The Spyro Reignited Trilogy is a fun, charming way to play these old games. The art design here is on point, breathing life into these old characters and worlds with beautiful animation and wonderful visuals. The colors really pop here, and I really feel like I'm playing old 90's collect-a-thons.
The controls are well maintained, and the games as a whole play really well for how old they are. Just goes to show how well truly good design can age. I think the hitboxes needed a bit of tweaking though. It's not a huge deal in the first two games as, let's be real, they're not really difficult games so it doesn't matter much. Year of the Dragon though, ups the ante a bit, and the wonky hitboxes can ruin the runs of some of the tougher challenges. That would've been nice to tune up as there's only so many times I can get "hit" by something landing next to Spyro before it gets annoying.
Overall, a great package that I highly recommend whether playing these games for the first time like I did or returning to them as old favorites with a new coat of paint.
Reviews of individual games below:
Spyro the Dragon - 3.5/5
First game in this trilogy and a fun way to start! I don't think this really blew my socks off, but it was a fun collect-a-thon. The game design here really holds up especially after all this time. The levels were charming and fun to explore while the mechanics were simple but elegantly used.
My only actual "gripe" with this game is the hitbox when flaming stuff in the flying levels seemed really unfair. Like I swear I saw flames bouncing off the light/chest/copter boi/plane, what do you mean I didn't hit it??? Definitely ruined a couple runs, but obviously not a big deal. Otherwise, this was a really good game that was fun enough to 120% but didn't provide the challenge or wow factor to be better than really good. Dope soundtrack though, hope that keeps up for the other games.
Spyro: Ripto's Rage - 4/5
A nice step up from the first game. Abilities are expanded, levels are more open, and there's way more to do. The minigame structure is not something I normally like, but I really dug it here. The lite Metroidvania aspects with some abilities are nice too, and I liked that Moneybags was there so I could actually use the gems I was collecting.
A couple glitches (I had to restart a level cuz a troll I needed to freeze glitched out) and some wonky hitboxes (sir that projectile landed next to me) aside, this game played rather smoothly. There was a nice bump in challenge too. Still not a hard game, but I felt like I had to give more effort in combat and especially the boss battles.
The game was fun again to 100% complete, and this time, getting the endgame bonuses was much quicker. Overall, a nice improved Spyro package!
Spyro: Year of the Dragon - 3.5/5
While Year of the Dragon adds a lot to the Spyro formula, not everything it stuffs in here works super well. I found a large chunk of the minigames obnoxious this time around, losing a lot of the charm Ripto's Rage had. There were a couple in particular like the Twin Dragons that were so poorly designed, they were tedious and aggravating to complete while others like the skateboard races were just downright broken. My board glitched out and got stuck on terrain so many times during the final post-game race especially.
The additional playable characters were a nice twist too, and I liked how some of them really changed up gameplay styles. Agent No. 9 in particular was a highlight with a few of his sections each mimicking a different style of shooter. The only added character that missed for me was Sgt. Byrd; he was clunky to control, and I found his segments underwhelming at best.
Overall, Year of the Dragon is still a fun finish to the trilogy, but one that unfortunately takes a step back from the strongest entry.
The controls are well maintained, and the games as a whole play really well for how old they are. Just goes to show how well truly good design can age. I think the hitboxes needed a bit of tweaking though. It's not a huge deal in the first two games as, let's be real, they're not really difficult games so it doesn't matter much. Year of the Dragon though, ups the ante a bit, and the wonky hitboxes can ruin the runs of some of the tougher challenges. That would've been nice to tune up as there's only so many times I can get "hit" by something landing next to Spyro before it gets annoying.
Overall, a great package that I highly recommend whether playing these games for the first time like I did or returning to them as old favorites with a new coat of paint.
Reviews of individual games below:
Spyro the Dragon - 3.5/5
First game in this trilogy and a fun way to start! I don't think this really blew my socks off, but it was a fun collect-a-thon. The game design here really holds up especially after all this time. The levels were charming and fun to explore while the mechanics were simple but elegantly used.
My only actual "gripe" with this game is the hitbox when flaming stuff in the flying levels seemed really unfair. Like I swear I saw flames bouncing off the light/chest/copter boi/plane, what do you mean I didn't hit it??? Definitely ruined a couple runs, but obviously not a big deal. Otherwise, this was a really good game that was fun enough to 120% but didn't provide the challenge or wow factor to be better than really good. Dope soundtrack though, hope that keeps up for the other games.
Spyro: Ripto's Rage - 4/5
A nice step up from the first game. Abilities are expanded, levels are more open, and there's way more to do. The minigame structure is not something I normally like, but I really dug it here. The lite Metroidvania aspects with some abilities are nice too, and I liked that Moneybags was there so I could actually use the gems I was collecting.
A couple glitches (I had to restart a level cuz a troll I needed to freeze glitched out) and some wonky hitboxes (sir that projectile landed next to me) aside, this game played rather smoothly. There was a nice bump in challenge too. Still not a hard game, but I felt like I had to give more effort in combat and especially the boss battles.
The game was fun again to 100% complete, and this time, getting the endgame bonuses was much quicker. Overall, a nice improved Spyro package!
Spyro: Year of the Dragon - 3.5/5
While Year of the Dragon adds a lot to the Spyro formula, not everything it stuffs in here works super well. I found a large chunk of the minigames obnoxious this time around, losing a lot of the charm Ripto's Rage had. There were a couple in particular like the Twin Dragons that were so poorly designed, they were tedious and aggravating to complete while others like the skateboard races were just downright broken. My board glitched out and got stuck on terrain so many times during the final post-game race especially.
The additional playable characters were a nice twist too, and I liked how some of them really changed up gameplay styles. Agent No. 9 in particular was a highlight with a few of his sections each mimicking a different style of shooter. The only added character that missed for me was Sgt. Byrd; he was clunky to control, and I found his segments underwhelming at best.
Overall, Year of the Dragon is still a fun finish to the trilogy, but one that unfortunately takes a step back from the strongest entry.