Spyro Reignited Trilogy

Spyro Reignited Trilogy Review

Developer: Toys for Bob
Original developer: Insomniac Games
Publisher: Activision
Original Publisher: Sony Computer Entertainment
Genres: Action, Platformer, Fantasy, Adventure
Platforms: PS4, Xbox One
Release date:
- Spyro the Dragon: September 10th 1998
- Ripto's Rage: November 5th 1999
- Year of the Dragon: November 10th 2000
- Reignited Trilogy: November 13th 2018
Playtime: around 24 hours total
Reviewed on regular PS4

Twenty years after the release of the original Spyro the Dragon on the PS1 and a year or so after the remake of the Crash Bandicoot N. Sane Trilogy, Toys for Bob gave the same treatment to the purple dragon and now its first three games are available in current-generation hardware better than ever. However, just like with Crash, this remake begs the question: are the Spyro games the target of nostalgia goggles, that is, do we remember them to be better than they actually are?

For starters, what is included in the Spyro Ignited Trilogy package? That's a simple question: the first three games in the series, that is, Spyro the Dragon, Ripto's Rage and Year of the Dragon. Fundamentally, the remake was a one to one conversion, bringing the controls up to today's standards and, of course, a complete rework of the games' graphics. On the other hand, Toys for Bob were too faithful to the originals, which means some parts or specific challenges kept its difficulty or, to be more specific, annoyances and poor design. Overall, the remakes were extremely well done, which gives space to focus on the actual review and analysis of the games. The games aged well in my opinion and Spyro himself, even if a tad too witty for his own good, is still a good iconic character.

However, my problems are related to the games' structure. Each one is divided into a handful of worlds, which serve as hubs to access levels, the real meat of these games. Each level is a self-contained short adventure in the home world of a different "species" of characters, with the objective of dealing with the baddies. They are indeed short, as the main objective can be completed in less than ten minutes, but after that the second half of the levels open up for you to pursue the remaining gems and dragon statues/orbs/eggs (it varies from game to game).

And with this we reach the collectibles, one of the main attractions and strongest points in Spyro. It's quite fun to go after every collectible and 100% levels. There is nothing to gain, except story progression as it can be barred if you don't have enough collectibles, but it is quite satisfying to hear the tingle of a picked-up gem, with its value popping up on the screen. Finding a new dragon statue or egg is fun as well, as each dragon then has its own dialogue line or animation. The orbs are the odd one, with a fixed animation and their acquisition being, in general, annoying (but let's talk about that later).

In general, what has been said so far describes the games fairly well in general, so it's time to dig deeper and discuss what the games do well and not so well. Spyro 1 is a simple game, but a charming and innovative one at that. In part, due to the original limitations of the PS1 hardware, levels are smaller, so the focus is clearly the level design and creativity. As said before, the collectible gems and, in this case, statues of imprisoned dragons were quite fun and enticing to go after. Not because of the rewards but just out of fun. Challenges to reach statues were the easiest in the trilogy but entertaining enough to keep the pace interesting. Spyro himself, even if limited to a horn rush and fire breathing attacks, is quite fun to control and run around with in the levels. Add to that all the colorful remade assets and the first game is an absolute joy to play to completion.

Now, if we talk about Spyro 2, my opinion about the purple dragon's second adventure is not the same. In an attempt to evolve the formula while keeping the same fundamental design, levels were bigger and special powerups appeared at the end of each level. To clarify this part, after completing the main objective in a level and defeating a number of enemies, you gain access to a powerup such as improved fire breathing, flying, etc., which are used to complete challenges and acquire orbs. There are also a lot more mini games to acquire the remaining orbs, but those I mostly despised. Even if they added some variety to the gameplay, they were either a slug to complete, had bad controls or were simply not fun to play. All things considered, I didn't like playing Spyro 2 at all. It forced the collection aspect, and the new cast of supporting characters were just plain boring.

Finally, we reach the third game. The formula, at its core, still revolves around completing levels and worlds to fight a villain at the very end. Spyro himself still has roughly the same moveset so the solution the developers came up with was to add a handful of new playable characters which can be used in specific smaller levels built for them. There is Sheila, the kangaroo who kicks everything in her sight, Agent 9, a monkey with a laser gun and a couple other. To be honest, the new playable characters were annoying, but when I ignored their dialogue and focused on their gameplay, they actually provided a good break of playing with Spyro for three games.

Fortunately, this last entry mostly got rid of the powerups and tried to return to the satisfying simplicity of the original game. On the other hand, the overall game design was still exactly the same, even with the addition of the occasional chance to play with a different character: go to a new level, save the habitants from the baddies, find the collectibles, rinse and repeat until the current world is completed, then repeat it four more times to complete the game. In other words, even if Insomniac tried its best to make a brand-new game, the core was still the same and I just couldn't get excited to do the exact same thing for the 100th time.

And what was just said about Spyro 3 can be taken as my opinion for the trilogy as a whole. The first game was simple, fun and being short allowed it to mask the slow burn that is the repetitive level design. Yes, it was quite fun to play those eight hours in Spyro 1 to 100% the game, but repeating the exact same thing two more times in a row destroyed my enjoyment of playing with the purple dragon.

When compared to, say, the Crash Bandicoot N. Sane trilogy, the environments are not as varied. In Crash, the contrast between the environment of two levels is bigger and the gameplay itself is always adding new twists as well (and no we won't discuss its quality, only what it gives the player to do). Spyro is way too focused in magical environments and elements which, surprisingly, work against itself and don't create many impactful changes in a level to level basis, not on gameplay and not really on the visual impact. In defense of the games (I guess), when I took a long break after starting Spyro 3 I could enjoy it a lot more almost as much as the first game. Unfortunately, it wasn't long until I was burned out again and just rushed through the levels to see the credits roll.

To wrap up this review, after playing the three remade Spyro games, I feel like I've played a single 24-hour game with three endings. The games felt the exact same, just with some changes to collectibles, cast of supporting characters and slight gameplay differences. To put it in another way, I honestly think only one of these games should have been made: Spyro 1. It was the first one, it was the most creative one when contrasted with the hardware limitations of the original release and, most importantly, it didn't have anything before to make me dread playing it. Spyro 2 tried too hard to emphasize the collection aspect and the annoying and not so good mini-games and challenges drove me away from the collection aspect. Lastly, Spyro 3, even if it was a good game and did its best to innovate the series, still stuck too close to the formula. Add on top of that my lack of interest or will to engross myself in it and you get seven hours of boredom. As such, if you end up buying the Spyro Reignited Trilogy I urge you to not play the three games back to back. Instead, play something else in between so you actually fully appreciate what each individual entry has to offer.