Spyro the Dragon (PlayStation)

Spyro the Dragon is the first game in what would become one of the PlayStation's best-selling and most iconic series. Gnasty Gnorc has crystallized the inhabitants of the Dragon Realms in a fit of rage, and it's Spyro's job to free the dragons, reclaim their stolen treasure, and toast some gnorcs!

Sub-Pages#

Regional DifferencesJapan got the dragon's share of changes. Japanese Signposts

Pre-Release Materials#

Prototype Info Prerelease Info

Post-Release Demos#

Crash 3: Warped DemoThe demo included in Crash Bandicoot: Warped, accessible with a cheat code. Both North American and European versions exist. Foil DemoThe demo used on a standalone demo disc released in 1999, with similar content to the above demo.

Developer Message#

A rather cryptic assortment of text, repeated multiple times to fill up leftover space on the disc, can be found in the "DRAGON" file. It contains extracts from Shakespeare, Dickens, Melville, Edgar Allan Poe, and other esteemed authors. It reads:

Now is the winter of our discontent...
It was the best of times, it was the worst of times...
Call me Ishmael...
Stately, plump Buck Mulligan...
Call me Jonah.  My parents did...
Gaily bedight a gallant knight...
Beware the ides of March...
Tyger tyger burning bright...
...
I always get the Shemp...

Insomniac also managed to sneak this into the files of the second and third game. The term "Shemp" is an internal joke among the developers, as if something didn't go as planned, or if someone messed up, they "got the Shemp".
This is where the boss of Peacekeepers, Doctor Shemp, got its name.

Unused Text#

Unused Dragon Names#

The name listings for all of the dragons and balloonists (as well as Toasty and Jacques) contain a few names which go unused by any of the characters found in the final game.

RASHIDI
JETHRO
FINLAY
GALE
SILVUS

Notably, Silvus was used in demo builds of the game as the name of the cowardly dragon in the Artisans home, which was renamed to Tomas in the final release. The internal order in which the names are listed implies that they would have been used in Jacques (Rashidi), Cliff Town (Gale), and one of the Magic Crafters worlds (Finlay and Jethro).

Miscellaneous Text Strings#

DRAGON X

The EXE in one of the demo versions references the "Dragon X" string many times in the dragon name pointer array, suggesting that it would have been used for Dragons whose names were yet to be decided. Despite this, prototypes which do contain dragons with undecided names instead show the name "Silvus" in their cutscene, corresponding to the first name in the array.

THIGH MASTERS

This unusual piece of text is grouped in with the world names. This was clearly intended as a joke on Insomniac's part... although could you imagine if there actually was a Thigh Masters world?

This may be a remnant from a time where 7 worlds were planned for the game, and in fact the earliest demo contains placeholder gem and dragon inventory totals for a 7th world. Should the player access this inventory page, its world name will (unsurprisingly) display as "Thigh Masters".

Unused Graphics#

To do: Get a better rip of the life icon - also identify if the head icon is actually present at all (and where?), as it seems like it may have been an edit of the other sprite.

Grouped in with the graphics displayed on the title screen is an unused life icon. This icon depicts Spyro's severed head in typical platformer fashion, more closely resembling the counters used in the second and third games than the 3D modeled head used for the life counter in the final game. Spyro's head is superimposed onto a metal plate with several cavities around its edge; apparently intended to hold the same life orbs which orbit the life counter in the final game. This graphic is also briefly seen in an early trailer for the game.

Also included within the title screen icons is a sprite which reads "LOAD GAME". Despite being loaded into VRAM alongside the rest of the icons, it is never used. It's also only present in the data of the final North American version of the game.

Unused Sounds#

The "WAD" file contains all of the audio resources in the game, but a small number never end up being used anywhere.

A rather crude "impact" sound, sounding very much akin to a cartoonish "slap". It was found in the files for the Dream Weavers home, and may have been intended for the large feminine druid enemy.

A secondary "death" sound for the Armored Spider enemy in High Caves, which sounds like it's getting squished or getting hit with considerable force. It may correspond to a scrapped event featured in the June 15th 1998 prototype of the game, where instead of a fairy granting Spyro a "superflame" powerup to dispose of these enemies, the same fairy would shrink the spiders down to half their size, allowing Spyro to defeat them with a normal charge. This feature being changed may have necessitated this sound effect's removal, with the same sound being used regardless of whether you defeated the enemy with the temporary "superflame" power-up or with the supercharge.

Unused Music#

To do: Outdated info; going to fix later.

Multiple themes are present in the game which play after staying in a level long enough, although the exact circumstances that cause this are unknown and seemingly random. The only reason they play is due to a glitch in the game's audio looping and streaming. Although these themes aren't actually "unused", it's slightly unlikely that most players would hear them, as they only seem to play after most players will have left the level.

Unique Themes#

Many of the themes are unique tracks not heard anywhere else. Some of the following tracks are only present in later releases of the game. The "Versions" column indicates which versions of the game they're present in.

Duplicate Tracks#

Several themes are duplicated within the STR files, meaning that a few tracks that are virtually identical to the ones heard in-game technically go unused.

North American Version#

One such track is a duplicate of the Dark Hollow theme without the silence at the beginning.

There's also a duplicate of the Dream Weavers theme which seems to be identical to the one that is used.

On top of that, in the North American version of the game, a further six tracks are duplicated in order to fill out the last STR file (PETEXA0.STR) to include 8 tracks. These tracks are copies of the six themes that come immediately before the duplicates, and all four of the unique unused themes listed in the table above are included within this list:

• Credits Theme
• Alpine Ridge (Alt)
• High Caves (American)
• Wizard Peak (Alt)
• High Caves (European, Alt)
• Unidentified unused track

European/Japanese Versions#

By the time of the European version's final build, the eight duplicate tracks had been removed. These were replaced with the European/Japanese version of High Caves' theme, the six entirely unique unused themes mentioned above, and one new duplicate track:

This seems to be a duplicate of one of the unique unused themes, but slightly quieter.

Note, also, that the addition of an updated High Caves theme means that the old theme goes unused in the European/Japanese versions, as the old theme was not removed.

Unseen Level Geometry#

In the Beast Makers home is a giant tree whose upper trunk and branches are normally never seen in-game due to the level's short draw distance.

Low-Poly Model Oddities#

There are a few notable differences between some of the level models and their respective low-poly variants that suggest the latter may reflect an earlier version of the level that they derive from.

Unless specified, these changes also apply to the version of the levels seen in the ending fly-through sequence.

Artisans Home#

Low-Poly Model	High-Poly Model

The whirlwind tower has a thick arch around the upper door's frame, and the bridge lacks its outstretched "jumping pads".

Do note that while the ramp that leads down is also missing, it may have simply been omitted due to not being visible from afar. This would be supported by the vertex coloring still being where it would normally be. In comparison, the shading used for the mountains behind Town Square's portal use a noticeably more purplish hue, perhaps indicating that they matched more closely to the color used for the mountain chain in the actual level.

Stone Hill#

Low-Poly Model	High-Poly Model

The room that holds the key isn't connected to the rest of the beach. This could be an instance were Spyro would have had to swim earlier in development.

Dark Hollow#

Low-Poly Model	High-Poly Model

The room that holds the key has a slightly different layout. The two smaller platforms are further back, the pool is a different shape, Oswin's platform is less connected to the wall behind, and the key platform is missing entirely.

Cliff Town#

Low-Poly Model	High-Poly Model

One of the force field poles near the start of the level is missing. It may have been added at a later point to make it clear that you couldn’t simply go around the barrier.

Ice Cavern#

Low-Poly Model	High-Poly Model

The structure you land in when starting the level has a much narrower entrance.

Low-Poly Model	High-Poly Model

In the room that leads to the locked chest balcony, the top left entrance that goes down the ice cave has a step that juts out further.

Doctor Shemp#

Low-Poly Model (Level)	Low-Poly Model (Credits)	High-Poly Model

The third platform in Doctor Shemp's arena is visibly less eroded. Interestingly, the low-poly model of this level's ending fly-through version shows an in-between state, with one of the corners now matching final.

Blowhard#

Low-Poly Model	High-Poly Model

The platform where you first fight Blowhard is much, much smaller.

Low-Poly Model	High-Poly Model

At the end of the level, where the exit vortex normally is, is a portal frame similar to the ones found all over the Magic Crafter home. This is a leftover from earlier in development, where Spyro would leave a level using a portal similar to the one used to enter it. This can be seen in some of the game's pre-release material.

Blowhard's exit portal managed to stick around in its low-poly model, though its vertex coloring did become mismatched by the time the final game released, now blending in with the terrain around it.

Terrace Village#

Low-Poly Model	High-Poly Model

Two of the logs to the right of the starting area are missing, leaving a gap near the tower.

Metalhead#

Low-Poly Model	High-Poly Model

In Metalhead's second arena, the room behind the left waterfall is missing entirely, and an extra pair of platforms lie beyond the waterfall’s arch.

Dark Passage#

Low-Poly Model	High-Poly Model

On the platform with the fireworks, the two triangular bits of decorative geometry around the door’s frame are level with the ground in the low-poly model, rather than being out of reach.

Gnorc Cove#

Low-Poly Model	High-Poly Model

The island with the hourglass-shaped machine has a wider platform.

Twilight Harbor#

Low-Poly Model	High-Poly Model

The volcano near the supercharge ramp is slimmer. This earlier geometry can be seen in-game in prototype builds.

Gnasty Gnorc#

Low-Poly Model	High-Poly Model

The machinery in the main room has a flat top (instead of slanted), and wraps all around the room. This earlier geometry can be seen in-game in prototype builds.

Low-Poly Model	High-Poly Model

The path leading back up to the main room at the end of the first thief's area starts off more level, before shifting to a steeper ramp. This earlier geometry can be seen in-game in prototype builds.

Fly-Through Discrepancies#

Both versions of the ending credits have the camera flying through various of the game's levels. For the sake of optimization, said levels are unique, truncated models, with a handful having differences when compared to their playable counterparts.

Stone Hill#

Level Model	Credits Model

The tower you glide from is narrower, as seen in prototype builds.

Toasty#

Level Model	Credits Model

The castle in Toasty has less windows, and is missing the texture that marks the transition between the grass and the castle walls. This appears to be an exporting mishap rather than a prototype leftover.

Cliff Town#

Level Model	Credits Model

The water in Cliff Town is dull and lacks vertex coloring, as seen in prototype builds.

High Caves#

Level Model	Credits Model

The cliff halfway up the side path’s spiraling ramp uses a different, more fitting texture, as seen in prototype builds.

Level Model	Credits Model

The room with the fireworks baskets lacks the spade symbols on the walls and ceiling fresco. The room that leads to the thief's cave also lacks the spades on its ceiling.

Level Model	Credits Model

The pool area with the egg thief retains the early (mostly incorrect) texture mapping seen in prototype builds.

Dark Passage#

Level Model	Credits Model

The large room with the exit vortex has slightly incorrect shading, as seen in prototype builds.

Icy Flight#

Level Model	Credits Model

This level appears to have been shoddily exported, introducing a few errors. Namely, the rails aren't mirrored, some snow mappings are incorrect, and the bottom of the cliff walls repeats the wrong texture.

Jacques#

Level Model	Credits Model

Two peaks in Jacques’ arena are slightly different (one a bit slimmer, the other shorter). This earlier geometry can be seen in-game in prototype builds.

The mountain chain that surrounds the level also lacks most of its red cracks, and the grassy ledge textures are mostly all missing. This, however, appears to be an exporting mishap rather than a prototype leftover.

Twilight Harbor#

Level Model	Credits Model

The volcano near the supercharge ramp is slimmer. This earlier geometry can be seen in-game in prototype builds.

Gnasty Gnorc#

Level Model	Credits Model

The lava in the last section of the level doesn’t extend as far out of bounds, making it look less stretched. This earlier geometry can be seen in-game in prototype builds.