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The Legend of Spyro: Dawn of the Dragon DS Review

Review by Robert Falcon
Published 6 years ago

Spyro's been around for years, starting his adventures on the Sony PlayStation and eventually working his way onto current-gen platforms.  That includes the Nintendo DS, although his last adventure, Eternal Night, wasn't as good as it should have been.  Unfortunately, , isn't much better. 

In the game, a sinister force leaves Spyro with no choice but to team up with his arch-nemesis, Cynder.  You switch between the two characters, each with their own unique powers that come in handy over the course of the adventure.  For instance, Spyro has electric breath and can activate switches that Cynder can't. 

For whatever reason, these special abilities are limited, forcing you to fight enemies using up-close melee combat.  The collision detection blows, which means that you'll miss an enemy even if it's right in front of you.  Strangely enough, they have no problem hitting and sending you to a quick and frustrating demise.  Because of that, you'll barely make it an hour without gritting your teeth. 

The presentation is another issue.  Spyro's graphics look better than Eternal Night's, with beautiful animation, nice level design and an easy-to-see display.  The platform sequences are also coupled with some outstanding 3-D flying sequences, reminiscent of the old SNES classic StarFox. 

However, the annoying music will fray even the steeliest of nerves.  The voice acting sounds better, but failed to inspire us.  Just do yourself a favor and kill the audio. 

Once you beat the game (few hours at best), there's no reason to return, other than to torture yourself further.  That said, unless you're a masochist, avoid The Legend of Spyro: Dawn of the Dragon. 

2

What's Hot: Good looking visuals, you can switch between two unique dragons, flying sequences resemble the SNES classic Starfox.