Spyro: A Hero's Tail

The gameplay in A Hero's Tail is largely the same as in previous Spyro games, Spyro uses a variety of abilities to progress through various environments to destroy Dark Gems, the game's main objective, and collect various items such as Light Gems and Dragon Eggs. It also features various tweaks to Spyro's abilities and the game's controller mapping. Gems have less of an emphases in A Hero's Tail compared to previous titles, they now act strictly as the game's currency, and are no longer necessary to fully complete the game. There is also a considerable amount of backtracking in the game, with important items only reachable with certain abilities acquired later in the game; some items also require a certain number of Light Gems to be acquired.

Spyro near a Dark Gem

Spyro begins A Hero's Tail with most of his standard abilities including jumping, charging and his fire-breath. Spyro's gliding mechanics have been tweaked from previous titles, with the addition of a double-jump and the ability to hover downwards by releasing the analog stick. After obtaining the double-jump, Spyro also gains the "Horn Dive" ability, a downward bash that allows him to destroy Dark Gems. Similar to previous titles, Spyro also acquires multiple breath types to use throughout the game, including electricity, water, and ice; each element has different characteristics and uses throughout the game—for example, electricity can defeat metal-armored enemies, and water is used primarily to solve puzzles. In addition to these elements, Spyro also acquires a projectile-like "secondary breath" attack with each element, which can defeat most enemies, but the player can only store a limited quantity of secondary-breath attacks. Spyro also gains the ability to jump off of walls and swing from poles, similar to other platforming game series such as Prince of Persia and Jak and Daxter, allowing him to traverse obstacles and reach new segments in a level. Also, Sparx, Spyro's dragonfly companion, returns as a personification of Spyro's current health level, and assists in collecting nearby items for the player.

As well as Spyro, four other characters are playable. Sparx, other than helping Spyro, is also playable in his own rail shooter-style minigames. Blink, an anthropomorphic mole, explores levels set in underground mines and caverns, where the player is tasked to locate and destroy various dark shards with explosives. Sgt. James Byrd, first introduced in Spyro: Year of the Dragon, plays host to several flying-themed minigames in which the player is given a set amount of time to locate and fly through (or destroy) various targets and enemies in a level. Hunter, first introduced in Spyro 2: Ripto's Rage!, has two standalone portions of the game to himself. He's able to scale certain walls and attack and snipe enemies using his bow and arrows.

As well as the returning playable characters, numerous other characters return as well. The Professor makes his first console appearance since Year of the Dragon, using his technology to assist Spyro. Moneybags also returns, but is no longer the upperclass salesman of past games, and is now a merchant with an Eastern European accent. Gnasty Gnorc also makes his first appearance in a Spyro game since the original. The game also introduces Ineptune, an evil sea queen, who alongside Gnasty is working with the game's main antagonist Red - a fallen Dragon Elder who is using Dark Gems in a plot for revenge. Sgt. Byrd and Hunter appear from past games. A new character, Blink the Mole, makes his first appearance in A Hero's Tail. He is the Professor's young nephew and a skilled excavator and explorer. Also appearing are the Dragon Elders, a group of older dragons who govern the Dragon Realms and teach Spyro new abilities such as the Horn Dive, Pole Spin, Wing Shield and Wall Kick abilities as he progresses through the game. The four Dragon Elders are Tomas, Magnus, Titan and Astor (named after 4 dragons that were in the first game). Red was also a former Dragon Elder before his exile.

The game begins with Red, a former Dragon Elder banished by his fellow dragons ages ago, returning from exile with an army of Gnorcs led by Gnasty Gnorc, who begin planting "Dark Gems" throughout the Dragon Realms. Spyro is summoned by the Dragon Elders, who inform him that the Dark Gems are slowly corrupting the realms and must be destroyed. Spyro's ally, the Professor, advises him on how to collect and use Light Gems to power his new teleportation device, allowing him to travel between realms. Spyro also recruits his old friends Hunter and Sgt. James Byrd to help him destroy the gems, as well as the Professor's nephew Blink.

By destroying the Dark Gems, assisting his fellow dragons, and collecting dragon eggs stolen by the Gnorcs, Spyro eventually catches up to Gnasty Gnorc, defeating him in his cavernous lair. Gnasty's defeat frees Amp, a lightning fairy who had been forced to use her magic to help him, and she rewards Spyro by granting him Lightning Breath. Spyro then travels to the Lost Cities realm, where he destroys more Dark Gems left by Red and defeats Ineptune. This frees another fairy, Aqua, who awards Spyro the Water Breath ability. Red, enraged by the defeat of both of his minions, decides to deal with Spyro himself.

In the Icy Wilderness realm, Spyro is attacked and captured by a mammoth working for Red. Hunter and Sparx work together to free him, and Spyro defeats Red in their first battle, destroying his magic ice staff and obtaining the Ice Breath ability from the fairy Freezia. Red escapes to the Volcanic Isle, as Spyro and the Professor follow him; the Professor disappears shortly after he arrives. After entering Red's secret laboratory underneath the volcano, Spyro discovers that the Professor has been captured and forced to design a machine that will turn the Gnorc army into robots to salvage Red's plans. Spyro knocks Red into the machine, turning him into a robot and the Professor accidentally increases his size while trying to shrink him. A fierce battle ensues, and Spyro manages to turn Red back to his original form. The Professor then shrinks Red down to a smaller size, and tells Spyro he'll find a use for him in his experiments.

Achieving 100% completion unlocks a hidden alternate ending in which the dragon elders (Titan, Tomas, Astor, and Magnus) are sitting around the television looking at the game's credits. Some bickering ensues among the elders (during which the fourth wall is broken), leading to Titan shutting off the TV at Tomas's suggestion.

Besides Michael Gough reprising his role as Gnasty Gnorc and André Sogliuzzo reprising his role as Sparx, none of the other original cast from the previous Spyro games returned to voice any of their characters (e.g. Tom Kenny is replaced by Jess Harnell as Spyro).

A Hero's Tail received "mixed or average" reviews, according to review aggregator Metacritic.[1][2][3]

GameSpot's review was mixed. Giving it a 5.8 out of 10, they said, "Although Spyro's production values have shot up, its gameplay has remained more or less the same since the series' 1998 debut. Back then, players lacking Nintendo 64s didn't have too many good 3D platformers to choose from, so Spyro's gameplay foibles were acceptable, in light of its uniqueness. The novelty has worn off. Today, modest improvements on this tired formula, like giving Spryo's once-vestigial, T-rex-like arms the ability to grip ledges, just aren't enough to make the game feel innovative. Filling the title with disruptive and boring minigames to artificially increase play time apparently wasn't a good move, either. Despite all the new window dressing, Spyro: A Hero's Tail is the same game you played six years ago, and you probably remember it being better."[4]

IGN gave the game a 7 out of 10, saying in a positive review, "Spyro: A Hero's Tail delivers a decent amount of fun. While lacking innovation in style and play mechanics, the game controls well and offers enough challenge and length to warrant a hard look by parents looking to buy a game for their kids. Also, the inclusion of new characters, new attacks and a ton of collectibles will keep collector-nuts playing for at least 15 hours. In the end, A Hero’s Tail is a definite improvement over Enter the Dragonfly. It’s a solid, albeit simple and slightly unimaginative platformer."[5]

• Spyro: A Hero's Tail at MobyGames