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.
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.