Silly for Spyro.

Having burned out 2 Playstations so far (between the brood and myself) I like to consider my household fairly "game aware" (a polite term for addicted). We have about 25 games that range from learning to trivia to spy / 'shoot 'em up' games. Here is a secret, when the kids go to sleep and my neighbors have turned out the lights I turn into a hard core gamer. Spyro II (Ripto's Rage) was a birthday present and was truly a gift that kept on giving. I made the mistake of playing Spyro II and getting spoiled with the tricks Spyro learns such as super jumps and swimming. Having made it to about 73 % on Spyro II I broke down and secretly made a trip to Toys R Us. Sneaking the bag into the house resembled something from a 1930's war movie. The brood can detect a plastic bag moving in my purse at 50 paces. :]

I was very impressed with the smooth graphics. I remember pumping way to many pounds into Dragons Revenge in my youth. D.R. is the U.K. version of Dragons Lair. You would play one scene and have to wait for the next to load. The music also impressed me - it was very relaxing and didn't bore me. As I said, I made the mistake of playing II and getting used to jumping into the water so initially I lost a few lives while playing the first game. There are many different lands to explore and within each world different levels. Collect the gems, find the dragons and free them and you are on your way to being the 'big dragon on the block'.

There were several areas that stumped me to the point of throwing the controller at the wall. Some people say that these games are too hard and wonder how a child could ever complete them. You have to realize that kids tend not to complicate things, they see things on a simple level and are able to solve puzzles quicker. I still have yet to complete the final stages of three levels. My nephew beat the game in three days. Go figure.

Compared to other games like Spyro, or even Spyro II for that matter, the level of violence is minimal. I would suggest it for girls as well as boys from ages 8 and up based on my own family and friends usage of the game. Girls are very attracted to the dragon and my nieces are extremely fascinated with collecting the gems, when ti comes time to kill a boss at the end of a level they get their brother then resume play.

Personally I recommend having a memory card with this game since it might take a few days to complete. You can check online sources (www.hotcodes.com or www.psm.com) for hints and cheat codes. One of my favourite codes is for 99 lives. You can enhance game play with a dual shock controller. The new Playstation deck comes with one dual shock controller but beware of this particular controller, they don't last very long. You can toggle the shock feature off and on easily with this game as well.

If you enjoy games like Croc, Tetris, Ape Escape or any type of puzzle solving game then try Spyro out.