Spyro the Dragon (series)
Spyro the Dragon is a popular platform game series starring the video game character Spyro, which was originally released for the Sony PlayStation. The first game was a huge success, and many sequels and spin-off games followed. The main planet that the Realms are set on is Earth, in a supposedly undiscovered part.
Console games
Original series
Spyro the Dragon
Spyro the Dragon was first released in the United States on September 10, 1998, for the Sony PlayStation. It was released in Europe on October 23, 1998, Australia on November 15, 1998 and in Japan on April 1, 1999. It is a platform game that placed the player as Spyro, a small, purple dragon set with the task of freeing his fellow dragons from crystal prisons, which are scattered around their world. Each level is accessed through 'portals' from a main world. The game concludes with a fight between Spyro and the primary antagonist, Gnasty Gnorc. Although there were other boss levels guarding each home world, many of these were optional and did not have to be beaten to progress in the game. Spyro's primary abilities were gliding, charging and fire-breathing. The game sold well, most critics giving it favorable reviews.[1] It also received acclaim for its musical score by Stewart Copeland. This game is now available for download to PS3 or PSP through the PlayStation Store.
Spyro 2: Ripto's Rage
Spyro 2: Ripto's Rage (also known Spyro x Sparx: Tondemo Tours in Japan, "Spyro: Gateway to Glimmer" in Europe) followed on from the success of the first title, making its release on November 2, 1999 in the USA. It was released three days later in Europe and Australia and in March 16, 2000 in Japan. In the game, Spyro and Sparx, enter a portal to Dragon Shores in search of a vacation. However, in another land (Avalar) it is shown that a professor has altered the path of a portal, thus causing Spyro and Sparx to end up in Avalar. They learn from their new friends that a malicious wizard and main antagonist Ripto, aided by his magical scepter and two lackeys, Crush and Gulp, is taking over the once-peaceful lands. The game introduced many new characters like: Hunter the cheetah, Elora the faun, The Professor a mole and Zoe the fairy. The structure of the game is similar to the first, with levels being accessed from the three main home worlds, Summer Forest, Autumn Plains, and Winter Tundra. The game introduces some new abilities for Spyro, including hovering after a glide, swimming underwater, climbing ladders, head-bashing, and the ability to use power-ups. Unlike the original game, boss fights were now mandatory to advance to the next home world. Like its predecessor it got very good critical acclaim. [2]
Spyro 3: Year of the Dragon
Spyro: Year of the Dragon was released in Autumn 2000 for North America, Europe and Australia, and and it was the last Spyro game to be created by Insomniac. This is the only game in the original trilogy to not be released in Japan.[3] In this game, the dragons are celebrating the coming of dragon eggs, an event that takes place every twelve years. A mysterious anthropomorphic rabbit girl, Bianca, along with an army of rhynocs, comes to the dragon worlds by rabbit holes and steals all the eggs. Spyro, the only dragon small enough, follows her down a rabbit hole to the other side of the world - to the Forgotten Realms. There they meet many new allies, some of which are also playable characters in their own miniature levels - Sheila the kangaroo, Sgt. Byrd the flying, missile-shooting penguin, Bentley the kindly yeti, and Agent 9 the hyperactive, laser-wielding monkey. They find that the mastermind behind the egg stealing is the Sorceress. As they go through the worlds, they find out that the Sorceress stole the eggs due to her hatred of the dragons. As in the previous games, levels are accessed from a central home world, of which there are four: Sunrise Spring, Midday Gardens, Evening Lake, and Midnight Mountain. The third installment of the Spyro series also features levels in which the player controls Sparx in a bird's eye view shooting game. Insomniac Games President Ted Price stated in an interview about Resistance: Fall of Man that they stopped creating Spyro games because the player character, Spyro, was too limited for them to add new features and actions (Ted states, as an example, that "he didn't even have hands, he couldn't even hold a gun.")[4]
Spyro: Enter the Dragonfly
Spyro: Enter the Dragonfly (Autumn 2002) was the first game in the Spyro series for PlayStation 2 and GameCube and was developed by Equinox Digital Entertainment and Check Six Studios. Spyro: Enter the Dragonfly had mixed responses from reviewers [5], referring to the numerous glitches, lack of storyline, originality, and long load times.
The story kicks off right after the Sorceress was defeated in Spyro: Year of the Dragon. The baby dragons are now preparing to receive their dragonflies, a rite of passage in any dragon's life (although in the earlier games, none of the dragons besides Spyro has a dragonfly). It's a huge celebration filled with joy and happiness until Ripto comes to capture the dragonflies, making the dragons helpless. He attempts to cast a spell, but he makes a mistake which causes them to be scattered across the world.
Spyro: A Hero's Tail
Spyro: A Hero's Tail (Released Autumn 2004), the fifth installment in the Spyro series, is available for the PlayStation 2, Xbox and GameCube, and was created by Eurocom Entertainment Software. Red, a former Dragon Elder, sent Gnasty Gnorc to the Dragon Realms to plant Dark Gems - structures that flood the world with evil energy. Spyro travels across the Dragon Realms, destroy all the Dark Gems and defeat Red and his army.
The Legend of Spyro Trilogy
The Legend of Spyro: A New Beginning
The Legend of Spyro: A New Beginning marked the third title to be released on the PlayStation 2 and GameCube and the second on the Xbox, released in Autumn 2006 and developed by Krome Studios. Portrayed as a reboot to the series, Spyro is sent on a quest to find the captured Guardian dragons so the Dark Master does not return from his prison. An evil dragoness named Cynder uses her dark minions to harness the power of the four Guardian dragons (fire, electricity, ice, and earth) in order to open the Dark Master's prison, bringing terror throughout the lands. The cast includes Elijah Wood as Spyro, David Spade as Sparx, and Gary Oldman as Ignitus.
Although it was first advertised as a prequel to the first Spyro game, this game is in fact a reboot to the series, starting off from scratch and having nothing to do with the previous games.
The Legend of Spyro: A New Beginning has received average, but mostly decent reviews and ratings from critics, often in agreement as being a good start for the trilogy, but open for improvement on the future installments as well.
The Legend of Spyro: The Eternal Night
The Legend of Spyro: The Eternal Night, a sequel to A New Beginning, was released on October 2007 for the PlayStation 2 and Wii consoles and was once again developed by Krome Studios. In this game, the Ape King Gaul planned to free the Dark Master from the Well of Souls on the Night of Eternal Darkness, and Spyro - having faced several visions of the threat - embarked on a journey to stop him. Elijah Wood and Gary Oldman reprised their roles for the game, with Billy West taking over the role for Sparx.
The Eternal Night received less acclaim than its predecessor, usually in part to its difficulty, controls and usual linear setup. Regardless, its sales warranted for continuation, but also improvement of the trilogy.
The Legend of Spyro: Dawn of the Dragon
The Legend of Spyro: Dawn of the Dragon is the third and final installment in The Legend of Spyro trilogy, as well as the tenth anniversary game of the series. It was released on October 21, 2008 for the Xbox 360, Nintendo DS, Wii, PlayStation 2 and PlayStation 3 for North America, and was devolped by Etranges Libellules. It is unknown if this is the last game in the Spyro series. In the game, Spyro and Cynder awaken in the future, and set out to stop Malefor, the Dark Master, from spreading his evil across the world. Unlike previous Spyro games, this game features the ability to switch between Spyro and Cynder at any time. There is also a two player mode, with two players either playing as Spyro and Cynder simultaniously. Along with this new freedom comes "Free Flight," which allows Spyro and Cynder to fly at any time. Once again, Elijah Wood and Gary Oldman reprise their roles while Billy West is replaced as the voice of Sparx by Wayne Brady, Christina Ricci replaces Mae Whitman as the voice of Cynder, and Blair Underwood voices Hunter of Avalar. Mark Hamill does the voice for Malefor, the Dark Master.
Handheld games and other systems
Game Boy Advance
- Spyro: Season of Ice (October 29, 2001) was the first Spyro on the Game Boy Advance, and the first game to not be developed by Insomniac Games or be on a Sony Console.
- Spyro 2: Season of Flame (September 25, 2002) was the second Spyro game on the Game Boy Advance. It introduced new features such as Spyro being able to breath multiple breathes.
- Spyro: Attack of the Rhynocs (October 27, 2003) was the third Spyro game on the Game Boy Advance. In europe it was titled: "Spyro Adventure". It allowed Spyro to breath Fire, Ice and Electricity. This is the first game not to feature a lives system.
- Spyro Orange: The Cortex Conspiracy (June 1, 2004) was the fourth and final Executive Spyro game on the Game Boy Advance. It was a crossover game between Spyro the Dragon and Crash Bandicoot. In this game, you travel through Crash's Universe in a side-scroller, rather than the traditional top-down view.
On Nintendo DS
All current Nintendo DS videogames have been developed by Amaze Entertainment.
- The Legend of Spyro: A New Beginning (October 2006) is generally seen as an improvement to Shadow Legacy's control system, as well as switching the RPG focus of the latter to an action-oriented title.
- The Legend of Spyro: The Eternal Night (October 2007) is the Nintendo DS version of the game. It is presented in a similar fashion to its predecessor, except that the top-down game style of the other DS titles was replaced with a 3D game engine.
On mobile phones
- Spyro (June 2003) In this game, Spyro is the special guest of the Fairy Queen for the Royal Ball. But just before the beginning of the party, none of the fairies are ready: their dresses are still locked in the magic chests. The player must help Spyro give each fairy her clothes in the right order or the party is cancelled. The game features two modes, 'classic mode' in which there are eighteen levels, the first three of which are tutorials. In 'arcade mode' the game is unlimited but the fairies are more impatient, ultimately leaving their dressing room if the player fails.
- Spyro: Ripto Quest (November 2004), Ripto and his army attack the three worlds of Ice, Grass and Fire. They've damaged the machine that protects the worlds. Spyro and Sparx must recover the 4 damaged machine parts and return them to the Professor. In this game Spyro can cast spells and teleport. Spyro talks to various characters to obtain new missions to defeat Ripto's rhynoc army.
- Spyro the Dragon (Not the same game as the PS1 title. Despite the name, it is similar to Shadow Legacy.) (August 2005), A powerful, evil sorcerer captures all of the dragons. Spyro tries to become a true kata, a magic/martial arts dragon power master. Each world has two versions of itself, a normal version and its shadow counterpart. Swapping between the two allows Spyro to advance past obstacles that appear on one version of the Realm but not the other. Spyro has three different types of moves, one for attacking in the normal Realm, one for attacking in the Shadow Realm and one for smashing breakable objects. To 'level-up' Spyro's moves (as in a Role Playing Game) gems need to be collected.
- Legend of Spyro (October 2006) This is the mobile phone version of The Legend of Spyro: A New Beginning which was published by Vivendi Games Mobile and developed by The Mighty Troglodytes.
- Legend of Spyro: The Enternal Night (October 2007) This is the second Legend of Spyro game for the mobile phone based on The Legend of Spyro: The Eternal Night. This was also published by Vivendi Games Mobile and developed by The Mighty Troglodytes.
- Legend of Spyro: Dawn of the Dragon (October 2008) This is the third Legend of Spyro game for the mobile phone based on The Legend of Spyro: Dawn of the Dragon. Just like the previous two this game was published by Vivendi Games Mobile and developed by The Mighty Troglodytes.
Flash games
There have been many different games available online, notably the Crash and Spyro Adventure World, a promotion by Kraft foods. Inside Nabisco Fruit Snacks and Jell-O Pudding Bites consumers found cards with codes. These codes could be typed in online to unlock up to eight different games.
A Spyro flash game called "Super Spyro Speedway" was on Universal Interactive's (now Vivendi Games) Spyro website. Although the site has been completely redone as Spyro's Lair, the game can still be accessed from here: Super Spyro Speedway
Then the original Insomniac Spyro game websites included minigames to play, with the exception of the website for the first game which did not contain any proper flash games. One of these games still survives, Spark's Pond, which can be played below and also be downloaded from Spyro-yearofthedragon.com
Spark's Pond
Animated Feature Film
The Legend of Spyro 3D is an upcoming 3-D animated feature film based on the popular Spyro video game Franchise. On October 25 2007, it was announced that the film rights for Spyro the Dragon had been purchased by The Animation Picture Company.[6] Daniel Altiere and Steven Altiere will write the script which is going to be based on the recently released Legend of Spyro trilogy of games in the Spyro the Dragon series.[6] The film will be produced by John Davis (who has worked on films such as Norbit and Eragon), Dan Chuba, Mark Dippe, Brian Manis and Ash Shah.[6][7]. According to darkSpyro.net, Mark Dippe will be directing the film and is due to release in Theaters Worldwide around Christmas 2009. John Davis is also producing another film based off a Popular video game Franchise and that is "The Sims". The Movie will also be produced by Wonderworld Studios according to velvetoctopus.com along with Universal Animation Studios.
The movie will follow Spyro, a rare purple dragon of prophecy, on a voyage of self-discovery. As he struggles to come to terms with his amazing potential, Spyro will find himself embroiled in an epic struggle against an ancient evil.[8]
Characters
Original series characters
- Spyro the Dragon is an eager, headstrong, purple dragon and the main protagonist of the series. Unlike other dragons, who are typically slow and strong, Spyro is fast and agile. Although he has proven himself many times against larger opponents, other creatures still mock his size.
- Sparx is Spyro's constant companion. He helps protect Spyro from damage.
- Agent 9 is a crazed laser-pistol wielding space monkey.
- Bentley is a yeti who speaks with a wide vocabulary in a kind and scholarly manner.
- Bianca is a young anthropomorphic rabbit originally in service to the the Sorceress. She later joins Spyro and helps him defeat the Sorceress. She is mentioned in The Legend of Spyro: Dawn of the Dragon by Hunter who says "God, where's Bianca when I need her".
- Blink is an anthropomorphic young mole, and The Professor's nephew. He loves to be underground, citing "fresh-air-a-phobia" as his reason.
- The Dragon Elders serve as the government and primary meditating body of the Dragon Realms. They include Astor, Cho Lei, Magnus, Ragnar, Red, Titan, and Tomas. All of them are anthropomorphic, and come in various colors. They're often shown teaching Spyro new techniques.
- Elora is a faun and one of Spyro's friends who he meets in Avalar.
- Ember is a small pink dragon that originally has a crush on Spyro. She later falls in love with Bandit.
- Hunter is a cheetah and Spryo's best friend next to Sparx. He often challenges Spyro to various contests. He is dim-witted and forgetful, although he is a fast runner, trained archer and skilled pilot of different vehicles.
- Moneybags is a wealthy bear who sells Spyro various abilities, as well as unlock bridges and passageways.
- Sgt. James Byrd is is "the world's only flying penguin", due to being raised by hummingbirds. After joining the Air Corps, he helps out in the war against the Sorceress.
- Sheila is a small kangaroo, whose large feet are extremely powerful, allowing her to kick foes out of the way and jump to tremendous heights. She has an Australian accent and a casually enthusiastic attitude.
- The Professor is an anthropomorphic mole with memory and eye problems. He wears glasses, which he often breaks. He builds all kinds of gadgets to help Spyro on his adventures.
- Zoe is a fairy who Spyro meets in Avalar. She follows him around and helps him.
- Gnasty Gnorc is the main villain in Spyro the Dragon. He has a green body, armor, and a mace.
- Grendor is the antagonist of Spyro: Season of Ice for the GBA. He is originally a Rhynoc working as a librarian for the Sorceress.
- Red the Dragon is the main antagonist from A Hero's Tail. He was an elder of the Dragon Realms before being banished by the others. He later returns for revenge under the control of the Sorcerer.
- Ripto is the villain of Spyro 2: Ripto's Rage. He is a short but powerful sorcerer who, upon being transported to the realm of Avalar, announces that he will be taking it over. He is very angry due to the constant mocking of his size.
- The Sorcerer is the antagonist in Spyro: Shadow Legacy. He is a darkly-cloaked wizard who can also shapeshift into a dragon-like monster.
- The Sorceress is the main villain in Spyro: Year of the Dragon. She is a blue dinosaur-like creature with a wand containing a dragon egg. She is extremely old and powerful.
The Legend of Spyro Trilogy characters
- Spyro the Dragon is a purple dragon that prophecies say will direct the fate of his era. He is the primary protagonist in The Legend of Spyro. He is compassionate for others and always willing to help.
- Cynder was originally a large, powerful black dragon, who serves as the primary antagonist in The Legend of Spyro: A New Beginning. Corrupted by the Dark Master, she is fully grown despite being the same age as Spyro. After being defeated, she returns to her normal size and becomes Spyro's companion. Cynder states that she is in love with Spyro at the end of Dawn of the Dragon
- Sparx is Spyro's foster brother. Sparx serves primarily as a traveling companion and serves as the comic relief character by blurting out random things during a serious mood.
- The Dark Master, also known as Malefor, is the main villain of the series. The Dark Master is one of the first purple dragon ever to be born, especially gifted, quickly learning all of the breaths despite not being a dragon of those types. He becomes corrupted by his own seemingly limitless power and he is sealed away.
- Chronicler is over 1000 years old with telekinesis. He also knows the past, present, and pieces of the future of every dragon ever born. He helps Spyro reawaken his powers through a series of dreams and visions.
- Cyril is a blue dragon and a master of ice. He is a wise but proud dragon.
- Flash and Nina are the biological parents of Sparx and adopted parents of Spyro. They find Spyro's egg, which hatches the same day as Sparx's egg, and raise Spyro as their son.
- Gaul is the Ape King, who plans to resurrect the Dark Master in The Legend of Spyro: The Eternal Night in order to obtain revenge on the dragons.
- Hunter is a cheetah warrior who lives in a valley called Avalar. He has heard of Spyro as the legendary purple dragon and hope that one day they will meet. He managed to save Spyro, Sparx, and Cynder from the catacombs.
- Ignitus is a redish-orange dragon, and a master of fire, who is the first Guardian Spyro encounters and becomes the closest to him. At the end of DotD, he becomes the new age's Chronicler.
- Mole-Yair is the leader of the Manwersmalls, a rodent-like race that takes refuge around Munitions Forge. He is mainly seen as a guiding figure, instructing Spyro to save them as well as his brother Exhumor in exchange for information on Terrador's location.
- Terrador is a battle-scarred warrior, and a master of Earth. Terrador is the most militant guardian. Dedicated and focused on practical art of battle, he is straight forward and agenda-less. He judges everyone, Spyro included, not by looks or color, or species, but how well they fight.
- Volteer is a yellow dragon of electricity. He is very smart and static, with a habit of talking too much.
Items
- Gems, the hoard of dragons and often used as currency. In many of the Spyro games, there were a set number of gems per level, and these were counted towards the player's overall percentage of game completion. In the older games they would be used to pay the character Moneybags who would make later parts of the level accessible. However, ever since A Hero's Tail, this has no longer the case: gems could be collected by defeating enemies, and used to purchase consumable power-up items from shops. In the Legend of Spyro series, the gems are used as powerups themselves, eliminating "Fodder" from the game.
- Special collectibles Most of the games involve finding special items by completing quests and searching levels. They are used to reach new levels but become harder to obtain as the games progress. These special items are unique to each game and include; the orbs from "Ripto's Rage", the FireFlys in "Season of Flame", and the light gems in "A Hero's Tail".
- Orbs Appeared in Spyro 2: Ripto's Rage. These were obtained from side missions such as riding a manta ray or destroying special boxes. There were 64 in total in the entire game. They were used to access new levels and bosses. If you collected all of the orbs and all of the gems, you unlocked the permanent superflame powerup.
- Dragon Eggs have appeared in several of the Spyro games. Depending on the game, collecting enough Dragon Eggs can unlock secrets or allow passage to consecutive worlds. Some Dragon Eggs may be found lying on the ground or hovering in the air; some could be obtained by completing specific challenges; some could be recovered from locked treasure chests; other Dragon Eggs are in the possession of thieves, who must be chased down and attacked to recover the egg. Collecting these eggs was the main objective in Year of the Dragon.
- Fodder and Butterflies were used as health power-ups in the original canon. Fodder were wild, yet harmless, animals that could be killed by breathing flame on them or charging into them. When it is killed, it releases a butterfly that Sparx will eat and one piece of health is restored. In later games, some special butterflies could give you a life. These special butterflies would often appear in difficult to reach jars, which wouldn't reappear until you left the world.
- Lives are special units of health;if you lose Sparx and take another hit you will lose a life and go back to the last save point you were at. In the first Spyro game, lives were earned by collecting dragon statues and orbs, while in later games you could get lives from rare butterflies. Since the release of Attack of the Rhynocs, the lives concept was discarded entirely. In The Legend of Spyro series, Spyro has a separate health bar.
Music by Stewart Copeland
Stewart Copeland, the drummer of the band The Police, is credited with composing the soundtracks for the first three Spyro games as well as Enter the Dragonfly. The score for Spyro the Dragon was given high praise for its originality, portraying oriental/fantasy-like themes for the Dragon Worlds. All music was performed on a computer which he says were rather shallow compositions but one of the most fun gigs that he ever had. The original titles of the music tracks were named after the first noun that came into his head before he hit the "save" button.
Copeland made music for each world in the games as well as music devoted to each level, giving them each their own feel according to the natural surroundings, architecture and inhabitants of the place. For example, in Spyro the Dragon the Artisans' world of shepherds, sheep, medieval towers and endless green hills has an oriental-sounding mixture of bells and drums where as the Beast Makers' midnight swamp has a solid rhythm overlayed with the melancholy calls of an owl. Ambient music features in Spyro 2 such as in Autumn Plains. The music features a range of percussion instruments, a characterful organ and harpsichord samples . Ted Price, the head of Insomniac Games believed Copeland's work for Spyro: Year of the Dragon, which he co-wrote with Ryan Beveridge, was some of his best to date. It is the stage for all kinds of sounds, including strange vocals and exotic instruments in styles from all over the world. The music has never been released on CD.
The music has been compared to that of Mutato Muzika's score of the original Naughty Dog Crash Bandicoot games.
See also
References
External links
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Spyro the Dragon series |
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| Original series |
Spyro the Dragon • Ripto’s Rage! • Year of the Dragon • Enter the Dragonfly • A Hero's Tail
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| Legend trilogy |
A New Beginning • The Eternal Night • Dawn of the Dragon
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| Handheld games |
Season of Ice • Season of Flame • Attack of the Rhynocs • Spyro Orange • Shadow Legacy
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| Mobile games |
Spyro • Ripto's Quest • Spyro the Dragon
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