I’ve never played a Spyro game. My Nintendo Entertainment System and its children have borne the brunt of my gaming for over a decade. Why would I need a Playstation? I had Mario and Link and Kid Icarus. Still, I’d heard of Spyro the dragon and wished someone would bring him to the Nintendo 64 or the GameCube. Be careful what you wish for, some gamers would say.
That’s not fair. Sure, Spyro won’t discover uncharted territory on his first GameCube outing, but Enter the Dragonfly isn’t a bad game. The premise is solid: the evil Ripto has scattered all the young dragons’ dragonflies throughout the universe, and it’s up to Spyro and Sparx--his conveniently un-missing dragonfly--to find them. There are huge worlds to explore, and the more dragonflies you find, the more worlds you can visit. What’s wrong with that? Free-range collecting helped make Super Mario 64 an innovative funfest, after all.
But what was once innovative and fun is doomed to become a hologram. There will be copies of copies until all the color’s been sapped out of what was so new in the first place. It’s inevitable. That’s why you feel like you’ve already seen the movie Animal House when you’re watching it for the first time.
And that’s Spyro's biggest problem--you’ve already seen it. It doesn’t have novel gameplay like Pikmin. It doesn’t break the unwritten rules of platforming, like Conker and his bad fur day. It doesn’t even get Mister Mosquito’s bizzarro-points for being the sort of game no one would think to make. What Spyro does have is a seat squarely in the midst of the status quo--the status quo of four years past.
Spyro is a Playstation franchise, and Spyro: Enter the Dragonfly is a Playstation game. Graphically, Spyro’s world seems unchanged from his Playstation adventures. The buildings are nice and the corn sways when Spyro walks through it, but there’s nothing to drool over. Spyro himself is the apex of this game’s graphical achievement. He has texture befitting a scaly purple dragon and he trots leisurely through his worlds on four legs. But Spyro won’t sprint across the screen like Mario or Captain Olimar. The framerate is so slow that there’s a visual echo whenever Spyro shoots a shell in the tank mini-game. There are even loading times, so Cubists can have the full benefit of the Playstation experience. Spyro won’t dazzle you with what your GameCube can really do. It may even frustrate you with its regression to “old-school” 3D platform games.
But, again, Spyro: Enter the Dragonfly is not a bad game. You can collect jewels and play mini-games; these involve everything from saving alien-abducted cows to busting up rickshaws. You can even build up your arsenal by finding runes, which give Spyro powers like ice breath and electric breath. Spyro’s different breath powers help him open new areas and solve puzzles, most notably the “Portal Challenges.” During a Portal Challenge, Spyro must hit eight targets with one of his breath attacks in a certain amount of time. If he hits them all, he gets a dragonfly. There are so many ways to get dragonflies in this game that you won’t be stuck for long. Can’t find the last three dragonflies on Luau Island? Take the twenty-five you already have and hop over to Cloud 9 instead. Or go herd cattle in Crop Circle Country.
Maybe Spyro’s latest incarnation is more fun for people like me who haven’t been initiated into the Cult of the Purple Dragon. Seasoned Spyro fans probably won’t find anything new. Would I pay fifty bucks for the latest Spyro? No. But if you’re a Cubist who’s always wanted to take Spyro for a spin, stop by your local Blockbuster and rent this game. Just don’t expect greatness--Spyro: Enter the Dragonfly is mediocrity at its best.
Your review seems strangely unconventional, but that just makes it a more compelling read. It doesn't feel like a color-by-numbers effort, which reflects well on your approach. However well you do in this month's contest, I hope to read more from you in coming months.
Noob
Posting Permissions
Bookmarks