Spyro

pyro the Dragon is a platform game series starring the video game character Spyro, which was originally released for the PlayStation. The Spyro series has gained substantial popularity since the first game and several sequels and spin-offs followed the original. Spyro the Dragon Spyro_the_dragon.jpg

Spyro the Dragon is a platform game developed by Insomniac Games and released for the PlayStation on September 10, 1998. It stars the titular dragon, and is considered by many to be one of the best PlayStation games. Reviews were mostly highly favorable. [1]

The game featured Spyro, a small purple dragon, his dragonfly companion, Sparx, and a multitude of fellow dragons. It takes place in the Dragon Realms, an imaginary fantasy world, which is itself divided in six worlds: Artisans, Peace Keepers, Magic Crafters, Beast Makers, Dream Weavers, and Gnasty's World.

At the beginning of the game the main antagonist, Gnasty Gnorc (the leader of the Gnorc enemy race, looking like a half gnome, half orc hybrid) seeks revenge on the dragons because they called him ugly, so he traps them in crystal. Spyro, the main protagonist of the game, was small so the blast went over his head and he was spared from a crystal prison. The point of the game is to charge, glide, and flame your way through each world and defeat enemies, save dragons, and eventually face and take down Gnasty. This game, and those to follow also received acclaim for the score by Stewart Copeland

Two sequels were created for the PS1: Spyro (2): Ripto's Rage! (subtitled Gateway To Glimmer in the UK and Australia) and Spyro: Year of the Dragon. Like the first game, both were developed by Insomniac Games. Spyro 2: Ripto's Rage Boxart of the PlayStation game. Enlarge Boxart of the PlayStation game.

In Spyro 2, also known as Gateway to Glimmer in Europe and Tandema Tours in Japan, Spyro and Sparx, while looking for a holiday at Dragon Shores, accidentally stumble through a portal into the realm of Avalar, where the malicious wizard Ripto is taking over the once-peaceful lands. Spyro was looking forward to having some rest but instead is dragged into a new adventure. In this episode of the series, the small dragon also meets a number of new allies, including the Professor, Hunter the cheetah, Elora the faun, and Zoe the fairy, and must face a new foe: Ripto, a tiny mean Riptoc, equipped with a magic sceptre, and protected by Crush and Gulp, two dim-witted dinosaurs. The worlds are Summer Forest, Autumn Plains, and Winter Tundra. The game introduces some new movements which Spyro can execute to advance in his quest, including hovering after a glide, swimming underwater, climbing ladders, and head-butting. Spyro: Year of the Dragon Spyro: Year of the Dragon logo. Enlarge Spyro: Year of the Dragon logo.

In Spyro 3, 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, come by and steal all the eggs, Spyro, Sparx, and Hunter must follow her down a rabbit hole to the other side of the world - to the Forgotten Realms. There they meet many new allies, which are also playable characters - Sheila the kangaroo, Sgt. Byrd the flying, missile-shooting penguin, Bentley the kindly yeti, and Agent 9 the hyperactive, laser-wielding monkey, as well as a brand-new foe: the Sorceress. The worlds are Sunrise Spring, Midday Garden, Evening Lake, and Midnight Mountain. The worlds are named after times of the day, as apposed its predessor which the worlds were named after seasons. Sunrise Spring, as well as being a time of the day, is the season missed out in Spyro 2. The third installment of the Spyro series also feature levels in which the player controls Sparx in a bird's eye view shooting game. The player also gets to control Hunter in several hidden minigames. Spyro and his new friends must find out why the Sorceress stole the eggs, what she plans to do with them, and how to stop her. Spyro on other systems

Besides the three PlayStation titles, there are seven Spyro games on other consoles, all published by Vivendi Universal Games. Spyro: Enter the Dragonfly

Spyro: Enter the Dragonfly was the first game in the Spyro series for PlayStation 2 and GameCube. It is considered by many as the worst game in the series, due to the numerous glitches, lack of storyline, originality, and long load times. This could be because Insomniac, the company responsible for the previous Spyro games, did not make this one.

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, (from Spyro 2: Ripto's Rage) returns! He has come to capture the dragonflies, making the dragons helpless. He casts his spell but messes up. Instead, he scattered the dragonflies all over the Dragon Realms. Spyro: A Hero's Tail

Spyro: A Hero's Tail (Fall 2004), the latest installment in the Spyro series, is available for the PlayStation 2, Xbox and GameCube. In it, Spyro fights Red the Dragon and Gnasty Gnorc again. It is considered by many as being much better than Enter the Dragonfly, but it has been criticized for having a lack of originality, as old bosses keep coming back, although some would say that this could hardly be called a bad thing. After all, Ripto appeared as a boss in about five games. The Legend of Spyro: A New Beginning

According to Vivendi Universal Games, the publisher of the Spyro series, a new Spyro game is currently in development. This game seems to take some leaves from Shadow Legacy's book, including level-up features and physical combat, as opposed to the classical Spyro gameplay like puzzle-solving and item quests. Also, a cast has been made that includes the likes of Elijah Wood, David Spade, and Gary Oldman. This is the most radical cast change the series has seen in its eight years.

It has been advertised as a prequel to the first Spyro game, and some fans of the dragon take this as being the final stake in the heart of the franchise from the likes of Vivendi Universal, especially after the past two console titles. Game Boy Advance

* Spyro: Season of Ice (known as Spyro Advance in Japan) (July 2001), probably the most challenging in the series as you are required to collect ALL of the missing "main items" in order to beat the game. * Spyro 2: Season of Flame (October 2002), this release has an improved 'collect all of these (specific) items on this level' method (to receive a reward) — if Spyro is defeated, the current count is retained, as-opposed to 'Spyro: Season Of Ice', where all of the 'collection items' must be collected/activated within one life. * Spyro: Attack of the Rhynocs (known as Spyro: Adventure in Europe) (October 2003), disliked by many fans as it features a more RPG-based gameplay model (i.e. the collecting of numerous items required to revisit areas over-again, and long sections of dialogue). * Spyro Orange: The Cortex Conspiracy (known as Spyro: Fusion in Europe and Wakuwaku Tomodachi Daisekusen in Japan.) (June 2004), half of a crossover with Crash Bandicoot, is another disliked title, though not more so than Spyro 3; although a true platformer, it has a basic gameplay model and fans dislike the 2D gameplay. The Crash Purple counterpart works far more successfully, as Crash Bandicoot games have always had 2D levels.

Overall, the GBA games has been successful and pleased its fanbase. Although, the games have been criticized for having tough camera angles and the gliding jumps hindered by the graphics of the GBA. Nintendo DS Spyro_DS.jpg

* Spyro: Shadow Legacy (October 2005) added RPG elements to the series, as well as a parallel Shadow Realm of each of the individual realms of the Dragon Kingdom, Avalar, and the Forgotten Realms.

Mobile Phone games

* 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 will be cancelled! In 'classic mode' Spyro has eighteen levels, the first three of which are practice tutorials. In 'arcade mode' the game is unlimited. Spyro has to help the fairies to find the right costume for the Great Ball of the Millennium. Each fairy has its own look and it is Spyro's job to locate the right clothing and accessories. If the clock runs down, as traditionally happens, the fairy can change her mind and throw off her costume. In arcade mode, the fairies are more impatient, ultimately leaving their dressing room. After two failures, it's game over. * Spyro: Ripto Quest (November 2004), Ripto and his army have attacked the three worlds of Ice, Grass and Fire. They've managed damage the machine that protects the worlds. Spyro and Sparx must recover the 4 damaged machine parts and return them to the Professor. Spyro breathes his traditional fire, casts spells, can teleport, jump and fly around 3 magical worlds and 7 levels of gameplay. Along the way, Spyro must talk to various characters to obtain new missions to defeat Ripto's rhynoc army. At the end, a new villain appears: a giant snake that Spyro has to defeat to beat the game. * 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 has captured all of the dragons. It is quite a disaster to the Dragon Realms, everyone has disappeared! Spyro's friends are counting on him becoming a true kata, the magic/martial arts dragon power master to free the dragons before they are trapped in the alternate dimension known as the Shadow Realm forever! 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. There are 25 gems in all. There are three different colors, for each of the three different moves. The more gems of a specific color that are found, the higher Spyro's level is for that color.

Appearances in non-Spyro games

Spyro appears in several Crash games. In Crash Bandicoot: Warped, there is a demo of the first Spyro game; similarly, Spyro features a Crash Bandicoot: Warped demo. Crash Team Racing also contains a demo of Spyro 2 and vice versa. Crash Bash and Spyro 3 also contains demos of each other.

Crash Bandicoot Purple: Ripto's Rampage (known as Crash Bandicoot: Fusion in Europe) (2004), for the Game Boy Advance, also features worlds and characters from the Spyro universe, but Spyro isn't a playable character in the game. Likewise, Spyro Orange: The Cortex Conspiracy features Spyro in a universe familiar to the orange bandicoot. This idea is intentional, as these two games were produced with a sharing intention, whereby items collected from each title need to be traded with the opposing game in-order to complete a joint-collection between the two.

In Crash Twinsanity, Spyro makes a small cameo protecting some of his treasure toward the end of the game.

In Crash Nitro Kart for GBA, Spyro can be unlocked by beating Velo with Team Bandicoot. Flash Games

There have been many different games available online, notably the "Crash and Spyro Adventure World". This was 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.

The original Insomniac Spyro game websites included minigames to play.

Most of these games have now been lost over time as the websites shut down or discontinue the certain promotion. Characters

* Spyro, an eager, headstrong, purple dragon and the main protagonist. * Sparx is Spyro's constant companion. In the game, Sparx acts as a "living" health bar: his color indicates how many hit points Spyro has. (Yellow- full health, blue- 2 hit points, green-1 hit point. If Sparx is gone, Spyro has to take one more hit to lose a life). Sparx can regain his hit points if Spyro kills various neutral animals (sheep, frogs, etc.), known as fodder. Killing these animals releases butterflies which Sparx eats to regain his points. o In some Spyro games, Sparx can earn one extra hitpoint (he turns red) before disappearing. * Hunter is a cheetah that was introduced in Spyro 2: Ripto's Rage. Helps the player learn different abilities and occasionally challenges Spyro to various races. He is dim-witted and forgetful. In The year of the Dragon he falls in love with the training sorcerous Bianca, he sometimes forgets to teach Spyro new things or warn him as he is to interested in her. * Moneybags, a wealthy (and greedy) bear who sells Spyro the ability to climb, swim, etc. as well as unlock bridges and passageways. His prices for these services are usually absurdly high. In Spyro: Year of the Dragon, there is a level in which he offers to open a bridge with his "magic powers," but he needs gems to jog his memory. If the player responds with "no," he threatens to turn Spyro into a blue hedgehog. * Sheila, a young outgoing kangaroo who acts like a mother to the three billy goats gruff in her home world. * Sgt. Byrd, a fearless military penguin who uses his jet-pack to fly. * Bentley, a mighty yeti with a heart of gold. He's very intelligent and has a big vocabulary. * Agent 9 is a hyperactive monkey armed with a laser and is an ally to Spyro. * The Professor, the creator of the Super-portal in Avalar. He is the genius of Avalar (and the Dragon Worlds, as of A Hero's Tail). * Elora, a faun and one of Spyro's friends. She's friendly and wise. * Bianca, an anthropomorphic rabbit who onced served the Sorceress; debuted in Year of the Dragon and has appeared in most games since. She's a training sorceress. * Toasty, an odd shepherd with a few surprises up his sleeve who appears in the first Spyro the Dragon. * Zoe, a fairy who helps Spyro in games Ripto's Rage! onwards, to save his progress. * Ember, a small pink dragon that appears in A Hero's Tail and Shadow Legacy. In the latest game, she meets an armadillo named Bandit and the two fall in love. In A Hero's Tail Ember is obviously in love with Spyro as she asks Spyro to smash the dark gem beside her into little tiny heart shaped pieces as well as it would look nice on an engagement ring. Ember is flirty. * Flame, a young, fiery orange dragon, appears in A Hero's Tail and Shadow Legacy much like Ember. His appearance in each is brief, and he neither activates minigames nor advances the plot. o Both Flame and Ember can be unlocked as skin modifiers in A Hero's Tail, allowing the player to effectively live the adventure as them. * Blink, an anthropomorphic young mole, and The Professor's nephew. Equipped with special gadgets for digging, He explores the underground regions for the sake of his "fresh-air-a-phobia". * Dragon Elders, the dragons that serve as the government of the Dragon Realms, and are also the primary meditating body. * Nanny, is an old pink dragon whose job is to watch over the Dragon Eggs. After the thieves robbed the Nursery in the Dragon Realms, she sent Spyro to retrieve the eggs in return for Light Gems. * Ineptune, is the evil queen of the seven seas. She is apparently named for being Inept and after the Roman God "Neptune".

Spike, is a monstrous behemoth armed with a gun. He appears as the second boss in Spyro Year of the Dragon. He is considered by many players to be the toughest miniboss. Even players who have mastered Spyro 3 still fight him to hon their skills. Sgt. Bird helped Spyro defeat him by dropping in ammunition.

Buzz, is a amphibious moster that served as the first boss in Spyro Year of the Dragon. Unless dunked into the lava by Sheila after being knocked in by Spyro, He will just punt Spyro around, afterwards cartwheeling towards you until he has hit Spyro or Spyro has outrun him, gradually gaining a fire sheild and afterwards spitting it out several times as an attack. A similarity can be pointed out between him and the flying blue beasts from the Enchanted Towers level.

Scorch, is a batlike demon whom the Sorceress calls "The monster to end all monsters". He is quite a challenge do to his randomness and range of abilities. He can only be harmed by missles given to Spyro by Bently. He can only be harmed before he does an attack such as his egg spit or his electric ball wing hurl due to his whirling sheild. First he will just spit out 2-4 crabs then after some of his health is taken down he will spit out trolls from Spyro, Riptos Rage that will attempt to explode on you or he will spit out two TnT cats(couldn't think of a better name) from the Midday Gardens World, Icy Peak, then when close to dying he will spit out a creature similar to buzz that can be defeated by punting him into the acid. Items