Spyro: The Eternal Night is the second title in the new Spyro trilogy under development, with the popular purple dragon once again taking roost on the Playstation 2 to continue the story arc set up in A New Beginning. After Spyro defeated the evil dragon Cynder and then removed the Dark Master’s spirit from her body Spyro had returned home only to suffer from both visions and a loss of his powers. On one eventful night Spyro’s home is attacked by forces commanded by the Ape King Gaul who seeks to resurrect the Dark Master’s spirit during the upcoming eclipse. Spyro, with his visions guiding him, must seek out the help of The Chronicler to restore his powers, defeat the Ape King, and ultimately prevent the Dark Master from rising once more.

It is easy to pass the game off as merely geared towards children with its colorful graphics, cutesy characters, and non-offensive gameplay. While the game is definitely kid-safe, it has a basic appeal that reaches a much wider spectrum with a light-hearted blend of combat and platforming elements. A big issue to be had with the game though is that it doesn’t really pick which group it is geared for, as the title lacks any serious depth to genuinely entertain experienced gamers while at the same time is often far too unforgiving for novice gamers.

For instance, the game’s combo-based combat system is fairly easy to get used to. Fighting enemies really only boils down to figuring out what the best tactic is to use against them, such as kicking them into the air and chaining melee attacks against them, rounding them up and blasting them all with fire, or slamming down on them from above to squash them flat. However, using the wrong tactic against an enemy often results in long, drawn out combat and Spyro even at his prime can only take between four and six hits before he keels over. What makes combat more aggravating than it needs to be is the combination of enemies that will constantly hit you while you are down and unable to move as well as enemies who are sometimes invulnerable for no reason at all. Add a camera that is too slow and has no function to center the view as well as often putting Spyro up against multiple enemies at a time and combat often becomes a tedious and frustrating.

The game’s combat will eventually be something that experienced gamers will adapt to despite its flaws, only to find that the game as a whole lacks the depth that many of them are used to. As the player progresses through the game they accumulate blue crystals, which are spent in a confusing upgrade screen to learn new abilities and enhance existing ones. Even with the new abilities that Spyro gains through the course of the game the combat still boils down to a few basic mechanics repeated over and over, with the gameplay occasionally throwing a basic puzzle sequence at the player. Essentially, the game often can be too difficult for many gamers to enjoy, and those that are skilled enough only find that the game is only as deep as your average children’s title.

To spice things up a little bit Spyro learns an ability called Dragon Time later on, which is the quite guessable equivalent of the slow motion gameplay found in many titles released this year. While in Dragon Time Spyro moves at just below his normal speed while enemies and everything else all slow to a crawl. This makes fighting enemies incredibly easy and sees its best use when up against powerful enemies or when in the middle of a large group. Spyro can also use this ability to solve certain puzzles or make timed jumps easier to manage, and slowly recharges when not in use. The effect is certainly clichéd, but it works quite well in the context of what it is used for in the game.

One thing that the game does do well is milk every ounce of horsepower left out of the Playstation 2. The engine itself looks little different than the one used in the first title in the trilogy released last year, but still has some of the best visuals that the platform has to offer. The slow motion and particle effects easily take the proverbial cake, and the mini-cutscenes that show Spyro immolating an area, sending enemies flying and smashing through objects in slow motion while the camera pans around is memorable. The art design is designed to be bright and colorful even in dark places and it easily succeeds in its goal, and the characters themselves are fully realized thanks to a diverse and fluid array of animations.

Quite a few big names have lent their voices to the game, with Elijah Wood reprising the voice of the title character and both Billy West and Gary Oldman lending their vocals as well. While overall the voice acting by nearly all of the actors is well done, the writing falls a little flat and often makes Billy West’s character Sparx more unlikable over anything else. The soundtrack of the game follows the lead set by the art direction and delivers an orchestral mix of overall light and airy tracks, but ultimately lacks any real hooks or memorable pieces.