darkSpyro

Unfortunately the end product fails to return the purple hero to his former glory. The game's overly-simplistic combat quikcly grows repetitive - a problem exacerabted by levels that tend to drag on and on without enough variety to keep things interesting (the flying stages are nicely done, but they're too few and far between). And although Spyro has an auspicious arsenal of elemental breaths at his disposal, the game doesn't do enough to take advantage of them.

On the bright side, A New Beginning does boast some impressive production values, particularly in the audio department. The soundtrack is a sweeping orchestal score that wouldn't sound out of place in a Hollywood epic, and most of the voice acting is top notch - Elijah Wood puts in an especially praiseworthy performance as Spyro.