The Legend of Spyro: A New Beginning

[Michael Swayne]

Like most of my reviews, I have published them at the Office's website, and now I will put it here for your reading enjoyment.

When I was shopping for a new game and saw this one on sale for twenty dollars, I was so excited to see a game from a comercial that I could actually afford. Add that to the fact that I've liked Spyro games since I known what a Spyro game is. I like the action platform games in general, and the basic concept for Spyro games is to collect gems and kick butt (or burn it to a crisp).

How wrong I was!

The Legend of Spyro: A New Beginning is just that, a new beginning. It takes place in a time before the Dragon Realms and Gnasty Gnorc, before Rhynocs and Ripto. It also takes away some of its platform genre title, and adds it its place some RPG.

Naturally, you play as Spyro, voiced by Elijah Wood. This is a big difference Carlos Alazraqui. Spyro is raised by a family of dragonflies after the red dragon Ignitus (Gary Oldman) places him in a river in a last-ditch effort to save him from being captured by the Dark Master. Sparx, played by David Spade, is quick and witty, like every role Spade has eve played.

During the game, you learn different elemental breaths (fire, ice, electric, earth). And as you progress, you learn diffeent attacks that correspond with each breath. all the while trying to defeat Cinder (Cree Summer- FFX-2) and her forces.

The ability upgrade menu is new to the franchise and is a pleasant addition to the game. The only downside being that it takes forever to complete all three levels of each element's abilities.

Overall, the game played like a really long game from a DVD's Extra Features menu. I completed the game in six hours, fifty-seven minutes with 92.86% of the breath abilities learned. It also included an interview with Elijah Wood saying which dragon power he would like to have. This is screaming out DVD Bonus Features.

I like to take a break from the actual gameplay, and watch a cutscene, but the fighting took forever in each area. I had to stop playing (mandatory 15-minute break), and due to the game's Autosave Function, I turned off my console. When I resumed playing, I found that the data was corrupt. I was able to fix the problem only to find I was back at the beginning of the level. i then decided to stick it out until I beat the boss, and then save my game manually.

The game is best played when you have plenty of free time. If you want to avoid any problems, make sure you have lots of patience. my brother got tired of me saying, "Wait a minute. I haven't reached the Boss yet!" I give this game 7.67 points out of 10. It is avery original game compared to other Spyro games with a story that doesn't leave out too many details. It's difficulty and fun factor are above average, but the game doesn't make me want to play it again.

Also, in this day and age with all of the dragons in TV sholws and movies, I think the game should be given an "E" rating instead of "E10+". i would recommend this game for anyone into Spyro games but wants something different out of Spyro.

[Judge Magistrate]

Nice review man, I love the Spyro games. I think I might get this to play through.

[Michael Swayne]

This game is only the first part of the trilogy called the Legend of Spyro. I have also played the second one, "The Eternal Night", and made a review for it. I only post one each week, and I am planning on posting "The Eternal Night" next week.

I write a column for our local newspaper called "Games you probably didn't play, and why you should play them". I focus on older games (PS, PS2, N64, GameCube, XBox, and GBA). If you have an idea for a game, tell me. More than likely, I probably have it. I will play it, review it, and even thank you in the review for suggesting it.