Game Name: The Legend of Spyro - A New Beginning
Platform: PlayStation 2, Xbox, GameCube, Nintendo DS, GameBoy Advance, mobile.
Developer: Krome Studios (console)
Year: 2006
Genre: 3D action game
Rated: Everyone
Mode: Single-player
Multi-Player Support: None
Media: DVD-ROM

Dragon Contents:

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R a t i n g :

This rating indicates how good or how bad was the movie/game/episodes reviewed. A rating of 5 stars on 10 is considered as the average which mean it is not good but not bad either.

The Legend of Spyro - A New Beginning is a more action-oriented game than the previous series and the focus has shifted away from platforming and puzzle solving to a more straightforward hack-and-slash hordes of enemies. The game itself was somewhat advertised as a prequel but would more accurately be considered as a reboot.

In that regards, Spyro has now a wide variety attack moves, such as being able to send a bad guy flying helplessly in the air before throwing it toward a group of enemies to knock them down. So the game developers are to be commended for their efforts and ingenuity even if the basic attack moves are probably what you will be using most of the time (i.e. press "O" repetitively and claw your way through scores of enemies). One point that makes using fancier moves and tactics a bit unattractive is that the enemies provide both health, Fury gauge points (special attack), breath regeneration (magic point) and breath weapon experience points (aka Spirit energy) when defeated. So small enemies, no matter how numerous, are not so much viewed as a threat but more as a way to regain health and replenish Spyro's breath weapon.

One improvement compared to the original series, is that Spyro has now four different element-based breath weapons (fire, electricity, ice and earth) that he can acquire over the course of the game and each has a primary and secondary firing mode. These breath weapons can be upgraded up to three times when collecting blue gems left behind by defeated enemies. Again, in term of moves and combat options, you will be more than satisfied considering that Spyro can only uses his natural weapons. Also, when defeating enemies some leave behind purple gems that when collected will fill a gauge and allow Spyro to release a huge blast of energy (Fury attack) that will kill whole group of enemies. Note that this blast is typically enough to kill every small to medium sized enemies but it's not terribly useful to keep this attack for the "big bosses" as the damages won't be very significant against them.

The game itself is very linear with six levels and two air combat mini-level in which you have a very limited control over where Spyro is going but where you can shot at enemies along the way. This brings some sort of conundrum as why Spyro can fly (or more accurately, glide endlessly as he doesn't flaps his wings) in those levels but cannot in others. Spyro explains that he doesn't know how to land properly (yet) and as such, he doesn't want to do this too often but in the final level that explanation won't feel very satisfactory. Though, to be perfectly honest, being able to fly would rarely be that useful anywhere else in the game.

Overall, some parts of the games would leave you wishing for more while some others are terribly repetitive. The flying parts are a bit under-used and it would have made more sense to have Spyro circles around to clear an area rather than merely flying over in a single pass. While enemies casting a spell to block the way until the area is cleared and with reinforcement being dropped or popping out almost from nowhere tends to become redundant after a while. Note that it is fine to have one or two occasions where the hero must resist the onslaught of waves and waves of enemies, especially if those enemies protect or try to prevent the hero from accessing something vital for them, but in this game, it happens all the time. It can be difficult to understand as why they seems so eager to display such sheer determination to defend and die over a unremarkable room or corridor. There is even a place where the game has endless waves of air-dropped reinforcements until two specific enemies have been defeated twice (i.e. the original enemy and the airdropped reinforcement to replace that enemy) before Spyro decides to just walk into an ice cavern that was always there and easily accessible in the first place.

Traditionally, falling off a platform is a sure way to die in most games, but while Spyro can die that way, using his electric breath weapon on an enemy and making *them* fall to their death is a very convenient and easy way to defeat them. And the enemies don't need to fall from very high height to die and they still provide gems for Spyro to collect. That actually make a lot of sense as being pushed off even from as low as the second floor to the ground below would probably knock most people out of a fight (or worse) while Spyro has wings and so does Sparx and as such they would be much less effected by this. The game actually highlights that point when Spyro and Spark are in a mining cart that is going to violently fall and crash on the ground after exiting a tunnel, only to have them release their grip, spread their wings and just stand there hovering in the air.

Lastly, in the original game, Sparx's role was to show Spyro's health (technically, he absorbs damage for him). But in this game, Spyro has a dedicated health bar displayed in the corner of the screen. I read somewhere that Sparx is supposed to show the way but except during training sessions where he calls Spyro at the center of the dojo, I never really saw him be useful. His role appears to be Spyro's somewhat sarcastic sidekick and he has a few good lines but his overall personality isn't the greatest. The main problem is that Sparx doesn't look like he wants to be there and there is no reason for him to since it's not really his fight. One core concept of a good character is s/he can be bit annoying, pompous and even stuck-up but s/he needs to have at least one redeeming quality and that quality is often being useful so that the player can overlook all his/her other flaws. Thus, he could have pointed out flaws in Spyro and the guardians' plans, made clever observations to guide the player or could have provided tips and tricks during the game instead of having the game directly telling you this via text boxes (ex: "Hey Spyro, we need ammunition for that catapult, try bashing this tree with your big head to make some snowballs fall off" or "This block seems to be able to move, try using your tail strike to see if it raise the totems") but he doesn't, so there is a missed opportunity here.


Storyline:
It begins in the "Year of the Dragon", it is the year is when dragons laid their eggs (though, it is unspecified if this is a 12-years cycle based on the Chinese zodiac and the Chinese calendar like in the third installment of the original series). Inside a circular room filled with dragon eggs on the outer edges, a red dragon called Ignitus is narrating the events before Spyro's birth. He is awaiting the birth of the dragon that the prophecies foretold, that a extremely rare purple dragon that is born once every ten generation and that will have the fate of the world rests upon his wings. However, an enemy called the "Dark Master" was also made aware of that prophecy and intend to prevent the birth of that dragon by destroying all the dragon eggs. As he laments the fact that he should have tried hide the eggs much sooner, a yellow dragon (Volteer) bursts into the room to warn him that the Dark Army has come. Ignitus escapes with the purple egg and place it on a makeshift raft made from a large mushroom cap before letting it go adrift down the Silver River into the swamp.

A family of dragonfly eventually find the eggs that hatches shortly after. They adopt the strange creature and raise him as one of their family member along with Sparx, their biological son born the same day. Some time later when Sparx and Spyro were playing around in the swamp, they are attacked by mandrill monkeys. As he tries to save Sparx, Spyro discovers that he can breath fire and upon returning to see their dragonfly parents, they tell him that he is not who he thinks he is, that he is not a dragonfly; he is a stranger who came from far away, where wars wage on and on. Spyro thus decides to leave the swamp and searches for his true home and identity. Sparx originally decides stays behind but quickly changes his mind and decides to follow Spyro. They eventually come across Ignitus who seems consumed by despair and melancholy but when he realizes that Spyro is the dragon borns from the egg he sent adrift, he becomes more hopeful for the future even as he reveals that the war against the Dark Armies has been lost because of a formidable female black dragon named Cynder, was able to turn the tide of battle against them.

[Just opening a parenthesis here, the story is a lot darker than in the original series and maybe even more so than what the developers intended. Because while this is heavily implied quite early in the game, Ignitus eventually reveals and clearly confirms that the Dark Armies were able to destroy the dragon eggs; the whole brood. This would not look like breaking eggs you can find at the supermarket; it would not just be broken shells and yolks on the ground but a gruesome and bloody mess since the eggs were not only fertilized but would contain almost fully developed dragons (considering that Spyro hatched not long after reaching the swamp). Since this is the only game in the Legend of Spyro series where you don't collect anything (Spirit energy points don't really count because there so many around that you will likely be able to fully upgrade an element upon unlocking it), it would have been nice for Spyro to rescue those eggs instead of having them destroyed and it would have required a very simple tweak to the story for this to work properly.]

Spyro manages to convince Ignitus that it's worth trying to turn things around. As a result, Ignitus decides to train Spyro in more advanced combat techniques and how to use the element of fire. He then sends Spyro to rescue the other dragon guardians from Cynder's forces and prevents her from accomplishing her sinister plans...


Graphics:
Being on the Playstation 2 and at a time when widescreen TVs were becoming more popular, the graphics are significantly better than in the original PlayStation series. And since the game is also a bit cartoonish, the features (such as anti-aliasing) found in an emulator will truly shine and make the pixilation pretty much disappear. You can see the difference by comparing the PCSX2 version (emulator) versus the PS2 original.

There are cutscenes during the games where the animation is clearly pre-rendered instead of using the game engine, the quality of the models and the level of details in these video are better than what the game engine can provide but overall, these videos don't gain any benefit from a modern computer graphic card and look quite blurred. This can be forgiven considering that the game was not supposed to be played on an emulator and on a monitor that is a lot better than what was available in 2006. As such, it is to be expected that any flaws would stand out more today than back then. It is also reasonable that the game developer would put their focus on the game itself rather than making perfect cutscenes.

A noteworthy aspect of the game engine is Spyro's ability to deal damages to his surrounding. Early in the game, it is often just destroying barricades and turning over pots of hot stew, but things move to another level once Spyro reaches Munitions Forge level. Aside from clearing the level of all enemies (which in itself is a very serious blow to the bad guys), Spyro can sack the place in a way that would make Smaug nods in admiration. It's unfortunate that these damages don't count in the end either by making the boss weaker or easier to kill (by limiting its movements or attacks) but it still a lot of fun to have that possibility. And it also shows that while Spyro looks cute and quite young, he is still a fire-breathing dragon and being attacked by one is nothing to joke at.


Sound, Voices & Music:
The music is very appropriate and it will be in the background setting the atmosphere of the game. it will adapt to the situation Spyro found himself into but without being aggressive about it. It is also themed to the type of level Spyro is in. As for the voices and dialogs, they all fit well for the personality of the character they represent. I would say that Sparx dialog is walking a fine line between fraternal rivalry and annoyance; he doesn't clearly tip into the latter but there were moments when it was close.