0
A
B
C
D
E
F
G
H
I
J
K
L
M
N
O
P
Q
R
S
T
U
V
W
X
Y
Z




Playstation 2 : Spyro: A Hero's Tail Reviews

Gas Gauge: 61
Gas Gauge 61
Below are user reviews of Spyro: A Hero's Tail and on the right are links to professionally written reviews. The summary of review scores shows the distribution of scores given by the professional reviewers for Spyro: A Hero's Tail. Column height indicates the number of reviews with a score within the range shown at the bottom of the column. Higher scores (columns further towards the right) are better.

Summary of Review Scores
0's10's20's30's40's50's60's70's80's90's


ReviewsScore
Game Spot 58
Game FAQs
IGN 70
1UP 55






User Reviews (1 - 11 of 56)

Show these reviews first:

Highest Rated
Lowest Rated
Newest
Oldest
Most Helpful
Least Helpful



It was okay...

3 Rating: 3, Useful: 0 / 0
Date: December 03, 2006
Author: Amazon User

It was better than Enter the Dragonfly, but the first three games are still the best! Plus, a lot of these were different. The buttons are a little different, and Moneybags has got this weird accent. And he isn't showing up at inappropriate places saying "Give me so and so gems and I'll do this and this!"

It was cool playing Hunter's character for a while, but his character's kind of different...or maybe a lot different then I remember him being in the first three games.

There were no side quest thingies (excuse my lack of vocabulary) where Spyro could go racing or do time challenges. But the graphics were cool, however "non-Spyro-esque" they seemed, and the music was cool as well, even though it had the same "un-Spyro-ishness" as the graphics.

It's a good game if your not as nit-picky about those kinds of things as I am. If you don't stick to the orignial Spyro games like glue, this is a good game.

Oh yeah...and since when does Sparx talk? I miss the buzzy noises...

I highly recommend this game

4 Rating: 4, Useful: 0 / 0
Date: June 11, 2007
Author: Amazon User

This is a very good game. The color is great, the music is pretty good - a little annoying - but it is a pretty hard game. I love the part when you buy things from Moneybags and I like this game because it's not all fighting and you've got a lot of allies supporting you. And you collect gems about wherever you go, and you can go to Moneybag's shop or Teleport shop to buy things. Teleport shop costs a little more because of shipping.

This game is hard, but it has a lot of story. I haven't played that many Spyro games, but from how many I've played, I think this is the best.

This game is awesome!!!!!!

4 Rating: 4, Useful: 0 / 0
Date: June 11, 2007
Author: Amazon User

This whole game is good except for one thing: Sparks always follows you around and he stays in one place, although he does fly. But he tells you your health. Gold sparks mean full health, blue sparks mean next to full health, no sparks mean you're at your last health point and green sparks mean you have two more health points.

The reason I love this game is that you go to different realms. The realms are tricky but fun. The game has really good color. It's just a really good game. You should get it.

Great!!

4 Rating: 4, Useful: 0 / 0
Date: June 14, 2007
Author: Amazon User

This game is great. I like that it is challenging. I like the action. It is a very cool game!

Worthy of the Spyro name

4 Rating: 4, Useful: 0 / 0
Date: December 17, 2007
Author: Amazon User

So, like most people say, this game is a bit of a departure from the first 3 games on the PS1. The biggest reason for that is that Insomniac is no longer at the helm. But regardless of it's differences, the game is still fun and certainly worthy of the Spyro name, unlike the last release Spyro: Enter the Dragonfly.

Different doesn't always equal bad, and that is quite true for this game. First for the worlds: This is probably the biggest difference from the old games. The old games had overworlds with portals to different levels. How this game differs is that there is just one huge world and accomplishing certain tasks during gameplay essentially opens up the next area. So instead of roaming around and choosing which level to enter, the gameplay is very linear. Finish the task in area A, move on the area B. Finish the task in B and move on to C.

Along the way there are side missions. Play as sparks in flying first-person-shooter style. Also is the introduction of a mole critter who helps Spyro out by searching underground for crystals. For these missions you play as the mole and kill spiders while making your way along the path which involves using puzzle solving skills and using special moves.

Basic movements and the camera are still the same. The music is a little different, though still light fare. Breath abilities are actually put to use unlike in Spyro: Enter the Dragonfly.

So, yes, this game is different from past Spyro games, but to me that is half the fun. To me, the game makers wouldn't be doing their job if they didn't experiment a little with the games. Just keep a bit of an open mind and have fun. I certainly did.

Adult reviewer... Best game I've ever played!

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 0 / 0
Date: April 16, 2008
Author: Amazon User

I've played this game about 5 times now and I can tell you it is the most addicting, fun, frustrating and wonderful game I've ever played! I love Hero's Tail so much that I was going to buy all the original Spyro PS1 games too but after a couple of hours of playing Gateway to Glimmer (aka Ripto's Rage/Spyro 2) I decided against it. The difference between the graphics, maneuverability and camera angles of Hero's Tail vs. Glimmer is enormous. Hero's Tail on the other hand is not only fun to play and lovely to look at, but is incredibly clever, thoughtful, well laid out, and fantastic for both kids and adults alike. A note however: some of the side challenges can be quite difficult and the only way to get through them is to die repeatedly until you've mastered the skills. But persevere and I guarantee you'll be rewarded with many, many hours of addictive enjoyment! A++++

Perfect Spyro Experience

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 0 / 0
Date: May 31, 2008
Author: Amazon User

I was really impressed with the game in general. It's really close to the original Spyro in concept. It's a bit different with different characters and music and such but it needed something different to keep it from getting boring. I'm having a blast with this!

If you liked the first trilogy at all...

2 Rating: 2, Useful: 0 / 0
Date: June 19, 2008
Author: Amazon User

...don't buy this game. While many people try to accept a new entry to a game franchise with an open mind and acceptance for originality, it's necessary for a new game to follow a criteria of it's predecessors at least to some degree - otherwise, it would be a totally different game. Such is the case with Spyro: A Hero's Tail. I'll keep it simple and break up the aspects of the game into their respective components with some regard to the original games:

Plot: Cookie cutter, but not too bad; Bad guy attacks the good guys and unlikely good guy must stop him after dispatching his henchmen.

Characters: Ouch. None of the voices are the same and most sound either over-exaggerated or bored-out-of-their-minds. Spyro has become a dragon who saves the realms because he probably should, and it's practically a chore for him. Moneybags is now a jolly, middle eastern-type trader, not a snobbish, greedy aristocrat. Sparks is a whiny complainer who does his side-missions because Spyro forces him to. In the brief cameo that Bentley has, he's a clumsy, dopey wimp who has to ask Hunter to clear his house out of Gnorcs instead of going in and bashing them himself. The names of dragon elders from Spyro the Dragon have been assigned to weird hermit-like dragons (one of which is quite obviously gay) who live by themselves. The professor, when compared to his previous incarnations, is just plain stupid. The rest of the returning characters are more-or-less the same and the new ones are nothing interesting.

Setting: Where the heck are we? Not the Dragon Realms I remember. While the environments are large, unique, and original, they lack a certain fantastic element that the original worlds possessed. They also lack transportation via portals - a fun navigation that was a staple of the first three.

Graphics: I'll give 'em this one. The worlds, characters, and other visuals have pretty good scope and detail.

Gameplay: If I could sum it up in a single word it would be this: Clunky. The decision to switch the controls for charge and flame is one that I can't fathom and most of Spyro's moves tend to drag (when gliding, for example, Spyro moves vertically [down] almost faster than he does horizontally). Sgt. Byrd's new rocket wings are kind of fun to use, but when he's on land, he's slower than "a Molten Crater Fire Slug". Hunter's playability isn't that bad. And Sparks...well, I'll get to him later.
Acquiring new breath moves has fun that wears off quickly, and making your way through a single area is like making your way through one unique place five times. Also, most of the things you can acquire at Moneybag's shop (that's right, shop. He no longer sells animals, bridges, and doors)are worthless. A fire-bomb, for example, is supposed to be an upgrade to your flame-breath, but has zero-range and is less powerful against enemies and treasure chests.

Sound: I already covered voices. As far as music goes, if you were to ask me how a tune for any level in any of the first three games goes, I could probably hum or whistle it off the top of my head. In this game, the only music I can remember is the quirky, annoying, army-march-like music in Sgt. Byrd's levels. Sound effects are okay, but tend to get annoying.

Mini-Games: Some are fun. Others make you want to shoot yourself in the head. Of the fun ones are Sgt. Byrd's flying levels, Hunter's levels, and maybe a couple cannon-shooting levels. The rest? Bleh! The very worst are Sparks' minigames. A player will come across a crack in the wall (conveniently labeled with a sign that has Sparks' face on it), Sparks will complain about how he'll go into the crack to find an egg or light gem if he has to, and then you'll begin a rail shooter with swarms of enemies, ultra-touchy controls, and a way-screwed-up perspective (as in, it looks like an enemy bug is far away until Sparks flinches and starts blinking).

Miscellaneous: This game takes "Comic Mischief" and gives it a hypodermic shot to the heart with a syringe full of dumb: A penguin that shivers from the cold. A Zoe whose wand zap "fries one million brain cells". Spyro explaining to a wooly mammoth how he'll defeat it by running around it and strategically hitting it three times. Gnasty Gnorc forgeting about his first encounter with Spyro and accidentally showing his polka-dot (or red heart, I don't care enough to remember) boxer shorts.
The sheep, another staple of the original series, now look more realistic, but lose their goofy quality, and fodder in general is less creative and more sparse.

Overall: I personally don't even consider this game to be part of the original timeline, even though it's supposed to be. The characters, setting, magic and technology, enemies, and "culture norms" have all changed. The entertainment value is extremely low and the replay value is even lower. Worlds are big but monotonous. Challenges are either pathetically easy or controller-breakingly difficult and always boring. Boss battles always consist of you running in circles around an enemy while they attack with only projectile attacks. No secret world or reward at the end of the game. No sense of satisfaction after finishing the game, just relief. If you are like me, you probably view the first three Spyro games as videogame masterpieces; original, creative, fantastic, and fresh. If so I would highly recommend you not buy, rent, or even play this game. You will save yourself money, time, and a whole lot of nostalgic heartache.

A Whole New Spyro Game

4 Rating: 4, Useful: 0 / 7
Date: November 03, 2004
Author: Amazon User

It looks like this is a different game developer than the ones that made the last Spyro. What a relief!!
I used to love the original Spyro games, but I tried to play them again recently, and they are now really dated. They were good for their time but not good anymore.
I'm really looking forward to this game. It sounds like it'll be a good one. And it sounds like it could be the best Spyro game ever.

I now have a few tips!!!

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 0 / 5
Date: December 24, 2004
Author: Amazon User

In my earlier review, I didn't put even half of the page covered. Anyway, people having trouble with these levels, I will help: Hunter's Challenge, Beggining of the game, Sgt. Byrd's maxi-game. In the Beggining of the game, you will need to get 500 gems in order to get in the shop. Ignore at the first where it says"See Moneybags to see what to do." Instead, get 500 gems then talk to him. You'll get through inside, once you get the lock-pick, go through the door, get the remaining 90 gems you can get. Go back to moneybags. You'll be able to buy a special flame power up. Although it's not much, it could come handy at times. In Hunter's Challenge, start out by using combat moves(circle button) to defeat enemies. When you encounter one of the arrow-enemies(the guys that shoot arrows at you) get at a far distance. Use the L1 button to target enemies from a far distance. Then fire away. It'll kill time sometimes. At the end, don't jump-kick those guys unless your brave enough, because if you do it high enough, it'll throw you over in the ocean. However, when your trying to get the Light Gem at the end, you can jump-kick and grab it. It will seem easier that way. The Sgt. Byrd Maxi-Game is harder than all 3. It's confusing. First, take the rings, then the arches, then the targets, finally, take out all the gnorc-soldiers. When I get farther in the game I'll give more tips. See ya!!


Review Page: 1 2 3 4 5 6 Next 



Actions