It’s been a year since the last Spyro game on the DS, Shadow Legacy. Shadow Legacy was a bit of a departure for the series, in that it focused almost exclusively on combat. It also played out in a top-down view. This time around Amaze has gone in a different direction. Spyro The Eternal Night is in 3D and the view of the action is more of a “run into the screen” type of camera viewpoint. There is still plenty of combat, but the traditional gem collecting is back, as well.

Many people were happy to not have to collect any items in Shadow Legacy and be able to just concentrate on battles, but I like collecting things and was glad to see this feature back in the new Spyro. However, it soon became apparent that this feature wasn’t fleshed out very well and, unfortunately, it’s not the only thing that has an unfinished feel.

The story takes up where it left off in the last game, but the main essence is this: Spyro has been having visions about the Dark Master, and goes on a quest to find a mysterious Dragon called The Chronicler, who can supposedly shed some light on this Dark Master. In the meantime, he will collect Health, Fury and Spirit gems, which will help him along his way. Spyro can only use his Fire breath in the beginning of the game, and must earn his other powers.

The main gameplay elements consist of running Spyro around the levels, collecting gems by running into mushrooms and other objects, thus releasing them. There are various enemies scattered around, and there are also puzzles that will open doors to other areas of the level. Collecting gems in Spyro games is usually fun, but it’s not very involving in this game. They are very easy to find by just smashing the mushrooms, and there isn’t any challenge to them. Spyro can also smash up some type of drooping plant/lantern that looks a little like a Venus Flytrap, but nothing happens when he does, so I’m not sure what the point is.

Spyro has to fight several enemies in order to get the puzzle pieces that are in each level. Combat is very simple and can usually be accomplished by his essential melee attack, even though powerups are available for greater battle prowess later. One odd element to this combat is that when an enemy has been punched several times, he will fly up into the air. By hitting the jump button, players can fight the enemy in the air by using the stylus to match the directional arrows on the screen. This isn’t difficult, and doesn’t add anything to the game experience. In fact, it’s somewhat disruptive to the gameplay because players have to fight the enemy, hit the jump button, and then grab the stylus to play the directional arrow game.

The game looks attractive and Spyro is his usual cute self. The camera viewpoint is in full 3D and Spryo runs into and out of the screen in a free style similar to his console gameplay. However, the camera is handled very sloppily, and way too often Spyro runs into a corner and gets stuck. He can also sometimes run through walls. Another annoyance is that the camera takes several seconds to adjust behind Spyro when he changes direction, so players often can’t see where he is going. And, while the camera viewpoint can be manually toggled in order for players to see objects and levels in other directions, the camera doesn’t refocus behind Spyro at the end of the camera pan. For instance, I can place Spyro on a rock, pan around to see a higher ledge that he needs to fly to, but actually positioning him in a direction pointing toward the ledge is problematic. Trying to move Spyro to the best position is hard because the movement is usually being attempted in a tight corner, and the camera won’t readjust behind him.

The puzzles from Shadow Legacy are back, and players will often have to collect the missing puzzle pieces to actually play the puzzle. These puzzles are a type of mini-game where players will place blocks that redirect beams of light. By placing them correctly, the beams of light will activate the puzzle and then a door will usually open.

From time to time, Spyro will have to fight large Dragons. This is the most difficult part of the game, as the dragons are hard to beat. I had a tough time fighting these guys, and just couldn’t quite get the science down. This is particularly frustrating as the game only saves at the beginning of each level, and so players have to play that part of the level again in order to get back to the boss battle. After many tries, I would eventually beat the dragon, but it all felt like pure luck. 

Once the story is played, other modes of play are available in a mini-game style. The gladiator level can be replayed, as well as the light-beam puzzles.

Frankly, I haven’t enjoyed a Spyro game on the NDS as much as the Season of Ice and Season of Flame games on the GBA. The levels were more interesting, the collecting more involved, and I really enjoyed bowling over the sheep. There were just more things to do. I don’t think the answer lies in trying for a totally different type of gameplay or even the type of gameplay itself, whether it is platforming or combat. Whatever direction the design team takes, it should include a variety of features and lots of things to see and do. This is lacking here, and thus what we have is a pretty dull game.

Gameplay: 6.0
The platform levels are fairly interesting to play through, but they’re not enough to carry the entire game. The combat in the levels is boring, and the boss battles confusing. The collecting isn’t much to speak of, and there’s not much incentive to collect, either. The platforming is the best aspect of the game, but the bad camera views take away some of the enjoyment.

Graphics: 7.0
The graphics do the job, but aren’t anything to get excited about. Spyro is as cute as usual.

Sound: 7.0
The music is good, but not much above average.

Difficulty: Medium
The game isn’t too difficult and doesn’t present much of a learning curve. However, the boss battles are rather hard to understand.

Concept: 6.0
This is a decent concept, but it suffers from poor execution.

Overall: 6.5
This Spyro isn’t as good as last year’s entry. I don’t believe it really has anything to do with the style of gameplay or the gameplay viewpoint, but rather that the overall quality of game design is lacking. Regardless of the style implemented, the game itself will only be as engaging as the variety of engaging things to do, whether that falls into the categories of combat, puzzles, collecting or platforming. There just isn’t enough to do in this game, and the features that are present aren’t challenging or thought-provoking. The platforms are Ok, but they, too, become boring after a while. A slightly above-average game that could have been better.