A question that went through my mind several times playing this was why didn’t PlayStation market Spyro as its rival to Nintendo’s Mario. To me he would have made such a better choice over Crash and, imo, his terrible first game.

Spyro the Dragon was clearly geared towards younger kids with its difficulty but sometimes simplicity isn’t a bad thing. While I prefer challenging games to easier games, it was a nice change of pace for me and I appreciated the simple yet satisfying gameplay. The only thing lacking gameplay wise were the bosses. They all felt underwhelming and I’d hardly call them “fights.”

As far as art the game is downright beautiful. The fun colors and unique characters pop in every level. However as strong as I feel positively on the visuals I feel equally negative in the music as not a single track stood out or stuck in my head.

Overall it’s a very nice game to just sit back and relax with and still fun in 2024.


My 2024 games played rankings
https://www.backloggd.com/u/DVince89/list/games-i-played-in-2024-ranked-1/

I have played the original versions of each of these Spyros, too. But since I can't be sure of when I beat the first two, I'll use these rankings to talk about both versions of these games. The scores reflect the Reignited version specifically, though.

Spyro's a rare PlayStation series for which I have childhood nostalgia, but I'll cover that with a later entry. I picked up and played this first game much later in my gaming career, late into the PS3's lifecycle. At the time, I was really struck by how lonely of an experience it was.

I'm not sure if it was an issue with my disc or my PS3, or if it was the intended design of the game, but the soundtrack would fail to loop upon each track's completion. Spyro naturally features lots of wandering around open environments, and the first game is pretty bereft of all those NPCs that characterize later games - just the dragons you're freeing here with one-and-done bits of dialogue, often just a stock "thank you for releasing me". So there I was, schlepping about open rolling landscapes, with Steward Copeland's music going away after about 2-3 minutes, eventually with nothing to accompany me. The phrase "liminal space" has become popular as of late, and I suppose that's what these colorful worlds became. Add onto that how the goals of each level are to eliminate other things from these worlds, whether they're enemies, trapped dragons, or treasure, and you're left with the implicit goal of making these empty worlds even emptier.

There's a pervasive sense of isolation I get from some early PlayStation titles - Tomb Raider and Intelligence Qube come to mind - that this experience of Spyro seems to embody. I earnestly doubt this was the intention, but it was my takeaway from my first run of the original. Perhaps that primitive melancholy is to be treasured, but I definitely enjoyed the act of playing later Spyros more by consequence of their not feeling so lonely.

So with this in mind, the main things I had going into the Reignited version were: (1) Does the game still feel lonely, and (2) does it still have a leg to stand on when compared to its follow-ups? And to my way of thinking - no, and yes.

The main draw to Spyro 1, in retrospect, is its purity of form. No moveset expansions, no alternate gameplay modes besides its Flight stages, nothing like that - Spyro 1 is the only game where you do nothing but trot about as a little purple dragon, roaming and exploring rolling landscapes. This is where I felt the original's loneliness, and where the updated aesthetics really enrich the original's play experience (also, the looping background music).

Like, Stone Hill. In the original game, this was a technical marvel and showcase, with this being the first time the player sees that smooth transition of Spyro flying into a new world. Plus, the player "breaks" the expected level design by running around on the hills that form the opening area's walls, showing off the game's amazing ability to render full outdoor 3D environments. Somehow I'd completely forgotten about all this in the time between playing Spyro 1 and Reignited, and replaying Reignited was like discovering this all anew all again. Sure, perhaps this is a testament to my own memory (but it had only been like 5 years between games...), but I think it's as much a commentary on Reignited's creative direction that it doesn't detract from the intended tonality of the original.

Plus, I love that all the dragons have unique designs now. You can sort of tell that the majority of Reignited's focus went towards sprucing up Spyro 1 in particular - though more of that under a later game. Here, though, you really get a sense of the worldbuilding implied in Spyro 1's level named and theming, with each of the dragons serving different roles in the construction of this fantasy world.

I think a fair conclusion is that Spyro 1 is a game of subtlety, one you have to vibe with in order to get a sense for what the team was going for. A bit like Banjo-Kazooie in that respect, where what makes it so good is something nebulous and hard to define on its own. One might also reason that since Reignited Spyro 1 spells out a lot of the original's subtleties, that it's a less confident product, inferior by consequence. I don't know that I'd contest someone who holds that opinion. For me, Reignited Spyro 1 is less "the game is good now" and more "oh, THAT'S what they were going for. Nice!" I'd have to revisit the original to reorient my feelings around that, but I can at least call Spyro 1 a game I really like now, at least through the prism of its remake.

...bosses still kinda suck, though. It's at least the joke with some bosses (Toasty, Dr. Shemp), so I'll let it slide for some of them. Gnasty Gnorc is kind of a limp payoff to the full game's adventure, like, how'd he even pwn all the adult dragons when he's a big dumb two-hit wonder? Ah well, the trade-off at least is Gnasty's Loot being a GREAT victory lap, maybe even the best in the series. Good stuff all around.

(Note: The PS4 copy of Reignited Trilogy I played on my PS5 is a used copy. Activision did not get a single cent from me.)

I knew of Spyro for years, but never played any of the games. My earliest memory of the purple dragon was commercials for Spyro: A Hero’s Tail. Never played that game and I have no interest in that today. Another memory I had was when the Wendy’s restaurant had Spyro toys. https://gyazo.com/08becdf4fac494d23ae75a0c544befa2 This is a fond memory. I remember my brother, father, and I were at a food court at this mall near us, it was closing time for the restaurants. While my father was talking on the phone, the Wendy’s employee gave my brother and I the toys that were in the display case for free because it was time to change the toys to something else. I do not have the toys anymore, but I always remember that moment.

Cut to 2024 and since I completed Crash 1-3 and It’s About Time, it made sense to jump into Spyro. One playthrough of Spyro 1 on the Reignited Trilogy later and I thought it was mid.

Spyro 1 has our purple dragon protagonist needing to free all the dragons who were crystalized by Gnasty Gnorc. Simple story for a platformer from the 90s.

You travel to different homeworlds and complete different objectives like save a certain amount of dragons, collect a certain amount of gems, and collect a certain amount of dragon eggs. To be honest, the levels were pretty uninteresting. The level design is fine, but lacks a sort of flare to them. By the third homeworld, I said to myself: “When will this game get good?” The final homeworld was where things got interesting. The level design was better there.

I used the Reignited Controls and the game controlled well. I do not remember the soundtrack at all, but I love the visuals. Just like the N-Sane Trilogy, this looks great.

The final boss was pathetic. It takes two hits and it is done. I thought after all the chasing and flaming Gnasty, we would teleport to an arena to do a final battle, but nope. After two hits, the game ends. What???

Spyro 1 is a competent game that I do not see myself replaying. The level design is fine, but lacks spectacle. The controls are good, the music is forgettable, and the visuals in the Reignited Trilogy are superb.The final boss was pathetically easy and I expected more. I expected more from this game, but what I got was a mediocre game.

([played via Spyro Reignited Trilogy)

A charming game that sticks to the basics. Good one-sentence summary, I think.

Spyro the Dragon is bright, colorful, expressive, lively, and fun. Spyro himself has just enough personality to have a presence when he's interacting in the (very excuse-plot) story, while not stealing the show, as it were, during regular gameplay. A few other mascot franchise characters could benefit from this sort of treatment (though, it would have been nice to get to know Spyro a little more).

Having played a small amount of the PS1 version (which I'd like to play eventually), I believe it captures exactly what people who grew up with the original game would have imagined (though I am a fan of how PlayStation 1 games look lol). The art direction is absolutely gorgeous, full of color, whimsy, and enough detail to look grounded, while not so much it's distracting.

Level design, especially later on, is very good. While the gameplay loop of bashing or flaming enemies and collecting treasure is simple, the levels themselves are often very intelligently (though sometimes bordering on obfuscated) designed, that they can really make you think about how to traverse them. There could have been some clearer signposting in some sections, like in Haunted Tower, it wasn't exactly clear how to get to the other side. Though it was satisfying to find out (I think I really liked the supercharge ramps, they felt a bit like shinespark puzzles from the Metroid series lol).

I also admire the amount of variety in each of the levels. From what I could tell, there was at least one new enemy per level, except for the very last level. Very little asset flipping in that regard, something I would have been fine with, but this game really went the extra mile.

The game doesn't do much beyond what is presented, and I would have liked a bit more complexity, but it was a pleasant experience all around, and I enjoyed myself.

اللعبه حلوه و لطيفه و كلشي بس طلعت روحي علما كملتها
ما ادري ليش هيج علاقتي وي هاللعبه مع اني احب هالنوعية من الالعاب بس حظ هاللعبه مجان كاعد وياي
اللعبه ريماستر رائع كوني مجرب للجزء الاصلي و لاعب قدر من المراحل لما كنت صغير على البليستيشن الثاني اكدر اكول انهم ضبطوا كلشي و خلوه احسن
ما اكدر اعاتب اللعبه على قصتها بس جانت تكدر تستعمل بوسس اكثر خلال اللعب بدل اشباه البوسس الاثنين الي حصلناهم خلال اللعبه
العوالم جانت جدا جميله شكليا و حتى على مستوى الموسيقى كل واحد بيها مميز و اله هويه مختلفه
الشي الي خلاني فعلا انغث من اللعبه هو الغلايد , اكره الغلايد بهاللعبه لا لشيء الا لان سبايرو ما يدرك الحواف لما يطير الها و لان اغلب التنقلات تعتمد على الغلايد و اني شخص جدا اعصابي تالفه كرهت اللعبه بسس مرات فشلي بوزنية القفز
عالعموم هذا مو محدد لمستوى اللعبه لان صديق قريب الي استغرب من هالشي و ابدى انه ما واجه اقل صعوبه بالموضوع و انا اجزم ان هواي ناس يشاركوه هالرأي فهذا شي شخصي
عموما اللعبه حلوه كما قلت شكليا و سمعيا حتى على مستوى ال100% كانت مريحه و سهلة ( و مزعجه ببعض الاماكن) لكن تستاهل الانهاء

A very solid 3D platformer overall, but not one I had any strong attachments or opinions on.

I think some of the levels with a large focus on supercharge jumps could get hella annoying, and the nature of this game's collectathon nature could lead to you missing a single gem somewhere in the level which leads to multiple minutes of scouring through it just to find out that Sparx just barely missed collecting one or something, which can lead to the game feeling like it has rather slow pacing at points.

But overall its a decently tightly designed collectathon with solid mechanics, and this remaster gives absolutely stunning visuals.

Spyro’s remaster was another breezy library rental for me, and a nice trip down memory lane. As an adult it didn’t offer me as much as, say, the Crash Bandicoot N-Sane Trilogy due to the simplicity of the levels and general ease (alongside the dragons/objectives who sometimes give you hints). It all gave me the impression that this game was for smaller kids than I thought, and that’s fine, I suppose.

But even for the now-crusty Condad the Spyro controls and gameplay loop are money and make up for a lot of the shortcomings.

Unfortunately, this carries the distinct third-party Nintendo Switch smell of playing a PC game on the lowest settings. Blurry, choppy, not easy on the eyes. The original was a stunner on the PlayStation, this was simply playable. I assume you’d be better off with any of the other consoles’ versions.

This is THE way to play the original Spyro. Obviously the graphics and art style are a beautiful, modernized take on the World of Dragons that still capture the spirit of the original, but even beyond that, there are quite a few improvements.

For one, you can have Sparx point you in the direction of missing gems with a simple push of the analog stick. This does WONDERS for making 100% completion more appealing to newcomers (like myself). Some might say that ruins the sense of discovery, but I think it’s pretty similar to the Shrine Meter in Breath of the Wild: it tells where to go, but not how to get there, meaning that you’ll still have to figure out the path for yourself.

The controls are a huge step up from the PS1 version. Fun fact: all modern consoles have analog sticks. That means this game uses analog control, as opposed to the janky D-pad buttons from the PS1, the latter of which is definitely not ideal for a 3D platformer. On top of that, I feel like the Supercharge works far better in this remake and is easier to control, which led to me actually completing the dreaded Tree Tops level for the first time.

One final praise: the story additions. The game still has the same excuse plot (go rescue the dragons and kick some Gnorc ass), but there’s a lot more detail this time around. Every single dragon has a unique design, which is super impressive and is one of those things that’s unnecessary, yet goes to show how much love Toys for Bob put into this project. We actually see Gnasty Gnorc watching the dragons’ interview on TV at the beginning, which explains how he knew they were shit-talking him. Gnasty Gnorc himself gets a moment of sympathy; when the dragons call him “ugly”, he gets puppy dog eyes and looks genuinely hurt by the insult, thus providing a slight bit of depth to his character that wasn’t there before. Also, his lair is filled with funny Gnorc-themed inspirational posters and love letters that he writes to himself in an effort to boost his self-esteem. Poor Gnasty Gnorc; bro just needs a hug.

I’ve got a lot more to say, but I’ll leave it at that until I review the whole trilogy. Needless to say, this is the definitive version of Spyro 1, and I highly recommend it to those who enjoy 3D platformers or simply want a chill game to play on a rainy night. Going for 100% was absolutely a fun and worthwhile endeavor.

Divertidinho se pá, mas alguns mapas são terríveis e o estilo de jogo é extremamente repetitivo. Sem contar que a luta final é uma das coisas mais desanimadoras que ja vi na minha vida. O jogo constrói aquele ar de ameaça que é o Gnasty Gnorc pra no final tu ter uma das boss fights mais horríveis dos jogos (aliás, um ponto negativo muito forte desse jogo é a falta de boss fights que sejam minimamente boss fights). E o final em si é extremamente patético, te forçando a fazer 100% desse jogo água de salsicha. Não vou fazer 100%, quero que se foda esse jogo, vou me contentar com o final ruim mesmo

The original Spyro the Dragon is an all timer in my book. I simply adore it. So by rights, this remake, with its glamorous visual makeover and QoL enhancements (you don't have to stand still and press a button to look around anymore!) should be objectively better, right? RIGHT?!

Well, I know how all the puritans who were chagrined over the minute changes made in the Demon's Souls remake must feel now, I guess. Toys for Bob's recreation of a PS1 classic is perfectly serviceable. It plays well, it looks good, and it sounds about the same, especially if you turn on Stewart Copelands' original legendary score, but OG Spyro just had that certain magic that this is missing. I can't even put my finger on what it is. Maybe it's purely down to nostalgia, I don't know, but this remake didn't bewitch me the same way PS1 Spyro the Dragon always does.

Anyway, onwards to the second entry.

No puedo decir que tengo grandes recuerdos de Spyro. Si bien jugué el demo del juego de PS1 muchas veces cuando era niño, nunca me vi con las ganas de conseguir el juego y terminarlo. No fue hasta muchos años después de decidí terminar la trilogía original usando mi PSP para más comodidad y lo encontré muy, muy divertido. Ahora que tengo a la mano la Reignited Trilogy, sigo pensando lo mismo del juego: Es un plataformero muy bueno, con gran y fluido gameplay, mecánicas simples, secretos para encontrar y coleccionar todas las gemas es adictivo, y más ahora que el juego se ve precioso en todos los aspectos gracias al nuevo motor gráfico. No puedo esperar para ponerme a jugar Spyro 2, que siempre fue mi favorito.

This game despite being my first in the series has already made me a fan just from how satisfying the gameplay loop is.

The gems are super gratifying, the graphics are beautiful, and the tone feels refreshingly earnest while not being boring. Spyro feels like a perfect balance between the simplicity and accessibility of Mario and the attitude of Sonic and even Crash to an extent.

I’m excited to see what else this trilogy has in store.