I was rather surprised to find the original Spyro a really fun time. Not sure why, but I expected a middling, slow experience that just saw you mindlessly collecting gems in nice looking worlds. While I still enjoyed Spyro 2, the experience I expected from Spyro 1 is more apparent here.
I will say that I was impressed by just how big this game is. Not only are there a lot of worlds, they're all visually diverse, which includes the enemy and character designs. The most joyful part of entering a new level was seeing the theming, which was always something totally unique to Spyro 2. From robot farms to Hansel & Gretel in Arabian Nights, there was little to nothing missing from the selection.
What you do in these levels is where the game lacks. My average experience was a casual stroll through a nice looking environment with little to no friction. The first title didn't have tons of friction, but the inclusion of the supercharge meant that some gems acted as navigational puzzles that required some level of critical thinking and experimentation to acquire. Now it's been a few years since I played Spyro 1 so it's possible it's better in my head, but there was nothing close to this feeling in Spyro 2. I was often having a good time, but it almost never engaged me beyond that.
There's also the issue of the minigames which were greatly hit or miss. At their best, they were decently fun breaks from finding gems. At their worst, they were tedious affairs which were torture to complete despite offering no challenge. The infamous alchemist escort is not hard, but it is finnicky, and if you've never played the game before, it's highly likely you'll have to do it twice. On the other hands, I found the bosses pretty good. The final boss was a fair level of difficult with a distinct gimmick, and the second boss even took a life from me (though dragged on otherwise)! I also want to give some credit to the characters and story, especially Ripto who was suitably pathetic for a Spyro story. I think they nailed the tone that a narrative of these games should have and I'm hopeful the next will be an equally fun time in that regard.
I will say that I was impressed by just how big this game is. Not only are there a lot of worlds, they're all visually diverse, which includes the enemy and character designs. The most joyful part of entering a new level was seeing the theming, which was always something totally unique to Spyro 2. From robot farms to Hansel & Gretel in Arabian Nights, there was little to nothing missing from the selection.
What you do in these levels is where the game lacks. My average experience was a casual stroll through a nice looking environment with little to no friction. The first title didn't have tons of friction, but the inclusion of the supercharge meant that some gems acted as navigational puzzles that required some level of critical thinking and experimentation to acquire. Now it's been a few years since I played Spyro 1 so it's possible it's better in my head, but there was nothing close to this feeling in Spyro 2. I was often having a good time, but it almost never engaged me beyond that.
There's also the issue of the minigames which were greatly hit or miss. At their best, they were decently fun breaks from finding gems. At their worst, they were tedious affairs which were torture to complete despite offering no challenge. The infamous alchemist escort is not hard, but it is finnicky, and if you've never played the game before, it's highly likely you'll have to do it twice. On the other hands, I found the bosses pretty good. The final boss was a fair level of difficult with a distinct gimmick, and the second boss even took a life from me (though dragged on otherwise)! I also want to give some credit to the characters and story, especially Ripto who was suitably pathetic for a Spyro story. I think they nailed the tone that a narrative of these games should have and I'm hopeful the next will be an equally fun time in that regard.