The games I wish I grew up with.

"Oh, so you didn't have a PS1?" Oh no, I did, just didn't have any games for it. I've always loved the mascot of Spyro (Crash too) and I can't really think of anybody else who thinks otherwise, whether it's the game or just appreciation for the character in some form or another and Enter the Dragonfly was my first (not even kidding) and it is considered one of the worst, I only played it that once then returned it because it felt stupid to me.

I didn't fall out of it with Spyro though, I always intended to give it another chance but it just got farther and farther. Then Skylanders came out and would you believe it? I was into it. It's not a whole lot of Spyro (but the game itself and voice of Spyro were good) I just consider it a different game. Since then, I've tried A New Beginning, and it was fun at times but still not the experience I wanted and I do plan on continuing the Legend of Spyro but in the mean time...

I have a soft spot for platformers so when Reignited was announced, it was right up my alley...so what stopped me? Well, I heard the complaint that it's a collect-a-thon and that it might not have aged well for fans that haven't played and enjoyed the originals. That shot my expectations in the water then I saw some speed-running and it made me want to give it a try so here I am, finally trying this game out for size. I'll split it up game by game though and look at them on a modern level since it's technically a modern game now.

I love the little pitter-patter of his feet while he's dashing and the little prance he does when you jump and dash at the same time. Make sure you use the D-Pad while you dash though because for some reason, the control stick just doesn't cut tight turns, like at all.

This game adds cool little flips and flaps to the loading screens and I get that it's a redone PS1 game but there's a lot of them, luckily they aren't too long (I imagine having a PS5 may help a lot in that department). I appreciate the transitions from zone to zone as well with that little flip he does before landing. And I don't know who's idea it was to have an installation after the Artisanal area but it's really stupid because apparently there was a demo from preordering it that was just that area and you could upgrade to the full game after that point but I don't see why they didn't just make it a separate file for the people who aren't upgrading from a demo. Now if you're thinking that I played this right after downloading, the answer is no, I didn't. I downloaded it days prior and it was well past finished when I arrived, not to mention I got it digitally, I doubt it's like that on Switch but unfortunately it is for PS4.

I like how the barriers are stone pillars with gems in them which activate a forcefield to keep you from going out of bounds. I love little gameplay explanations like that. I also like the level design, including the hub worlds. There are a lot of things that I miss about older games but a lot of things that I don't. I believe I've seen some people bring this up but the dialogues for the rescued dragons are pretty bland at times, I love seeing just how different each one looks versus just the cookie cutter ones of the original but they'll often just say "I'd like to chat but I have to go." or just a small throwaway line. I know that there are too many to really do much with and how the original game had that dialogue but just a little thing I feel they could've changed if they wanted.

Now that I have more of a grasp on the game, I can say that I enjoy more than I thought I would. I don't get bored just walking around, all the landscapes are different, I love the atmosphere, I like collecting and actually feel compelled to 100% every level, the "aging" problem I originally had before I bought it is gone, I feel like just watching gameplay doesn't cut it, you have to give it your own shot.

Now there are normal stages, boss stages, and flight stages. Flight stages are easily my least favorite, good luck trying to get me to "All-in-One" those because they have a time limit. I expected a simple little game out of it but I got a lot more meat than I expected. I feel like you can just dash through it if you want (which makes for good speedrunning) but I felt compelled to collect, felt compelled to save the dragons, you only need a certain minimum but I almost don't care, I searched every nook and cranny. Boss stages are barely even recognizable as that, they're a breeze for the most part but I like them and I don't feel like it subtracts from the experience not having bosses the way other games would because it's not necessarily combat focused like the latter-day Spyro games.

Now the one boss that I hate is Gnorc and it's for that same reason, he's not a boss, you chase him around. It's not even that I dislike that though, what bugs me is the level because first you have to chase one of those egg thieves because it has a key, you use that key to unlock another door to another egg thief with another key, chase them then use the key to unlock Gnorc. Why is this so terrible? Because if you die on the Gnorc level, you have to start all over and chase those egg thieves again and you do get used to it but it's annoying as heck, give me a checkpoint! There's challenging and then there's annoying, that's annoying, just leave Gnorc on his own because you basically have to memorize the course so you know every which way to go or else you die and when you die, you lose a life and you only have so many in this game. I went the whole thing easily having around 10 lives on hand but this level made me break out the 99 lives cheat because this was the last level! I'm not going back to farm for lives when I'm in Gnorc's realm doing the same level over and over again, trial and error. I felt that for some of the jumps you have to make with the boost pad like in Tree Tops.

Overall it's a nice precursor for Insomniac, I didn't know Spyro did those news sessions like Ratchet and Clank, it's a nice game overall but it left me wanting just a bit more out of it which is why there are 3 in the trilogy that I suppose would build on that as well as a new Spyro probably on the way that should deliver on that even further.

Chafed against the uninspired level design and the snail-slow evolution of your combat encounters, and got incredibly frustrated with the sluggish, temperamental camera and controls whenever you Charge. Feels like a forgettable Saturday morning cartoon in which the camera just suddenly tilts off to the side at inconvenient times. Lives purely on the occasional lightning-strike puzzle, and the base impulse of collecting every gem and dragon egg. And even then, nothing could make me go back and 100% the flying levels.

The best way I could describe this game is "a more relaxed Crash Bandicoot" in a sense. Instead of linear corridors trying to hunt for all the boxes and gems, getting shamed for missing even a single box, Spyro instead allows you to take things at your leisure. You get big open sandbox levels to hunt for collectables such as treasure, hidden dragons and eggs, and you can beat a level without getting everything, have what you DID collect saved and you can come back and get the rest of the collectables whenever you want. It's certainly a more relaxing change of pace compared to Crash.

Unfortunately like Crash the level design and platforming in general is incredibly basic and one note. The general movement Spyro has is still a lot better than Crash. Charging, gliding, and the supercharge can have some really cool secrets you can uncover in specific levels if you use it right, but for the most part it's very run of the mill for a lack of a better term. The flying minigames however don't really control all that well and the hitboxes for specific items like the chests are too wonky and imprecise leading to these stages to be more annoying than they really should be. The bosses are terrible and don't put up any sort of challenge. The music was largely really forgettable. Interesting look but I don't think I'll come back to 100% this any time soon.

Edit: I 100% the game lol

The unspoken, beautifully crafted world-building present in all the dragons' and enemies' character designs and the levels' environmental designs gives you a rich sense of lore and storytelling that ends up making me prefer this game in the Reignited trilogy over the other two. Spyro 1 is not my favorite Spyro game, but Spyro 1 in the Reignited Trilogy is definitely my favorite part of the Reignited experience.

As some earlier reviewers said, this game isn't exactly "fun" - and the other Spyro games end up fleshing out the game mechanics a lot more - but I like booting this game up from time to time and treating it like a relaxing art piece. It's very soothing, just going around and "cleaning up" the worlds by hunting for all the shiny things until you've hoovered up all the points and got 100% complete in your guidebook. I love it. This is, as the kids say, "peak aesthetic".

I played the original Spyro the Dragon when it first came out; I was glad to see that this gameplay format still held up for me. Typical of games by Insomniac, this one uses its level geometry, visual design, and collectible placement all to great effect at highlighting for the player where to go/what to do next. The remake's graphical improvements are gorgeous and very much appreciated, but they also occasionally mess with that highlighting by making everything look so good that some optional areas and items don't stick out enough. I'd call that a minor complaint, though. There aren't many games in the 3D platformer genre that flow anywhere near as smoothly as Spyro 1, and that level of flow is likely going to be the factor that has me returning to it in the future.

This one was awesome. I really enjoyed playing this game. It was simple, but for me that really helps it. If I'm in the mood for a story game but not one that's intense or hard, then this would be my go to because it's simple, fun, and light. You could say it's like a 3D Mario game because you go from world to world battling enemies and doing the same amount of levels before getting to the boss fight with the main villain's minion until you get to him. It's not a rip off, it's just similar. The repetitiveness doesn't affect me because it switches it up a bit with new landscaping, layouts, enemies, and stuff like supercharging to make the game more exciting. I think the worlds in this look beautiful. The design and layouts are amazing and I thought the graphics were top tier. This looks different from the PS1 version because updated graphics and everything, but this is a remaster/remake. The worlds are all creative with the enemies and levels too. I thought the enemies were well thought out because they get harder each world and the weapons they have are imaginative. It's a lot of fun fighting the various enemies and figuring out how to beat them. It gets easy when you figure it out, but it's still fun nonetheless. The characters in the game are also cool. Spyro is a very fun lead for the game and Gnasty Gnorc is a fantastic villain. He is the perfect antagonist for Spyro's first adventure. He's not too hard, but not too easy either. You can't really face him off and be successful unless you play through the game and learn stuff. It's well made and just a lot of fun to play. I only had a couple problems with this game which is great! I thought that the Gnasty Gnorc boss fight was pretty anticlimactic, so when you play through the game it doesn't really have pay off because Gnorc is just like chasing the egg thieves, so the only real redeeming factor is that you beat the main story. I also felt that it could've been executed better. It doesn't necessarily feel as much like a story as much as it is rescue dragons repeatedly. Mario platform games have that story of rescuing the princess and it feels progressive, while this just feels the same as it goes on. Despite those things I had a lot of fun rescuing dragons and battling various enemies going through these fun worlds. I enjoyed the obstacles and layouts to make a fun game. I feel like if they fixed those two things then this would be a top 5 favorite for me. I had so much fun with it and I plan on revisiting it. So excited for the other two in the trilogy!

GRADE
A-

it is essentially a time-killer, you just do it not because it's particularly fun or entertaining but because the asmr feeling you get everytime you collect gems is enough of a dopamine boost to keep you going. the visuals are pretty cute, even though i fucking hate spyro and want him dead... umm some of the platforming was pretty fun too but who the hell greenlit that one stage where you have to charge forward on all those platforms and do those weird twists and turns? you know the one. everyone knows the one. it's not particularly difficult. there's not much of an incentive to 100% the game. i just did it because i hate myself ... umm 6/10 ? maybe ? it's ok

Agradezco que le hayan puesto el radar de gemas, que en la saga original el 1 era el único que no lo tenía. Pero man, ¿por qué la UI la cambiaron tanto? es que unreal engine no soporta textos u objetos 3D como interfaz?

De paso, me sucede lo mismo que los remakes de crash, le cambiaron las fisicas a tal punto que algunos niveles son más dificiles o más fáciles que antes. Esto podrían haberlo arreglado si le añadian el minisalto al planear de sus secuelas pero... nope, no lo pusieron. Tampoco añadieron el transfondo que había en el manual original, que de hecho era importante para que Gnasty Gnorc fuese minimamente interesante como jefe.