Spyro A Heros Tail
SCORE: 61
When I had a little time and space from reviewable games coming into the office I grabbed a last generation title that had been on the review request list - Spyro A Hero’s Tail. I played the Gamecube version, which is very similar to the PS2, and Xbox versions. This franchise has been one surrounded in controversy due to the fact that the player is a dragon who kills lambs in order to restore life. Now Spyro also attacks butterflies to restore health so lambs are not the only animal. A lot of intelligent people have questioned if there is a Biblically parallel since Satan is described as a dragon, and Jesus is called The Lamb of God. The humor in this ‘E’ rated video game is very immature, poking fun at the elderly, and marriage.
There are some nice colors used in Spyro A Hero’s Tail, and there is also some dark areas. There are also quite a few bland areas. The animation is decent, but the character models are pretty simplistic. There is a lot of violence as Spyro breaths fire on enemies, head butts them, and other violent attacks.
The dialog found within Spyro A Hero’s Tail is just terrible. Immature jokes attacking marriage, old age, and really teaching children complete disrespect. With this kind of verbal content I am surprised it got an ‘E’ for Everyone rating by the ESRB. The music is okay, just nothing that grabbed me. If there are any reasons to avoid this game, the audio content would be high on the list.
Spyro A Hero’s Tail includes some secrets as well as mini games that are replayable. Problem is few will find anything interesting in any of these, and will probably not replay Spyro A Hero’s Tail. One kind find this game on the Gamecube, Playstation 2, and Xbox for a decent price, however I feel it is not worth the price of admission.
I have a real issue with the gameplay in Spyro A Hero’s Tail. The linear model included was way past its prime when this game was released. Certain missions must be completely to acquire enough of a certain item in order to progress. Way too often there was only one place I could find to get one missing item. I prefer a game that leaves it more open and gives me options. The control scheme is okay, but could have been better.
Whether the developer
meant to or not there are some deep religious ties to Spyro A Hero’s
Tail. They could have easily avoided this by taking out things like
lambs. The disrespectful attitudes this game teaches makes me wonder if
anyone is doing any research on the connection between bad attitudes in
children, and the video games they play. This franchise should stay dead
and buried.
- Paul
Graphics: 65%
Sound: 57%
Replay/Extras: 67%
Gameplay: 64%
Family Friendly Factor: 54%
System: Playstation 2/Gamecube/Xbox
Publisher: Sierra
Rating: 'E' for Everyone
{Cartoon Violence}
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