Spyro Reignited Trilogy
Reviewed 09-14-2024
Spyro is a very nostalgic game series for me. I played the original trilogy and quite a few of the other iterations as well. My favorite out of them is probably Ripto’s Rage, but A Hero’s Tail is also great in its own right. This remake is a wonderfully faithful reimagining of the originals, with enough modernization to appeal to a new, younger audience. Playing this trilogy, I could feel the love that Toys For Bob put in and it greatly paid off.
Spyro the Dragon is still a solid platformer. The gliding feels fluid and the concept is strong. After playing the second and third games however, it definitely lacks any sort of complexity. I will say that near the end of this game, there were some moderately challenging areas in Beastmakers as well as Artisans (Treetops being a prime example). It wasn’t great to backload the more difficult levels, but it does make sense if you take into account basic design principles. To keep the player engaged, they have to constantly be met with a new challenge to overcome. The only reason it doesn’t work here, is because the rest of the game is very easy. I’m not going to fault it for its difficulty, as it’s meant for a younger generation, but it would have flowed a lot better overall if there was a steady incline of challenge.
This first game really sets the bar for remake quality. The environments and dragons all look fantastic and Spyro’s mannerisms are perfect. I definitely felt a little disoriented at first, as the original games had a certain “bleakness” to them that made the areas feel somewhat liminal. I’m not sure if that’s the right word, but there’s like an overbearing feeling that carries between worlds, and I think they purposefully avoided that feeling here. Areas are lively and bright and some of the more violent elements are removed. I think this was a calculated change and it doesn’t detract anything from the game itself, it’s just different for those that grew up with them.
Since it’s the first game, I can forgive much of my gripes as the next one adds a lot, without losing the heart of the original.
Spyro 2 Ripto’s Rage is the sweet spot in the series for me. This entry adds additional characters for Spyro to interact with and dynamic cutscenes at the beginning and end of a level. These scenes add so much depth to the game and I love every single one of them. It makes the world feel more alive, and the recreations in this remake carry a lot of that spirit. Some were changed to be less violent, but that’s okay. There is one change I can’t forgive though, that’s the monk’s chant in Colossus. These are some of the funniest little guys in the series and their chant was half of that. The new one lacks the substance found in the original. It’s really not a big deal in the grand scheme of it all, just a nitpick. The other characters all fit a specific archetype, and are generally just tutorial characters that don’t do much. Their redesigns are solid, but some of their character was lost in the performances. I think Elora and Hunter lost their sassiness and cockiness respectively. However, it’s just a personal preference, and the new voices are solid overall and they’re not that important to the game itself. Hunter at least shows up in some levels to offer you challenges for orbs. These are a new collectible that you’ll need to complete the story. You don’t need very many to progress, but they are needed for a 100% completion. (The logistics of Hunter gatekeeping these makes no sense, so don’t think about that.) They also introduced the idea of backtracking here. This is a divisive way to design levels and personally I’m not a big fan. You can’t 100% the first level in the game until you make it to the next homeworld and learn how to climb. (Unless you do a charge jump glitch.) The amount of backtracking overall is not too excessive, but I begrudge it anyway.
With this sequel, there are improvements to the controls as Spyro gets a hover he can perform at the end of a glide for a little more height. He also gets to learn how to swim, which is a heck of a change because water would straight up kill him in the first game. These mechanics add more layers of depth to the platforming and allow different scenarios to be possible. They also add power-up gates, so you can have temporary boosts to your normal abilities, adding even more diversity. These changes help the game’s pacing tremendously and I appreciate their inclusion.
The challenges to get orbs are where the game gets creative. These minigames really help to break up the pacing, as most of the time you’ll be charging, gliding and flaming without really having to think too much about it. Trouble with the trolley and the professor’s pencil quest are highlights for me personally. Saving the cavemen from the dinos is also a fun time too. Some of the extra trials for orbs felt like they were half baked though. (I’m mostly referring to the ones where they have you do the same challenge again but it’s slightly harder.)
Spyro 2 just has a certain charm in its presentation that I don’t think the other two games have. The third game doesn't necessarily do anything wrong, there’s just not much difference between it and 2.
Spyro Year of the Dragon is the end of this trilogy of games. This game features another big bad and a sinister plot. There are also more story cutscenes and playable characters this time around. It feels like they wanted to go big with this game, and they delivered in many aspects, but the worlds here are not very memorable for me. The only one I can remember off the top of my head is the one with the funny tiki guys. Sgt. Byrd has to put their heads back on in his level and it’s a funny little quest to me.
The story here shakes it up a bit as one of the villains (Bianca) constantly shows up to taunt you. Eventually she sees the error of her ways and joins your side, but her motivations for working with the Sorceress are relatively unknown. It doesn’t matter how deep the story is for a collectathon, platformer anyway, but I would have liked to see her development explored a bit more.
There are more minigames here and instead of collecting orbs, you get dragon eggs. Again, you don’t need them all for the story, but you do for 100%. There are still challenges that you have to do multiple times, but their mechanics are a bit more fine tuned. I remember having to protect the ice skater during her performance, failing and laughing as she was hit across the ice. And if we’re talking about the minigames, we can’t gloss over the skateboard levels. These are some of the most fun side missions, in my opinion, as they are such a sign of the times. They just make me laugh okay.
The other playable characters levels’ vary in quality, Bentley’s still not being too great, but are a nice break from the traditional Spyro levels. Agent 9’s shootout with the cowboy dinosaurs is one of the more memorable ones from these, while the only one of Shiela’s that comes to mind is the escort mission with the mushrooms (and not for happy reasons). The inclusion of these doesn’t detract from the game overall, but they don’t add much either.
The Reignited Trilogy breathes new life into games that I hold near to my heart. As an adult, I lost a lot of my sense of whimsy, and these remakes spark it back up in me. They adjusted a few things, but I think the heart of what Spyro is, is still strong here. The new arrangements of music are more dynamic, but have the soul of the original versions. The character redesigns modernize the original simplistic versions in an additive way. I can tell that Toys for Bob understood the assignment here and I would love to see them tackle Enter the Dragonfly or A Hero’s Tail as well. They were able to bring Spyro back in a way that I hope speaks to a new generation and makes them fall in love with the little purple dragon like I did all those years ago.
