We'd love to know what you think! You can also check out our review for How To Train Your Dragon 2 here, which is out in cinemas now!
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