Spyro

Entertainment Game Review



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I chose to play Spyro for the Wii, The Eternal Night version. I have only played a Spyro game on the Playstation so this was a new experience for me. Spyro is a dragon, although a little and cute one, that is on an adventure to save a girl dragon, Cynder. Cynder was previously under control of the Dark Master and therefore was the enemy of the land, but Spyro took pity on her and saved her in the end, but she ran away plagued by guilt anyhow. The adventure begins at this point and the tutorial begins.

Instructions are given in pop-up boxes at the bottom of the screen. The beginning instructions were how to use the direction controls and simple attacks to defeat foes. The foes are simple to defeat, but increase in difficulty. They are able to hurt Spyro at this point. Then Spyro passes out and enters a Dream. The tutorial changes at this point. The Chronicle, an ancient dragon spirit, teaches Spyro how to use the dragon powers that he lost in the past. He speaks to Spyro and more instruction boxes pop up. In this Dream there are no consequences for dying. You can fall over and over, as I did, and can come back to try the maneuver again. One you fail a maneuver a couple of times the tutorial gives more specific information or gives an encouraging word. This tutorial also explains the importance of gems for life, magic powers, and upgrade points. Gems are set at random places in levels and are also given when a foe is defeated. Each step in the tutorial increased in difficulty, but was rewarded accordingly.

Here is a video of the separate world that the tutorial took place in with the elder spirit dragon giving Spyro instructions. media type="youtube" key="JN38EWKp76Q" height="315" width="560"

Skills needed to be successful are manipulating the controls, exploring the level to find clues and ways to the next section of levels and multitasking when being attacked by multiple enemies. The most difficult skill, for me, was learning to use the nun-chuck and controller at the same time. It took a lot of dexterity to be able to use both controllers in conjunction.

The objective of the game is to complete levels and collect blue gems to upgrade your fire powers in order to find Cynder and help her. Tasks to do this are things like defeating foes, lighting torches and solving puzzles to open doors and passages and learning new maneuvers along the way.

Principles of Learning:

"Psychosocial Moratorium" Principle- Pertaining to the tutorial for Spyro, the consequences for failing are significantly lowered, even more than Gee relates normal gameplay. In the tutorial, I could die again and again and never be punished for it //while I was learning//. However, after I was taught the controls of the game, the normal game consequences came into effect.

Amplification of Input Principle- Especially in the beginning stages of the game after the tutorial, after defeating even small foes, large amounts of gem rewards were given. The purpose of this is to keep me playing, even after the most squeamish of foes kicks my behind. There is still s period of learning after the tutorial, and rewarding me for continuing to take chances kept me going.

Semiotic Principle- I learned quickly that certain symbols meant certain things, like the colors of gems. Each gem color correlates to a power that Spyro holds. If Spyro needs magic power, he needs to find green gems, if he needs health, he needs red gems, and if he needs to earn points to power up his fire breathing ability, he needs blue gems. I also learn what images correlate to world portals that transfer Spyro to another world. I observe that certain types of vines can be broken through, and others cannot. Each of these vines has a certain look. By understanding this system of images, I can apply this knowledge even to worlds that are new and have success.

Probing Principle- There was a point in Spyro is which I was completely unaware of how to move on. There was no specific instructions given on how to move to the next location. I probed the area and found three matching statues at the end of a channel of water. They looked suspiciously important, but I had no idea what to do with them. After messing around for a while, I pushed one of them on accident and it slid down the channel. After I slid each of the statues down the channel it unlocked the door to continue. I probed the area, formed a hypothesis that the statues must have something to do with the door, reprobed with actions against the statues and accepted the hypothesis that after they moved, the door opened.

Wikipedia has a large section devoted to Spyro and a special section just for this game. Wikipedia focuses on the backstory and information, not gameplay cheats. Gamestop's website also has videos and reviews of the game. YouTube has video tutorials showing how to beat certain foes and get to certain places. One site, called GameFAQs, has a lot of information on this game like cheats, questions, and a message board.

I enjoyed playing this game, although using the controls was difficult and frustrating at times. I absolutely loved playing Spyro on the Playstation, and this game was exciting as well. The Playstation version was brighter and more cartoon-like, which I liked more. The Eternal Night is a bit more dark and has better graphics. The tone of Spyro's emotion is defeated and depressed and he has lost his positive, gung-ho spunk.