One thing that's becoming abundantly clear as I play through this trilogy is that the Spyro formula hasn't aged quite as well as the Crash Bandicoot formula. I played through the entirety of Crash Bandicoot N. Sane Trilogy last year - a faithful collection of remakes just like Spyro Reignited Trilogy - and found that the HD recreations of Crash's PS1 jaunts were either on a par with the originals or even surpassed them. With Spyro, it's a different story. The original Ripto's Rage! (or Gateway to Glimmer as it was known in the UK) was a worthy sequel that I found much to my liking back when it came out, but this HD makeover really shines a light on how mundane the minigames are, and how detrimental they are to the experience as a whole. Ripto's Rage! is essentially the first game, but with an extended move list, a (very) half-hearted metroidvania structure, and lots and lots of crappy but mandatory minigames. You want those orbs in order to progress through the story? Best start playing them minigames! The vast majority of which are braindead, repetitive and just plain not fun.

And again, like with the remake of Spyro 1, something's missing. The Insomniac magic just isn't here. Everything feels watered down, generic and lacking the distinct art style of the original. It's a vague criticism I know, but those PS1 titles were an absolute joy on visual and aural front, and that just hasn't been translated well to this HD trilogy.

Onwards to 3.