11 out of 13(85%)reviewers recommend this product.
Product Reviews
Overall rating
5/ 5
Gameplay
5/ 5
Graphics
5/ 5
Sound
5/ 5
wael
spyro newbegining
PostedDecember 16, 2008
It might be hard to believe for anyone who has played a Spyro the Dragon game recently, but in the late 1990s, the little purple dragon was the star of some of the better platform games on the original PlayStation. The transition from the PlayStation to the current generation of consoles has not been kind to Spyro, and the series hit rock bottom with 2002's dismal Spyro: Enter the Dragonfly. 2004's A Hero's Tail improved upon Enter the Dragonfly, but it wasn't a great game either, and many felt the series had run its course. But mascots don't die--they just start over. After a two-year break, Spyro is back with The Legend of Spyro: A New Beginning. Spyro's got some new moves and the characters are brought to life by some big-name voice talent, but these aren't enough to make the game interesting. Both children and adults alike will have a hard time getting excited about the uninspired level design, bland script, and repetitive nature of the gameplay. He's cute, he's cuddly, and he's in yet another disappointing game. One day, as Spyro and his dragonfly friend Sparx are roaming through the woods, they run into trouble and Sparx is captured. After Spyro saves the day by breathing fire for the first time, the pair returns home, where they tell their parents about what happened. Realizing they can hide the truth no longer, Spyro's "parents" reveal to him that they aren't his birth parents, and that he's not a dragonfly--he is in fact, a dragon. Spyro is determined to find out more about his birthplace and his parents, and with Sparx by his side he sets off in search of the truth. It turns out that the truth is not pretty. An elder dragon named Ignitus reveals that Spyro's homeland has fallen under the control of the Dark Master and his minion, an evil black dragon named Cynder. It is explained that because he's a purple dragon born in the year of the dragon, Spyro is the only one capable of freeing the captured dragons from which the Dark Master draws his power. Although the goal of his quest is to return his homeland to normal, Spyro will learn more about his true identity along the way. The story may sound interesting enough in this condensed form, but the way it's told in the game is considerably less engaging. The first hour of the game is riddled with slow-paced cutscenes, and you'll spend nearly as much time watching as you will playing. The script is heavy-handed and not at all geared toward the game's younger audience. Even top-notch voice talent can't make things interesting. Elijah Wood provides the voice of Spyro, and while he does a decent job, he's hampered by the dull script. David Spade plays the role of Sparx, Spyro's smart-aleck sidekick. Because this is a game geared toward kids, the snide comments that Spade is known for are so watered down that they're not very funny. Gary Oldman--yes the Gary Oldman--voices the wise old dragon, Ignitus. His delivery is good; however, his dialogue is painfully boring and he rambles on endlessly. Because the inflection of one character's dialogue doesn't always fit the other character's, you get the sense that none of the actors were in the same room when they recorded their lines. This is confirmed in a bonus interview with Elijah Wood, filmed during a recording session, in which he's excited because he was just told who the other actors were. A New Beginning is a typical 3D platforming game with a heavy emphasis on combat. There aren't many tough jumps (at least until the last level), and there are only a few rudimentary puzzles. None of the levels are very interesting, and they certainly aren't original. There's a snow level, a volcano level, an old castle, some ruins, an outer space level, and the ultimate action cliché--a mine cart chase. There are also two brief on-rails flying sequences. Simply put, they're horrible. Thanks to simple and responsive controls, maneuvering Spyro on land is a breeze, but when he takes to the skies it's a different story. Yo
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Posted byPostMortemCarousel
onJune 2, 2013
It's a good review but the content contradicts your score.
