The Legend of Spyro: Dawn of the Dragon

Spyro's always been a popular fellow, but also very much an acquired taste. Not unlike Harry Potter, he began life as a cute and inoffensive character designed to give kids a bit of simple and accessible action - with just the right amount of peril to make his undemanding achievements feel well-earned. And then the adults got involved.

Spyro was found to appeal to a casual, mature demographic who found his explorative jewel hunting to be pleasantly meditative - a great alternative to watching trashy made-for-TV movies in the afternoon.

But as he grew up, the developers seemed to cotton on to this older market and began unconsciously and steadily reinventing the character to meet the typical requirements of a more grown-up gamer. But as we see in Dawn of the Dragon, trying to make a hardened hero out of a cutesy dragon whose original purpose was to headbutt rocks and gather up gems doesn't work as well as it might.

Joined by his (now) platonic life-partner Cynder, Spyro has apparently spent something in the region of 200 years in suspended animation – released once again to defeat the returning Dark One. Their mobile adventure is viewed as a pretty standard side-on 2D platformer, and follows the pair's adventure from escaping from the depths of a fairly uninspired cave to the equally featureless lair of the Dark One himself.

The game promised a new level of interaction and co-operation between the two main characters, yet Dawn of the Dragon might as well only feature the one fire-breathing lizard. Either really - it's not important which, as Cynder is exactly the same as Spyro bar a couple of seldom-used abilities. At times, one or the other will go on ahead to pull a level so their counterpart can progress, but this is a far cry from the uniquely co-operative experience we were told to expect. Generally, only one dragon is on screen at any one time – even during boss battles, one of them will quickly exit stage left and leave their friend to fight alone, so interaction is not a word that fits comfortably with this game.

It's an obvious statement to say this is platform game. It's meant to be a platform game, after all, and meets all the requirements of the genre in textbook fashion. But Spyro takes this paradigmatic approach very literally, and much of the gameplay is purely about jumping from one bit of floor to the next. It would seem this very basic, navigation-based gameplay is an attempt to supplement the expected exploratory theme of Spyro games in the 2D realm, but it ultimately comes across as a rather laborious walk, jump and occasionally breathe fire experience in a mostly unpopulated world.

The ground constantly steps up and down, forcing you to jump small and inconsequential undulations in the many, many platforms without any benefit to the story or action. It's not a difficult part of the game in any respect, but makes moving around the levels into a significant chore.

Following the winding routes is as simple as navigating small platforms and occasionally pulling a level to open a door two screens over. The dragons can glide, if a jump button is pressed twice, which adds a small dexterity requirement to some of the platforming. Unfortunately, the controls are decidedly unresponsive, and the sedate pace at which Spyro and Cynder walk means there's little urgency to their adventure.

Which brings us right back to Dawn of the Dragon's inherent confusion over its audience. No longer sure of who the game is trying to appeal to, it fails to provide either the cute and accessible simplicity kids enjoy or the absorbing challenge an older gamer expects. Lost in no man's land, Spyro: Dawn of the Dragon is an all-encompassing disappointment.