A critique of the Spyro Trilogy. Using the Reignited Trilogy as a basis for lore analysis, and an overall review of the world design and mechanics.

SOCIAL MEDIA: www.twitter.com/MontyZander
PATREON:   / montyzander  

With rumours of a Spyro 4 - Hall of the Gods - in the works, I decided to revisit my favourite platforming games of the past. Spyro was my first ever mascot platformer. And still – I would argue – it’s the best of that era, because it took everything that worked in those past games, tightened up the screws, and blew some fairy-dust over the package to make it feel such a full and invigorating experience to play.
We’ll be walking through each game in the trilogy, but the core focus is to rate each game on its own right, whilst examining each of the components which make an effective mascot platformer. If you want my overall opinion it’s very simple, I am a Reignited Trilogy fan. Whilst it’s not perfect, I do think it’s superior to the original games as a package, so therefore I believe it’s a suitable scope to examine the Spyro games through. If you want an analysis which concentrates purely on comparing the OG to the remakes, I’ve linked a couple below which I’ve personally enjoyed.

TIMESTAMPS
0:00:00 - Introduction

SPYRO THE DRAGON
0:03:54 - Welcome to Spyro (Aesthetics & Design)
0:23:18 - Collect-A-Thing (Movement, Combat, Collectables)
0:40:42 - Designing The World (Level Design & Spyro 1's Ending)

SPYRO 2: RIPTO'S RAGE
0:51:39 - Giving Spyro Meaning (Story & Aesthetics)
01:06:38 - Insomniac's Ingenious Ingenuity (Power-Ups, Combat, Collectables)
01:21:22 - More Than A Level (World & Level Design & Spyro 2's Ending)

SPYRO: YEAR OF THE DRAGON
01:33:48 - The Bottom of the Barrel - (Story, Aesthetics, Side-Missions)
01:54:00 - The Art of Overcompensating - (Mechanics, Side-Characters, Spyro 3's Ending)

MAJOR RECOMMENDATION
ExoParadigmGamer - ROR: Spyro the Dragon (PS1 Vs PC & PS4)
   • ROR: Spyro the Dragon (PS1 Vs. PC and...