Lot of people criticize this one because of the gimmicks. For me, the problem is not the gimmick themselves, which actually add some variety, but their implementation and that many of then feel shoehorned and don't fit Spyro. Crash 3 motorbike or submarine levels feel natural because you already see that kind of tech and ride a few animals in the previous games. Spyro riding a skateboard just feels weird. Still Spyro 3's gimmicks are most of the times much more fun than all the boring side missions of Spyro 2. Other than that, the level design of the main levels is really fun and its actually the most challenging of the 3 games.

spyro 3, as I expected it to be before my first playthrough, is harshly bogged down by its overly gimmicky design. half of the game is gimmick levels, and while some of them are fun, some are just dreadful and guarantee that spyro 3 was ranked lower than 2. to be fair, this game isn't worthless or anything. the actual spyro levels in this game are probably the best in the series, and the backtracking feels less annoying than 2's, even if i rank 2 higher overall. you know what really cemented me not caring for 3 as strongly as 2. the fucking """"""""reward""""""" you get for 100%ing the game. more fucking gimmick levels! seriously? why?! spyro 3 was overall a fun time but i could not be fucked to get to 117%. so i guess every run i do in the future will sit at 100. whatever, that's good enough for me. not the strongest note for the trilogy to go out on, but whatever. still a worthwhile time

The OG Spyro trilogy struggles again to expand the formula that was already tired and played out by the end of the first game. Instead of expanding Spyro's moveset to allow the designers to stretch their legs from the rigid gameplay, this game is instead filled to the brim with gimmicky missions and alternate gameplay styles. And I will say, some of the other playable characters are pretty fun to play. I like flying around with the Penguin, and the Kangaroo's high jump adds platforming unseen elsewhere in these games. But unfortunately these additions aren't given adequate focus. They're just one of many short, isolated distractions put in as a desperate attempt to add variety to the game instead of actually putting any work into the core mechanics still unchanged from the first game.

This is the longest game in the trilogy and still Spyro himself has been given zero growth mechanically speaking. By hour 25+ of playing these 3 games back to back, my mind is just mush. Head bash armored enemies, flame everything else, slowly float around. Instead of a bunch of half baked minigames I'd have really rathered they put some time into adding meaningful changes to the formula. But their only goal with this series seemed to be to make each game a few hours longer than the last.

I hope it's not actually just me when I say this, but I feel like every kid starts out their video game career by owning a few games and just playing the first few levels, starting a new game, and playing those levels again and again. Then one day someone asks "Why don't you try going farther in the game," and your little dum dum doo doo gooey child brain goes "That's an excellent query." Then you actually try to finish a game and when the end credits roll your mind is blown. Games have endings? They can be beaten? And I, wee little Joe-boi, have the power to beat a game? This was the game that blew my mind. Spyro: Year of the Dragon was the first game I ever beat. One of 2 games I beat before beating games became regular for me, the other game was Over The Hedge for the Xbox.

my all-time favorite as a kid, and i still love it dearly! a couple years ago i went back to get the 110%+ completion and it was simultaneously so much fun and my worst nightmare; some of the minigames you gotta do for eggs are the most frustrating one-off things imaginable. i love agent 9 as a character, but his playable controls suck and his first-person-shooter level in the fireworks factory is actually the worst thing i have ever played lol. you could never pay me any money to make me redo that

Review in progress:
The best of the trilogy. Every Spyro game has low-quality minigame segments that drag the experience down. The skateboarding, flying, and bomb path levels are complete bullshit. The Fireworks Factory boss is a drag. I remember everything else being enjoyable for the most part.

Graphically, this is among the best PS1 games. The use of color and lighting is fantastic. The skyboxes are particularly stunning.

I prefer this version over the soulless remake. Make sure you don't get the PSOne Classics version, either. They used the bugged version.

Spyro 3 is a great time stacked high in gimmicks upon gimmicks.

Arguably more messy than the second one. It's interesting seeing Insomniac deciding to experiment with some additional playable characters in their final outing with the dragon. It's a shame they all aren't particularly fun to play as.

Definitely my least favourite to 100%, on the final world I was skipping dialogue and rushing through levels to finish them faster lol.

The final game in the PlayStation trilogy of Spyro games. For me personally this was my favourite and a wonderful send off from Insomniac to the little guy.

While the jump from Spyro 1 to Spyro 2 was pretty big, very little changed for the third title. The biggest change was the addition of non-Spyro levels: characters like Sheila, Sgt. Bird and even your faithful companion Sparx now had their own levels. I found these enjoyable and a welcome break from controlling Spyro. My favourite addition however was the skateparks. I spent hours in these things competing with friends to get the highest score.

It was a shame the Spyro games following this paled in comparison, but boy did the first 3 games deliver.

An argument I hear against this game is it's like crash 3 being bloated with vehicles and gimmicks in a desperate attempt to spice up the gameplay. Well it's definitely a valid point but I'd argue it's less obnoxious than crash 3 (not that it's a bad game at all) since almost all these are optional minigames.

I say almost since you have to play a level with one of the 4 new characters with their own abilities (except Agent 9 he's only got disabilities) Also considering it's not possible to collect enough eggs solely from main levels required to unlock the final boss arena. Still I think it gives you enough freedom to skip any gimmicky crap or gameplay modes you don't enjoy which I certainly would do as a kid.

I personally enjoy the balance of Spyro's usual platforming stages and minigames sprinkled within that stage but totally understand people prefer 2 in this regard.

Spyro 3 here is one that I have distinct memories of but for the longest time had not played due to losing my original copy. With as much as I do remember, I also seem to recall not liking the game as much when I was younger, but I certainly don't feel that way now. The skateboard stuff I did not really care for, but other interesting little minigames I enjoyed. The addition of new characters to play as was a cool addition and, while something I did not really care for when I was younger, i actually like now. It was fun to 100% and a joy to play.