Players once again play the role of Spyro the Dragon as he fights against various enemies and obstacles using his flame breath, charge attack, and glide abilities.
Like the previous game, Spyro’s health is indicated by the color of his dragonfly partner, Sparx, who can replenish his health by eating butterflies. Bottled butterflies will both completely restore Sparx’s health and give Spyro an extra life.
The game is split up into three main hub worlds containing portals to various realms. In order to progress through the first two hub worlds, the player must acquire a talisman from each realm, which is awarded for reaching the end of the level, before facing the boss of each world. Each level also contains a certain number of orbs, which can be earned by completing secondary tasks for particular NPCs, such as lighting a series of lamps or protecting characters from attacks. These orbs are required for opening some of the portals to certain levels, as well as progressing through the third hub world.
Gems gathered throughout the game are required to pay fees laid out by the greedy Moneybags in order to progress through the game. As well as opening portals or granting access to certain areas, Moneybags also teaches Spyro three brand new abilities over the course of the game. Swimming lets Spyro dive underwater to reach submerged treasure and hidden tunnels, climbing lets Spyro climb up certain surfaces, and the headbash lets Spyro perform an overhead smashing attack which can break rocks and certain cages.
In addition, each level has a power-up gate, activated after defeating a specific number of enemies in a level, which grants Spyro a temporary super-ability. As well as flying and supercharging featured in the previous game, power-ups include super fire breath, ice breath, invulnerability, and a super jump for reaching high up areas.
The only characters from the original game to return as main characters in this game are Spyro, the game’s protagonist, and Sparx, his dragonfly sidekick. Sparx functions as the player’s health meter, and assists the player in gathering gems.
This game introduces new characters into the Spyro series, many of whom would appear in later games. Both Hunter and Moneybags make recurring appearances in the series, while Ripto would make more series appearances than any other antagonist, making him the key villain of the original series. The dragons of the previous installment have been replaced with an entirely new cast of characters, including fauns, satyrs, anthropomorphic animals, and robotic businessmen, among others.
The world of Avalar is divided into three realms: the Summer Forest, the Autumn Plains, and the Winter Tundra. In every realm, there is a castle that, during the course of the storyline, is captured by Ripto. Each realm features a number of different worlds, a speedway world, and a dungeon in which Ripto or his minions are hiding.
This game also received positive reviews from critics and players alike.
