Spyro the Dragon

Game: Spyro the Dragon [Playstation]
Rating: 10/10

Yes, we are aware that this is a very old game. All the way from the first Playstation. But it's a classic, you know? Yes, you can't beat the classics. No matter how old, Spyro the Dragon will always be one of our favorite games.

We believe that technically, it is an RPG. True, it's not as in-depth as other RPGs, but you do have to hunt for things. The levels are pretty basic; lots of enemies to flame and charge, treasure to collect, dragons to rescue. But it's pretty fun.

The graphics are well done for such an old game; comparable to some of the graphics on recent Wii games [much better than Pokemon Ranch]. They're a bit rough; the designs of everything aren't as smooth and realistic as more modern games, but they're not bothersome. Very well done for such an old game. You have to give them credit for that; have you seen some of those older Playstation games?

The Music is very cool, too. They match the feel of the levels very well. It hides out in the background, but the game wouldn't be the same without it. It's easy to 'ignore' the music, or not be aware of it, after playing a while, but one would certainly notice when it suddenly vanishes or changes.

The theme of the game is interesting. Gnasty Gnorc, you see, has imprisoned all of the other dragons in crystal. Spyro, a young dragon fledgling, is the only one that escaped, by a stroke of luck. So now you, as Spyro, must rescue them. They are strewn all over the dragon worlds. Spyro releases them by stepping on the platform under their crystal form. Plus, Gnasty Gnorc has thrown all the dragon treasure all over the dragon world, as well as discovered a spell to turn that treasure into enemies. As you destroy an enemy, you release that treasure. There's also plenty of treasure all over the ground. Plus, thieves have stolen the Dragon Eggs, as well, which are pretty much bonus things to collect. Once you've acquired everything [100%], you unlock the door to a special level. Upon collection of everything in it, you've cleared the game with 120%.

The levels are fairly simple, as stated before. There are 5 Dragon Worlds [Artisans, Peacemakers, Magic Crafters, Beast Makers, Dream Weavers], Six including Gnasty Gnorc's. Each of these 'home' worlds have doors to sub worlds in them: three normal ones, a boss world, and a hidden flight world.

Overall, once you've beaten it a few times and know where all the hidden things are, it takes about ten hours to go through. A first play-through takes around twenty, maybe thirty. Short as RPGs go, but still worth it. It is a great game if you're bored one summer day, with nothing to do. Doesn't take much thought to play; there's no in-depth, complex stories as some other RPGs have. Simple, yet fun. A wonderful way to burn some free time.

We, as guinea pigs, particularly like the fact that Spyro the Dragon can be played without using all the buttons on the controller. The annoying L and R buttons can be used to change the camera angle, but the camera can also be set to follow behind Spyro, which is much easier for us. The buttons can also be used to roll Spyro left and right, but that's hardly necessary to complete the game. It's just a defensive maneuver, but doesn't impact the game in any way if you decide not to use it. Which is good, since those L and R buttons are really hard for us to press! The triangle button zooms the camera in to have Spyro look around, the O button shoots flame, square charges, and x jumps. X also glides if you are in mid-jump. The directional arrows can be used, or analog stick if you have an analog controller, like us. But the right analog stick is never used, since old Playstation controllers never had those. Oh, the start button opens the menu, and select the Atlas.

The Atlas is a handy tool. It tells you exactly how much of each thing you have collected, and how much total in in each world. This is good, since you can then know where the stuff you are missing is, or at least what level it is in.

The first few worlds are easy, but each is progressively harder than the last. In Artisans, it's pretty hard to die, except by enemy, since each cliff has ground underneath that you can land in, mostly. In Dream Weavers, however, if you fall, you're dead. It has empty space under most places, meaning that if you mis-glide, you've lost a life. Losing a life is okay, though; if you get a game over, you simply start over at the beginning, outside of the level's door, rather than a save point inside. All the enemies are reset, too, but not the things you collected. If you killed an enemy you killed before, you don't get treasure; rather, you get a small crystal. Collect enough, you get another life. This makes it very kid-friendly, as well. We would say that all ages would enjoy this game. Our human's father did, and he's pretty old, as old as ten guinea pig lives! [Yes, we only live until four or five, six if we're lucky and have a nice, caring family like ours.]

Overall, Spyro the Dragon is a wonderful game. It is great for all ages, has great graphics, play style, and music, and most of all, it is wonderfully guinea pig friendly!