Spyro the Dragon

Spyro the Dragon is a technical and artistic marvel. Its revolutionary LOD/draw distance technology made for an unprecedented sense of openness in a 3D game. That, paired with a visual direction that serves as a masterclass in color theory, a wonderful score by the drummer of The Police, and the cutest mascot on the block—Spyro was a recipe for success. As a platformer, the movement is simple but effective. Gliding is so much fun. The way certain levels set up faux boundaries only to shatter them with crazy glide spots is so cool. It feels like sequence breaking in all the right ways. Combat is super legible with a simple ruleset of large enemies requiring flame breath, and silver armor needing to be charged. The game always abides by this simple rule, and it meant that I was never confused on how to take an enemy down. Charging as both an attack and a movement option just feels sooooo good. The supercharger ramps were neat, and you could chain them together to get to insane speeds and clear enormous gaps. This was cool until they took it too far in Tree Tops (all my homies hate Tree Tops). The flying levels are SO HARD, but I came to really enjoy them. I like that all targets could be taken out in any order, so you could really strategically plan out an optimal route. Bosses are just kinda nothing, though. I can hardly even classify them as bosses actually. Also, I think the fairy kiss rage is super underutilized and kinda lame. I think this game is one of the most rewarding 3D platformers to 100%. Upon full completion, an entire bonus level is unlocked that is overflowing with thousands of bonus gems to collect. It's a blast. Spyro is a blast! Also, Sparx is gaming's greatest healthbar. And why is the sound design so good?? The sound Sparx makes when eating butterflies is like a dulcet tone to my ears.

A wise dragon once told me: "Aim high in life, but watch out for flying boxes."

This game is perfect and the remastere made it better 😳

The pinnacle of my childhood.
Still holds up today.

A true joy to play through

10/10. 100/100
As a Child: 10/10. 100/100
(PlayStation 1 - Disc)

Beat the PS4 Version from Reignited Trilogy - 1x.


Character Rate (SPYRO THE DRAGON): 84/100
Performance Rate (Voiced by Carlos Alazraqui): 68/100

An incredible start

My first real video game. It was perfect. The controls, environments, music and the sarcasm are amazing. A classic that still holds up even with a HD remake.