The earliest known demo of Spyro 3, the Crash Bash and Spyro demo, contains a multitude of differences from the final game. It features three levels from the first homeworld. This is an NTSC-U version of the game.
Comparisons to pre-release builds suggest this version might be as early as May - June 2000, given that it appears to be slightly earlier than a build that was first revealed on the June 23rd 2000 embargo date. Some evidence within the data suggests a possible build date of May 25th, 2000.
The level select and loading screens use an earlier version of the game's logo, featuring a winged dragon like Spyro as opposed to the eastern-influenced dragon seen in the final design.
In the final game, loading a save file shows an image of the homeworld Spyro is in with some text saying "The Adventure Continues". All later demos use the Sunrise Spring screen after choosing a level, whereas this demo just uses a basic screen of the game's logo with the word "Loading".
Only three levels are included - Sunny Villa, Molten Crater and Seashell Shore. Only the skateboarding area of Sunny Villa is playable by normal means, but the rest of the level can be accessed through hacking.
Only three music tracks are included in the demo, all shortened versions of tracks used in the final game. The Greatest Hits Enchanted Towers sublevel theme is used on the level select screen and in both Sunny Villa and Seashell Shore, and the Fireworks Factory theme is used in Molten Crater. Sheila's Alp's theme is also included, but goes unused as the critter sublevels use the same music as the rest of the level instead of switching the music like in the final.
The text color and typeface match that of Spyro 2 - a more saturated yellow with subtle changes in the upper-case letters H, I, J, L, V and W. This is most noticeable in the letter I, which lacks serifs in the Spyro 2 font.
At every instance where a character says the name of a controller button, the text shows the name of the button rather than the symbol of the button itself.
The pause menu only contains the options 'Continue' and 'Quit Demo' or 'Exit Area', depending on which area the player is in. This is not uncommon in demos. Other pause menu options are available and functional, but go unused.
The egg icon in the HUD is green with a white patch, though the eggs themselves use their final texture. This icon was also seen in pre-release materials, but it's unknown whether the actual egg texture ever matched this icon. In some of the hatching animations, one of the egg fragments uses a green texture unseen in the final game.
When collecting all gems or eggs in a given level, or when the "Level Complete" notification appears, there is no shaded window behind the text or icons.
If the last egg collected in a level is one that isn't given by an NPC, the '6/6' egg window appears the moment Spyro collects the egg, rather than immediately after the dragon warps away.
When an NPC gives the player an egg, it immediately appears instead of "growing" into view. Also, eggs don't shake when they're hatching.
The egg hatching sound differs from the final game. Seashell Shore seems to have a slightly later version of the sound; an entirely unique sound neither heard in Sunny Villa, Molten Crater nor in the final game. Both sounds played in this demo play at a higher sample rate to the final version.
Demo sound (Sunny Villa, Molten Crater)
Demo sound (Seashell Shore)
Final sound
The sound played when the egg shell breaks in Sunny Villa and Molten Crater is also different. Eggs in Seashell Shore use the final breaking sound, instead.
This suggests that the demo was built during some kind of transition in what sounds were used for the eggs.
Demo sound (Sunny Villa, Molten Crater)
Demo sound (Seashell Shore); Final sound
When a hatched dragon warps away, no sound plays. However, a warping sound is grouped with the hatching sounds - both Sunny Villa and Molten Crater's egg sound effects are grouped with a warping sound used in Molten Crater's Sgt. Byrd sublevel (but it's not used in Sunny Villa despite being grouped with Sunny Villa's sounds), and in the same position relative to the egg sounds in Seashell Shore, the final warping sound is located, despite going unused. This suggests that the warping sound grouped with the egg sound effects for both Sunny Villa and Molten Crater would have been used when the dragon warps away, but for whatever reason it goes unused.
Interestingly, both the warp sounds in the demo play at a higher sample rate than the final version's sound. This means that the warp sound that goes unused in Seashell Shore is a higher quality version of the final game's sound.
Demo sound (Sunny Villa, Molten Crater, unused)
Demo sound (Seashell Shore, unused)
Final sound
All the levels featured in this version of the game only contain 200 gems as opposed to their final 400.
No skill points are available yet.
The difficulty (and thus the enemy layout) seems to be on the easiest setting.
The game over screen appears to be identical to the one used in Spyro 2, with the exception of using Spyro's updated model.
Like in Spyro 2, the lighting darkens underwater.
Sgt. Byrd uses a different texture to his final appearance. In the full game he sports a green hat, a belt, has a white patch on his chest and the inside of his mouth is a red gradient, while his demo appearance lacks a belt, uses a silver studded helmet, has a white-orange gradient on his chest, has slightly differently colored cannons and uses an unsightly purple color for the inside of his mouth. This model still exists in some versions of the final game, but is never playable - in all versions of the final game he briefly appears in the 'Bianca Strikes Back' cutscene using his earlier appearance, and the initial release uses his earlier texture when he's still trapped in his cage. Later versions still contain two separate models for Byrd, but the earlier model has been given his final texture, making the two models identical. All the signs in the game featuring Sgt. Byrd's face and all the official artwork of him match his earlier texture, and he even keeps the silver helmet in Spyro: A Hero's Tail.
Zoe lacks any audio dialogue at all.
In the final game, when the player is given a challenge, after the NPC finishes speaking the title of the text box changes to the name of the character being played and a little summary of the task is given, for most eggs. In this version, the text box always displays the title of the text box as "Spyro" in this instance instead of the character being played, which may in fact be Sheila or Sgt. Byrd.
Unlike all other playable versions of the game, there is no trace of the egg texture found in the Gamespot pre-release screenshots. It's unclear as to whether the demo came first and the egg texture was switched a couple times between the first two demos, with the Gamespot build being between the two demos, or whether the texture was removed and then re-added for some reason. If the demo build is indeed earlier than the Gamespot build, then this demo was built some time before June 23rd, 2000.
Sunny Villa
To force the player to stay in the skateboarding sublevel, none of the portals function in Sunny Villa.
Hunter's shorts are red instead of purple. He also appears to have a purple patch on his right arm (which, while present everywhere else in the game, isn't usually visible on his skateboarding model) and he is holding an invisible skateboard.
Demo
Final
The first of Hunter's voice clips is exactly the same as the final game, but there's a slight deviation in the written text:
Demo
Final
Hi Spyro. I found this gladiator training arena and it makes a pretty cool skate park! Care for a little test of your boarding skills?
Hi Spyro. I found this gladiator training arena and it makes a pretty cool skate park! Care for a test of your boarding skills?
The options given to the player in both lizard challenges are "Yes" and "No" instead of "Yes." and "No.".
No 'Catch the lizards' text appears before the challenge starts.
Some of Hunter's lines were re-recorded for the final game.
The course record skill point challenge has not been implemented yet. Furthermore, instead of prompting Spyro to go for the course record, he instead says two lines which remain in the final game, but go unused.
Now that you've mastered the basics, let's see you do some stunts!
Try using the X or Triangle button to jump off ramps and turn in the air.
This is the most fun I've had since we chased King Flippy on the manta ray.
His usual course record dialogue is entirely absent from this version.
There is no invisible wall surrounding the arena, meaning that skateboarding onto the building and jumping across allows the player to skate out of bounds.
Inaccessible Areas
Forcing the game to access Sunny Villa when choosing either of the other levels will cause the main level area to load instead of the skateboarding sublevel, revealing a treasure trove of differences. The first of these differences is immediately visible, when Spyro enters the level in a similar fashion to the fly-ins used in the first Spyro game, perhaps as a tribute to that game. Unlike in Spyro the Dragon, the cutscene can be skipped with the ✕ button.
The trees normally scattered throughout the level are almost all missing, with a lone exception at the very start of the level.
All extra life jars normally found in the level (of which there are usually 3) are also missing.
The lions all have bright red fur, purple mouths and orange tunics, somewhat of an eyesore compared to their final texture. The only exception is the pink lion in Sheila's section of the level, whose texture appears to have remained unchanged in the final version.
The level's textures appear to be in a slightly different order to their final order. Seven textures were modified slightly in the final, and the demo contains six textures which were entirely removed in the final:
The most notable of these textures are the three door textures, which are used throughout the level - in the final game, the buildings instead use the column-top texture, giving an unusual grey pattern. These doors are very similar in appearance to the ones used to block Sheila's portal in Sunny Villa before Sheila's Alp is completed.
Demo
Final
The remaining three textures are textures used on the boundary between the grass and a wall, but only one of them seems to be used:
Demo
Final
The textures removed from the final game. The second and third seem to go unused.
The following textures were modified only very slightly.
Demo
Final
Some polygons are missing from a couple of the doorways.
Demo
Final
There's a large circular pool of water in the middle of the water stream near the start of the level. In earlier builds of the game, a fountain appears in the same location, so it is likely that they simply had not fixed the unnatural appearance of the stream after its removal.
The ledge reached by going up the whirlwind is slightly shorter and doesn't stretch around the building slightly like it does in the retail version.
When the Rhynoc chases the giant chicken at the end of the level, the player is still in control of Spyro, as opposed to the scene playing out like a cutscene.
Citizen Paulus's dialogue is stylised slightly differently:
Demo
Final
We showed those two bullies. If they hadn't outnumbered me 2 to 1 I'd have finished them off ages ago.
We showed those two bullies. If they hadn't outnumbered me two to one, I'd have finished them off ages ago.
When Mayor Leo says "That was the ugliest chicken I've ever seen", the period at the end is missing.
One of the ledges in Sheila's area seems to have its texture incorrectly applied, rotated at a 90 degree angle to its final appearance. A couple other textures seem to be incorrectly applied in this area, too, though they're less noticeable.
In one of the dialogue strings in Sheila's area, the word 'Alas' is missing. It is still heard in the spoken dialogue, however.
There's an unused audio file of this dialogue that is also missing the word 'Alas', so perhaps this was an early version of the audio used in-game. The gap between "at the top of yonder tower" and "Can you rescue her for me?" is about 70 milliseconds longer than the version of the dialogue with the "alas" included, too.
There are no arches at the top of the tower in Sheila's area.
Gems
As with all levels in this demo, the gem placement is quite dramatically different.
Demo
Final
Note that on top of the addition of a whole bunch of gems, one of the green gems was removed and a red gem was placed nearby.
Eggs
Differences are in bold.
Demo dragon name
Final dragon name
Demo dragon description
Final dragon description
Haimi
Vanessa
A brown dragon that does a backflip
A brown dragon that does a backflip
Myles
Miles
A green dragon that catches part of the egg shell
A green dragon that catches part of the egg shell
Sanders
Sanders
A green dragon whose shell lands on his head
A green dragon that does the chicken dance
Morgana
Emily
A brown dragon that smiles
A brown dragon that smiles
Vladamir
Daisy
A green dragon that chases their tail
A green dragon that chases their tail
Itchy
Lucy
A green dragon that scratches their ear
A green dragon that scratches their ear
The "Myles" egg is found much closer to the ledge by the waterfall, as opposed to being next to the pool at the top of the waterfall.
Furthermore, the egg shell he catches is noticeably greener than it looks in the final game. The same is true for the shell that lands on Sanders.
Interestingly "Itchy" scratches their ear, which may not be a coincidence.
Molten Crater
The level only contains one flower as opposed to multiple, and the color of the flower is different. Interestingly enough, there is only one flower in Sunny Villa in the final game, which is also near the start of the level. It's possible that level decorations were frequently placed near the start of the level before being scattered around the level during development, further supported by the fact that only a single tree appears in this version of Sunny Villa.
Demo
Final
The tunnel at the end of Molten Crater leads to a much higher point than in the retail version. This defeats the point of the tunnel as it means you can't return to the end of the level from the start, as you are able in most levels. The texture at the bottom of the arch that makes it blend into its surroundings better was removed from the wall in the retail version.
Demo
Final
The cracked wall texture is purple, instead of the more easily visible red texture used in the final game.
Demo
Final
The bridges at the end of the level display incorrectly with lots of Z-fighting.
There's an extra life in this level where the key is normally located. No key or safe is present in Molten Crater in this version. In the sublevel which usually contains a skill point, the extra life vase is instead replaced with a gem chest.
Part of one of Clay's dialogue strings is stylised differently.
Demo
Final
I'll keep a look out while you sort out the Rhynocs
I'll keep a look out while you sort out the rhynocs.
Sgt. Byrd's area is unlocked by default. As a result, the area is unlocked before the egg in the Tiki Lodge (Curlie) is collected, which is impossible to reproduce by normal means in the final game. Due to a glitch, it's perfectly possible to enter the area before collecting Curlie in the final game, though.
The cracked wall in Sgt. Byrd's sublevel seems to be less responsive to his attacks, not breaking when shot at from certain angles and distances.
In Sgt. Byrd's area, the texture above the portal is incorrectly applied, making a very ugly-looking wall.
The area which Moneybags unlocks for the player is already open by default in the demo. This is due to Moneybags being disabled for increased playability, however his model and dialog still exists and can be loaded via external tools.
Eggs
Demo dragon name
Final dragon name
Demo dragon description
Final dragon description
Calantha
Rikki
A green dragon that scratches their ear
A green dragon that scratches their ear
Pepper
Curlie
A brown dragon that sneezes
A brown dragon that sneezes
Ryan
Ryan
A green dragon that spins
A green dragon that spins
Bucky
Luna
A grey dragon that floats momentarily before falling
A grey dragon that floats momentarily before falling
Kalea
Moira
A green dragon that chases their tail
A green dragon that chases their tail
Kellen
Kermitt
A grey dragon that wags their tail
A grey dragon that wags their tail
It might not be a coincidence that "Pepper" sneezes after hatching, given its name. This connection was obviously removed in the final game.
Seashell Shore
To do: Add images comparing the sizes of Sheila's portals to the final game.
One of the Rhynoc types usually play two sound effects upon getting hit, but in this version there's only one, meaning they don't shout "yeow!"
Zoe's lecture about how the Atlas works is never seen in any of the demos, but unlike the rest of the demos, its text is entirely absent from the code here, too.
Zoe's dialogue about gliding is a bit different:
There's two spaces between "glide" and "you'll" for some reason.
Demo
Final
This is a long glide. You'll need to hover. Remember to press the triangle button at the end of your glide.
You can Hover to get more distance when gliding. Just press the △ button at the end of your glide.
Zoe is also placed much further to her left here than she is in the final game.
Sheila's portals appear to be slightly larger than the frame they're placed in, which are also larger to begin with.
Inside Sheila's area, the portal can be entered by jumping atop its frame, perhaps due to how large the portal is.
The room with the egg in Sheila's area seems to have slight gaps in some of the ceiling polygons. Exiting the room also reveals that either the Rhynoc castle lacks one of its low-poly models or the render distance is set to much shorter than the final game, as only part of the castle is rendered.
The green cannons in Sheila's area lack collision in front of them, meaning Sheila can't stand on or destroy them from the edge.
When transitioning between areas in this version, Spyro retains whichever swim state he's in. This oversight can lead to Spyro swimming in the air if the player decides to exit Bluto's sublevel while underwater.
Every time a character in this level says "rhynoc", the R is capitalised. In the final version, the R is always lower case.
Eggs
Demo dragon name
Final dragon name
Demo dragon animation
Final dragon animation
Keifer
Jason
A grey dragon that cries with no sound
A grey dragon that cries
Jose
Dizzy
A green dragon that smiles
A green dragon that smiles
Iolanthe
Mollie
A grey dragon that wags their tail
A grey dragon that wags their tail
Elton
Jared
A green dragon that smiles
A green dragon that smiles
Jael
Jackie
A green dragon that floats momentarily before falling
A green dragon that floats momentarily before falling
