One thing I liked about Spyro 2 that I think improved upon Spyro 1 is making the controls slightly better with the fluttering and a better transition from charge into flame (not being able to instantly turn on a dime with a jump turn into a charge anymore is a shame, however).
One thing I liked about the original which I found myself missing while playing the sequel is not riddling every single level with these annoying fucking minigames. Thought that was neat.