Spyro the Dragon

Note: I have not played the original game for more than a couple of hours, therefore my views of the game are based on this remake alone.

Spyro 1 is a pretty good game with a few small frustrations. Gameplay consists of dropping you in semi-open areas where you're tasked with finding all dragons (the 'stars' of this game). On the way you can collect gems and dragon eggs, collect them all for 100% completion. If you only focus on getting the dragons you can beat the game in less than 5 hours, but the real fun of this game is collecting everything else. Apart from a small handful of frustrating moments, collecting everything fun, if a tat repetitive near the end. Music is nice and relaxing, but nothing that will stay with me after finishing the game. Overall a good platformer, even today.

Spyro the Dragon is a classic 3D platformer from the Playstation era. I never owned one, but I remember watching (and having the occasional play) of this game, and really wanting to play it. Many years later, and I have acquired the Spyro trilogy on the Nintendo Switch, through the Spyro Reignited Trilogy.

The first Spyro game is a blast, and has all the fun and frustration of a 3D platformer of the era. The game follows Spyro as he seeks to defeat Gnasty Gnorc, and free his fellow dragons from petrification across the Dragon Kingdom.

On the plus side, I loved the challenges of the 3D platforming. Some levels are downright ghoulish, and require precision and perfect timing to make boosted jumps, or land on specific platforms. Their are secrets abound in this gem collectathon, and 100% the game is incredibly challenging yet rewarding. The updated graphics from the reignited version looked great, with a variety of levels to explore, and a variety of challenges to complete, usually focused on movement based obstacles related to boosted jumps, flying, or platforming challenges.

There are a couple of downsides. The game definitely shows its age. The platforming at times can be incredibly simple, which makes sense for a kids focused game, but at times can also be enragingly difficult. This spike in difficulty can, at times, be annoying, and detracted somewhat from my overall enjoyment. Another negative is the story and characters - there is really nothing of value here. Not a huge detracting for this type of game, but it certainly could have been much better.

All in all, this is a very rewarding 3D platforming experience. The challenges felt, on the whole, rewarding, and the remastered version on the Reignited Trilogy looks and feels pretty good to play. I had a lot of fun with this one, and am looking forward to playing the remaining titles in the future. 7/10 (Good!)

This remaster is great! But I don't remember Gnasty Gnorc's level being so hard. So many melted Spyros...

Great remake.

Fun, but limited. Still a good game.

Platform: PS4
Game version: PS4 digital
Trophies: 100% - 37/37
Rating: ⚪⚪🟢⚪