Gaming Target - PlayStation 2: Spyro: Enter the Dragonfly

Written by Chris Reiter on December 09, 2002

Full Review: ROAR! And uh...just don't say I didn't try to scare you from playing the latest of Spyro.

There'll always be the business of fantastic mixed in with that of follies. And mistakes do happen a lot. Sony had once been at the end of that loophole. After flushing their Crash Bandicoot and Spyro the Dragon series' down the drain in a search for new ventures on the PlayStation 2, Universal Interactive gladly fished out what they could, thus turning the two franchises upside down to tread their legacy onward for a new breed of mascots gone sour. But, there's still always someone who's got to carry out a moneymaking icon until its demise. For Universal however, death isn't an option.

Spyro the Dragon's latest adventure revolves around the tale of Ripto returning to seek his revenge...yet again. But this time Ripto has something new up his sleeve. Upon Ripto's unwelcome arrival at Spyro's bash, he explains to the grape skinned hero that the dragon realm's dragonflies, providers of the source of any dragon's existence, have been plucked away. For the fate of the hero, it'll be up to Spyro to get back each and every last dragonfly and stop Ripto and his menacing bullies at their own game.

Originally, the Spyro series would allow players to give enemies a kick in the pants with a charge of flame riding up their butt. Now add onto that bubble spraying, electricity charging, and ice freezing elements of power, and Spyro's now a whole new game! Of course, this being your typical "run around and jump" game, you've got to earn your abilities. Through gathering special rune stones in different levels of the game, Spyro can then carry the runes to dragon statues scattered about and gain the property he has attained within. These different breath weapons are not only used to offensively attack your foes, but also to unlock gates to the newer portions of Spyro's travels.

The bubble breath above all is probably the most insignificant, yet most relevant item you'll need throughout the adventure. Spyro receives this ability in the start of his journey, and from there he'll need to use it in order to capture the stolen dragonflies that actually aren't captured, but stay out in the open areas of the game worlds and even rest in the hands of some of your closest friends. Being that the dragonflies are supposedly friendly to Spyro and the rest of the dragon realm you'd think that they'd want to come back to Spyro. Instead, the game gives you the task of testing your wits and skill in how long it takes you to run around like an idiot from attempting to spray your bubble breath every which way until the taunting dragonfly is finally caught up in an encapsulated bubble wrap.

On the other hand, not every dragonfly zips about in open space. Awaiting you is an assortment of challenges to be had. Some consist of firing your breath attack at a post of 8 different characters strewn throughout the perimeter in a given time limit, some will have you riding a vehicle type like a tank to clear out a maze of other tanks or a UFO to stop another UFO from capturing all of the farmer's cows and in turn getting a hold of them yourself, and then there's some that will push you to utilize your entire skill level by flying through various ring assortments, knocking down soaring riptocs, head butting a lineup of Japanese men, and torching the innards of giant lamps all in a matter of minutes. Depending on how quick or good you operate at each bend, you'll be awarded a dragonfly each time.

Item hunting doesn't end there however: there's colorful gems and tons of them to add to your nonstop list. Also put to use to access ways to arrive in newer places, these gems are laid out, down, up, and over just about everywhere you can stare. But to put it into words simply: Enter the Dragonfly is about as easy a game as they come. While the game does share a few minor difficulties, the overall battle formula is anything but hard. Riptocs, which are made up of reptilian creatures, stand there for the most part and do slim to nothing about Spyro (you) getting in their way. Just imagine a riptoc holding a camera and waving at Spyro in the goofiest manner possible. What does he do? Well, die after approaching him within about a foot of distance, and by giving him the full pleasure of smelling your electrified breath. At times there are riptocs that carry weapons like ray blasters, spear guns, or even a staff, but even they're easily dealt with just by serving them a dose of head butt in the gut. And if there does come a time when an enemy happens to get a lucky shot at you (which is almost never), don't worry about it. Your best buddy and dragonfly companion Sparx is always there to lend a helping hand by acting as a vacuum for butterflies. Starting out in a shade of yellow, Sparx's skin will change colors each time you receive damage. The more you get hit, the lesser yellow he'll become. To avoid this, all you have to do is search for an unsuspecting animal to fry up in your breathy stench, and letting Sparx handle the rest.

Just as easy as the gameplay exercise handles itself, directing Spyro within each different world isn't the slightest bit difficult. Fortunately, Spyro's move list isn't cut down to a meager limit, by possessing a diverse selection of things in which to do. Spyro is able to attack with all of his breathe elements by pressing down on the circle button, he can change them by shifting the L1 button, moving Spyro operates with a combination of the left analog stick, and camera rotation with the right one, jumping comes along with a tap of the X button, ramming forward in a charge attack is done with the square button, and stopping to look around makes it in with the triangle button. Along with these features doubles up in special cases where gliding only happens after jumping from a cliff's sideline and holding down on the X button...which can lead to tapping down on the triangle button to hop up in the air in order to reach a higher ledge, or in such cases like the new climb of the ladder maneuver, where pressing down on the jump functions allows Spyro to rise up top of scaleable walls. The only malfunction with any of the control issues is that the camera is a bit stiff in some spots, and will become problematic when attempting to get it in just the right position.

Without the extreme pleasantries of what a finely tuned PlayStation 2 game can crank out in its visual everything, this latest Spyro game showcases nothing really desirable. About the best thing and about the only thing worth slowing down for is the Spyro character himself. He's got rhythm, he's got spunk, and he's got some great facial animations whenever he spouts flame, ice, bubbles, or the electricity out and about. In that instance, while checking out his face you'll notice his eyes take on a meaner state and his mouth widens up to the perfect pitch, and then letting the breath flow luminously. A few other animations of his are pretty good themselves, from the way he opens up his wings to soar the friendly skies, how his head drops down and points straight towards the goal in a run attack, or even the way he runs through corn fields that they flatten into position or through leaves in that they rise up from the ground. But despite Spyro stealing the show, it's a shame the rest of the game's details take a detour from there on. In other character animations for example, you'd notice in the way in which your friends talk and move, it's pretty much the same exact jaw extension up and down and body flow left and right. Enemy characters too of similar origin all wear the same expressions, die the same way -- foolishly, and rarely think at all about doing much of anything to try to stop you. At least it's entertaining to watch enemies and different animal kinds a like to blow up in a puff of smoke after sentencing them with the charge of their demise.

Weaving into the game's pattern too are underlying textures on top of anything and everything. Enter the Dragonfly is made up of the basics, basically. Grass, dirt, rocks, and even water use simple structures and coloring that give them all a two-dimensional plane of boring. Move Spyro directly up to ivy covered wall for instance, and you'd catch on to how the plant life is pasted still. Take a dive into some water, swim underneath, and you'll discover no such thing as currents or even much of a realistic sense that you're actually under water as the environment is given a flat and transparent pale blue all the way, with a subtle touch of bubble effects traveling from Spyro's front wherever he goes. Even the purple hero himself doesn't pack a whole lot of detail, from a tiny amount of bumps to shape him in the way a cartoon-esque dragon might compare and contrast to the rest of the game world. What's great however, at least some of the time is the way in which the game filters its light and shading effects throughout the gaming engine. When it's nighttime and Spyro breathes a healthy dose of flame, you'll surely see his surroundings submit to the fiery element. If you direct your breath attack at a wall or an object of some sort, a charred scar will be left behind and soon will quickly disappear. Characters just as well bring their own shadows with them, which drag along the passage of the lands in perfect harmony. My only gripe really is that Spyro's body is never or rarely affected by the dark. You could be wandering within the dark of night's shade, and Spyro will still be sticking out like a colorful fruit flavored lizard as though the time of day were broad daylight.

Sounds of the game are not too much different from Spyro's visual presentation, in that they're actually worse. Where the graphics push a few things into the spotlight, the sounds have not one ounce of decency in any one area. The music for example, while slightly tolerable, is just not the best kind of sound that suits a platform game. Being made up of mostly mellow tracks that never stop looping around and around, they're reminiscent of going into the state of a trance from the perspective of a clinically insane person. Even worse though are the myriad of terribly clichщ voice personalities used to bring the new Spyro to life. You've got your husky farmers that sound like hicks, island swine who relate to whiny tourists, and even your pal Sparx who makes the gibberish language more confusing than it needs to be. Cutesy beeps and blips emanate from Sparx as he buzzes around your head, with this being possibly the most annoying trait Enter the Dragonfly features. Spyro and the rest of his friends talk too, and in plain English, albeit yet another mediocre region of what's to be heard.

If anything, anything at all sounds good enough to tolerate, it's the varied sound effects. As Spyro runs, the pounding of his footsteps steep into the air; as Spyro slams into a wall, the pound sure enough arrives at that moment; take a plunge into the water, and you'll trigger a splash effect immediately; charging up enemies with fire, electricity, or ice, and there's a magical noise waiting for you. All is not fun and games though, with there being a number of other audio noises mixed into the background which are both following a repetitive and bothersome track for your ears to want to ignore. From birds cawing to an enemy's glee by your arrival, these noises rarely cease and never really sound substantial enough to come close to good.