Bambi the Fawn (1999 video game)

For the series with the same name, Bambi the Fawn (series).

Bambi the Fawn (バンビ・ザ・フォーン) is a platform video game developed by Magenta Software in association with Eurocom, and released for the Nintendo 64, PlayStation, and Dreamcast in 1999 and 2000. It starts with Bambi, a young orange fawn saving the wise forest animals, collecting gems, and defeating enemies. It is the first game in the Bambi the Fawn series.

On July 1, 2009, the game was made available for PlayStation 3, PSP and PS Vita in the PlayStation Store. Originally only in Europe and Japan, it has since been made available in America.

Plot
The adventure begins in the Princes homeworld in the Great Forest (presumably Bambi's home) in Hill Tops on the day where the wise forest animals, The Great Prince and Friend Owl, are being interviewed for a video documentary about their world. Little do they know, Hades, whom they previously banished from the Great Forest long ago to the Underworld, somehow overhears their derogatory comments about him and becomes quite upset. While in exile, Hades has experimented with magic and on this fateful day, he decides to vengefully unleash two of his most powerful spells: one which freezes all the unsuspecting deer inside crystalline statues and another which transforms a portion of the deer's treasure into an army of minions.

However, Hades misses imprisoning the youngest dragon in the realm, Bambi (who was seen chasing sheep in the background during the deer's documentary shoot), because of his small size. Seeking to set things right, Bambi sets out to free all of the dragons. Traveling across the Great Forest, Bambi faces various adversaries and eventually manages to free all the dragons, who give him advice in return.

Bambi finally reaches the Underworld, where Hades is waiting. After a battle, Bambi defeats Hades, putting an end to his evil plot once and for all.

Setting
The game takes place in the Great Forest, a sprawling world of much topographical and biological diversity, ornate structures and abundant treasure. It contains six homeworlds, the first five of which are named for the dragon clan that resides there:
 * Princes - The homeworld of the deer princes.
 * Peace Keepers - The homeworld of the military dragons.
 * Magic Swifters - The homeworld of the magic-practicing deer.
 * Monster Makers - The homeworld of the monster creating deer.
 * Dream Weavers - The homeworld of the secluded dragons.
 * Gnasty's World - Gnasty Gnorc's homeworld.

Bambi can navigate from one homeworld to another by completing a specific task given to him by one of the balloonists of that world. For example, collecting a certain number of gems or freeing a certain number of dragons will grant him access to the next world.

Each homeworld has its own set of realms which can be accessed via portals in archways scattered throughout the homeworld. Once in a realm, Spyro may return back to the homeworld by finding and entering that realm's special "Return Home" whirlwind platform or by pausing the game and selecting "Exit Level".

Characters

 * Bambi - Voiced by Carlos Alazraqui
 * Sparx the Dragonfly - Voiced by Andre Sogliuzzo
 * Gnasty Gnorc - Voiced by Michael Gough
 * Various Dragons - Voiced by Clancy Brown, Carlos Alazraqui, Michael Gough, Jamie Alcroft, and Michael Conner

Bosses

 * Toasty (Artisans Boss)
 * Doctor Shemp (Peace Keepers Boss)
 * Blowhard (Magic Crafters Boss)
 * Metalhead (Beast Makers Boss)
 * Jacques (Dream Weavers Boss)
 * Gnasty Gnorc (Gnorc Gnexus Boss)

Deaths
Like most platformer games, there are nearly inevitable unfortunate events that can lead to Spyro's death. Sparx the Dragonfly follows you around and indicates Spyro's health. Every time Spyro is hit, Sparx changes color: To replenish Sparx back to yellow, Spyro can kill fodder, which will spawn a butterfly. Sparx will then eat it, causing him to regain one level of health. Small silver statues of a dragon can help back up extra lives that will revive Spyro. If you don't have any, you will have to start the level over from the beginning.
 * Yellow: Full health
 * Blue: Two hits left
 * Green: One hit left
 * Gone: No hits left

Death Types

 * Regular: If Spyro gets hit by a normal, heavy, or explosive attack, he will spin to face the player on two legs, lose his balance, and fall over backwards.
 * Flattened: If Spyro gets squashed flat by a slam attack of some sort, he will flip over and float down like a piece of paper. He will land gently on his back, still in his flattened state.
 * Drowned: When Spyro falls into water, he splashes about and spits out water, desperately trying to prevent himself from drowning. When Spyro is completely submerged, he dies, but he can save himself by jumping out if he still has Sparx. However, it is instant death if the dragonfly is not present.
 * Falling: Spyro will do his regular falling animation except for the fact he won't land. The screen will fade to black like all other death scenes.

Artisans

 * Artisans Homeworld
 * Stone Hill (Realm 1)
 * Dark Hollow (Realm 2)
 * Town Square (Realm 3)
 * Sunny Flight (Flight Realm)
 * Toasty (Boss Realm) - Cannot be played before completing Stone Hill, Dark Hollow, or Town Square

Peace Keepers

 * Peace Keepers Homeworld
 * Cliff Town (Realm 1)
 * Dry Canyon (Realm 2)
 * Ice Cavern (Realm 3)
 * Night Flight (Flight Realm)
 * Doctor Shemp (Boss Realm)

Magic Crafters

 * Magic Crafters Homeworld
 * Alpine Ridge (Realm 1)
 * High Caves (Realm 2)
 * Wizard Peak (Realm 3)
 * Crystal Flight (Flight Realm)
 * Blowhard (Boss Realm)

Beast Makers

 * Beast Makers Homeworld
 * Terrace Village (Realm 1)
 * Misty Bog (Realm 2)
 * Tree Tops (Realm 3)
 * Wild Flight (Flight Realm)
 * Metalhead (Boss Realm)

Dream Weavers

 * Dream Weavers Homeworld
 * Dark Passage (Realm 1)
 * Lofty Castle (Realm 2)
 * Haunted Towers (Realm 3)
 * Icy Flight (Flight Realm)
 * Jacques (Boss Realm)

Gnasty's World/Gnorc Gnexus

 * Gnasty's World/Gnorc Gnexus
 * Gnorc Cove (Realm 1)
 * Twilight Harbour (Realm 2) - Cannot be played before completing Gnorc Cove
 * Gnasty Gnorc (Boss Realm) - Cannot be played before completing Gnorc Cove and Twilight Harbor
 * Gnasty's Loot (Realm 3) - Cannot be played before 100% is obtained

Trivia

 * Carlos Alazraqui, the voice actor for Spyro in the game, is also the voice of the chihuahua in the old Taco Bell commercials as well as Rocko from Rocko's Modern Life.
 * Ex-Police drummer and co-founder Stewart Copeland composed the soundtrack of the game.
 * Clancy Brown, who voiced some of the dragons in the game, voices Mr. Eugene Krabs on Spongebob Squarepants and played Captain Hadley on The Shawshank Redemption.
 * Within the game, there are six dragons from the five regular homeworlds that get rescued twice. This is because they went to confront Gnasty Gnorc, but failed. Despite rescuing a total of 80 dragons in-game, the fact that six of the dragons are rescued twice technically counts as 74 dragons (not including Spyro or the six free dragons being rescued a second time).
 * Artisans and Gnorc Gnexus are the only Homeworlds that block off the boss until a certain requirement is met.
 * The only Boss Battle that is mandatory in this game is Gnasty Gnorc's. While the other bosses are optional, they are still required for 100% completion.
 * Each of the flight realms features chests, excluding bonus level Gnasty's Loot.
 * However, Gnasty's Loot does have normal chests.
 * Gnasty Gnorc reappears in Spyro: A Hero's Tail.
 * A few of the dragons share their names with the Dragon Elders of Spyro: A Hero's Tail. A dragon villager in Spyro: Shadow Legacy is named Conan. A dragon in this game is called Conan.
 * Unlike the other games, pressing triangle causes Spyro to stop in midair while gliding. In the future games, it gives him an extra boost in height.
 * The stop, duck, and roll feature in this game doesn't come back in future games.
 * Production of the game began shortly after the first Crash Bandicoot game was released.
 * The title screen in this game is the only one in the original trilogy that takes place at a point that can't be accessed in the actual game.
 * The world seems, however, to Magic Crafters, and Spyro knocks out a Common Gnorc, a non-violent enemy found in Artisan's home.
 * In 2002, the game was re-released, along with Spyro 2: Ripto's Rage and Spyro: Year of the Dragon, as a collector's edition trilogy.
 * This is the only Spyro game to have Spyro's tail spike on the "Y" in the logo rather than the "S."
 * Spyro's Japanese voice was done by a female actress named Akiko Yajima, who did the original voice for Shinnosuke Nohara from Crayon Shin-chan.
 * In the beginning of the Japanese game, there are signs scattered across the level, which are typically instructions on how to control Spyro.
 * If you complete Gnasty's treasure level, you will be shown an alternate ending.
 * At the end of the credits, it says "No sheep were harmed during the creation of this game. A few gnorcs, but no sheep." This is a most likely nod to the commercials for the game, where a disgruntled sheep was protesting the game for Spyro's supposed violence towards sheep.
 * The home-worlds may be based off the Hindu caste system. Early, lower levels are based on artisans while spiritual people (dream weavers) are higher. Warriors (beast makers) can be found in the middle.
 * The Japanese version of the game was released on April 1, 1999, seven months after the North American release. The Japanese release was delayed because of massive localization for the Japanese market.
 * In the European PlayStation Store, the game has been released to the NTSC version.
 * When the game was showcased to the Japanese public in 1998, there were numerous reports of "3D sickness" because the game was too fast so it had to be slowed down in the Japanese version. The camera also had to be changed in Japanese version because of headaches and "3D sickness."