Spyro: Enter the Dragonfly (PS2)

The Spyro games on the PSone are remembered by many as some of the console's best 3-D platform games, and quite rightly so. In Spyro: Enter the Dragonfly, his first next-generation adventure, the world's smallest, friendliest, purple-est dragon is back to jump, glide and start brush fires, and the new game starts off well as you watch the dastardly Ripto accidentally disperse the magic dragonflies across the gameworld and force you, as Spyro, to bring them all back to safety.

One of the best things about Enter the Dragonfly is the huge number of moves at Spyro's disposal. As you'd expect of any dragon he can jump, fly, hover, head-butt and breathe flames--but now he can also breathe ice and electricity as well as magic bubbles (very handy for catching dragonflies, and a clever nod to arcade classic Bubble Bobble). Unfortunately the main problem with the game is the graphics, which, although they look okay in the screenshots, are very jerky when you play the game. The level design isn't terribly imaginative either and the game as a whole is surprisingly short.

Since Enter the Dragonfly isn't made by the same team as the previous Spyro games--those guys went on to make the excellent Ratchet & Clank instead--it's perhaps no surprise that it isn't quite up to its predecessors. It's still a quality game though and certainly one to consider for fans of the series. --David Jenkins

Spyro: Enter the Dragonfly is a sequel to Spyro: Year of the Dragon, a bestselling title for the second PlayStation console, in which Ripto returns with a plan to steal the Dragonflies of the Dragon Realms. To combat his foes, Spyro's existing set of abilities will be enhanced with features such as: electric, ice, and bubble-breath. Equipped with his newly acquired skills, amazing new vehicles, and help from new and old friends, Spyro must find a way to return the Dragonflies and restore order to the Dragon Realm.

Spyro: Enter the Dragonfly marks Spyro the Dragon's debut on next-generation consoles. A platform adventure, the title features a new weapon for Spyro--dynamic, particle-based breath abilities--in addition to a brand new storyline, new characters, new vehicles and larger visual worlds. Following the Year of the Dragon Festival, Spyro and Sparx set out on an adventure to solve the disappearance of the Dragonflies after they mysteriously vanish from the Dragon Realms.