Spyro: A Hero’s Tail
Score: 90% ESRB: Everyone Publisher: VU Games Developer: Eurocom Media: DVD/1 Players: 1 Genre: Action/ Platformer (3D)
Graphics & Sound: Spyro is back in another memorable adventure, and this time you will have to master all five of the series’ characters in order to defeat the current threat to the Dragon Realms. Spyro: A Hero’s Tail has fairly average graphics and isn’t really something that is out of this world, but what it has is smooth and gets the job done. The cartoony and brightly-colored feel of the game is obvious from the first in-game movie right to the end. Each character model is clean and nice to look at. The levels are large and contain enough twists and turns to keep you from getting bored with the scenery. Though A Hero’s Tail doesn’t have the latest and greatest in graphics, it is definitely easy on the eyes. The music also does the job. The light-heartedness helps to set the mood for the entire game. Each level’s soundtrack fits the situation to a "t" and really helped pull me into the young dragon’s world. The voice acting hits the mark exactly. The voices helped put a lot of life into the characters. Thankfully, there isn’t that much of a problem with out-of-sync lips either.
Gameplay: Spyro: A Hero’s Tail is a fun game that keeps with the feel of the others in the line, while adding enough new features to make it more than just another Spyro action/platformer title. The most obvious difference is the fact that you will be able to control more than just Spyro. As you progress through the story, you will also need to take charge of Hunter the Cheetah, Sparx the Dragonfly, Sgt. Byrd the Penguin, and Blink the Mole. Every character is essential in taking down Red the Dragon and Gnasty Gnorc (yes, he is back). Red (a former dragon elder who was cast out long ago) is back and is seeking vengeance on the Dragon Realms. He has planted Dark Gems throughout the Realms and is using them to destroy the land. Now it’s up to Spyro and his gang to stop the menace and destroy the gems before they suck the life out of everything. Besides the ability to play the five characters, there isn’t a lot that’s different (gameplay wise) from this game than its predecessors. While fending off evil, you will collect gems to buy objects from Moneybags: light gems (to power the professor’s gadgets) and dragon eggs. As Spyro, you’ll also have a few more breath attacks, including the Tri-bolds attack and Firebombs (an upgrade from the standard fire-breathing).
Difficulty: Spyro: A Hero’s Tail isn’t something that could be considered difficult. In general, you can make a lot of progress through the game without loosing too much health or wasting a lot of time trying to figure out what you are supposed to do next. The game’s linearity (and boy is it linear) really helps to simplify what could potentially become a really difficult game. Once you get into it, and get the feel for the different control schemes (which isn’t hard... but more on that later), Spyro becomes a breeze and the only tough parts you might come across deal in boss battles and some tricky jumps.
Game Mechanics: Since Spyro: A Hero’s Tail gives you control over five different characters, it had a lot of potential to mess up when it came to the controls. I’ve had problems with other games that have attempted this feat. Either they’d make the controls so complicated or different between the characters that it’d be impossible to keep track of what buttons you needed to push when, or there was practically no difference and the only thing that really changed was the model you were moving around. But Spyro gets it right. The control scheme for each character is different enough from the others, but not so much that you can get confused. Spyro’s controls stay like they have been in the past games. You glide by double-jumping and then holding the X button, you horn dive by double jumping and pressing Circle, and you fire your secondary breath with the Square. Hunter’s controls are the most complicated, but still come off naturally and without any problems. You can shoot your arrows with the Square, punch with the Circle, and use your bow swipe move by pressing X and Square at the same time. The other three members of Spyro’s team have relatively simple controls and will take no time to pick them up. Both Sgt. Byrd and Sparx use only a couple of buttons while you control them, while Blink’s controls are a blend of Spyro’s and Hunter’s. A Hero’s Tale is a great continuation of the Spyro line. It is a must have for any fan of that little defender of the Dragon Realms, or just anyone who enjoys running into (or burning) sheep just to get some health.
-J.R. Nip, GameVortex Communications AKA Chris Meyer
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