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> Results: Spyro Shadow Legacy
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A mysterious foe has trapped all of Spyro's dragon friends in a peculiar shadow realm. Now Spyro has to get them back, and along the way he learns some new skills and magic spells!
The first thing players will notice is that this Spyro has more of a role-playing feel. You view the action from a top-down perspective. You also have hit points, magic points, experience points and can level up. When you level up, you learn new attacks and techniques. When you attack enemies with your fire breath, tail or horn charge, you can see numbers that represent damage done to the enemy. You also have an inventory and can carry around items to protect and heal you. You still run around, jump and defeat enemies in real-time. It's like Spyro meets Zelda in a way. Spyro explores all manner of locations in the Dragon Realms: forests, beaches, caves, etc. He has to travel between the regular world and the shadow realm. The shadow realm is a mirror world where everything is encased in a purple hue and all of Spyro's friends are trapped there. To free them, you usually just have to defeat all the nearby enemies.  You help Spyro cast magic spells with the use of the DS touch screen. Draw a triangle shape and Spyro can teleport to areas he has already visited. Draw two lines and Spyro will magically move blocks and other barriers around. A drawn lightning bolt casts a shocking spell. You learn these and other spells as the game progresses. The hand drawn 2D graphics are very detailed and fit the fantasy theme well, as does the hauntingly beautiful music. The only problems with this are that the play control and top-down perspective make it very easy to fall into pits and water. Many times you think you've cleared a chasm, only to fall at the very edge of the cliff. Plus, game progression is very repetitive. Travel to a new area. Save all the residents there in the shadow realm. Do fetch quests for saved residents. Wash, rinse, repeat. A couple of boss battles break up the monotony, but the repetitiveness of the gameplay sets in real fast. 
The violence is mild and cartoony in this adventure. Spyro attacks enemies with his tail, horns, and fire breath, and defeated enemies just fall over in a puff of smoke. Reading skill is important, as you have to digest a lot of text in this game. Young players will like the fairy-tale settings and quest, but the frustrating play control, unclear goals, and repetitive tasks may keep them from being interested in Spyro's new adventure for very long.
This review edited by Dave Long Comments? Chat about it in our forums! Format For Printing | Tell A Friend | Digg | Slashdot | del.icio.us | Buy This Game Home > Review Archive > Video Games > Results: Spyro Shadow Legacy |
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