Spyro: Shadow Legacy (known during development as Spyro Advance 5 and Spyro: Action & RPG Light) is the fifth handheld game in the Spyro the Dragon series of video games. It is the first Spyro game to be released on the Nintendo DS and serves as the direct sequel to Spyro: A Hero's Tail. It is also the last game in the Spyro series to take place in the "original" continuity, as the next installment, The Legend of Spyro: A New Beginning, serves as a reboot of the series.
Story
The game starts after the defeat of Red and at the end of a vacation at Dragon Shores, with Spyro's friends departing back to their homelands before wishing him the best of luck with some magic training at the Dragon Temple. Not long after he falls asleep on the beach prior to going there, a dark storm appears and traps everyone within the Dragon Realms, Avalar and the Forgotten Realms in a strange dimension known as the Shadow Realm. After initial guidance and being granted the Shadowstone from Elder Tomas, Spyro embarks on an adventure to master the martial art of dragon-kata and the use of magic, rescue everyone and unravel the mystery of the Shadow Realm.
Gameplay
Unlike the previous titles, Shadow Legacy is a hybrid action/roleplaying game. It contains many RPG elements: when players defeat an enemy or complete a quest they will gain experience points, when they gain enough experience points they will level up, allowing them to return to the Dragon Temple and learn two new skills. There are side quests which the player can complete to gain additional experience points. Spyro: Shadow Legacy utilizes many of the Nintendo DS functions, The player can draw symbols on the touchpad with the stylus to cast spells.
Worlds
Dragon Realms
Avalar
Forgotten Realms
Shadow Realm
Enemies
Bosses
Reception
The game received mixed reviews, averaging a 50/100 on Metacritic.[1] IGN noted problems including the game's scripting, button mapping, the 2D background programming, and severe overlapping issues.[2] Gamespot remarked that while Shadow Legacy was a solid presentation, it had a few technical problems, unimpressive gameplay, and lacked any sort of depth or challenge.[3]
The poor reception of Spyro: Shadow Legacy, combined with the sales from the previous titles after the original Spyro trilogy, was what prompted the producers of the Spyro franchise to reboot the series to avoid retiring the Spyro character entirely.[4]
Trivia
- The game was released under the Sierra Entertainment brand.
- In this game, Spyro visits locations that he previously visited in the original three games on the PS1: Avalar, the Forgotten Realms and a few well known locations from those areas, such as Wizard Peak, Cliff Town, Tree Tops, Skelos Badlands and Lost Fleet.
- The only times we hear Spyro's voice in the game are when he says "Hahh" and "Huh", and when he screams when falling down a gorge.
- The Sierra Entertainment game producers of Shadow Legacy, Michael Graham and Chris Wilson, would later bring several story references from the game over to The Legend of Spyro reboot: the specialty of the purple dragon breed, two dragons being brainwashed by the main antagonist (Red and Cynder), cheetahs imprisoning Spyro out of distrust, Malefor's design being based on the Sorcerer's dragon form during the final battle, etc.
- Unlike the rest of the characters present in the game itself, Spyro is the only character who does not speak at all. The only dialogue that is heard from him is during the beginning of the game where Spyro is sleeping and the dialogue pops up where he says "*snore*". Aside from the grunting, nothing else is heard from him afterwards.
References
- ↑ Spyro: Shadow Legacy Metacritic page. Metacritic.
- ↑ Spyro: Shadow Legacy. (Date Posted - Nov 24, 2018 ). IGN.
- ↑ Spyro: Shadow Legacy Review. (Date Posted - Jan. 24, 2006). Gamespot.
- ↑ Making Of An Icon: Spyro The Dragon, Page 3. (Date Posted - Sept. 17, 2008). GameInformer.
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