Spyro the Dragon (PlayStation)

Spyro the Dragon is a 3D platform game released for the PlayStation in 1998. You play the role of a small purple dragon named Spyro and must travel through various worlds in order to save other dragons. You must also save your home from the main antagonist of the game, Gnasty Gnorc.

Spyro had a number of abilities that gave the game a lot of variety, including breathing fire, flying, charging and more. Besides, who doesn't want to control a dragon? The levels were large and added an open world feel to the game. In addition to the primary goals of saving your home and rescuing dragons, there were a variety of other challenges as well.

This game got almost universally positive reviews. The graphics were excellent for the time as were the sound and music. The level/world design was excellent as well. Not only were they large as mentioned above but each world was also quite unique. The most important aspect, the game play itself, was on point as well and even the character design was very good.

I was never a huge fan of the 3D platformer genre and I would prefer a more serious game. By that I don't mean harder or more complex, just something with more "realism" that felt more like a Dungeons and Dragons game. Still, it was an excellent game and if you like cutesy 3D platformer type games then this is definitely the game for you.

Spyro the Dragon was hugely successful, ultimately selling over 5 million copies worldwide. A number of sequels were produced, including two more games for the PlayStation including Spyro 2: Ripto's Rage! and Spyro: Year of the Dragon. Afterwards, the series continued on other platforms with different developers. These games include Spyro: Season of Ice (Game Boy Advance), Spyro 2: Season of Flame (Game Boy Advance), Spyro: Enter the Dragon (PlayStation 2, GameCube), Spyro: Attack of the Rhynocs (Game Boy Advance), Crash Bandicoot Purple: Ripto's Rampage and Spyro Orange: The Cortex Conspiracy (Game Boy Advance), Spyro: A Hero's Tail (GameCube, PlayStation 2, Xbox), and Spyro: Shadow Legacy (Nintendo DS). After this, the original trilogy was rebooted on a variety of platforms including the Xbox, Nintendo DS, GameCube, Wii, PS2, PS3, Xbox, and Xbox 360. However, these games, while not bad, were not really as good as the originals. Finally, there was the Spyro Reignited Trilogy. This was a remaster of the original trilogy for the PS4, Xbox One, Nintendo Switch and Windows.

Most of these games are at least ok but some are better than others. The original trilogy is by far the best and the remastered trilogy is a good substitute, especially if you are looking for upgraded graphics. In general, the originals are not hard to find or too expensive and Spyro Reignited is even easier to find, especially since it includes all three games. All of them can be picked up pretty easily and reasonable prices on eBay for example. The originals can of course be emulated as well. In any case, any 3D platform fan should give the original Spyro a try as it is one of the best.

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