I don't know why, but many people felt subconsciously that Kresh was related to the dragon Spiro, although they were made by completely different companies, and the story and the universe had nothing to do with it. Perhaps, this is the dream of everyone who spent his childhood behind the first Playstation - to unite all the characters of the best platformer of the time. Later, the developers even fed this dream, releasing crossovers with both characters in the same game. I'm not talking about the many cameo games. The fact is that both heroes had approximately the same fate - great studios, founders let them swim freely after several successful parts. They decided to leave at the peak of fame and not to fool other people's heads with kopecks - who is now ready to go for this? Spiro and Cresch went hand in hand, and both usually fell into the same hands. And if now they are in the clinging handles of Bobby Cotica and his ActivisionBlizzard, in the beginning of zero they were in the paws of Eurocom. From Cresh's side they were not bad at Crash Bash, but with Spiro Spyro: A hero's tail. The release of the game took place in 2004 and was received unequivocally by the critics. Sharks of the pen praised the new creation for excellent definition! Not bad, though sometimes difficult management, but scolded for lack of significant innovations. It was said that when we played Spyro: A hero's tail, we would compare it with the very first game, and the comparison would be in favor of the latter. How controversial is the game really? It's time to determine!
Plot
The plot revolves around a new antagonist, a red dragon named Red (Red). He has teamed up with Gnastic Gnork, the main villain from the very first part for joint dirty deeds. His goal is to gain unlimited power and take over the world (how fresh!), and to achieve his goal he made his minions plant dark crystals all over the world, emitting bad energy and poisonous lands. With their help Red wants to weaken the dragons and subdue them. As usual, only a young dragon can save the world from an adult and experienced villain. As the game progresses from the dragon elders, we learn that the antagonist himself was an elder in the past, but eventually moved to the dark side of the power.
I will not reveal all the script twists and turns - I will only say that the game gives history gradually, in doses, and you, as if snapped junkie obediently follow the rails of the script. There is nothing wrong with it - good stories work like that. Personally, despite the predictability of some moments and genre cliches, it was interesting for me to watch the development of events. It's not a good thing that history pulls the gameplay. Here they work equally as strong partners.
Of course, in the new adventures of the purple dragon did not do without new faces. In addition to Spiro, his old friend Sparks, the Hunter and the Professor, you can meet several newcomers here. We already have some idea about Red - it's a bloody red, power-hungry dragon, who is ready to do anything for his own good. Once upon a time he was among the elders, but he was expelled for inappropriate behavior. You see, he offered to use the dark energy of the crystals to somehow turn it for good. The elders were against this idea, but Red wouldn't listen to his comrades and continued to comprehend the dark forces alone until he called in hellish demons from hell. Then the evil one was able to sharpen back, but Red was not trusted for the rest of his life. Well, he, in turn, of course, conceived a sweet revenge.
One of the bosses is a character named Aineptunya. She looks like Ursula from Disney's Little Mermaid, only her skin has a greenish shade. There is nothing to say about her except that she is a stereotypical evil aunt from cartoons.
But not only in the villainous ranks there was a replenishment. Among the heroes we will also see a new face - the nephew of the Professor, the young mole Blink. Unlike his defenceless blind uncle, he is well equipped with gadgets - he has glasses on his forehead and gloves with built-in lasers on his hands. In fact, the game for him is a game of solyanka from the gameplay for Sheila and Agent 9 from the third part. There aren't many newcomers to outshine the main characters, but there's not enough to make the game feel like a repeat of the previous parts. It is good when the authors have a sense of proportion.
Gameplay
The basic principles of the gameplay process have not undergone any special changes. Spiro travels through a huge open world, around which are teleports to other worlds. Each level is a separate world with its own laws, characters and problems. All of them are unique and perfectly create the effect of travel. In these worlds you have to fulfill the tasks of local residents, destroy enemies, as well as collect gems and collectibles. Spiro's global mission is to destroy all the dark crystals that cause the earth to rot. By destroying them, you can clear the cave passage or plant grass in the area. In addition to the basic ones, there are a lot of additional things that you need to collect if you want to pass the game by one hundred percent. Take at least the dragon eggs. If in the third part of the adventure of the purple dragon, the eggs were the subject of the whole story, then now their collection is not necessary, however, gives the protagonist new opportunities. It is also possible to learn new possibilities from the elders. There are only a few of them for the whole game, but meeting each of them will shed some light on Red's story and also help you to use special breathing techniques. Yes, in Spyro: A hero's tail our hero will be able to burp not only flames, but also electricity, water and even ice from his mouth! It is clear that you will need all this more than once in the future.
Gems are still the main currency in the dragon world. Luckily, they are lying around in huge numbers at any level and it will not be a big deal to get them. Stones of different colors have different costs - a red stone is estimated at one unit, green at two, blue at five, yellow at ten, and purple at twenty-five. With the stones you can buy something useful from a local merchant, Tolstosum, known to you from the second, third and fourth parts of the game. The cunning merchant uses his position constantly. He sells Spiro cartridges, extra lives, as well as the service of instantaneous movement from one part of the map to another.
Spiro, as before, can beat the enemy with his sharp horns, and can breathe fire. It is worth noting that the enemies in every world are completely different and all need to look for their own approach. Roughly speaking, they are divided into two types - some small and foolish, while others are healthy and clumsy. And if the first to fortify the simple, the second dragon may well break the horns of the second dragon, than cause only the laughter of the enemy. Some opponents require both of these attacks to be carried out in a certain sequence. Over time, Spiro gains the skills of water, ice and electric breathing, with which he can solve rare puzzles and deal with enemies. Here, I think, everything is obvious. Sparks is still responsible for the level of health of the protagonist. Depending on its color, we understand how close Spiro is to death. If Sparks isn't around at all, it means we only have one more shot left. Spiro can recharge his health with the butterflies that Sparks eats. Of course, if you think logically, it is difficult to understand why the level of Sparks saturation affects the life of Spiro, but it is not so important in such a fabulous game.
As the game progresses, you can play not only for Spiro, but also for his friends. Among them are many familiar faces - Sergeant Bird, who will now participate only in air races, a Hunter, for whom we have never played before, as well as a beginner named Blink. The levels for Blink are usually slow and filled with a bunch of gadgets. Because he doesn't have horns, he shoots boxes and obstacles with his lasers attached to his gloves. In addition, there is a special scale on the right side of the screen that fills in when you are using a laser. The more often you shoot, the more the scale fills up. When it is filled to the brim, the weapon overheats and cannot be used for a while. So try not to abuse the mole's skills. Blink also knows how to use binoculars to better distinguish between enemies or objects with which you can interact. The camera moves to a first-person view, and the entire static background is painted red. Finally, because the Blink is still a mole, it is good at digging the ground. More precisely, certain areas of it. The goal of the Blink at each level is to destroy dark crystals.
Design levels are made in a fabulous, exaggerated way. It's nice that the authors try to get away from the usual locations and give to admire in addition to the beach and ice levels, numerous waterfalls, underwater ruins, swamps, cloudy countries, tombs, and even the vulcan vent! Spyro: A hero's tail from the very first minutes plunges you into an atmosphere of bizarre and fascinating adventure.
Music and sound
Music in Spyro: A hero's tail is slightly different from the classic pieces, although it tries to be similar to them. The music, by the way, is the responsibility of the same person who wrote the Crash Bash soundtrack. It is unobtrusive, but at the same time terribly colorful and very clearly expresses the mood of this or that location. It's nice that unlike, for example, Crash Bandicoot: the Wrath of Cortex here try to use live (or similar to live) instruments - it gives the music life. Because there is no leitmotif in the music, it is difficult to reproduce it from memory. However, inside the game, these songs are so well in harmony with the picture that you don't hear the music separately - you have a complete image in your head, consisting of a symbiosis of sound and image. The sound is also well made. Background noises do not distract from what is happening, but, on the contrary, involve in it. Actors of sounding coped with the task perfectly.
Afterword
Spyro: A hero's tail - surprisingly collected game. If in the situation with Kresh after his departure from Naughty Dog on the whole and did not work out a worthy of attention game, then Spiro has suffered a different fate. After Spyro: Enter the Dragonfly, the new game looked like a breath of fresh air. A really open world with interesting locations and a lot of reasons for research made us look at the adventures of a purple dragon from a different angle. Excellent sound and music, as well as colorful characters and villains, not spoiled by the change of design (which is now a rarity) made this game stand out from other platformer of the time. Critics criticized Spyro: A hero's tail for strictly following the covenants of the series. And it's strange, because the game actually has a lot of innovations. Well, and the basic concept of the game should not change - it is just that rare case when it is enough to update the content and not to touch the foundation. Traveling dragon Spiro just that interesting that allow you to plunge into a real adventure with fermentation on dozens of different worlds and acquaintance with the local residents and customs. Eurocom perfectly grasped this feeling and successfully transferred it into their game. Perhaps even after ten or twenty years this game will make you feel like a child.