| Spyro | |
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| First release | Spyro the Dragon 9 September 1998 |
| Latest release | Spyro Reignited Trilogy 13 November 2018 |
Spyro is aplatform game series originally created byInsomniac Games as an exclusive forSony'sPlayStation console. The series features the adventures ofthe titular character, a young purple dragon. Since the series' introduction in 1998, there have been numerous sequels and a reboot trilogy. The series was originally produced byUniversal Interactive, later became known asVivendi Games; the rights to the intellectual property were acquired byActivision after its merge with Vivendi in 2008.
The series went dormant for a decade, until a collection ofremakes of the originalSpyro PlayStation trilogy calledSpyro Reignited Trilogy, developed byToys for Bob,[3] was released for thePlayStation 4 (also playable onPlayStation 5 through backward compatibility) andXbox One in November 2018, and later forMicrosoft Windows andNintendo Switch in September 2019.
| 1998 | Spyro the Dragon |
|---|---|
| 1999 | Spyro 2: Ripto's Rage! |
| 2000 | Spyro: Year of the Dragon |
| 2001 | Spyro: Season of Ice |
| 2002 | Spyro 2: Season of Flame |
| Spyro: Enter the Dragonfly | |
| 2003 | Spyro: Attack of the Rhynocs |
| 2004 | Crash Bandicoot Purple and Spyro Orange |
| Spyro: A Hero's Tail | |
| Spyro: Ripto Quest | |
| 2005 | Spyro the Dragon |
| Spyro: Shadow Legacy | |
| 2006 | The Legend of Spyro: A New Beginning |
| 2007 | The Legend of Spyro: The Eternal Night |
| 2008 | The Legend of Spyro: Dawn of the Dragon |
| 2009 | |
| 2010 | |
| 2011 | |
| 2012 | |
| 2013 | |
| 2014 | |
| 2015 | |
| 2016 | |
| 2017 | |
| 2018 | Spyro Reignited Trilogy |
Spyro the Dragon was released in North America on 9 September 1998 and Europe on 23 October 1998 for thePlayStation.[4] It is a platform game that placed the player as Spyro, a small purple dragon set with the task of freeing his fellow dragons from crystal prisons, which are scattered around their world. Each level is accessed through 'portals' from a main world. The game closes out with the climactic battle between Spyro and the primary antagonist, Gnasty Gnorc. The game sold well, with a total of five million copies being sold worldwide.[5] The game received favorable reviews fromIGN givingSpyro the Dragon a 9 out of 10.[6] It received acclaim for its musical score byStewart Copeland.[by whom?]
Ripto's Rage!, known asGateway to Glimmer inPAL regions, followed on from the success of the first title, making its release on 2 November 1999 in North America and 5 November 1999 in Europe for the PlayStation.[7] The game introduced new characters including Hunter, acheetah; Elora, afaun; The Professor, amole; and Zoe, afairy. The structure of the game is similar to the first, with levels being accessed from the three main home worlds: Summer Forest, Autumn Plains, and Winter Tundra. The game ends with the climactic duel between Spyro and the primary antagonist, Ripto. The game introduces some abilities for Spyro, including hovering after a glide, swimming underwater, climbing ladders, head-bashing, and the ability to use power-ups. Like its predecessor, it was critically acclaimed.[8]
Year of the Dragon was released in North America on 24 October 2000 and Europe on 10 November 2000 for the PlayStation, and it was Insomniac's lastSpyro game.[7][9] In the game, the dragons are celebrating the Year of the Dragon, an event held every twelve years in which new dragoneggs arrive in the dragon worlds. Bianca, ananthropomorphicrabbit, steals the eggs, and Spyro follows her down a rabbit hole. The rabbit hole leads to the Forgotten Realms, which are under the rule of the game's primary antagonist, The Sorceress, to whom Bianca is apprenticed. As in the previous games, levels are accessed from a central home world, of which there are four: Sunrise Spring, Midday Gardens, Evening Lake, and Midnight Mountain. The game also features levels in which the player controls "Sparx", Spyro's companion dragonfly, in a bird's eye view shooting game as well as four new playable characters: Sheila theKangaroo, Sgt. Byrd thePenguin, Bentley theYeti, and Agent 9 theMonkey.
Season of Ice was the first Spyro game not to be developed byInsomniac Games or be on a Sony console, released for theGame Boy Advance and developed byDigital Eclipse. It is known asSpyro Advance in Japan. Spyro must use his fire breath to rescue the fairies in the various Fairy Realms after they are frozen by an evil monster named Grendor.
Season of Flame was the second Digital Eclipse title and was released for the Game Boy Advance. It is the sequel toSeason of Ice, and introduces new features, such as the ability to breathe other elements besides fire. In the game, Spyro must recover the stolen fireflies scattered across the Dragon Realms and foil an evil plot by Ripto and his minions.
Enter the Dragonfly is available for the PlayStation 2 and Nintendo GameCube, and was developed by Equinoxe Digital Entertainment and Check Six Studios. It had received mixed to negative responses from reviewers, referring to the numerous glitches, lack of storyline, originality, and long load times.[citation needed] The story begins with the baby dragons preparing to receive their dragonflies and celebrating. Ripto captures the dragonflies, making the dragons helpless, and accidentally scatters the dragonflies across the world with a spell. Spyro must recover the dragonflies.
Attack of the Rhynocs, also known asSpyro Adventure in Europe and Australia, is the third and final game to be developed by Digital Eclipse. Spyro is tasked with collecting the "Heart" of each land in order to stop Ripto's latest evil scheme after a machine malfunctions opening a portal, bringing Ripto back into the dragon realms following the events of Enter The Dragonfly.
The Cortex Conspiracy, known asSpyro Fusion in Europe and Australia, andSpyro Advance Wakuwaku Tomodachi Daisakusen! in Japan, introduces multiple game screening. It is a crossover game betweenSpyro the Dragon andCrash Bandicoot, and a companion game toCrash Bandicoot Purple: Ripto's Rampage. In the game, Spyro travels throughCrash's universe in a side-scroller, rather than the traditional isometric, top-down view.
A Hero's Tail is available for the PlayStation 2, Xbox and Nintendo GameCube, and was created byEurocom. The game revolves around an evil plot by the villain Red, a former Dragon Elder, who begins to plant Dark Gems around the Dragon Realms, sucking the life out of these worlds. He also works alongside Gnasty Gnorc and Ineptune. Spyro then begins his journey to destroy all the Dark Gems, alongside Sparx, Hunter, Sgt. Byrd, and Blink.
Ripto Quest was released for mobile phones on November 12, 2004. It is depicted from an isometric viewpoint. The plot has Spyro collecting four machine parts to stop Ripto. Levi Buchanan writing forIGN andGameSpy gave the game a positive review.[10][11]
Shadow Legacy acts as a sequel toSpyro: A Hero's Tail and was released only on theNintendo DS. This is the firstSpyro game that plays as a role-playing game as opposed to a platformer and the game allows Spyro to gain experience, level up and learn new spells and combat moves. Spyro must use his new skills to save his allies when they are trapped in the "Shadow Realm" which features returning levels from the Dragon Kingdom, Avalar, and the Forgotten Realms.
The Legend of Spyro is a game trilogy that is part of theSpyro the Dragon series. It acted as areboot to the original series. The games use a combination of close-combat and platforming gameplay, though the gameplay is more oriented towards combat than previous games in the Spyro series were. The story revolves aroundSpyro, the protagonist, and his efforts to stop Malefor, The Dark Master, from destroying the world.[citation needed]
The first installment of this game is titledThe Legend of Spyro: A New Beginning. It focuses on Spyro's origins as a legendary purple dragon and his quest to stop Cynder, the black dragon waging war against the world. He meets Ignitus the Fire Guardian, a red dragon who tells him about his past and offers to train him in his newly discovered ability to breathe fire. Spyro must then embark on a quest to various worlds to rescue the other three Guardians; Volteer, the Electric Guardian, Cyril, the Ice Guardian, and Terrador, the Earth Guardian. Each guardian trains him in a new elemental breath to help him on his journey and eventual fight with Cynder herself.[12]
Discussions around the relaunch of Spyro began as early as 2014. In a July 2014 interview withThe Daily Telegraph,Sony Computer Entertainment CEO, Andrew House stated that his team was considering bringingSpyro back. House stated that he believed video gamers would be interested in revisiting a character from their youth.[13] Later that same year,Insomniac Games CEOTed Price also stated that making a newSpyro game was a possibility.[14] In 2017, developerVicarious Visions stated that they were aware of how high the popular demand was for a revival of the classic Spyro series. In a statement they said, "just keep asking".[15]Spyro Reignited Trilogy was officially announced on 5 April 2018 and was originally going to be released on 21 September 2018 forPlayStation 4 andXbox One, before being delayed to 13 November 2018.[7] The game was developed byToys for Bob[16] and was ported to Microsoft Windows and Nintendo Switch, with a release date of 3 September 2019.
In addition toCrash Purple andSpyro Orange, Spyro has made various crossover appearances in theCrash Bandicoot series. Spyro appears as a playable character in theGame Boy Advance version ofCrash Nitro Kart, and makes a cameo appearance inCrash Twinsanity. The characters Spyro, Cynder, Dark Spyro, Sparx the Dragonfly and Malefor also made appearances in theSkylanders series, including all six mainline games and thetelevision series. Elements from theSpyro series were added toCrash Team Racing Nitro-Fueled as part of a post-launch game update in August 2019. Spyro, Hunter, and Gnasty Gnorc appear as playable characters, along withSpyro-themed karts and a "Spyro Circuit" race track.[17] Spyro-themed parade and pool floats appear inCrash Bandicoot 4: It's About Time, while both Spyro and Dark Spyro have major roles inCrash Bandicoot: On the Run! Spyro, Elora and Ripto made appearances as playable characters in season 3 ofCrash Team Rumble.
Spyro Ever After was going to be the first Spyro educational game where Spyro meets fairy tale characters likeThe Three Little Pigs,Little Red Riding Hood,Puss in Boots,Goldilocks and the Three Bears andGolden Goose. However, the game never passed the storyboard, and was cancelled.[18]
Agent 9 was aJames Bond-like parody spin-off game starring Agent 9 as the main character as he does spy missions. It was set to be developed by Blue Tongue Entertainment and Backbone Entertainment and be published by Universal Interactive. The game's production was cancelled for undisclosed reasons.[19]
After the cancellation ofAgent 9,Digital Eclipse reworked the game into a fullSpyro the Dragon title, that took place in a large desert environment. The video game title was never released to the market, and was scrapped by Digital Eclipse.[20]
| Game | Developer | Release year | Platform |
|---|---|---|---|
| Spyro the Dragon | Insomniac Games | 1998 | PlayStation |
| Spyro 2: Ripto's Rage! | 1999 | ||
| Spyro: Year of the Dragon | 2000 | ||
| Spyro: Season of Ice | Digital Eclipse | 2001 | Game Boy Advance |
| Spyro 2: Season of Flame | 2002 | ||
| Spyro: Enter the Dragonfly | Equinoxe Digital Entertainment Check Six Studios | 2002 | PlayStation 2 GameCube |
| Spyro: Attack of the Rhynocs | Digital Eclipse | 2003 | Game Boy Advance |
| Spyro Orange: The Cortex Conspiracy | Vicarious Visions | 2004 | |
| Spyro: A Hero's Tail | Eurocom | 2004 | PlayStation 2 GameCube Xbox |
| Spyro: Ripto Quest | Kaolink | 2004[21] | Java ME |
| Spyro the Dragon | Kaolink | 2005 | Java ME |
| Spyro: Shadow Legacy | Amaze Entertainment | 2005 | Nintendo DS |
| The Legend of Spyro: A New Beginning | Krome Studios | 2006 | PlayStation 2 GameCube Xbox |
| The Legend of Spyro: A New Beginning[22] | The Mighty Troglodytes | 2006 | J2ME |
| The Legend of Spyro: A New Beginning[23][24][25] | Big Ant Studios | 2006 | Game Boy Advance |
| The Legend of Spyro: A New Beginning[26][27][28] | Amaze Entertainment | 2006 | Nintendo DS |
| The Legend of Spyro: The Eternal Night | Krome Studios Big Ant Studios | 2007 | PlayStation 2 Wii Game Boy Advance |
| The Legend of Spyro: The Eternal Night[29] | The Mighty Troglodytes | 2007 | J2ME |
| The Legend of Spyro: The Eternal Night | Amaze Entertainment[30] | 2007 | Nintendo DS |
| The Legend of Spyro: The Eternal Night[31][32] | Amaze Entertainment | 2007 | Game Boy Advance |
| The Legend of Spyro: Dawn of the Dragon | Étranges Libellules | 2008 | PlayStation 2 Wii PlayStation 3 Xbox 360 |
| The Legend of Spyro: Dawn of the Dragon[33] | The Mighty Troglodytes | 2008 | J2ME |
| The Legend of Spyro: Dawn of the Dragon | Tantalus Media[34][35][36] | 2008 | Nintendo DS |
| Spyro Reignited Trilogy | Toys for Bob | 2018 | PlayStation 4 Xbox One Nintendo Switch Windows |
The main character of the series isSpyro the Dragon, a young purple dragon. In the original series, he is accompanied by Sparx, adragonfly that performs many functions such as helping protect Spyro from damage and collecting gems. Most of the games before theLegend of Spyro series include Hunter the Cheetah, a loyal friend of Spyro's who sometimes helps him on quests; Moneybags, a money-obsessed bear who in some games is needed to make pathways for Spyro for a small fee; and Zoe, a fairy who serves as checkpoints in each land that Spyro visits.
The Dragon Realms are the main setting of the series where most of the dragons including Spyro live. Avalar is a separate world that was being threatened by Ripto inSpyro: Ripto's Rage. The Forgotten Realms are the ancient home of the dragons before being driven out by the Sorceress and serve as the setting for Spyro: Year of the Dragon. The Fairy Realms are a separate series of realms that are inhabited by fairies and only appear inSpyro: Season of Ice. After collecting enough orbs inSpyro 2: Riptos Rage, the Dragon Shores can be accessed, which has games and a special power-up for Spyro.
A large part of the original series revolves around item collection. When the player collects a certain amount of items, they can move on to the next area. The most common of these aregems, which are often used not only for collecting, but also for buying skills, passageways, items, and more. InA Hero's Tail there were special dark gems, which the player had to destroy to proceed to new areas within the game, while collecting light gems allowed use of some of the professor's inventions and opened certain doors.
Freeing dragons is the main goal inSpyro the Dragon, while retrieving dragon eggs is the main goal inSpyro: Year of the Dragon. InSpyro the Dragon, dragon eggs are also collected by chasing down thieves (but their color designs are different from those of the third installment). They also appear inSpyro: A Hero's Tail, and collecting them will unlock concept art. Collecting Talismans and Orbs are the primary goal inSpyro 2: Ripto's Rage!, as the devices are used in a portal to get Spyro back to his home. Dragonflies are the primary collectibles inSpyro: Enter the Dragonfly where Spyro catches them using his bubble breath. InSpyro: Season of Ice freeing fairies is the main goal, and inSpyro 2: Season of Flame collecting fireflies is the goal.
Stewart Copeland composed the soundtracks for the first fourSpyro games. Copeland made music for each world in the games as well as music devoted to each level, often playing each level so he could tailor the mood of the music to the level.[37] As with the voice cast inA Hero's Tail, Stewart Copeland was replaced and the soundtrack was composed by Steve Duckworth and Paul Lawler. Rebecca Kneubuhl and Gabriel Mann of thea cappella band Spiralmouth composed the music forThe Legend of Spyro trilogy. Finally, forReignited Trilogy, Copeland's music was remixed in-house by the developer and remained mostly faithful to the original scores; Copeland himself composed a main theme for the compilation.[citation needed]
| Game | Metacritic |
|---|---|
| Spyro the Dragon | (PS1) 85%[38][b] |
| Spyro 2: Ripto's Rage! | (PS1) 87%[39][b] |
| Spyro: Year of the Dragon | (PS1) 91/100[40] |
| Spyro: Season of Ice | (GBA) 74/100[41] |
| Spyro 2: Season of Flame | (GBA) 76/100[42] |
| Spyro: Enter the Dragonfly | (GC) 48/100[43] (PS2) 56/100[44] |
| Spyro: Attack of the Rhynocs | (GBA) 72/100[45] |
| Crash Bandicoot Purple and Spyro Orange | (GBA) 60/100[46] |
| Spyro: A Hero's Tail | (GC) 62/100[47] (PS2) 60/100[48] (Xbox) 64/100[49] |
| Spyro: Shadow Legacy | (NDS) 50/100[50] |
| The Legend of Spyro: A New Beginning | (Xbox) 69/100[51] (NDS) 68/100[52] (GC) 67/100[53] (PS2) 64/100[54] (GBA) 44/100[55] |
| The Legend of Spyro: The Eternal Night | (GBA) 80/100[56] (Wii) 60/100[57] (NDS) 56/100[58] (PS2) 54/100[59] |
| The Legend of Spyro: Dawn of the Dragon | (Wii) 64/100[60] (X360) 62/100[61] (PS3) 59/100[62] (NDS) 57/100[63] |
| Spyro Reignited Trilogy | (NS) 79/100[64] (PC) 75/100[65] (PS4) 82/100[66] (XONE) 83/100[67] |
As of 2007, theSpyro the Dragon series has sold over 20 million units worldwide.[68] According to theLos Angeles Times, the firstSpyro game has sold over 4.8 million units worldwide as of November 2007 making it the seventeenth best-selling PlayStation game of all time,Ripto's Rage! sold 3.45 million units andYear of the Dragon sold 3.28 million units.[69]
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