OK SO the original Spyro trilogy on PS1 is probably my #1 favorite game series ever made and extremely close to my heart, so apologies in advance if this review is biased as hell.

NOW, FOR MY CREDENTIALS:

As you can see, I played thoroughly. Maybe even obsessively. So, after all that time spent on every single excruciating detail of all 3 games, I've got some stuff to say about 'em!

GAME 1 - SPYRO THE DRAGON

• GAMEPLAY 4/5
• ART 5/5
• STORY 3/5
• HOW MAD YOU'LL GET IN THE TREETOPS LEVEL: 300/5

OK so THIS GAME IS HARD. As a kid, I never tried to go for 100%+, so it didn't seem that bad. Sure, I was missing a few crystal dragons here or there, but I beat it! But going after that perfect score is HELL (in a fun way!)

Gameplay:

Spyro 1 kickstarted one of the best platformer series of all time, so I can't blame it for being a little clunkier than the ones that came after. I mean, improving your product and making more amazing content is kinda the whole point of making sequels! It has some fabulous level design and it's a total delight, but if you're used to the smooth controls of 2 and 3, Spyro 1 will drag you outside by the ankles and kick your ass in the parking lot.

Go ahead and show any Spyro 1 player this image to induce instant trauma:

In Spyro 1, the absolutely essential Hover move didn't yet exist, meaning that the only way to save a slightly off-angle glide is to run face-first into the platform and hope the engine fudges the landing for you. Luckily, it usually does! Usually...

The other major hurdle of Spyro 1 as compared to its followup games is that the home worlds – areas you access to go between official levels – are chock full of enemies that regenerate every single time you return to the area, meaning every time you beat a level, you have to continue slamming baddies until you enter the next one.

In early home worlds, like the Artisans, this isn't annoying at all. You can just charge right past and be on your merry way to the next adventure. But by the time you hit Magic Crafters, you're taking on a dozen or more fairly substantial enemies every single time you want to switch levels, and it gets annoying fast.

The other controversial feature of Spyro 1 is the reliance on trick glides and trick dashes to get to certain collectibles in hidden areas. I actually think this is a brilliant and devious design, because it meant any kid who bought this in 1998 for $40 probably got like 40 hours of gameplay out of a 5 hour game just by having to find and land these impossible moves. They're infuriating! I've been playing this game off and on for like 15 years and I still had to go look up Youtube walkthrough while pulling my hair out. But after chaining 4 supercharges and landing that perfect charge jump and getting rewarded with the last crystal dragon in the level, finally earning that coveted 100% Level Complete badge, it's like "damn.... what's the street name for this high?" There's just nothing in the world quite as satisfying. Bottle that shit.

Art -

No idea what to say here other than AAAAAAAAAAAH! It's so PRETTY! I'll let this note apply to ALL of the Reignited Trilogy's graphics updates, because HOLY CRAP. It's like they totally bypassed the PS1 graphics on a physical level and just captured what my imagination was seeing way back when I played this game as a kid. After playing Reignited for a few hours, I did a few side-by-sides and was STUNNED to realize just how different the original graphics looked. Some of the PS1 models are straight up nightmarish by today's standards, though I love them dearly. Everything about Reignited is true to the heart of the originals, and polished to perfection.

Also I feel like I'm obligated to note that all the dragons you save are absolute furry DILFs now and it's VERY confusing.

Story:

The story of Spyro isn't meant to be a deep epic, so just take it for what it is: A tiny purple dragon kicking Gnorc and Rhynoc butt! Gnasty Gnorc imprisoned all the dragons in Crystal as payback for talking smack, and it's up to Spyro to release them. Easy, fun, and satisfying. I rate this one at a little less than the followup games only because of how awesomely they improve and add character to the worlds later on.

NEXT UP, GAME 2 - SPYRO: RIPTO'S RAGE:

• GAMEPLAY 5/5
• ART 5/5
• STORY 4/5
• MONEYBAGS: -1/5

Gameplay: The gameplay in Spyro 2 is fantastically improved in every way. The levels are less confusing and way more intuitive to navigate, the minigames were a genius addition, and Spyro's controls are more fun and forgiving! The Hover, my favorite thing, is invaluable for Spyro 2's glides, even if it's a tiny bit unreliable. They took the best parts of Spyro 1 and leaned into them, and it's impossible not to love this game.

EXCEPT SPEEDWAYS. In Avalar, there are approximately a fuckton of speedway levels, where you must fly through obstacles within a given time limit. They can be fun, but mostly, they are soul-crushing. These ones are definitely more easy to navigate and visually fun than Spyro 1's flight levels, luckily.

But apart from that, Spyro 2 is the gem of the series. Not too hard, not too easy, and every level is unique and memorable. The core gameplay loop of enter the world, save the citizens, and win the minigames is addictive and so, so fun. It's no wonder it set a new standard for the series!

One of the biggest changes comes in the form of new temporary and permanent abilities for Spyro! We had a taste of superflame and supercharge mechanics in Spyro 1 from fairy kisses and specialized maps, but Spyro 2 is absolutely silly with great powerups that make the gameplay more exciting!

Story: This is also significantly improved from Spyro 1, if only for the fact that, well, there IS one! Spyro 1 was meant to be simple and lighthearted, and it pulls it off just fine. But Spyro 2 introduces a core cast of friends and recurring enemies you can get attached to. Not to mention Moneybags, the greedy bear you love to hate.

Art: What can I say? It's perfect. Every Avalar redesign is gorgeous without fault, and while the characters aren't exactly who they were in my memories, they're lovable, cute, and completely suited to the game's aesthetic.

FINALLY.... (drum roll)

GAME 3 - SPYRO: YEAR OF THE DRAGON

• GAMEPLAY 5/5
• ART 4/5
• STORY 5/5
• NOSTALGIC TEARS: 5/5

Gameplay: This is MY FAVORITE GAME EVER. Replaying the remasters of these games back to back, it feels to me like Ripto's Rage is the objective best installment. I can admit that. But Year of the Dragon IS MY JAM. My personal happy place.

First off, the gameplay is greatly expanded. Not only are you playing as Spyro and doing that same addictive collecting and minigame loop as Spyro 2, but you're also able to jump into the shoes of Sheila the Kangaroo, Sgt Bird the Penguin, Bentley the Yeti, and Agent 9 the gun-toting monkey to add some fun variety to the mechanics. The range of vehicles and powerups has been expanded greatly as well!

Side note: I AM THE BEST AT SPYRO SKATEBOARDING. I AM THE TONY HAWK OF THE DRAGON REALMS. I WILL ORANGE CRUSH AND GNASTY GNORC ANYONE INTO THE GROUND. BRING IT.

And, also, you get to collect Dragon Eggs which, apart from being their own reward, lets you see little animations and names for every baby dragon. So cute! Everything about this game is fun, challenging, and perfectly paced.

Art: You'll notice this game lost a star compared to its predecessors in the art department. I want to be clear that the graphics in this are INCREDIBLE and I would die for them, and for the most part, the characters look fantastic! My one complaint was the redesign for Sheila. I'm sure it's petty, but I just felt a little uncomfortable that they took a really cool female character who didn't have classic feminine traits and sort of... girled her up. I won't get into the politics of it, but as a kid, I thought Sheila was AWESOME and as an adult, I still think she's AWESOME but her redesign just made me feel a little weird. I think I would have loved the clothing addition if it didn't come with the hair and eyeliner, but who knows!

On the other hand, my favorite citizens, the Weather Imps from Cloud Spires, look FANTASTIC! I think both their old and new versions are adorbs, but can't deny that they look so much better and more sharp!

Story: This just keeps getting better with each Spyro release! In this story, we have a great new cast, a lovable returning cast, and we even see some character progression and relationships growing! Hunter and Bianca, of course, are #goals and precious. I also love how developed some of the stories and lore within the worlds are. Ripto's Rage started this trend, but Year of the Dragon definitely perfected it!

So, how do I feel now that I've completed all 3 of the remasters as completely as possible?

These games are so good, I wish I hadn't finished them so I could keep playing them. Now I have nothing to fill the void unless I want to give the less-well-received sequels a chance.

SEND HELP

This review based solely on my experience. Looking up other reviews online, it seems many have wildly different experiences.

Spyro Reignited Trilogy takes the original 3 playstation 1 Spyro games, and remakes them in a brand new engine. The developer Toys For Bob put in more work than what a remaster would be, but this is less work than what was done for example in the Halo remakes. I had played a good chunk of Spyro upon initial release growing up, but I had never played any of the 3 to completion so I may not have the nostalgia blinders on that many seem to have with this release. The graphics are beautiful for this game. I was really impressed with the graphical settings you can choose from and everything at max settings it looks really good. Sound design is a mixed bag. The audio is pretty good, and the spatial audio works really well. There's even an option if you want to listen to the Reignited soundtrack which is a brand new remake on the original soundtrack, or you can have the original soundtrack from PS1 playing.

There are some minor, but frustrating, differences that were done in these remakes. The sound effects are a bit different from the original. For example, Sheila the Kangaroo in Year of the Dragon has had hear spring sound effects from the original games into a more generic, almost stock sounding, hop. It's not a big deal, but just felt like it sapped a little of the character or feeling from the original. Some of the side characters as well have been redesigned from the original. Sometimes they don't look bad, other times they look really out of place and not good.

The amount of content in these games is still pretty high. I got all achievements for this game in roughly 54 hours worth of play time, but with taking my time. Each of the three games has an art gallery that can be unlocked when you acquire all the "skill points" which are essentially mini challenges in a handful of levels. The art gallery is really neat, but I wish there were a lot more of that bonus/side content. I did really enjoy my time with these games and getting to finally see all three through completion, but unfortunately that was certainly not without some MAJOR frustrations.

This game is BUGGY. It definitely feels like it was a quick cash grab by Activision as years later, there are still some major issues that were never fixed with patches. I encountered one that could be game breaking (?) depending on how and when it shows up, as for me it only hit when I was going back through levels trying to get all achievements. In Spyro 3, I had already 100 (or in that games case, 117%) completed the game but was missing two achievements from levels in the third world. When firing up the game, it started me in the first hub world. I opened up the Guidebook to warp to the levels I was looking for and it was blank. I couldn't travel to any other worlds or even levels within the current world. Thinking maybe I just needed to quickly complete the levels again, I ran through them in the first world, defeated the boss, went to the second world, defeated those levels. Then due to events that happen in the game (which I won't spoil here), it was completely broken for me to progress to the next world. After looking online for any help and seeing many others with this issue and no resolution, I had to start a brand new save file and basically speed ran the first two worlds to be able to get to the levels for the completion. Apart from that, there's some weird physics glitches that occur from time to time, one of the bosses in the second game just straight up broke for a while where the side characters that were to drop items for me to attack the boss with would never drop anything. The camera is wonky as hell and lead to more deaths than every enemy in all three games combined.

These games were fun, but also an incredible exercise in patience dealing with some major laziness on the developer's side.

It's an incredibly well done remaster, especially considering how much of the game's visual style and overall feel was kept despite the enhanced visuals. Spyro 1 and 2 are beautifully remade here, and while I'm not the biggest fan of Year of the Dragon, I still felt compelled to get 117% this time around and get all of the skill points.

Spyro 1 is easily the game given the most amount of love here, with its incredible environments that are super vibrant, as well as each of the 80 dragon statues that were given their own unique animations and character designs. It's incredibly impressive and it looks and feels great. There's a tiny quality drop off with Ripto's Rage, where there isn't quite as much attention to detail and some of the textures feel a little bland, but it is still an overall well made remake and might be the most consistent spyro game overall.

Then of course we have Year of the Dragon which is plagued by annoying mini-games and half-baked levels. It has a noticeable visual downgrade and while it doesn't look bad by itself, it certainly looks cheap compared to the other two games. YOTD also introduces other characters to play as and pretty much all of them are not fun. You get maybe 2 fun levels with agent 9 but that is about it. Byrd's are the absolute worst of them though, with his infuriating movement, inconsistent attacks, and music that makes you want to punt an infant. Skateboarding, while decent fun the first time or two, quickly becomes annoying when it starts to become skateboarding races instead, which suck any fun out of them you could've possible had.

Besides the annoying playable characters and buggy mini-games, The Reignited trilogy is a worthy way of playing the Spyro trilogy again, and while YOTD may not be my cup of tea, the first two remasters are more than worth the price of admission.

This review will be long due to the fact Spyro Reignited is three games in one. I will admit, I grew up a Crash Bandicoot kid. Spyro was more my sister’s game. I remember playing the first one and it kicking my butt back in the day. Still, when I heard it was getting the remaster treatment like Crash, I knew it would be a game I’d get eventually.

On the overall presentation, there’s the noticeable update to the graphics. They stay pretty faithful to the classics, even incorporating that PS1 blockiness into the designs of the characters and world. Everything is kept bright and colorful, like you’d expect a kid’s game to be. The new coat of paint also makes the world easier to navigate. With more polygons available, you can tell a wall from a step. The music has been updated with some more depth to its instrumentation and dynamics. Updating, say, the DOOM theme from it’s original 16-bit tune to a proper song with real instruments creates a noticeable shift, but the original Spyro already had some solid music that sounded like ‘real’ music. The game realizes this and lets you turn off the remastered soundtrack and listen to the original. I’ll get into specifics with each game, but overall, the controls are smooth as butter. Spyro and the camera are both responsive.

Thank You for Releasing Me.

Starting off the only Spyro game in this trilogy I actually played back in the day, Spyro 1. I’ll admit I’m biased to this game & it’s 100% due to nostalgia. Revisiting this game after 20 some years was a trip. I recognized the layouts of most of the levels. With the new graphics I could tell what some of the gnorcs and other villains were supposed to look like. They were all varied from level to level and expressive. I know most people think of Ripto when they think of Spyro villains, he was the most re-used, but Gnasty Gnorc was always my favorite. He’s just a big dumb orc, nothing original, but I like him. I also appreciate the update to the dragons. In the original game, they were all carbon copies of each other, but here they are unique and fit the theme of their world. The Artisan dragons carry paints and sculpting tools while the Magic dragons have wizard hats and crystal balls. It keeps finding dragons interesting even towards the end game. I was always curious to see the new designs and hear the new dialogue.

The story is pretty bare bones, it’s a kids game after all. Gnasty has frozen all the dragons and you have to save them. This first entry is a bit bare bones in general. You don’t have any powers you unlock like in the later games, and enemies rarely deviate from either being small and chargeable or big and flammable. With the bigger enemies that smack you, I found myself getting hit a lot. You have to get in to flame them, but they seem to be much quicker at attacking, or I just misjudged the range of my flame breath. The bosses, while cool in design, are still fairly simple to beat. Each levels’ goal is to collect everything in it because this is a collectathon. There’s your gems, dragons, and eggs to collect and each balloonist that takes you to a new world requires a certain amount of one of those items. If you explore levels and don’t speed through them, it’s easy enough to fill their quota. It actually led to a situation where, if I wanted to, I could skip the entire last dragon world and go straight to Gnasty Gnorc.

One thing that wasn’t bare bones was the world design. They got an overhaul that added more details to the world. The Beast Master worlds have more flora, Dark Hollow looks like a cozy garden library, and Cliff Town felt like a dust abandoned Western ghost town. The final levels in the game see Spyro assaulting Gnasty’s shipyards, and I’ll admit, these levels felt more like something from Crash Bandicoot. They are relatively linear compared to the other levels and the world design looks more like something from Cortex’s factory vs the more fantasy elements of earlier levels. Overall, there’s a simple charm to the original Spyro that makes it feel timeless, even in this remaster.

Trouble with the Trolley, Eh?

From now on, this remaster is all a new experience for me. I only played a few levels of Spyro 2 that were included on, it was either, one of Crash games or one of those Pizza Hut demo discs. Right away, we get more story than the previous title. We’re introduced to some furry friend who are trying to summon a dragon to stop the evil Ripto. They are all one note: Elora is the competent one, Hunter’s a coward, the Professor is absent minded, and Moneybags is, well, you love to hate him. I found Ripto’s design didn’t match what’s in my head. His old PS1 model made me think he was more dinosaur or lizard like in appearance, but his face is pretty flat here. Spyro gets drug into this new world and tasked with helping to free the kingdoms. While the plot is still fairly simple, it’s a lot more build up then “All the dragons are crystal, get to it.” They mention Ripto hates dragons, but we never learn why. Whatever the reason, that bit of info would’ve at least gave him a little more motive.

Each level starts with a short cutscene that sets up the good guys and bad guys of the level. You are greeted by one of the level’s inhabitants at the start who ask for your help and give you a goal. The goal is always get to the end of the level, but they try to dress it up a little. While most enemies in Spyro 1 were some type of gnorc or druids or such, here almost every level has a different type of enemy. I can only think of maybe one enemy that was used in more than one level. All of the good guys are varied in design too, from Scottish fauns who play with yo-yos to robot salarymen to army birds. The checkpoint fairy has a voice now and serves as your tutorial narrator. She made it painfully aware I was playing a kids game. She often gave advice about how to defeat an enemy after you’ve already beat like 4 of them.

I do think Spyro 1 had a stronger “fantasy” feel to its world. You interact with mostly dragons and orcs, all of the worlds still have a hint of high fantasy to them, whereas Spyro 2 feel much more Crash like. You visit a wider array of locations that aren’t usually fantasy type locales, like the Stone Age or the Middle East and interact with a Saturday morning cartoon cast of furry animal friends. The most prevalent theme I got from this game was a Far Eastern one. A lot of the level themes seem influenced by various Asian cultures. There’s a level in a Tibetan type monastery, another dealing with Chinese magic, and the tiki carver level pulls from the same influences as Crash. There were plenty of other themes for levels though, such as a farm and a harbor.

Spyro gets a new set of moves for this game. Water is not the insta-death trap it used to be as he can swim and dive now. He climbs, which looks awkward for a four-legged creature, and can ground pound, which you get that late in the game & it doesn’t get used much. At the end of a glide, Spyro can now hover a bit to reach platforms that are higher or further away. I did find this ability a bit touchy. It seems like you have to be gliding for a set amount of time before you can use the hover. I wasn’t able to start a glide and go straight into a hover. There’s also a shakeup to gameplay. Instead of simply collecting everything not nailed down in a level like in Spyro 1, you can come across little mini game opportunities. These challenges range from racing around a track in one go to catching some thieves to playing a game of hockey. And, of course, there’s the infamous trolley challenge. I’ve heard it was toned down from the original’s version, but I still died a few times before finally beating it. All of these challenges do add length to the gameplay in a good way and adds some more charm throughout the game from the NPCs you meet.

The boss battles have been developed into proper adventure game boss battles. They offer a good challenge, except Gulp. He shoots out mortar rounds that you have to dodge, a common trope of adventure game bosses, but I swear he was reading my inputs. You can see where the energy ball is going to land, but not quick enough that you can course correct. Even charging around him in a circle didn’t save me. He seemed to get a lot of cheap shots in and was the only point in the first two games where I was chewing through lives. Luckily, the final boss fight against Ripto was a much easier affair. Overall, I can see why most people consider this the highpoint of the Spyro series. It’s a fun game that compounds upon the original. I’ll admit I did miss freeing the crystalized dragons though.

…The Third One

I’ll admit, by the time I got to Spyro 3: Year of the Dragon I was having some Spyro fatigue. That wasn’t helped by the fact Spyro 3 felt like Spyro 2 on a budget. Spyro does retain all his moves he learned in the second game, but they don’t build upon that. There’re no other new skills for him to learn and they don’t try to use those old skills in new or different ways. The issue with the Hover move just sometimes not working was even more present in this entry. There is a few minigames that require Spyro to skateboard. It’s a well made little minigame, but it’s just the most painfully 90s thing. Well, that and the Tomb Raider reference.

The big gameplay change here is the addition of new playable characters. These character levels serve more as little mini game distractions than fully realized levels. Each one has their own special skill that their levels center around. Shelia the Kangaroo is just a less useful Spyro, Sgt. Byrd engages in aerial combat, and Bentley is a slow, less useful Spyro with a terrible boxing minigame. Agent 9 had the most radically different gameplay, which made him my favorite add-on. His two special missions play like first person shooters, which admittedly doesn’t fit naturally into Spyro, especially in regard to the health system, but they were a fun distraction. One level was an homage to DOOM where you just constantly move and shoot, another was a send up to Mad Dog McCree.

While I found their gameplay to be derivative, I did enjoy the characterization of the new Saturday Morning Spyro Pals. Bentley not being the “big, dumb guy” but instead using a lot of fancy $3 words was a good trope reversal. Agent 9 didn’t get a lot of time to shine, but his few moments of manic Robin Williams/Jim Carrey energy got at least one laugh from me. Sheila is a bit bland, she’s the “girl character” mostly. I was surprised she lived in the Alps with goats and not the Outback. Sgt. Byrd was by far my favorite. Thanks to Madagascar I was expecting his character to be more like the Skipper, but he's actually the biggest ladies’ man in all the realms. The army he leads is full of hummingbirds with that stereotypical sultry French accent and he’s dating a fairy. Hunter and the Professor return in limited roles. Even Moneybags is here to be the bane of my existence.

Again, this is a kid’s game, the story isn’t super deep. The main villain, the Sorceress, does have more motive than Ripto did. She’s stealing the dragon eggs to use for her magical potions and spells. Collecting the dragon eggs gets you a little cutscene of the baby dragon doing something cute. It’s more engaging the orbs, but it’s still no crystal dragons. The goofy intros and outros for each level that Spyro 2 had are gone in this sequel. It does take some of the charm away and makes the levels a little blander. Like Spyro 2, the high fantasy setting is almost gone when it comes to level designs. You will be running around Ancient Rome in one level, a pirate shipwreck the next, and finishing in an Egyptian tomb. There are a few levels that return to the fantasy form, like Charmed Ridge and Enchanted Towers, so the theme isn’t completely gone. All the levels also feel much smaller. You have the main part of the level where you do your platforming to get to the end of it and along the way are these portals that warp you into the areas where the side missions and minigames are. Spyro 2 integrated them all into the same world space and it made one level feel big and varied, now the main levels feel like mini hub worlds with enemies.

We also have a unified enemy again like the Gnorcs. Instead of baddies being different each level, we are fighting a Rynoc army, which appears to be some type of Horned Lizard/Rhino mix. Even more so than the Gnorcs, they change their outfits to fit the level. It’s a nice little touch. I did find the issue I had with Spyro 1 in judging enemy time return here. This was the worst in the Old West level. Spyro doesn’t handle the best against ranged enemies and this level is nothing but ranged enemies that attack fast. The usual strategy I used of charging up on enemies fast wasn’t working because they were faster. When I started to stand back, dodge their attacks, and then get’em I had better luck, but with the amount of enemies it still wasn’t fun. Late game, big, club wielding enemies also seemed to get a free hit on me right before I could flame them. The bosses were much more balanced this time around. I did find the first one to be the toughest, but the other 3 were much more manageable. Overall, this game is just more Spyro 2, which isn’t a bad thing. The gameplay is still solid, but there’s not much to it. You get a wider mix of levels and one-off characters to meet.

All in all, remasters are a tricky thing to pull off. There’s obvious bits that make sense to update for quality of life, but then you get into that gray area of “How far can we deviate from the original without upsetting the classics’ fans?” Toys for Bob decided to redesign Sheila. It was a little thing, and I thought it gave her a better character identity than just being a regular kangaroo, but some people didn’t care for it. I think they could’ve zhuzhed up Spyro 3 by removing the portals where possible and making main levels and minigames inhabit the same world space. Along with that, add in the little level cutscenes from 2 to make levels memorable. While I love Spyro 1, I would be alright with making the boss battles a little more substantial. As for the games themselves. They are all solid platformers, but I still have to defer to Spyro 1 as my favorite. I know it’s just nostalgia talking, but that one has a timeless quality to it; with its high fantasy world and no skateboarding. The crystal dragons were my favorite collectible because you got a little dialogue from them. This remaster played it safe, but overall it was a fun time.

As a compilation, I can't rate this any less than five stars. Toys for Bob pulled off the amazing feat of making the games feel just like they used to while looking gorgeous and polished by today's standards. There's also just an impressive amount of content spread out among all three games.

Whether or not the Switch version is for you depends on whether you favor portability over graphical fidelity. The game still looks beautiful for the console (especially when docked), just less so than other platforms. After years of waiting in vain for the Spyro games to come to the Vita in North American, portability won out for me.

But what about the games themselves?

Spyro the Dragon

💎💎💎💎💎 (5 gems)

In my opinion, the original Spyro the Dragon is greatly underrated as a formative 3D platformer. What some see as simple I see as focused. Spyro is just so much fun to control, and the levels do a really great job overall of leveraging that movement. I also appreciate the crystal dragons as a main collectible, both narratively (especially in this release) but also for their height: Having tall, bright landmarks the first time you explore a stage is genuinely helpful.

Spyro 2: Ripto's Rage

💎💎💎💎 (4 gems)

The second game introduces some welcome improvements to the original formula. The designers did a great job extending Spyro's movement to underwater segments. Bosses introduce a greater sense of progression. But the newly labyrinthine overworld designs feel strangely claustrophobic, making Avalar feel a bit smaller than the first game. And the new characters, which all have Earthly analogs, just aren't as interesting to me as the original game's dragons and gnorcs. But still plenty of fun to be had!

Spyro: Year of the Dragon

💎💎💎 (3 gems)

There's a lot to like about the final game in the trilogy. The world no longer feels as constrained as Avalar. Spyro 2's boring orbs have been replaced by dragon eggs. And many of the levels are some of the most polished and well-realized of the series. But for me, the experience is marred by its reliance on additional playable characters. While all of them have their moments, none feel as solid to control for me as Spyro, which makes them feel like chores. The game's difficulty is also pretty uneven: I cursed at this entry more than any other in the series.

I really loved revisiting the games in this collection. Yet I also felt a real sense of closure by the end of the third game. I've read that Insomniac felt limited by Spyro and were eager to move on at that point, and I believe it shows. But these are still classics, and the remaster is really stunning. Recommended!

First of all, I may be biased as I love Spyro (as my profile name and pic suggests). They were some of the first games I have played and I have been in love with the original trilogy my entire life.

When these games were announced I was over the moon. I felt like a kid who'd just be given £100 to spend in a sweet shop. These games are just as good as the original. They do everything the originals do and improve upon the odd camera angles. 1&2 are perfection however there are some issues with Year of the Dragon, it could perhaps have benefited from a slight delay to improve bugs however I can look past this. I am blinded by my love for the games. I didn't encounter any issues with Lost Fleet, although I do acknowledge that others experienced bugs.The oddest thing I encountered was during Ripto's rage during the Hunter Earthshaper orb challenge. During the challenge, the earthshapers bizarrely became invisible, however it was nothing a quick swim in the lava and reset didn't fix.

some challenges are just as difficult as they always were such as the alchemist orb challenge, trouble with the trolley, popcorn crystals, yeti boxing and whack-a-mole however other challenges are improved due to better camera angles.

Skateboarding isn't great, the controls are very tight and sensitive, but its nothing some practice won't fix however the races can be a little frustrating. Then again, I was never a fan of the skateboarding in the original so this doesn't lose any points in my eyes.

The graphics and visuals are beautiful and I'll find myself just stopping in my tracks to admire the scenery. Spyro now has idle animations (as well as Sparx) and these too, are pretty adorable.

Character designs are great for the most part. Almost all the crystal dragons in the original game are unique and well-designed. The playable companions in Year of the Dragon are top notch too however some designs are questionable such as Hunter and the Sorceress.

I highly recommend this game for older and new fans of the purple dragon.

Gameplay: 3.5 /5 Story: 3/5 Presentation: 4/5

Basis:

Story= plot progression, intrigue, characters, world

Gameplay= Mechanics, gameplay options (freedom), repetition, goals, difficulty

Presentation= graphics, animation, environment/character design, Art direction, Script, music

This is kind of a hard review to do because I love Spyro and it holds a special place from my childhood and yet I want to review this on a level of what makes a good game in today's standards. So all nostalgia aside this is my review.

The story is spot on to the old games. The script is very close if not exact to the originals. That said the story is very basic and really Spyro is the only character of real note in the first game. The sequels then add some other characters that really don't even develop until the third game and even then it's very simplistic development. Trouble is brewing and you have to go level to level collecting things to fix it. This is the basic premise of every game in the trilogy. I understand that was the premise of the original games and they were developed in a time when rich narratives were much more of a challenge to craft. Still with the small cast that does exist they are a fun little bunch.

The game fits the classic playstyle, but it can be forgiving and unforgiving at times. For example, you are able to hover in the 2nd and 3rd game which is a lot smoother than the PS1 version, but a lot of the races and flying levels have terrible hitboxes which cause you to fall to your death or get stuck to walls. Not sure if that is a development flaw or just sticking to the originals which also seemed to struggle with the same issues. Other than those few flaws the gameplay is still fun offering a huge variety of fun side activities aside from the main levels.

The presentation is where this game really shined to me. It felt like it was what the original creators(Insomniac Games) of the game probably wished they could make but obviously didn't have the means back then. There are some things such as the baby dragons in the 3rd game that aren't as adorable. Things like that are caused by the increased level of detail that the game brings. Some things just don't look as good when they are more realistic. This is especially true in games that are going for a cartoon art style. More detail can sometimes come at a cost, but overall a beautiful game.

Growing up I was a Nintendo kid, first N64, then Gamecube. My only experiences on the Playstation were at a rich buddy's house who had every console. Out of all the games I got to experience briefly at his place, one of the games that stuck the most in my mind was the original Spyro the Dragon. The strong music, bright colors, and snappy controls left a strong impression. Cut to 2018 and the Spyro remaster on PS4 meant I could finally go back and see if that child-like wonder I felt for Spyro was well deserved. The remastered trilogy showcases the charm, tight platforming, and satisfying collectathons, that the first three Spyro games were, but some questionable remastering decisions, and a refusal to fix some of the games flaws hold it back a bit.

Lets first get the remaster specific issues out of the way. The long download time for Spyro 2 and 3 is annoying considering all three games should have just come on the disc, at least if you are buying a physical copy. A lot of people have described and shown frame-rate and audio issues, however I only encountered frame-rate issues in Enter the Dragon. It was definitely still annoying but less so then for some others. The vast majority of the re-designs were great upgrades especially the major character re-designs, but a few of the minor characters lose a bit of that edgy charm, especially with the voice acting. That being said the improvement to Sheila, Elora, and Hunter alone far outweigh the downgrades. The biggest area of improvement is just the level of detail in the environments and character animations. The way Spyro's body moves as he flies, how enemies bounce off walls and each other, the beautiful lighting and fire effects, every single part of the game is a visual treat. Its definitely a more than competent remaster, even with the performance issues.

Now let's get into the games themselves. All three Spyro's excel in basic movement, music, and visual presentation. The worlds of Spyro look great updated to HD, with beautiful, detailed environments, inhabited by quirky characters with a ton of personality, even down to how basic enemies interact with Spyro and the environment. Spyro himself controls better than he ever has thanks to updated physics and newer innovations being applied to his basic movement. Spyro's flight is tighter than it ever was, hitboxes on his fire and charge have been improved and he's more responsive in virtually all areas. As you move Spyro around, your ears are graced by beautiful remixes of all the classic Spyro tracks, and if you aren't a fan of the remixes have no fear, all the originals are here as well. Since all three games nail these aspects the quality of each instead comes down to the ways in which Spyro collects things.

Spyro the Dragon: As the first and simplest of the entries Spyro relies almost entirely on how well Spyro controls. Thankfully since he's so fun to move around it makes the game a blast. Collecting every gem, egg, and dragon is a bit easy, and won't really challenge someone with a ton of experience, but I don't think that the pleasure of Spyro ever came from the difficulty. Instead trotting around the worlds hearing that satisfying jingle and rescuing new goofy dragons, who have way more personality than in the original, is where the joy comes from. The story is just about a tiny dragon going around to rescue big dragons turned to stone, by Gnasty Gnorc. Spyro 1 is simple but by being so simple I can't really think of any major complaints about it. Except the bosses. Good lord this game's "bosses" are some of the weakest in any platformer. The game does nothing to frame them as a boss, no clever cut-scenes or camera angles, and some of them are easier than the basic enemies protecting them. Its a bit of a shame, but the only real complaint I can level at the first game.
8/10

Spyro 2: Ripto's Rage Ripto's Rage takes the solid foundation laid by Spyro 1 and greatly improves upon it. Starting with the story, which is made more engaging with a more present villain and a pleasant cast of side characters. Elora, Hunter, and the Professor help flesh out the cast and give Spyro people to bounce snappy lines off of, and Ripto's snivelling menace and consistent rage towards Spyro give the player more of a reason to take him down. Spyro 2 also replicated the parts of the collecathon Banjo-Kazooie had perfected a few years earlier, to great success. By replacing the dragons with orbs, and tying them to specific challenges, it makes the gems rewards for exploration, and the orbs rewards for players honing their skills, whether that be in combat flight or puzzle solving. They also give Spyro new powers to be unlocked over the course of the game, giving the player an excuse to revisit worlds and approach these challenges with their new tools. Of course the new design does come with one caveat, since the orbs give specific challenges, a couple of the orb challenges are a bit poorly designed (looking at you Escort the Alchemist). However, the vast majority are a blast and very fun to play, and much more memorable then, "that one dragon I picked up in the lava level." Couple all of this with a great final boss and Spyro 2 is one of my favorite 3D platformers.

9/10

Spyro 3: Enter The Dragon Unfortunately Spyro 3 takes the formula perfected by Spyro 2 and weighs it down with a ton of garbage. And somehow manages to regain some problems from Spyro 1. So a lot of the good things from 2 are still present; stronger cut-scenes, better side characters, and the separated collectibles. I actually think the eggs are the perfect balance between the orbs and the dragons, they challenge the player to complete specific tasks, but being rewarded with a cute dragon animation is way better than a magic glow rock. Unforunately a lot of the challenges themselves are less fun, as Spyro 3 introduces so many new characters and mechanics that some of them just don't stick. While in theory more characters=more ways to play, none of them control quite as well as Spyro with some being downright boring to play as. Byrd and Yeti in particular are slow and clunky, and each one gets a particularly frustrating mission of their own, such as Sheila's "escort the stupid moles with their stupid bomb past the stupid mushrooms." But the bane of my existence are the goddamn hoverboard levels. The controls are terrible, the trick system just doesn't work, sometimes giving full boost other times giving none, and you move like several greased up puppies in a toboggan. The hoverboard levels were also the only part of the game where I ran into the frame-rate and glitches other players described. I had to quit after my 3rd run because the game was down to about 10fps and wouldn't correct until I restarted the game. And then quit again when Spyro glitched into a wall and wouldn't just hoverboard out of there. It was easily the most frustrated I have gotten at a game in years. As far as the story goes Bianca is a solid addition, the new characters and returning ones are fun, and the cut-scenes are just as goofy as they should be. However, the main villain is once again super unceremonious and lame. The sorceress and Spyro never interact, and there's no cut-scene leading up to her. The two literally never speak to one another creating a huge disconnect between the player and the villain. All in all Spyro 3 is still built on a very solid foundation but enough of its activities are frustrating that of the trilogy its the only one that completing 100 percent felt like a chore. It's definitely worth playing, but I will probably not ever replay it.

7/10

All in all the Spyro Reignited Trilogy is a solid repackaging of 2.5 great games. A few minor technical issues only slightly damper a beautiful exhilarating experience of some true gaming classics. Playing through reminded me of the love I felt for the original Spyro and gave me a new appreciation for its sequel. While I wish Year of the Dragon were better, I still think the whole collection is worth everyone's time.

8.5/10

I never really got round to playing the originals when I was younger, and my only exposure to the franchise was playing a bit of Spyro 3 round a friends house, Season of Ice for the GBA and eventually a Hero's Tale for the PS2 - I had vague memories of enjoying them, but never really sunk a lot of time and effort to really experience them.

So when I saw the Crash N.Sane Trilogy (games which I was slightly more acquainted with) was on sale on the PSN store - alongside Spyro - I figured I'd pick them both up. After getting stuck on Crash 1 - I ended up giving Spyro a go - and for an afterthought purchase I sunk so much more time into that game than the games which I actually wanted to buy.

Spyro one imo is the perfect collectathon experience. The genre was arguably birthed on the N64 with Mario 64 and enhanced with Banjo Kazooie, Banjo Tooie & DK64. But honestly Spyro the Dragon took all those concepts and made them infinitely more accessible. Where the N64 titles are all easy enough to pick up and enjoy - some less than perfect controls and slightly broken challenges let them down. Spyro the Dragon is a good level of challenges which rewards exploration with satisfying gameplay and collectables.

Of course - I can't be sure how the PS1 original compares with the upgraded 2018 versions, obviously a 2018 game will be superior to n64 titles. But through minimal research it seems that the changes made to the games are mostly aesthetic - with streamlining of controls across the three titles. This does add a couple Quality of Life features to Spyro 1 in particular - but not enough to completely separate it from the original. So I am confident in stating that Spyro 1 at very least held its own against the Nintendo titans.

Graphics don't make a game by any means - but all three of these games are gorgeous to look at. The character models, the animations, the treasure gems in particular are genuinely exciting to find and collect due to their design and the sound effects of collecting them. Rings and coins are all well and good - but these gems feel almost magical and really fit in with the whole presentation of the game. Also the humour and the characterisations still hold up pretty well today. There's some debate over whether the voice acting is better in the originals or the remasters - but as someone with minimal nostalgia over the originals - comparing them on youtube videos, the remasters are better delievered, better animated, and just more lifelike. It really embodies the personality of an early 00s Nickelodeon or Cartoon Network show. Nothing ground breaking script wise - but entertaining and a pleasant added bonus to the satisfying gameplay.

The thing that lets Spyro the Dragon down is the gameplay can get repetitive - as you are essentially doing the same thing in every level. Apart from some design variety between the levels apperances - you are for the most part doing the same things in each level. And the bosses in particular are nothing to write home about. Luckily they are found in the middle of decent enough levels with other things to do - but I do think the fights could've provided more of a challenge.

The closest Spyro 1 comes to mixing up the formula is with the Speedway levels - these let spyro fly around levels collecting/destroying 4 different sets of objects/enemies within a time limit. The time limit increases for everything thing you collect & hit, with different obstacles providing you different amounts of time. These are by far the hardest levels in the game - and there's a lot of strategy involved to plan your routes in the most efficient ways. I really liked these levels, they were a nice break from the main game. Although it does raise the question if Spyro can fly fine in these levels - why does he have to jump platform and glide in other levels? But I digress.

Moving onto Spyro 2 - I actually found this one far less immersive than the first. The pacing of the game is weird - with only 3 hub worlds rather than 6 of the first. This in itself isn't a game breaking choice - as the worlds are bigger. That being said, the level counts in each world are very inconsistent - with the bulk of the levels being in the 2nd hub world. This makes the game feel like it's dragging even though time wise it probably doesn't take much longer to progress through than the first game.

What messes with the pacing even more is Spyro 2 locks off parts of levels behind arbitrary obstacles that you cannot progress through until you gain certain abilities. I can see why they did that from a design point of view as it's kind of nice to provide incentives to revisit older levels with more abilities to find more secrets. But one of the things that made Spyro 1 so satisfying is how well things were hidden, and how fun hunting for them was. Because in Spyro 1 no abilities were locked off - you knew that if you were missing treasures in a level - that it was because you missed something the first time searching. Making it all the more rewarding when you figure out how to get it. In Spyro 2 - you have no idea if you're missing things because you've missed something - or whether you need to come back later.

This wouldn't be the worst things - but the implementation of it is pretty meh. One of the abilities you can unlock is learning how to climb a ladder. For the most part I'm okay suspending disbelief that a dragon needs to platform because they can only "fly" in certain levels or after getting certain power ups. But being unable to access parts of a level because you need to learn how to climb ladders is pretty annoying.

What's especially awful - is that the level design is a lot more linear - with more objective based gameplay rather than just finding dragons and gems. In some ways it's a refreshing change of pace, and makes the levels feel more alive and less like you're just exploring for the sake of exploring. But the problem is the internal story progression of each level resets every time you leave and go back to it. Meaning that if there's a ladder near the end of the level - you have to do the first half of the level again when you have that ability to grab the thing you missed.

Minor nitpicks aside though - the levels are generally pretty fun (except for the underwater levels - they can fuck off) And the bosses are I think some of the best in the series. In spyro 1 if I died on a boss level - it was either the result of a seperate enemy, or a platforming fuck up. In spyro 2 - the boss killed me. This feels much more satisfying to overcome - rather than spyro 1 where it feels just like bad luck if you fuck up. The challenges overall are better in this game - and the objective based gameplay is actually pretty good. It mixes up the game just enough to keep you engaged. I think with some pacing fixes and more creative level design rather than just gating off sections with stupid ladders could easily make this a contender for the best game of the trilogy.

That being said - Ripto is a boring character, and while none of the Spyro games have excellent stories - 2 is definitely the weakest of them all. At least Spyro 1 was pretty self aware with how stupid the premise of the game was, and played up to that. Spyro 2 seemed to be trying to create higher stakes and charcters, but instead just stretched out the moments between gameplay with forgettable cutscenes. Some of the pre level scenes were kind of funny in a cartoony way - but nothing to write home about.

Oh also - Spyro 2 introduces "moneybags" a character who personifies arbitrarily blocking off parts of the game unless you pay him in gems - which I like because A) it provides more incentives for collecting gems other than just owning them to meet progression requirements. and B) It's a great metaphor for the state the game industry is today with incomplete games requiring several DLCs and microtransactions in order to play a full game.

Spyro 3 is an interesting case - I think objectively it is the best of the three: combining everything great about 1 & 2 - but unfortunately this remastered version does feel rushed. Reseraching into development that's because it was rushed - they sub-contracted a secondary team to help finish this game to deadline. It's not unplayable by any means, but there are a lot of cut corners. Certain bits of dialogue seem missing (such as failing Hunter Missions, only to be booted back to talking to him and making no reference to the fact that you've tried and failed once. Even Spyro 2 managed to work that out - even if the stupid escort missions were coupled with the most annoying pre-mission lines ever). Unlike Spyro 1 where every dragon felt unique - the dragon eggs cycled a handful of preset animations. And idk why but most platform related glitches and framerate issues were in this game.

That being said - it's still a great fun game. It retains the boss structure from 2 (albeit more forgettable bosses imo) - exploration is more akin to 1, with all abilities unlocked from the start. Levels do still have a linearity and contained story - but they blend in better with the overall plot - and free exploration is easier if you do need to revist the level.

Spyro 3 added a hell of a lot of mini games and extra play styles too. Like spyro 2 it gates off content in some levels - but this time it's because you need to unlock different characters to use them. I'm still not a fan of having to backtrack so much - but this makes more sense than a dragon being stuck because the only method it has to reach a high place is by ladder.

The characters all have their own playstyles, broadly the same as Spyro control wise - so easy to understand, but mixing up the formula enough to keep it interesting. Agent 9 and Sgt bird in particular are fun - Agent 9 providing you with various shooting levels (some first person, some on rails, some third person, etc) and Sgt Bird allowing you to actually fly around levels (tell me again why the dragon can't do this?). The others are mostly forgettable - I'm not a fan of the sparx levels - they feel very unfair on how fast the enemies can move vs sparx' mobility. But they're such a small portion of the game that I'm not too mad.

Minigames include various vehicles - most notably the skateboarding. I read somewhere that this was meant to be a homage to the THPS series - but if that was the case I do wish they'd made controlling it more akin to those games. These sections aren't bad, but tricks are very limited, and the racing sections feel mostly down to luck whether you'll actually win or not.

Spyro 3 attempts to do more than it's capable of I think. It would've benefitted from a stronger focus like Spyro 1 - but I do think that where Spyro 3 succeeds, it exceeds. The story and characters are easily the best of the trilogy. Again, nothing worthy of an Oscar or anything - but the characters have depth - it has a remorseful villain, and the main villain is actually antagonistic - unlike Ripto who's just kind of there - and is only known as the antagonist because everyone say he is? I still prefer the simple bullshit of Spyro 1 - but 3 hits the mark way better than 2.

Also at the end of Spyro 3 you get to beat up moneybags to retain all the gems you had to pay him to complete the game - which is one of the most satisfying moments in video game history.

All in all - this was a really fun and immersive experience. I have 100%+ all three - and they all provide neat little bonus levels for completing the games which is nice. Spyro 1 is just an extra level with lots of treasure to get. Spyro 2 is a theme part which is kinda cute, but not that fun. Spyro 3 is another level with extra treasures - and with an extra final boss - which is unfortunately very forgettable. Still, it's nice to have these bonuses.

Spyro 1: **** Spyro 2: *** Spyro 3: **** The Collection: ****

Definitely worth playing if you like Collectathon style games - and with the possible exception of Spyro 3 - the Reignited trilogy is the best way to play these games today. There is very little reason to revisit the original games, when you can play them far more crisply and conviniently on this collection. I do wish they'd been given a bit more time to polish though.

The Spyro Reignited Trilogy is just what it says: All the three classic Spyro games, remade and packed into one disc.

I was always fan of the Spyro games and immediately bought this one when it came out. I had fun playing all the games in order, collecting every gem, egg and rescuing all the dragons. Even got so far to collect all the PlayStation trophies the game, which was a hard but fun challenge.

The first game was easy, and I casually finished it. It was also the game I played the most back in the day, so it was not that hard. It was just as good as I remembered. Great platforming, various levels with unique themes, fun enemies and overall, a wonderful experience.

However, the second one, Ripto’s Rage! will always be my arch nemesis. As stated in the title of the review, I broke two controllers in pure rage and hatred (yes, I know I have problems), it is still as bad as the original game, no, much worse, I think.

This can all be linked to one element: Hunter and his bullsh!t. All the mini games, timed stages and “fly trough hoops” challenges to get an orb (which you need) where the worst experience I ever had with a platforming adventure game in my life. They made me so mad that I broke my PS4 controllers and needed to get two new ones. The worst part was the “motivational middle finger” that Hunter gave you when you lost the challenge for the millionth time.

His smirking, his taunting and “Skater Dude” attitude (“Hey bro, better luck next time haha”), combined with the brutal, unforgivable, criminally hard orb challenges made my life miserable. The time limit is ridiculous, and you need to be a god who can bend time and space to complete everything in the given time. The worst part was to see that ugly smiling face of that disformed excuse of a feline again, when he laughs at you and your whole family, stating he is better than you, and then motivates you to try again. It was pure torture.

Many times, I thought: “This is just a game, why all the rage,” but then I realized I just wanted to see that stupid furball cry in defeat and shame when I finally beat his ass and drank his tears.

So, now that that has been clarified, moving on.

The third game, Year of the Dragon, made me calm down again and the fun and joy were back. No more Hunter and his “Hippie challenges,” now he just wants to get laid with Bianca and create some freak offspring, but that is not my concern. Yes, the “challenges” and mini games are back, but they are way less frustrating and impossible then the second game. Although still hard as bricks, it felt more like the first game in which the challenge was just right, and I enjoyed this sequel like I used to back then.

The graphical upgrade in the Reignited Trilogy is nice and polished, however the framerate and stuttering sometimes is terrible. There were moments in which it was almost unplayable, and I played on a PS4 Pro, so it should manage it fine.

Collecting all the trophies in this game is my second biggest personal achievement in gaming, besides Postal 2 on Postal difficulty. The main tribute for this is, you guessed it, Spyro 2: Ripto’s Rage.

So, in short, I had fun playing the Reignited Trilogy, with the exception of the second game, which I never touch again in my life.

Still recommend the Remastered Trilogy.