Spyro the Dragon (game)
From Spyropedia
For the video game character of the same name, see Spyro the Dragon (classic). For the series of video games with the same name, see Spyro the Dragon (series).
 US and EU Coverart | |
| Developer: | Insomniac |
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| Collectibles: |  14,000  80  12
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| Release Date: |  September 10, 1998  November 11, 1998  October, 1998  April 1, 1999  November 15, 1998
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| Platform | Playstation 1 |
| Genre: | Platformer/action/Adventure |
| Rating: | ESRB: E for Everyone ELSPA: 3+ OFLC: G |
Spyro the Dragon is The First Spyro Game in the franchise, It is a 3D-platform game developed by Insomniac Games for the PlayStation.Created in 1998, It stars the title character, a young purple dragon named Spyro.
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Plot
The story begins on a bright sunny day, when the dragons were filming a documentary for the DNN (Dragon News Network). A topic that is brought up to question for the dragon Lindar is the topic of the creature known as Gnasty Gnorc. Because of his mischievous nature and general unpleasantness, he was banished from the Dragon Realm long ago. Rumors began that Gnasty had been tinkering around with magic spells, one of which that could encase dragons in crystal, another that could turn gems into Gnorc soldiers. When Lindar was asked if Gnasty was a potential threat, not only did Lindar deny such a possibility, he also insulted Gnasty by calling him ugly. Upon hearing such things, Gnasty Gnorc was enraged. In his anger, Gnasty utilized those two spells, trapping all the dragons, and turning a good number of the gems into monsters. He even invited thieves to steal dragon eggs and treasure to further his revenge.
What Gnasty didn't expect though, was that he had failed to trap a single dragon child, named Spyro. Perhaps it was that he was too small, or that Gnasty didn't think of him as much of a threat, but Spyro was able to avoid being trapped never the less. With his faithful pal Sparx the Dragonfly at his side, Spyro must free all the dragons, collect all the treasure, recover the eggs from the thieves, and torch Gnasty Gnorc in order to save the Dragon Worlds, to become one of the realm's greatest heroes.
Gameplay
The aim in Spyro the Dragon is to destroy Gnasty Gnorc, but to get to his realm he has to travel via other home worlds. However, balloonists wont feel like taking you the next Homeworld until you collect enough gems, free enough dragons or retrieve enough Dragon Eggs. Each Homeworld serves as a Hub, with gateways to other realms. The player is free to roam about and explore each realm at will, defeating opponents, freeing dragons, collecting gems and catching thieves. These "gems" are scattered all over the realm, they can be found by killing an enemy, breaking open a crate or finding them just lying on the ground. A maximum of 5 dragons are found on each level, they can be released by standing on their platforms. Once released they may give advice, state something or tell Spyro to do something. Thieves can be found in some realms. They are covered with blue bandages and they steal dragon eggs. Once they see you, they will run away. If you catch one they will give you a dragon egg. Spyro will find such things as Whirlwind, which levitate Spyro to higher ground. Somewhere in each realm, There is something similar to a Whirlwind which takes you back to the Homeworld. Each Home realm also has a specific realm where you must verse a boss, each Homeworld also has a Speedway realm. After defeating Gnasty Gnorc, you have the option of getting 100% (requires collecting all gems, freeing all dragons and retrieving all dragon eggs), once you have done this, a world called Gnasty's Loot will open, and the true ending will be shown once this level has been completed.
Voice Actors
Music
The Music of the game was arranged by Stewart Copeland, world-renowned drummer for the 80's rock group "The Police". He used a mixture of Keyboard MIDI and Real sounds in his private studio. He is praised for his work in Spyro the Dragon, due to his creation of an upbeat soundtrack featuring peppy tunes which correspond with the theme of the level they are in.
Characters
Spyro
Spyro is the only playable character in Spyro the Dragon. His two main abilities are breathing fire, and gliding long distances through the air with his wings; Spyro also has the ability to charge across open terrain and smash through enemies with the horns on his head and barrel roll from side to side.
Each level is designed to incorporate Spyro's gliding ability, featuring large gaps too large to jump normally, accompanied by higher terrain nearby from which to jump off of and glide the distance to safety. In some levels, there are also whirl-winds which launch Spyro to a set distance upwards in the air, and allow him to glide much farther, which works like jump-gliding off a ledge but instead he pushes off of the air.
In addition, later levels also feature strips of hill marked with glowing chevrons, known as "supercharge ramps". When the player charges down a supercharge ramp, Spyro's dash speed increases significantly, which can be used to defeat powerful enemies or smash through certain walls. In some cases, the supercharge ramp can be combined to an upwards slope, allowing Spyro to make a high-speed jump and cross gaps too large even for a normal jump and glide.
Spyro, however, cannot swim; should the player fall in water, Spyro will quickly sink. While the player is generally able to jump out of the water and back to solid ground, falling in water weakens Spyro the same as being hit by an enemy attack, if he falls in on his last hit, he quickly drowns.
Sparx
Throughout the game, Spyro is accompanied by a small dragonfly named Sparx. Aside from helping Spyro collect treasure from a distance, Sparx also functions as a sort of living health meter: whenever Spyro is hit by an attack, Sparx changes color (from gold to blue to green) to reflect Spyro's weakened condition. If Spyro takes enough damage, Sparx disappears entirely, and Spyro will lose a life if injured again. Spyro can recover health by locating and killing certain small creatures (called fodder) placed throughout a level. After the fodder is killed, a butterfly will appear and Sparx can eat it. If Sparx has disappeared due to sustained injuries, he will appear instead of a butterfly.
Dragons
Dragons, once unfrozen, will speak to you and will either tell you advice on how to get through the game, or simply say something random.
Enemies
- Main Article: Spyro the Dragon/Enemies
Gnorcs of varying types comprise the majority of Spyro's foes. While Spyro can defeat most enemies with a single attack, many enemies are invulnerable to one form of attack of another; as described to the player by various released dragons, many enemies sport metal shields or plate armor which renders them impervious to Spyro's flame attack (but can be easily defeated with a charge attack), whereas large enemies remain unaffected by Spyro's charge attack, but are vulnerable to Spyro's flame. Less often, an enemy may be both large in size and metal-armored, rendering it invulnerable to all of Spyro's attacks — although it will be possible to defeat the enemy by a different means.
Each homeworld is overseen by an enemy boss, placed in charge of the Gnorcs in the area. While the portal to the boss's level is located near the Balloonist in each world, the player is in fact not required to confront and defeat the boss first. Rather, it is the Balloonist who sets the condition for traveling to the next world, and if Spyro has released enough dragons, collected enough treasure (or so on), the player may proceed to the next world without having to defeat the world's boss first.
Bosses
- Toasty, boss of the Artisan world. What appears to be a scythe-wielding scarecrow is ultimately revealed to be nothing more than a sheep on stilts.
- Dr. Shemp, the incredibly obese witch doctor boss of the Peacekeepers' world. He wears sunglasses, swings a staff with a skull on it and thinks he's cool. He is guarded by a number of berserk charging tribal warriors whose eyesight is impaired by metal visors.
- Blowhard, boss of the Magic Crafters' world, and possibly in charge of the wind wizards seen frequently throughout that world. He is literally a whirlwind, his lower body a cyclone.
- Metalhead, boss of the Beast Makers' world. This large robot ape is impervious to all of Spyro's attacks, and thus must be defeated by having his power supply cut off. His attacks include two varieties of electric rays and the hurling of the apelike Beast Maker enemies.
- Jacques, boss of the Dream Weavers world. This pretty peculiar boss resembles a jack-in-the-box, with a goofy green head and a spring where his legs should be. He can jump great distances and throws box-like things as an attack.
- Gnasty Gnorc, the main antagonist and final boss. His main means of attack is firing a green light from his scepter. He is initially out of Spyro's attacking range, so a key must be retrieved from a thief to lower a stairway leading towards him, after which he runs through a junkyard and eventually down a magma-filled hallway before he can be trapped and defeated.
Items
In addition to the Gnorcs, each level includes a large array of items to collect, each of which falls under one of the following categories:
- Crystal Statue Dragons. The main objective of the game, scattered throughout each level are a number of dragons frozen in crystal. Once released from this prison, the elder dragon inside will often offer Spyro some advice; afterwards, the statue's pedestal serves as a save point as well as a place from which to try again should Spyro later lose a life. Releasing enough dragons is a requirement for entering the realms of the Peace Keepers and the Dream Weavers. There are 80 dragon statues in total.
- Gems. The hoard of the dragons' treasure, which Gnasty both ran off with and used to create enemies after he imprisoned the realm's dragons in crystal. Gems come in varying colors and denominations, and may be found lying on the ground, hidden in treasure chests or pots, or recovered by defeating Gnorcs. There are a set number of gems in every realm, and each gem collected counts toward the player's percentage of game completion; collecting enough gems is a requirement for traveling to the realm of the Magic Crafters, as well as the final realm, Gnasty's World. There are 14,000 total.
- Locked Chests and Keys. Holds a ton of loot that can only be opened with a key hidden within that level (usually in a cave or in a hard to reach area.)
- Silver Dragons and Extra Lives. Instead of regular gems, Gnorcs may also drop silver orbs after being defeated once. Collecting enough of these orbs will reward Spyro with an extra life. Similarly, Spyro can find extra lives directly, in the form of a miniature silver dragon statue, typically hidden inside specific purple chests.
- Fodder and Butterflies. In various locations throughout each level there are small creatures — such as frogs or sheep — which scatter when Spyro draws close; these creatures serve as replenishment for Spyro's health. Defeating a fodder creature releases a butterfly, which Sparx eats.
- Dragon Eggs. In addition to gems, blue thieves made off with several of the realm's eggs. The thieves can be found in various levels, each holding a single egg, and can be heard taunting Spyro from a distance. Collecting enough dragon eggs is a requirement for accessing the realm of the Beast Makers, but the thieves must be chased down first.
Homeworlds
There are six Home worlds in the game. These act as hubs from which Spyro can travel to other levels similar in appearance via numerous portals. In each level there is a set number of gems to obtain and a small number of dragons (with the exception of flight levels). With the exception of Gnorc Gnexus in Gnasty's World, each Home world contains five portals to separate levels. These are three standard levels, a boss confrontation and a flight.
Artisans. Spyro's home world. The Artisan dragons are tranquil and take a calmer approach to most problems. The Artisan World consists of pleasant countryside and ornate castles.
Peace Keepers. The second world. Peace Keeper Dragons have a militaristic attitude. The Peace Keepers' home world is a dusty desert land (with the exception of Ice Cavern) with frequent tar pits. A number of secrets can be found via perilous flights around cliff faces.
Magic Crafters. The third world is filled with landscape that defies the laws of physics. The Magic Crafter Dragons like to use brain, not brawn to keep things in order. The scenery here is that of partially snowy mountain sides. It is here where supercharge ramps are first introduced to the game. These give Spyro a blisteringly fast and powerful charge, and they can be used to glide much longer distances.
Beast Makers. A dark swamp turned electrified battlefield. Beast Maker Dragons send others to defend them (but don't mind getting in the battle themselves). Be careful of the native wildlife and electricity loving Gnorcs.
Dream Weavers.A water world of wonder and confusion. Dream Weaver Dragons are in charge of keeping and creating dreams, making for an illusion-filled world. Keep your eye out for fairies; help them, and they will return the favor. The Dream Weaver home world consists of numerous inexplicably suspended islands in the water.
Gnasty's World. Gnasty Gnorc's industrial home world.Once known as the dragon junkyard.He was banished there long ago and has now turned it into his evil empire. Each level must be unlocked by completing the previous.
Reaction
Most reviews for Spyro the Dragon were very favorable and the game was a best-seller as well. IGN.com gave this game a rating of 9.0 out of 10 and Gamespot gave it an 8.3 out of 10. When the sequel, Ripto's Rage was released, most looked back on the original as the inferior, though the original still has many fans. The main source of negativity in reviews stemmed from the ease of the bosses and general gameplay, as well as the cost.
