Does Spyro 2 have something new to offer, or are Sony just dragon out another sequel?
Catherine Channon

Throughout the ages, stories have been told and legends recounted involving mythological creatures, and none more so than the dragon. With that in mind, no creature seems more fitting to enter the gaming icon hall of fame than a cutesy purple example with a penchant for charging around and spewing flaming forks from its ickle mouth. Yet despite Spyro's by-the-numbers gaming suitability, the original's blazing breath failed to set the platform genre alight. In an already overcrowded genre, it was deemed too twee and slight to rival others' sophistication.

Refreshingly though, and contrary to Future Gamer's expectations, it looks as though the criticisms of the original haven't fallen on deaf ears. Almost everything that was wrong with Spyro The Dragon has been put right for Gateway to Glimmer.

Once again Spyro's Samaritan-like nature leads you through numerous garish worlds, which, in turn, lead to equally numerous levels and a seemingly infinite number of tasks. Granted, on first playing it's tempting to think that you'll have its tasks completed within a week, yet in a perfectly weighted manner, the game's learning curve soon takes a dramatic upturn. Bosses are tough enough to cause problems for even serious gamers, and although you may be able to give each of the worlds an initial cursory examination, completing the game is hard work. In one world alone you're required to flood the entire level (neatly saving the drowning aquatic life-forms in the process), rescue the children of King Floppy (no mean feat in itself) and (prepare for imagination overload...) tame a wild stingray.