I played this on a 6" color tv in my bedroom as a kid. Then again on a 70" 4k tv as an adult (the remake). I'd love to play it the old way again.
Played as a kid on my PS2, same goes for all OG PS1 Spyro's they're all amazing. I love them all, but love 2 and 3 most!
1 was a little harder and unpolished in places. I don't hate it by any stretch for that though! :)
1 was a little harder and unpolished in places. I don't hate it by any stretch for that though! :)
In the world of dragons...
One of my earliest gaming memories was watching a friend play Spyro 1 on his PS2, running off a memory card(?). That was admittedly super weird, but i thought nothing of it back then because I was a child who didn't comprehend how any of this worked. Spyro left enough of an impression on me that I asked to be him for Halloween, and my aunt actually handmade a big ol' purple dragon costume for me to wear. Imagine that, a 4-year old getting attached to a character he hardly knew. All this preamble is just to admit that I'm totally guilty. I ended up locking myself into Nintendo systems for the longest time in my youth, so the Spyro I had played was totally off-limits for over a decade. All this time later, and I had never picked up and played that original game...until just a few days ago.
I guess it makes a lot of sense how I managed to grasp Spyro back when I could barely wrap my baby hands around the concept of a controller. Spyro controls so smoothly, even on a dpad. You jump, spit fire, glide, and dash around. Actions like dashing also recenter the camera behind you in a pinch, so it's not too cumbersome to work with. A lot of the combat is rudimentary: if an enemy has shiny armor, ram it. If it's bigger or faster than you, burn it. If one method doesn't work, odds are that the other one will. But "simple" really works for this game's mechanics, fully complemented by the stages themselves.
Each world is represented by this big hub area, with enough secrets and goodies to collect that they may as well be considered levels in their own right. Each hub has portals that fly you to the proper levels, and even if the levels aren't truly interconnected, the sheer scale afforded to every level captures that high fantasy vibe perfectly. Every stage you visit has a different vibe to it, featuring unique enemies, hazards, or both. There's this dark tree hollow where enemies shift between being fierce demons and wimpy imps depending on if light is touching them. There's a big open level where you charge and glide between treetops. In one of the final levels, the enemies are dressed up like Rambo and wield actual machine guns. Everything is so animated too. PS1 squash-n-stretch, baby.
I'd be remiss to not mention the flight stages in each world, but they didn't leave that much of an impression on me. Their routes are pretty straightforward once you get used to the controls. The only one that troubled me was the secret first one, because there is no clear routing for that one. This game also has bosses...I think? Every single one of them is about as effective at killing you as the normal enemies, which is to say they're as flammable as your local gas station. If I had to compliment them, the regular game flow isn't interrupted by the boss taking damage. They're basically like any other unique enemy in that regard, they just require a little extra burninating. The dialogue is kinda funny in an "I think they're trying to be humorous?" kind of way. Spyro's definitely trying to have a "cool" factor to his snide remarks, but I just wanna pinch his E-rated cheeks instead. Then you watch a beefy dragon Named "Thor" blurt out the most feeble gratitude you've ever heard, and it's inexplicably hilarious.
All in all, I'm impressed with Insomniac's first runaway success. It's not quite where things started for their studio, but it's definitely what kickstarted their current legacy. I could stop here and say I avenged my pre-gamer childhood self, but I think I'm in it for the long haul now.
The adventure continues...
One of my earliest gaming memories was watching a friend play Spyro 1 on his PS2, running off a memory card(?). That was admittedly super weird, but i thought nothing of it back then because I was a child who didn't comprehend how any of this worked. Spyro left enough of an impression on me that I asked to be him for Halloween, and my aunt actually handmade a big ol' purple dragon costume for me to wear. Imagine that, a 4-year old getting attached to a character he hardly knew. All this preamble is just to admit that I'm totally guilty. I ended up locking myself into Nintendo systems for the longest time in my youth, so the Spyro I had played was totally off-limits for over a decade. All this time later, and I had never picked up and played that original game...until just a few days ago.
I guess it makes a lot of sense how I managed to grasp Spyro back when I could barely wrap my baby hands around the concept of a controller. Spyro controls so smoothly, even on a dpad. You jump, spit fire, glide, and dash around. Actions like dashing also recenter the camera behind you in a pinch, so it's not too cumbersome to work with. A lot of the combat is rudimentary: if an enemy has shiny armor, ram it. If it's bigger or faster than you, burn it. If one method doesn't work, odds are that the other one will. But "simple" really works for this game's mechanics, fully complemented by the stages themselves.
Each world is represented by this big hub area, with enough secrets and goodies to collect that they may as well be considered levels in their own right. Each hub has portals that fly you to the proper levels, and even if the levels aren't truly interconnected, the sheer scale afforded to every level captures that high fantasy vibe perfectly. Every stage you visit has a different vibe to it, featuring unique enemies, hazards, or both. There's this dark tree hollow where enemies shift between being fierce demons and wimpy imps depending on if light is touching them. There's a big open level where you charge and glide between treetops. In one of the final levels, the enemies are dressed up like Rambo and wield actual machine guns. Everything is so animated too. PS1 squash-n-stretch, baby.
I'd be remiss to not mention the flight stages in each world, but they didn't leave that much of an impression on me. Their routes are pretty straightforward once you get used to the controls. The only one that troubled me was the secret first one, because there is no clear routing for that one. This game also has bosses...I think? Every single one of them is about as effective at killing you as the normal enemies, which is to say they're as flammable as your local gas station. If I had to compliment them, the regular game flow isn't interrupted by the boss taking damage. They're basically like any other unique enemy in that regard, they just require a little extra burninating. The dialogue is kinda funny in an "I think they're trying to be humorous?" kind of way. Spyro's definitely trying to have a "cool" factor to his snide remarks, but I just wanna pinch his E-rated cheeks instead. Then you watch a beefy dragon Named "Thor" blurt out the most feeble gratitude you've ever heard, and it's inexplicably hilarious.
All in all, I'm impressed with Insomniac's first runaway success. It's not quite where things started for their studio, but it's definitely what kickstarted their current legacy. I could stop here and say I avenged my pre-gamer childhood self, but I think I'm in it for the long haul now.
The adventure continues...
MARIO DIDN'T SHAKE THE CONTROLLER IN MY HANDS WHEN I TOUCHED A POWER STAR, HE'S A BITCH.
Spyro is goated
Even though the controls are not the best, the game still delivers a fun playthrough. It just feels nice to be a dragon that runs and gets richer while saving his friends.
first game i ever played dad you are valid for giving me that
GooeyScale: 75/100
GooeyScale: 75/100
Captures the word 'fun' vehemently. Dozens upon dozens of mini-games and collect-a-thons scattered on every level.
Yeah, Spyro the Dragon is peak, and is a no-brainer Playstation classic.
Yeah, Spyro the Dragon is peak, and is a no-brainer Playstation classic.
Very much connected to the other two as the ideal trilogy of games, I can play through all three of these games any time. Beautiful environments and settings.
The Spyro trilogy is likely my most replayed video game trilogy ever since my introduction to this Purple Dragon back in 2018 and has captured my heart for 3D platformers and the genre as a whole. I think now it's high time to write my thoughts on it, which I don’t normally do for older games that I have already replayed so many times before I started to write reviews on Backloggd, but this is going to be the exception, and let's start out with Spyro 1.
For Insomniac Games' first designed 3D platformer, I'm kind of impressed with how much they have nailed it on their first attempt when it comes to exploration that consistently rewards your curiosity or enemy design that isn't very deep, but synergizes so well with Spyro's core movement. You have a good reason to flame or charge at enemies as each of them drops gems, which that alone makes the enemies in Spyro more meaningful than most other collectathon platformers and complements the simple combat very well.
This all makes the pure platforming such a joy to glide and charge around through, thanks to the strong level design. The big drawback that makes people hold this game back (besides the boss fights) is the lack of variety, but for me personally, as long as the core gameplay loop is enjoyable and addictive, I'm all in. Spyro 1 nails this perfectly even if it becomes super repetitive. The cherry on top is the vibrant presentation and a soundtrack by Stewart Copeland that is truly legendary.
Spyro 1 reminds me a lot of the first Ratchet & Clank game. It is evident that both games were the developers' first attempts, yet they managed to avoid the common pitfalls seen in other first entries such as Mega Man 1, Sonic 1, or even Crash 1. I can see why some may consider Spyro 1 their favorite, but for me, it ranks as my second favorite in the trilogy.
For Insomniac Games' first designed 3D platformer, I'm kind of impressed with how much they have nailed it on their first attempt when it comes to exploration that consistently rewards your curiosity or enemy design that isn't very deep, but synergizes so well with Spyro's core movement. You have a good reason to flame or charge at enemies as each of them drops gems, which that alone makes the enemies in Spyro more meaningful than most other collectathon platformers and complements the simple combat very well.
This all makes the pure platforming such a joy to glide and charge around through, thanks to the strong level design. The big drawback that makes people hold this game back (besides the boss fights) is the lack of variety, but for me personally, as long as the core gameplay loop is enjoyable and addictive, I'm all in. Spyro 1 nails this perfectly even if it becomes super repetitive. The cherry on top is the vibrant presentation and a soundtrack by Stewart Copeland that is truly legendary.
Spyro 1 reminds me a lot of the first Ratchet & Clank game. It is evident that both games were the developers' first attempts, yet they managed to avoid the common pitfalls seen in other first entries such as Mega Man 1, Sonic 1, or even Crash 1. I can see why some may consider Spyro 1 their favorite, but for me, it ranks as my second favorite in the trilogy.
El primer juego que jamas jugue, pues casi.
Este juego si demuestra cmo es ser un dragon obsesionado por las joyas que mata a todo lo que se encuentra - POV de una obeja
Y si hicieran un dos, bof
Este juego si demuestra cmo es ser un dragon obsesionado por las joyas que mata a todo lo que se encuentra - POV de una obeja
Y si hicieran un dos, bof
I have no clue how many times I've played through this over the years, but it's the first time I found everything. Normally I'll try to find what I can but elect to skip past something if it's a bit too tricky for my patience, so it's rad that whatever mindset I was in allowed to persevere and obtain 100% completion!
Having also found everything in Spyro 2/3 (albeit in 2019 and 2017 respectively), this means I've finally 100%-ed the entire original trilogy after playing them on/off for roughly 14 years. Heck yes!
I also did something a bit unusual, where instead of playing through all the levels in each world before moving on to the next, I'd find whatever I needed to advance to the next world and immediately head on over. This allowed me to reach the fourth world within roughly an hour, and I then spent the rest of my playthrough bouncing back and forth between all the worlds to play through the levels I'd skipped past.
This really breathed new life into the game, using its freedom to experience levels in totally different orders from what I'm used to. I'd bounce back and forth between the earlier simpler stages and the later trickier ones, noticing greater contrasts in the architecture (like how Ice Cavern has a lot of the "Peace Keepers" towers and buildings but frozen over) and enjoying a more varied experience overall.
I get why the looser structure can feel a bit repetitive when you're doing the same thing of "go in, find what you can, leave", but the way you're allowed to experience a lot of this makes it more interesting for me to replay than 2 and sometimes even 3 - despite those having more varied missions and level designs.
Always nice to revisit the Spyro games, and even nicer to discover something new that I can bring into future playthroughs. : )
Having also found everything in Spyro 2/3 (albeit in 2019 and 2017 respectively), this means I've finally 100%-ed the entire original trilogy after playing them on/off for roughly 14 years. Heck yes!
I also did something a bit unusual, where instead of playing through all the levels in each world before moving on to the next, I'd find whatever I needed to advance to the next world and immediately head on over. This allowed me to reach the fourth world within roughly an hour, and I then spent the rest of my playthrough bouncing back and forth between all the worlds to play through the levels I'd skipped past.
This really breathed new life into the game, using its freedom to experience levels in totally different orders from what I'm used to. I'd bounce back and forth between the earlier simpler stages and the later trickier ones, noticing greater contrasts in the architecture (like how Ice Cavern has a lot of the "Peace Keepers" towers and buildings but frozen over) and enjoying a more varied experience overall.
I get why the looser structure can feel a bit repetitive when you're doing the same thing of "go in, find what you can, leave", but the way you're allowed to experience a lot of this makes it more interesting for me to replay than 2 and sometimes even 3 - despite those having more varied missions and level designs.
Always nice to revisit the Spyro games, and even nicer to discover something new that I can bring into future playthroughs. : )
Ta wapo