Spyro the Dragon (スパイロ・ザ・ドラゴン in Japanese) is a 1998 platform game developed by Insomniac Games for the PlayStation. It stars the title character, a young purple dragon named Spyro and is the first in the series of Spyro the Dragon video games. As of October 29, 2007, the game has become available for PS3 and PSP on the PlayStation Store, only in America and Japan.

Setting

The game takes place in the Dragon Realms, a sprawling world of much topographical and biological diversity, ornate structures, and abundant treasure. It contains 6 homeworlds, the first 5 of which are named for the dragon clan that resides there: Artisans, Peace Keepers, Magic Crafters, Beast Makers, Dream Weavers and Gnasty's World. Spyro can move from one homeworld to the next by completing a specific task for the balloonist in that world -- for example, collecting a certain number of gems or freeing a certain number of dragons. Each homeworld has its own set of realms that can be accessed via portals in archways scattered throughout the homeworld. Once in a realm, Spyro may exit back into the homeworld by finding and entering that realm's special 'Return Home' whirlwind platform.

Characters

• Spyro - voiced by Carlos Alazraqui
• Sparx - voiced by Andre Sogliuzzo
• Various dragons - voiced by Clancy Brown, Carlos Alazraqui, Michael Gough, Jamie Alcroft and Michael Conner

Bosses

• Toasty
• Doctor Shemp
• Blowhard
• Metalhead
• Jacques
• Gnasty Gnorc - voiced by Michael Gough

Story

The epic adventure begins in the Artisans Homeworld in the Dragon Realms (presumably Spyro's home) in Stone Hill in the day where the elder dragons, Astor and Lindar, are being interviewed for a video documentary about their world. Little do they know, Gnasty Gnorc (pronounced Nasty Norc) whom they previously banished from the Realms long ago to the Dragon Junkyard, somehow overhears their derogatory comments about him and becomes quite upset. While in exile, Gnasty Gnorc has experimented with magic and on this fateful day, he decides to vengefully unleash two of his most powerful spells: one which freezes all the unsuspecting Dragons inside crystalline statues and another which transforms a portion of the Dragons' treasure into an army of Gnorcs.

However, Gnasty Gnorc misses imprisoning the youngest dragon in the realm, Spyro (who was seen chasing sheep in the background during the dragons' documentary shoot) because of his small size. Seeking to set things right, Spyro sets out to free all of the Dragons. Travelling across the Dragon Realms, Spyro faces various adversaries and eventually manages to free all the Dragons, who give him advice in return.

Spyro finally reaches the Dragon Junkyard, where Gnasty is waiting. After a battle, Spyro defeats Gnasty, putting an end to his evil plot once and for all.

Gameplay

• Press X to jump
• Press X while in midair to glide
• Press X once more to stop in midair.
• Press the O button to breathe fire
• Press the square button to charge
• Press and hold triangle to look around your environment
• Press triangle to drop while gliding
• Press and hold square and X simultaneously to "skip." It can be useful for charging down quick enemies like the thieves and Gnasty Gnorc.
• Press L2 or R2 to move the camera.
• Press L1 or R1 to do a side roll. (This ability was removed from the sequels.) It can be useful for dodging enemy attacks but is unnecessary to complete the game.
• Press select to show Spyro's inventory.

Deaths

Just what you would expect from any platformer game. It's that infamous, nearly inevitable series of unfortunate events that lead to Spyro's eventual death.

In case you haven't noticed, that little dragonfly named Sparx following you around is your health meter. Every time you're hit, he changes to a different color. This is due to the fact that he protects you from certain death every time you're hit. He comes in four different states, Yellow = All fine! Blue = Ouch! Green = I don't feel good... Gone = Bye for now! If you get hit again after Sparx turns green, Sparx will leave the poor young purple dragon to fend for himself. After he disappears, a single blow can kill Spyro. To prevent this, you can kill one of the small animals wandering around to spawn a butterfly, which Sparx will quickly devour to regain his strength.

Deaths include: Regular: After Spyro gets hit with a normal, heavy, or explosive attack, he will spin to face the player on two legs, lose balance, and fall over backwards. Flattened: If Spyro gets squashed flat by a slam attack of some sort, he will flip over, float down like paper, and land gently on his back, still in his flattened state. Drowned: When Spyro falls in water, he splashes about and spits out water, desperately trying to prevent himself from drowning. When Spyro is completely submerged, he dies, but you can save yourself by jumping out if you still have Sparx. This is instant death in some areas. Falling: Spyro will do his regular falling animation, except he won't land, but the screen will fade to black like all other death scenes.

If Spyro dies, then don't fret! You will either go to the beginning of the level, or the pedestal of the last saved dragon. Remember, Spyro may have more lives than a cat, but keep an eye on your life count. One wrong move could send you to the game over screen, where you will have to start the level you were on from the beginning.

Realms

• Artisans
  • Level 1: Stone Hill
  • Level 2: Dark Hollow
  • Level 3: Town Square
  • Speedway 1: Sunny Flight

    

  • Boss 1: Toasty - Can't be played before playing Level 1, 2, or 3

• Peace Keepers
  • Level 4: Cliff Town
  • Level 5: Dry Canyon
  • Level 6: Ice Cavern
  • Speedway 2: Night Flight
  • Boss 2: Doctor Shemp

• Magic Crafters
  • Level 7: Alpine Ridge
  • Level 8: High Caves
  • Level 9: Wizard Peak
  • Speedway 3: Crystal Flight
  • Boss 3: Blowhard

• Beast Makers
  • Level 10: Terrace Village
  • Level 11: Misty Bog
  • Level 12: Tree Tops
  • Speedway 4: Wild Flight
  • Boss 4: Metalhead

• Dream Weavers
  • Level 13: Dark Passage
  • Level 14: Lofty Castle
  • Level 15: Haunted Towers
  • Speedway 5: Icy Flight
  • Boss 5: Jacques

• Gnasty's World - Gnorc Gnexus
  • Level 16: Gnorc Cove
  • Level 17: Twilight Harbor - Can't be played before playing Level 16
  • Boss 6: Gnasty Gnorc - Can't be played before playing Level 16 and 17
  • Special: Gnasty's Loot - Can't be played before clearing the rest of the game

Reception

GameSpot gave the game an 8.3, describing it as having very good graphics for its time, and being one of the first well-received full-3D platformers for the original PlayStation.^[1]IGN rated it 9/10, with similar comments, stating "the game utilizes the PlayStation's hardware to the max, and there's not an obvious polygon glitch to speak of", and saying that the only problem was the camera not following the character correctly.^[2] In Japan, Famitsu magazine score the game a 30 out of 40.^[3]

Gallery

Spyro flying in a speedway

The European cover for the game

The Japanese cover for the game

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Trivia

• Carlos Alazraqui, the voice actor of Spyro in this game, is noted to have voiced the chihuahua in the old commercials of Taco Bell, Rocko from Rocko's Modern Life, and as well as other voice works.
• Ex-Police drummer and co-founder Stewart Copeland composed all the music in the game.
• Spyro's Japanese voice was done by a Female Actress known as Akiko Yajima, in which she also did the original Japanese voice for Shinnosuke Nohara from Crayon Shin-chan.
• Within the game, there are 6 dragons which you rescue twice from the Artisans World, because they went to confront Gnasty Gnorc and failed.
• Spyro is 4 years old in the first game.
• Gnasty Gnorc reappears in Spyro: A Hero's Tail.
• Every flight level has chests in it (unless one counts Gnasty's Loot as a flight level).
• In the Japanese version you can play Pocket Station Mini Games if you plug in the Pocket Station accessory. In the mini game you train up your very own dragonfly.
• Unlike the subsequent games, pressing triangle stops Spyro midair while gliding in this game, instead of giving him a little extra boost in height (hovering).
• Some of the Dragons share their names with the Dragon Elders of Spyro: A Hero's Tail, though they are not the same characters.

References