"Pales in the Face of the other Spyro Games, But It's Still Worth Your Time"

When I had first heard that Spyro was going to be released for the Gamecube for the first time, I was more than a little excited to get my hands on the first Nintendo console Spyro. However, I was a little sad to see that the game paled under the faces of the other Spyro games that were made only for the Playstation. (I'm still hoping that they port those games for the Gamecube in the future...) However, this game isn't horrible like many people suspect it to be. It's worth a try for those Platformer gamers out there.

Story: 8/10

As with any platformer, there must be an explanation of why the character is collecting items in huge dangerous worlds. The story starts as so:

This time, the story starts with a colorful party. Spyro, with his friends Sparx, Hunter, and Bianca, are enjoying themselves at the celebration for the day the baby dragons receive their dragonfly companions. However, like most platformer parties, the celebration is crashed. A weird teleporter appears out of the ground and out come a face from the past; Ripto, the same guy who supposedly died in Spyro 2. (Well, most enemies never die. So, I'm not surprised...) After some insults are traded in between the purple dragon and the height-disadvantaged wizard, Ripto decides to forever take away the dragon's guardians with his magic wand. However, being the bad guy, he messes up and scatters them across the worlds. He leaves, and the game begins.

It's not the most spell-binding story, but it fits Spyro's atmosphere.

Graphics: 10/10

The graphics are beautiful. It seems like all the colors from the rainbow have been used at least five times in the game. The characters are wonderfully-detailed, with the exception of some minions that you come across. The dragonflies leave little sparks of lights when they move, creating a little trail of colored light. Impressive.

Gameplay: 9/10

Note: I am not comparing this game to the other games before it; it just seems unfair. They added a new scheme of things for the exploration of worlds; new dragonbreaths. Electricity, Ice, and Bubbles play well into the game along with the original Fire. Bubbles are used to catch stray Dragonflies, electricity powers things, ice freezes things, and fire does what it usually does.

Like the other games, gems are scattered across the lands. Many people choose to ignore gems, but they count in the total completion percentage of the game (And reveals a secret in the final boss.) Remember to grab those gems!

Mini-games, like slides and flying stages, are in the form of arched portals. They often have dragonflies, and are often a blast to play. (with the exception of the platform hopper stages...) Luckily, they allow the mini-games to be played whenever. There are less levels than the other games, but the more space is worth it, I guess.

Control: 8/10

The control is iffy. Gliding doesn't have a sudden decent button, making the platform stages almost nigh impossible. The swimming, mini-game, charge controls are kind of hard to get used to.

Sound: 9/10

The music is well-fit for the stages, and the voices fit the characters almost flawlessly. No argument here.

Replayability: 7/10

Well, you have the mini-games stages and the percentage to complete, but once you get those squared away you probably will let this game collect dust unless you love playing the mini-games over and over or you like to replay video games.

Buy or Rent?

It depends. If you are a major Spyro fan or love Platformers, then this is worth your cash. However, people who don't fall into those categories might want to rent first....

All in all, Spyro: Enter the Dragonfly is not the worst Spyro game in history (That title belongs to Spyro: Season of Ice.) but it pales in comparison to the Playstation Spyros. However, if you don't have a Playstation, its worth the money.

''You weren't hired for your brains, you dinosaurian land-mass!''-Ripto

Reviewer's Score: 8/10 | Originally Posted: 01/10/03, Updated 01/10/03

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