Legend of Spyro: A New Beginning

I've always liked spyro games, especially on gamecube, but this one tops the scales. Spyro is not only surrounded by characters with much more depth to their characters than before, but the game also has a very interesting story. Basically in this game the focus of the story is Spyro discovering who and what he is, what his powers are, and what he is destined to do. There are five other dragons, but only one would be considered a main character in this game. Sparx is Spyro's best friend, but has more character than he does in the old games and is much smarter. The story is very interesting and long. The loading time is short and varies from two to forty seconds(it does NOT take up half the game time like some reviews said). The game play focuses on using a combination of your breath abilities(fire, ice, electricity, and earth), along with various melee moves and combinations, and using special breath attacks on distant opponents(fire, ice, electricity, and earth). There are puzzles you have to solve, and different regions you travel depending on where you are in the story, but it does not focus on exploring regions and solving problems like previous Spyro games. The only playable character is Spyro, so of course there isn't a two player mode. You have a health bar, which is more practical for this game. It is slowly recharged by defeating enemies and destroying crystals. You also have a breath bar, which limits how long you can use a breath ability when attacking. Recharged like the health bar. There is also a fury meter, which when full, allows you to use fury attacks that can automatically destroy or weaken all nearby opponents. Recharged like health and breath bars, but takes a lot longer. Breath attacks are upgradeable, which is useful as the opponents become more challenging. The game may seem short if you get addicted to it a don't take a break until it is finished, but it is actually quite long. You have an infinite amount of lives, but if you were not an experinced player it would be impossible to get past some parts until your breath attacks are upgraded completely.
Overall, if you want a dragon game with an excellent story, good characters, and fun combat game play that requires skill and strategy this is an outstanding game. If you like to explore regions, complete puzzles and problems, have slightly silly characters, and have a silly, but fun storyline, this game is probably not for you. A movie on this game will come out in theaters on April 10, 2010 unless it is delayed.

I have never played the original Spyro games, but I was attracted to this arc because of the story it told. When I first purchased it, I did not know how combat-centric it was going to be. Admittedly, the gameplay does get rather repetitive after a while, but the game makes up for it through its lush visuals, great voice acting, and compelling, epic storyline. The whole thing plays out like an animated movie; the combat sometimes seems like an interlude between the different sections of the story. You have unlimited lives, which helps, and you can utilize your different breaths in a variety of ways. While not everyone will be satisfied by this game, it is definitely a solid entry to a famous series.

This game had its goods and bads. The graphics and sounds were awesome. The new melee attacks ruled but this game was a bit too short (unlike the past Spyro games) and not very challenging. Seems like all I did was go around taking out those ugly laughing baboons. Where was the adventure? Ugh! So that's why I only gave it a 3 star rating.

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