The green Gems give the dragons mana, allowing them to use their element attacks. Along with the blue Gems there are also red ones that restore lost health. The blue Gems power up Spyro and Cynder, allowing them to upgrade moves. The more times the player hits the enemy, the more gems players will earn. They also have another feature called melee combos. Along with the standard power ups that gems will bring, Spyro and Cynder can both equip pieces of Dragon Armor that they find. While Spyro is stronger but slower, Cynder is faster but weaker than Spyro.

Spyro retains his command over fire, electricity, earth, and ice, while Cynder controls poison, fear, wind, and shadow, powers that were given to her as a result of her corruption by the Dark Master.

This time however, the game has more freedom by exploring larger areas and collecting items in order to progress through the game. In previous titles of The Legend of Spyro series, Spyro must travel through the level and defeat enemies in a linear fashion. The environments are much larger than in previous games and a majority of them have a bit more exploration to them. The co-op feature allows players to have the option of completing the game as either Spyro or Cynder, along with giving them the power to switch between Spyro and Cynder, giving them more freedom to explore the world in completely new ways. The game also features a co-op mode with Cynder. This is the first Spyro game that allows a player to fly at any time they want (free-fly mode). The gameplay in Dawn of the Dragon is more advanced than previous titles in the series. As evil spreads over the world, Spyro and Cynder must discover new abilities and unlock their true powers to defeat Malefor and stop him from destroying the world.

In this third chapter of the epic Legend of Spyro trilogy, Spyro must fulfill his destiny and face the Dark Master. Three long years have passed since Spyro and Cynder were trapped in the crystal, since then Malefor has unleashed his evil onto the world. As the evil of the Dark Master, Malefor, envelopes the world like a plague, Spyro must fulfill his destiny and unlock the true power of the purple dragon within him to stop the Dark Master in his tracks. In the final chapter of the trilogy, players find Spyro teaming up with an unlikely ally - Cynder, his former enemy, to face his most challenging mission to date.

Spyro dawn of the dragon wii