Spyro the Dragon (PlayStation)

Spyro The Dragon is the first game in what would become one of the PlayStation's best selling and most iconic series. Gnasty Gnorc has crystallised the inhabitants of the Dragon Realms in a fit of rage, and it's Spyro's job to free the dragons, reclaim their stolen treasure, and toast some gnorcs!

Developer Message
A rather cryptic compendium of text, repeated multiple times to fill up leftover space on the disc, can be found in the "DRAGON" file, containing extracts from Shakespeare, Dickens, Melville, Edgar Allen Poe, and other esteemed authors. It reads: Now is the winter of our discontent... It was the best of times, it was the worst of times... Call me Ishmael... Stately, plump Buck Mulligan... Call me Jonah. My parents did... Gaily bedight a gallant knight... Beware the ides of March... Tyger tyger burning bright... ... I always get the Shemp... Insomniac also managed to sneak this into the files of the 2 sequels. The term "Shemp" is an internal joke among the developers, as if something didn't go as planned, or if someone messed up, they "got the Shemp". It is itself found in the name of the boss Dr. Shemp.

Unused Dragon Names
The name listings for all of the dragons and balloonists (as well as Toasty and Jacques) contain a few names which go unused by any of the characters found in the final game. RASHIDI JETHRO FINLAY GALE SILVUS Notably, Silvus was actually used in demo builds of the game as the name of the cowardly dragon in the Artisans homeworld, which in the final game was replaced by Tomas. The internal order in which the names are listed implies that they would have been used in Jacques (Rashidi), Cliff Town (Gale) and one of the Magic Crafters worlds (Finlay and Jethro).

Miscellaneous Text Strings
DRAGON X Grouped with the world names, this odd string has no obvious purpose, although it may have served as an error handler for when a world name didn't display correctly to prevent the game from crashing. THIGH MASTERS This... unusual piece of text occurs immediately after the above string, grouped in with the other world names in the game. This is clearly intended as a joke on Insomniac's part... although could you imagine if there actually was a Thigh Masters world?

Unused Graphics
Grouped in with the graphics displayed on the title screen, 2 unused life icons can be found, the first depicting Spyro's severed head in typical platformer fashion, and the second imposing this graphic onto a metal texture vaguely resembling a coin.

Unused Sounds
The "WAD" file contains all of the audio resources in the game, but a small number are rendered unused throughout the entire game.

A rather crude "impact" sound, sounding very much akin to a cartoonish "slap". It was found in the files for the Dream Weavers Home, and may have been intended for the large feminine druid enemy.

A secondary "death" sound for the Armoured Spider enemy in High Caves, which sounds like it's getting squished or getting hit with considerable force. It may have been intended for when you kill the spider with the supercharge, but in the final game, the same sound effect is used independent of whether you defeated the enemy with the temporary "superflame" power-up or with the supercharge.

"Unused" Music
Multiple themes are present in the game's memory which play under unknown and seemingly random circumstances, although some of these tracks are said to play only on specific levels.

A completely original theme with instrumentation in line with that used for the Peace Keepers worlds. A very similar sounding variant of Wizard Peak. This track is notable in that it appears to have served for the basis of the PAL variant of High Caves' level theme, which can be listened to below. Appears to have part of Alpine Ridge's beat mixed in with the instrumentation used in Gnasty Gnorc's boss level.

Japanese Version
In a similar vein to Crash Bandicoot, the Japanese version of Spyro the Dragon was drastically altered to make it more "suitable" to an Eastern audience, both cosmetically and in certain game mechanics. Considering that the third game and subsequent entries weren't released in Japan, it seems these attempts at localisation were largely unsuccessful.

Visual/Audio Differences

 * Spyro is slightly more expressive in Japanese versions, making a small high-pitched grunt every time he jumps, charges, or loses a life.


 * Sparx always appears as green, regardless of how many hits Spyro has sustained. The shade of green dulls each time Spyro gets hit.


 * The typical "Spyro" font is altered slightly to accommodate Japanese text, losing the metallic sheen and consequently appearing far plainer relative to English text and numbers. However, this only applies for Japanese text, and gem totals, in addition to level markers, appear as they do in English versions.


 * Level names are marked with numerical signs in addition to names in a world-level format (for example Stone Hill would be labelled as 1-1, and High Caves as 3-2). Bosses are marked as the fourth level in a world, and flights are marked as the fifth, with the normal levels taking up slots 1 through 3.

Gameplay Differences

 * The height that can be reached via jumping has increased in Japanese versions for unknown reasons.


 * The camera is zoomed out considerably when compared to US and European versions of the game, keeping to a fixed perspective as opposed to following Spyro directly. In addition to this, the camera fades in and out when Spyro walks into a whirlwind, when he falls down a hole the camera isn't directed towards, and when Spyro enters a level, replacing the "u-turn" animation which pertains to the last action. However, the camera in the "Flight" levels remains identical to Western versions.


 * Multicoloured signposts are scattered very liberally throughout the game, providing textual "hints" if flamed, something which is actually used as a placeholder for unfinished dragon cutscenes in early versions of the game (minus the signposts). However, their frequency, combined with how easily they can be inadvertently activated, renders them as more of an annoyance than anything else.

European Differences

 * The theme for High Caves was changed. US and Japanese versions used a marginally altered and slowed down variant of Tree Tops' theme, whereas the European version uses a completely original theme, which curiously sounds similar to a few "unused" themes within the game.


 * Unusually, the game contains 6 extra "unused" tracks compared to the US version, allegedly replacing duplicates within the game's audio. Just like the obscure themes documented above, the circumstances in which they play are incredibly difficult to decipher, and they seem to occur almost at random, although many report hearing them more frequently upon completing a level and staying there until the music repeats multiple times.

‎ Sounds vaguely like a more mellow version of the theme for Metalhead. ‎ This track has a rather similar feel to Icy Flight. ‎ A track which sounds very close to the theme for Beast Makers. ‎ Appears to resemble a more sinister version of Jacques' music. ‎ A slightly altered variant of Blowhard's theme with instrumentation similar to that of the PAL High Caves theme. ‎ A completely original theme sounding nothing like any other theme in the game.