Spyro: Enter the Dragonfly

"I Bought This Game. Please Don't Make The Same Mistake."

I played Spyro the Dragon – I loved it.

I played Spyro 2: Ripto's Rage – I loved it.

I played Spyro: Year of the Dragon – I loved it.

Thus, one would expect that I would love Spyro: Enter the Dragonfly, the series' first multi-platform foray. No such luck! This game is a travesty, and there are simply few other ways to put it. This was the first Spyro game that was not made by Insomniac Games, the brilliant developers who created Spyro (as well as the Ratchet & Clank and Resistance franchises). This fact in itself makes the game inferior, but the new developers mangled this game far beyond what I would have expected. I was told to avoid this game, but I ignored that advice. Please don't make the same mistake.

Graphics and Camera:
The camera is okay, I guess. It does nothing horrible and nothing marvelous, although I may have been too distracted by the atrocious graphics to notice the camera.

These graphics are bad. They attempted to make this game look slick and worthy of the sixth-generation consoles, but it just ends up looking simultaneously blurry and far too smooth. Yes, there is such a thing as too smooth, and it makes things look dead. This game is so hard to look at, you may feel like you need to see your eye doctor. Really.

The character models are icky. Most of the characters are ugly, and their various body parts are so out of proportion, it's stupid. Spyro's neck is at least two times too long, and his mouth looks funny when it's closed. Also, as I write, I am reminded of the farmer NPCs in one level. These farmers have grotesquely large heads and feet, and the farmers, like all NPCs in this game, bounce around exaggeratedly until they spot you.

Controls and Gameplay:
This game has controls. The X button does X button things, the Start button does Start button things, and the Triangle button does Triangle button things. Whatever.

Alright, the gameplay isn't horrible, I suppose. Spyro, being a dragon, can glide, breath fire, charge at enemies, and other dragon-y things. Sometimes, you also have to complete mini-games to progress. One of them is a Simon Says rhythm game; I do enjoy that kind of game, so that's alright. There are also vehicle-piloting mini-games, which are decent, I suppose, although the steering is a bit wacky; too fast or too slow, depending on the vehicle. Another type of mini-game is the moving platform puzzle, which is extremely frustrating due to both the nature of the challenge and its bad physics.

Unfortunately, it may be very hard for you to complete this game, because it is very, very glitchy. One time, I was attempting the hardest of the aforementioned moving platform puzzles, and I was two jumps away from success. I landed spot-on perfectly on one platform – only to have Spyro inexplicably slide off and plummet to his death. Another time, I walked up to one of the ugly farmers. Instead of speaking to me, he just stood there bouncing – the game had gotten stuck there, so I had to restart. I've also had the game freeze during the loading screens.

It is also worth mentioning that this game is very short. There are only about ten levels and one end-game boss. Also, when you enter a level (or the boss's lair) it is nearly impossible to back out: you have to finish the level to escape.

Story and Writing:
The story is insultingly simple and full of holes, especially for someone who loved the original games and their charming storylines. The game starts on the special day when all the baby dragons receive a dragonfly companion. Suddenly, Ripto, who Spyro destroyed in Spyro 2, comes back to get revenge or something. Um…how did he survive? The game doesn't bother to make an excuse – Ripto's alive, deal with it. Anyway, Ripto then casts a spell to vanish the dragonflies or something like that, but the dragonflies just get spread all over the place. Spyro's friend Bianca uses magic to find Spyro's dragonfly, Sparx, and Spyro and Sparx go off to find all the missing dragonflies. Okay, so why can Bianca find Sparx, but not any other dragonflies? Dragonflies are smart - why don't they come back on their own? Why don't we see Bianca or her boyfriend, Hunter, anymore after the tutorial? So many questions left unanswered…

Sound:
This is the last Spyro game to be blessed with a soundtrack by Stewart Copeland, drummer for The Police. His musical pieces fit the levels and moods perfectly, with tribal beats, more modern tunes, and many others.

The voice actors and actresses return from the original Spyro games, along with new ones. They all do a very good job with the character voices – it's just too bad the character models are unappealing.

Conclusion:
So, after all that, are you still considering getting this game? If you played and adored the first three Spyro games, you really will be disappointed with Enter the Dragonfly. Every aspect you could have liked about the first three games has been mangled and watered down. I believe the Spyro franchise died when this game came out; if you want a platformer game, I suggest one of the many excellent ones that are still alive.

Reviewer's Score: 3/10, Originally Posted: 06/29/09

Game Release: Spyro: Enter the Dragonfly (US, 11/03/02)