Spyro the Dragon (Aug 27, 1998 prototype)

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Title Screen
Spyro the Dragon (Aug 27, 1998 prototype)
Build date Aug 27, 1998
Dump status Released, redump needed
File release date March 21, 2020
Game Spyro the Dragon
System PlayStation
Genre Platform
Final build JP Jan 6, 1999
EU Sep 1, 1998
US Aug 13, 1998
Release date JP Apr 1, 1999
EU Oct 1998
US Sep 9, 1998
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A prototype of Spyro the Dragon for the Sony PlayStation from after the final NTSC-U build but before the final PAL build. Originally released by from an unknown source in around 2007, it slipped under most people's radars due to the assumption that it was simply the final game - this would result in the build being lost for several years afterwards due to how limited of a release it initially was. After later being recovered, the prototype was re-released by hwd45 on March 21, 2020.

Users should be warned that this appears to be a slightly inaccurate dump with glitches that may not be present in an accurate dump. In particular, there is a risk of loud noises playing as a result of the music being partially corrupted.

Notes

  • This version of the game was built after the final NTSC-U release of the game but before the final PAL build.
  • The dump appears to have been of poor quality or from a damaged disc, and as a result there's some level of data corruption which may be related to several glitches the player can experience during gameplay. As such, an accurate dump of this build is still required.
    • The game will occasionally crash upon entering certain levels, there's a number of audio issues and several of the dragons are inexplicably invisible during their cutscenes.
  • The modification date of the WAD file still uses the one from the NTSC-U final build for some reason, so finding an accurate date for this version is difficult. Judging by the rest of the files and the disc modification date, though, it seems to be somewhere from August 24th - 27th 1998.
  • Many of the translations are still incomplete and some non-English level names are named differently to the final.
    • Accents are not yet displayed correctly on portals.
  • As there are a number of differences between the NTSC-U and PAL final builds, many of these differences have not been implemented into the game yet.
    • For example, the gem placement in Metalhead matches the NTSC-U version, while the retextured dragons match the PAL final version.
  • For some reason, Gnasty Gnorc reuses an early design seen in the June 15th Prototype as well as unfinished animations despite being fully complete and present in the NTSC-U final build.

Screenshots

Videos

Acknowledgments

Thanks to hwd45 and iniche for making this re-release possible.

See also