History VideoGame / SpyroAHerosTail

* AdamSmithHatesYourGuts: [[PlayingWithATrope Played with.]] Unlike past games, gems are not treated as collectibles, rather, they are used as the main currency to buy items from the Main Shop and Remote Shop Pads which Moneybags has set up in each Realm. Gems on the ground never replenish, but after reloading an area (or when you get knocked out), enemies respawn and their gems respawn with them. Remote Shop Pads do have all items cost about 10% more), but the [[WarpWhistle Teleport Pass]] '''always''' cost 100 gems, regardless of where you purchase it from, and an easy exploit involves buying a teleport pass, warping back to Moneybag's main shop, buy want you want at the baseline price, and then teleport ''back''. Useful at the start of the game, where gems are harder to get without constant SaveScumming, but once you to Coastal Remains, [[MoneyForNothing the increased price doesn't matter as much.]]

* AdamSmithHatesYourGuts: [[PlayingWithATrope Played with.]] Unlike past games, gems are not treated as collectibles, rather used as the main currency to buy items from the Main Shop and Remote Shop Pads Moneybags has set up in each Realm. Gems on the ground never replenish, but after reloading an area (or when you get knocked out), enemies respawn and their gems respawn with them. Remote Shop Pads has everything in the store cost more to purchase (about 10% more), but the [[WarpWhistle Teleport Pass]] '''always''' cost 100 gems, regardless of where you purchase it from, so it's often cheaper to buy a teleport pass and warp back to Moneybag's main shop, buy want you want at the baseline price, and teleport ''back'' to the area you were originally at. Useful at the start of the game, where gems are harder to get without constant SaveScumming, but once you get midway through game, [[MoneyForNothing the increased price doesn't matter as much.]]

* KarlMarxHatesYourGuts: Teleport passes ''always'' cost 100 gems, irrespective of if they are purchased from the Main Shop or a Remote Shop Pad elsewhere in the Realm. This allows for an exploit where you can teleport to Moneybags' main shop, get items there for their regular price, and then teleport back to save money.

* DropTheHammer: Armored Gnorcs wield these.

The ninth ''Franchise/SpyroTheDragon'' game, released on the UsefulNotes/PlayStation2, UsefulNotes/NintendoGameCube, and UsefulNotes/{{Xbox}} in 2004. This is the second home console Spyro game to not be developed by Insomniac Games, instead being made by Eurocom and Travellers Tales, and was published by Vivendi Universal Games.

* CoolButInefficient: Almost all the SecondaryFire for the Breaths qualify, which is probably why VideoGame/TheLegendOfSpyro ContinuityReboot would retool their mechanics to be actually useful. You can buy ammo at Moneybags' shops (or find it around the world, inside locked chests or as a RandomDrops from enemies sometimes) and upgrade the ammo capacity there too, but they are by and large a MoneySink inferior to their primary fire counterparts.

** [[ShockAndAwe Electric Breath]] SecondaryFire is by far the most useful, as it allows Spyro to breath 3 Lightning Bolts in front of him, which unlike the main breath effect, will [[OneHitKill instantly kill]] all enemies it hits, and its range is slightly better than fire breath too. The main issue is that it has the lowest ammo capacity of all secondary fires in the game, and the ammo and upgrades to the amount you can carry are the most expensive among all breaths too.

** [[AnIcePerson Ice Breath]] SecondaryFire allows Spyro to spit an icicle projectile. It has by far the longest range of any secondary fire breaths, which is useful to snipe enemies from a safe range, but if the foe wouldn't be instantly defeated by the ice breath primary fire (read: you are not targetting fire imps or birds), then the icicle will just freeze them, forcing Spyro to get close and charge the enemy to defeat them, negating the range advantage.

* PlotCoupon: The Dark Gems, though in an interesting twist, Spyro is tasked with 'destroying' them, not collecting them, unlike coupons of previous entries, as they are harmful to the enviroment, poluting the surrondings with [[PurpleIsTheNewBlack purple good and dark corruption]] and feeding its life energy to [[BigBad Red]]. Every single one of them must be destroyed in each realm for Spyro to be able to reach the boss of that world. {{Downplayed}} with Light Gems: they are used to power up the Professor's Gadgets, all of which are required to finish the game, but you only need 40 in total to activate all of them, everything beyond that is used to open doors to optional side area, one present in each world, and for HundredPercentCompletion. {{Averted}} with Dragon Eggs, as collecting them is a completely optional sidequest.

* PlotCoupon: The Dark Gems, though in an interesting twist, Spyro is tasked with 'destroying' them, not collecting them, unlike coupons of previous entries, as they are harmful to the enviroment, poluting the surrondings with [[PurpleIsTheNewBlack purple good and dark corruption]] and feeding its life energy to [[BigBad Red]]. Every single one of them must be destroyed in each realm for Spyro to be able to reach the boss of that world. {{Downplayed}} with Light Gems: they are used to power up the Professor's Gizmo, all of which are required to finish the game, but you only need 40 in total to activate all of them, everything beyond that is used to open doors to optional side area, one present in each world, and for HundredPercentCompletion. {{Averted}} with Dragon Eggs, as collecting them is a completely optional sidequest.

** Butterfly Jar gets instantly consumed [[EmergencyEnergyTank to put Sparx back to the gold "status" when he would disapear.]] You can hold only one at the time (but if Spyro buys it when Sparx is gone, it will bring him back to full health and Spyro can buy it again immediatley after), but given it **doubles** Spyro's health that is all you need. Combos really well with the permanent health upgrade too.

* JigglePhysics: Averted with Lily the Mermaid, as her animations for her breasts are done with baked-in textures.

* PaletteSwap: Flame is basically Spyro with red scales instead of purple ones though he is not a direct swap. There are some subtle differences (a wider snout on Flame, a different tail, and spikier fins on said tail) but they're still really similar at first glance. Without going into the Model Viewer, it's hard to notice. Averted with Ember as the only resemblance she has to Spyro is being a dragon, as Ember otherwise has a heart motif (heart pendant, heart tail, has a crush on Spyro).

** [[PlayingWithFire Fire Breath]] SecondaryFire makes Spyro spit a [[Fireballs Fireball]] with an arching trajectory, similiar to a mortar. However its range is absolutely pathetic, negating any advantage it has over the main fire breath, which can hit multiple enemies, while the fireball cannot. The fireball can hit a target on a platform below Spyro if aimed properly, unlike the main breath, but it is still an extreme niche use.

* DoesNotLikeShoes: Almost none of the cast wear shoes, with the Professor, Blink, and Moneybags being exceptions to this.

** Ineptune is clearly inspired by Ursula from [[WesternAnimation/TheLittleMermaid Disney's adaptation of The Little Mermaid]], in that she's a [[FatBitch morbidly obese merperson]] and (presumably) a sorceress of sorts.

The ninth ''VideoGame/SpyroTheDragon'' game, released on the UsefulNotes/PlayStation2, UsefulNotes/NintendoGameCube, and UsefulNotes/{{Xbox}} in 2004. This is the second home console Spyro game to not be developed by Insomniac Games, instead being made by Eurocom and Travellers Tales, and was published by Vivendi Universal Games.

* CallBack: The Professor talks about Gnasty Gnorc to Spyro at the start of the game, with Spyro mentioning [[VideoGame/SpyroTheDragon that he defeated Gnasty Gnorc a few years back...]]

** Spyro is noticeably more [[DeadpanSnarker deadpan and sarcastic]] (possibly from [[HeroicFatigue years of saving the world]]), and his impatience from ''[[VideoGame/SpyroTheDragon1998 Spyro 1]]'' is back is full force.

As with ''VideoGame/SpyroEnterTheDragonfly'', it makes use of unlockable breath types: Fire (to kill enemies), Electric (to activate electrical nodes), Water (for puzzles), and Ice (to freeze enemies). The Professor also flexes his knowledge more, as you get to use some of his inventions to help you, such as supercharging, the [[MadMarbleMaze Ball Gadget]], [[NighInvulnerability temporary invincibility]] and more. The game also makes each of the realms ''much bigger''. Each realm has multiple levels to them, which themselves house mini-games and Play-as-Hunter sections, instead of using portals to get to smaller specific worlds from hub area's. The gameplay is best described as a simplified VideoGame/Spyro2RiptosRage, but in a WideOpenSandbox.

* AnAxeToGrind: Some of the Gnorcs wield these as their weapon of choice.

** The Magma Falls Top Ball Gadget section has clearly been inspired from the trolley section in Breeze Harbor, also from ''[[VideoGame/Spyro2RiptosRage Ripto's Rage]]'', given that all the obstacles are timing-based, as well as certain stations requires the pulling of switches to proceed. Thankfully, with Zoe being at set intervals saving your progress, it's not nearly as frustrating in terms of difficulty, as you're not expected to complete it in one run, so it avoids being a DifficultySpike for most players.

As with ''VideoGame/SpyroEnterTheDragonfly'', it makes use of unlockable breath types; Fire (to kill enemies), Electric (to activate electrical nodes), Water (for puzzles), and Ice (to freeze enemies). The Professor also flexes his knowledge more, as you get to use some of his inventions to help you, such as supercharging, the [[MadMarbleMaze Ball Gadget]], [[NighInvulnerability temporary invincibility]] and more. The game also makes each of the realms ''much bigger''. Each realm has multiple levels to them, which themselves house mini-games and Play-as-Hunter sections, instead of using portals to get to smaller specific worlds from hub area's. The gameplay is best described as a simplified VideoGame/Spyro2RiptosRage, but in a WideOpenSandbox.

* BossArenaIdiocy: Its safe to say that in the boss fights against then, Ineptune and Red's [[Film/ReturnOfTheJedi overconfidence is their weakness.]] Ineptune can only be harmed when she gets frequently gets close enough to the platform Spyro is on to spray acid at him, leaving the crystal on her belt buckle a sitting duck for Spyro to charge into and damage her, and she never wises up from this. Red, meanwhile, is immune to all of Spyro's attacks and can only be harmed by exploding crates that he sometimes summons into the arena--like with Ineptune, he never wises up that he's [[HoistByHisOwnPetard putting himself at a disadvantage with this.]] [[spoiler:Mecha-Red takes this trope UpToEleven--not only does he not think to do anything about the Professor undoing his transformation throughout the fight, but he just stands in the middle of the room doing ''nothing'' while Spyro pelts him with missiles, electrocutes him, and gets his own minions to shoot him.]]

* DeadpanSnarker: This game has Spyro's snark turned way UpToEleven. He pretty much ''only'' speaks like this.

* AbsenteeActor: Since her debut in [[VideoGame/SpyroYearOfTheDragon Year of the Dragon]], Bianca does not appear in this game, but does appear in this games' sequel; VideoGame/SpyroShadowLegacy.

* YouGottaHaveBlueHair: Ember has Pink and Purple Hair on her head and tail.

* WingShield: Elder Titan in Cloudy Domain teaches Spyro about using his wings as a shield to deflect blunt objects (like boomerangs) and certain particle projectiles, and explicitly notes that sharp items won't work. The mechanic is very inconsistent, [[https://twitter.com/EbbeAHT/status/1447607929138417666 as see here]], where crossbow arrows don't harm Spyro, but blunt particle projectiles do.

* WingShield: Elder Titan in Cloudy Domain teaches Spyro about using his wings as a shield to deflect boomerangs and particle projectiles.

* InfinityMinusOneSword: Water breath: You cannot kill most enemies with it, only stunning them, which at that point, you may as well use fire or electric breath instead. The only real use is powering specific types of machinery. It ''does'' kill Fire-forged mooks in the Volcanic Isles, but by that point you already have the much more effective Ice Breath to do the job.

* BreakingTheFourthWall: Pretty much every character except Blink breaks the wall to pieces:

* CharacterizationMarchesOn: In addition to being PromotedToPlayable, Hunter is significantly more capable in this game than in Spyro 2 or Spyro 3, wielding a bow and arrow that he uses more than once. His eagerness to help Spyro is also amplified here.

* DepartmentOfRedundancyDepartment: Invoked in the Dark Mines by Blink, who feels fine for being in the Dark Mines. Spyro points out that it's because they're ''already'' underground, so his fresh-air-a-phobia isn't being triggered. Blinks very next line isn't a response to this, but his generic "Shall I explore below ground?" reply he uses in other realms, which is made completely redundant for the above reasons.

* DoesNotLikeShoes: Almost none of the cast wear shoes, with The Professor and Moneybags being exceptions to this.

* EliteMook: The robo-gnorcs in the Dark Mines and Red's Laboratory are this in general, but the roboticized gnorc--archers definitely qualify for this; while they're [[GlassCannon easy to take out up close]], they fire their laser guns surprisingly fast in stark contrast to how shot their normal selves shoot their arrows, they have a ''long'' range of fire, and they are scarily accurate with their shots to boot, making them a major pain in the butt to deal with.

* GoofyPrintUnderwear: Gnasty Gnorc reveals his red polka-dot boxers when he's goaded into swinging so hard that his staff/club sticks into the ground. More humiliating is the fact that this is his weak point. Strangely, in his [[VideoGame/SpyroTheDragon1998 first appearance]], he wasn't even wearing pants.

* InfinityMinusOneSword:
** Water breath: You cannot kill most enemies with it, only stunning them, which at that point, you may as well use fire or electric breath instead. The only real use is powering specific types of machinery. Like with Ice Breath, it does however, kill Fire-forged mooks in the Volcanic Isles....and that's it.
** There are some rather pointless upgrades and items Moneybags sells in his shops:
*** "The Shockwave" makes the AreaOfEffect of the shockwave when horn-diving twice as big, which sounds useful for clearing chests in a shorter time. But despite being the most expensive upgrade Moneybags has in the shops, [[PowerupLetDown the double range doesn't really justify the price]] when chests can be armored, found in scarce places, or require specific elemental abilities to beat it.
*** The "Double Gems Powerup" is made largely pointless due to the litany of gems you can find around the place, meaning you'd never have any use for this item outside of the first few levels (like Dragonfly Falls).
*** You can go the whole game without ever needing to use the sub-shots the elemental breaths provide as the game does not lock out areas with these sub-shots. The game even gives you them for free at certain points in the game to make your life a bit easier, which makes increasing and restocking their ammo by buying them from Moneybags ''also'' rather pointless.

* KillItWithWater: {{Subverted}}. Water Breath is only really useful against fire-forged mooks, such as Fire Hawks. Otherwise, it can't kill any enemies and is only used for puzzle solving.

* ManEatingPlant: A few enemies like this appear in the first Realm. For some reason, they can shoot {{Fireballs}}.

* MetaGuy: Spyro, Hunter, Moneybags, really the entire cast are more meta that usual.

* [[MoneyGrinding Gem Grinding:]] It's possible to go into an area, kill all the enemies in that area, get save-zapped by Zoe, and then [[SaveScumming reload the last save.]] This respawns all the enemies in the area, so it's a very reliable way to get gems fast in the early levels, where Gem scarcity is more of an issue. This tactic becomes less efficient by the time you reach Icy Wilderness, as you'll be finding more gems than you can spend.

* NoOSHACompliance: The Dark Mines and Red's Laboratory is filled with MechaMooks and BottomlessPits over hard-to-reach places, SteamVentObstacle around every turn, all wrapped in corridors of MalevolentArchitecture.

** Armored mooks are immune to attacks from your fire and electric breaths, though a charge attack will quickly take care of this. Ice Breath is so powerful that it completely bypasses having to break their armor altogether!

** Ineptune has a '''Gigantic Purple Crystal''' on her belt. Spyro does an AsideGlance during the opening boss cinematic to get the message across to the audience that yes, you need to hit it to defeat her.

** The Locked Chests in Coastal Remains only contain gems, not Light Gems or Dragon eggs as you'd expect them to.

* SuperNotDrowningSkills: As with ''Year of the Dragon'', Spyro can swim and breathe underwater indefinitely. Dragonfly Falls has a section where this is averted due to pirahna-infested waters, but asides from that, everything else is fair game.

* TakeYourTime: As with the rest of the games, there's no sudden need to stop Red, you can play all the minigames, travel to all the realms, do all the sidequests you want before defeating him in battle.
* TechnicolorScience: Red's Laboratory has this in spades, with green liquids and cables everywhere. Some of the Dark Mine have this, but to a much lesser degree.