Spyro: A Hero's Tail

Written by Chris Reiter  on September 27, 2004

Hands-On Preview: More levels. More enemies. More friends. Moreаdeadly Spyroаbreath.

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Spyro, like Crash Bandicoot, is a platform franchise that was once published by Sony and then handed over to Vivendi Universal as the shift in gaming demographic upgraded from the 32-bit PlayStation to the 128-bit PlayStation 2. This also meant that the series' development teams left behind their babies. Naughty Dog took on Jak and Daxter, and Insomniac Games the makers of the Spyro games, left for Ratchet and Clank. Two years prior to our current time, Vivendi left gamers' with a foul taste for the "newest" Spyro, then developed by Check Six Games. Two years afterward, Vivendi's returned to revisit and retry an attempt at a better Spyro than last time. With Eurocom behind the project now (makers of games like The World is Not Enough and Sphinx and the Cursed Mummy), Spyro's looking better than before with some improvements in mind this time. While at E3, we were there at Vivendi's booth to roast some marshmallows. But instead, all we got were scantily clad booth babes and time with Spyro: A Hero's Tail...in which case we got hands on with the game, all the while when no one was looking, our other hands were busy looting matches. Suckers!

What makes good guys wake up to the smell of adventure? Evil. It just so happens that one day, a red dragon with "evil" in mind has begun planting harmful Red Gems all around the land. These jewels are embedded with the power of sucking up energy from the Earth surrounding it. So you'll play as Spyro, who undoubtedly will traverse the lands, collect the gems, and perform kick-assery with the dragon that awaits you in the end.

This new game in the Spyro universe will be similar to but not the same as its last outing, Enter the Dragonfly, as Spyro will still be able to fire different elemental breath attacks from his mouth -- including ice, fire, bubble, and electric. What'll be different is how there'll be five multiple characters in which you'll switch to throughout the course of the adventure. Not just for Spyro anymore, this "Tail" will revolve around other familiar Spyro faces of Sergeant Bird, a penguin; Sparx, a dragonfly; Blinx, a mole; and Hunter, a cheetah. As players progress throughout the game, they'll be required to complete missions with the ever-rotating lineup of character choices.

When playing the game at the show, I got the chance at using both Spyro and Hunter. Spyro's abilities consisted of things like flaming and freezing enemies of course, while Hunter on the other hand could enter another new first for the series, first-person mode. For, Hunter wields a bow weapon to fire arrows at unsuspecting foes. I didn't have a chance to see how well the other characters handled, but this newly implemented character switcheroo system should make the game more interesting than the last Spyro offering.

Not much different from Enter the Dragonfly, visuals were another similarity in A Hero's Tail. It's not that they looked like the same exact game, but they shared a close likeness to the other one. For instance, the mountain-based level was cheery and colorful with Spyro exhausting his powers onto the enemies available, whilst double jumping from one plateau to the next across the darkened pit. Overall, this indifference could be a good or bad thing for the game, depending on how you like your Spyro cooked.