Spyro A Hero's Tail Preview

When you have a beloved character and you are not entirely happy with the way he was left in the last adventure, what do you do?

That was the challenge facing developer Eurocom, who responded by throwing out everything from the last Spyro outing and completely redid him. The result is Spyro: A Hero’s Tail, published by Vivendi Universal and to be released on the PlayStation 2, Xbox and GameCube platforms.

In A Hero’s Tail, the Evil Red Dragon has planted light-sapping Dark Gems all over the Dragon Realms. Spyro and his allies must hunt them down and destroy them to return the lands back to normal.

Game features include:

·          Innovative Real-Time Morphing Environments: The heroic dragon travels across dark, mysterious lands which change and morph from evil to good during gameplay -- affecting enemies, environments, music, lighting, objects, sky and much more.

·          Five Playable Characters: Spyro the Dragon, weapons master Hunter the Cheetah, dive-bombing penguin Sgt. Byrd, loyal sidekick Sparx the Dragonfly, and the all-new burrowing, climbing Blinky the Mole.

·          Four Spyro Breath Attacks: Fire, Ice, Electricity and the all-new Water.

·          New Spyro Power-Ups: The supercharged Horn Dive, the explosive Brimstone Bombs, and the deadly Ice Shards, among many more.

·          New Spyro Abilities: Wall Kick, Tail Swing and Ledge Grab.

·          New Spyro Gadgets: The Dragonball for rolling ball madness and the Aqualung for unlimited underwater action, among many more.

·          New Enemies: From underwater mermen to pygmy cannibals to the mysterious Evil Red Dragon and his light-sapping dark gems, Spyro encounters new villains in all-new environments.

According to information released at the Pre-E3 Editor’s Day VU Games hosted, the game will feature a locked high frame rate and has benefited from the contributions of a scriptwriter for The Simpson’s television show.

The graphical elements are extremely colorful and the sound is solid, making this a wonderful addition to the Spyro franchise. The gameplay involves a variety of mini-game elements, from aerial racing to puzzle solving.

This is a Spyro that looks fresh and plays fresh. The franchise may be six years old, but the little purple dragon has never looked better.

This game will be rated for Everyone and will ship in the fourth quarter of this year.

For all the E3 2004 Previews