Spyro: Enter The Dragonfly

Technical Specs:
Publisher - Universal Interactive, Inc.
Developer - Equinoxe Digital Entertainment
Genre - Action
Platform - PS2 (also available on Gamecube)
Number of Players -1

In the hot competition for action games with a family-safe edge, the Spyro the Dragon series has earned its stripes. Featuring a hero not quite from the same mold as Sonic and Crash, the Spyro games have had everything it takes to hold a young gamer's attention: a simple backstory with goofy villains, lots of different challenges (but not too challenging), sheep and the chance to burn things.

His latest entry, Enter The Dragonfly, follows much the same pattern, but amped up for the Playstation 2. In making the jump to the new console, the game has retained most of the design elements that made the series popular, but didn't quite conquer the technical aspects of the platform. Though the fun outweighs the problems, it's still a mixed bag.

Developer Equinoxe Digital Entertainment has really used the new platform to expand on characterization. With a stable of top voice actors, including Tom Kenny as Spyro, the personalities really come to the fore without getting tiresome. (With the unavoidable exception of Spyro's dragonfly Sparxx, who get rather rude at some points, talking to Spyro as if he had brain damage.) If you really are tired of hearing a character, most are easily sidestepped.

Rather, the opposite proves more problematic. Though the invitation to speak will hover over characters from any angle, the game is pretty persnickety about Spyro standing in just the right spot in order to actually converse. When trying to pick up clues about your next task, this can get a little frustrating.

Thankfully, the rest of Spyro's actions are easier to control. Though fairly challenging to master, they have a consistency in play that doesn't get boring if a task takes a few tries. Unlike previous Spyro games, the little dragon has a gliding ability from the outset, which adds a new dimension to his choices. Throughout the game he earns new breath skills. Beyond flame (still the most fun), he has a crucial "bubble breath," used for recapturing dragonflies stolen by the villain Ripto.

As should be expected, the eight environments have a variety of weather effects, the better to show off the rendering capabilities of the PS2. The water effects are particularly impressive.

However, a price has been paid for it. Though Spyro can traverse an environment in real-time, the load time for each place is ridiculously extensive. Players who have already encountered the smooth transitions of a game like Jak & Daxter may lose patience with it. Watching Spyro glide while waiting for a load does not hold a kid's attention for very long. (Going back to an earlier Universal title, Crash Bandicoot: The Wrath of Cortex, reveals they've had this problem before.)

It may not be consistent from disc to disc, but our review copy also has had a problem with backgrounds disappearing into monochromatic vectors. Usually leaving that area and then returning has taken care of it, but if you're giving this to a kid, be ready to help him through it. Occasionally, too, we've suffered freezes, and the only way out is to reboot, which means another long load time.

But Spyro's world is full of cool things to look at, and occasional jokes that will fly over a lot of kids' heads. There's something nicely perverse about tourists posing a danger to Spyro. The French probably agree. Among the dragon's first tasks is the rescue of the dragon senseis, all of whom offer sage advice and suspicious resemblances to Hong Kong cinema. At first, the recaptured dragonflies have playful names, and then start to reflect a rather worldly philosophy. I'm not absolutely positive, but I think I captured one named "Bhodisittava."

From an adult perspective, the game logic may be a little skewed. Supposedly the dragonflies, crucial to dragon development, resent their kidnapping by Ripto. However, they sure do a good job of running away from Spyro, as well as taunting him with a sing-song buzz. Okay, I probably have analyzed the plot a little too much.

Certainly the Playstation 2 can use this family-friendly title in its stable. (Spyro: Enter The Dragonfly also has a Gamecube version, but we have not played it.) And, as every game may be somebody's first game, it's definitely a good one to start a newbie off. (The official Fandaughter hasn't mastered much beyond flaming sheep, but it certainly keeps her occupied.)

The platform has been around long enough, though, that the technical problems with this game are frustrating. Hopefully, Universal's next entry will have surmounted those obstacles, especially the load time.

Spyro: Enter the Dragonfly