Spyro: Reignited Trilogy

The PlayStation is known for a lot of things, but something that I feel neglects to be mentioned a lot of the time is just how much of a platforming juggernaut it was during its first and second iterations, from Crash to Ratchet & Clank to Sly Cooper. My favorite of the Sony platforming mascots, however, was always Spyro The Dragon for its unique blend of linear obstacle courses and open fields of collectibles. The Spyro: Reignited Trilogy is a pretty excellent remake of the original three games, filled with content and loving detail.

Since this is a trilogy, this review will be split into three games:

Spyro The Dragon

The first Spyro game is easily the most unique of the trilogy, lacking any side quests, mini games, or bonus challenges compared to the latter two games. Pretty much the entire game is built around running around open levels, collecting gems and saving all of the dragons. While I've heard complaints about this one being more repetitive than the other entries, I think the core gameplay loop of running around and collecting things is still incredibly addictive in its own right, and I quite like the narrow focus on platforming. I'd still say this is the easiest game in the trilogy since you don't have to deal with any abrupt gameplay shifts, but the platforming is the most complex and demanding it has ever been.

Since this is the first game in the series, the level design is generally more simplistic than the latter games, but it's still a blast to explore. Many of the early stages like Stone Hill, Town Square, and Cliff Town let you break what you'd have assumed to be the boundaries of the level to find gems, while the later more complex stages force you to pull off some incredibly difficult yet rewarding supercharge/glide tricks to get some of the dragons. My favorite stage is easily Tree Tops solely for how tough but satisfying it is to 100%. The bosses are a bit too rudimentary though, as they mostly involve landing a hit and then chasing the boss to their next arena. Metalhead is probably the best boss of the bunch, as it actually involves a level of strategy and puzzle-solving that helps it stand out. On the other hand of the spectrum, the final boss Gnasty Gnorc is a glorified chase scene, and a tedious one at that with a lack of checkpoints that make it easily the weakest part of the game.

Generally, this game benefitted the most from the remake, since Spyro's controls feel just a bit smoother here, and you can control the camera with the right stick. I do think the flying controls aren't as sharp in the Reignited Trilogy, but it's not as big of an issue compared to some of the more demanding flying stages in later games. The addition of skill points add some bonus content, most of which is fairly manageable as it either involves exploring the levels or beating bosses without getting hit. While I love the original game's dreamlike low-poly look, I can't deny that the visual upgrade we got here is downright stunning, especially in the mountain-top Magic Crafters and the sky-loft Dream Weavers. Spyro 1 also has easily my favorite soundtrack of the three games, though while the remade music is fine enough, I'm glad you can swap to Stewart Copeland's original compositions, which are still a truly beautiful love letter to progressive rock that holds up as one of the most unique video game soundtracks of all time.

Spyro The Dragon gets 4/5 Stars 

Spyro 2: Ripto's Rage

I tend to go back and forth on which Spyro game is my favorite, they're all relatively equal in quality for me. However, in the case of the Reignited Trilogy, Ripto's Rage was hands down the weakest of the bunch. It makes an incredibly strong first impression, though. The game has more of a story this time around, with a likable cast of characters and far more world-building. Each level has its own species with their own problem that Spyro needs to help solve, helping them all stand out from each other. And right from the very first level, Glimmer, you can already tell just how much more complex this game is going to be. There are side quests, power ups, and even new abilities like climbing, swimming, and double jumping. Coming to this right after playing the first game feels great. Some of my favorite levels in Ripto's Rage like Colossus, Scorch, Mystic Marsh, and Metropolis are better than some of the best levels in the original, as they are far more ambitious and complex. Ripto's Rage also introduces minigames and side quests, and a lot of these can be a ton of fun. Highlights for me include the hockey game in Colossus, the supercharge race in Robotica Farms, and even the trolley in Breeze Harbor (that's right, I like the trolley).

However, for every good minigame, there's a pretty frustrating one. Stuff like the escort mission in Fracture Hills, the crystal popcorn in Magma Cone, and the turtle soup in Sunny Beach rank as some of the lowest points in the series and drag down an otherwise really great game. Most of Ripto's Rage circumvents this issue by only requiring you to beat each level to progress, but then it blindsides you by putting a orb gate right before the final boss, meaning you'll have to do some of those more annoying minigames to beat the game. It doesn't help that the remade version of Ripto's Rage probably faced the biggest downgrade in terms of gameplay. The minigames all use the main behind-the-back camera rather than some using a top-down camera which can make certain minigames unnecessarily harder (especially that aforementioned turtle game), the swimming controls are more stiff too, and worst of all, the camera during the boss fights feels bizarrely finicky, turning what was previously a super great lineup of boss fights into big roadblocks and difficulty spikes.

Ripto's Rage has always been a mix of high points that are some of the best in the whole series and its low points that rank among the worst, but the remake only exacerbated it. It's still Spyro, and a polished 3D platformer at that, but where in the original trilogy I'd rank it right alongside the other two entries, in the Reignited Trilogy, it's an easy outlier.

Spyro 2: Ripto's Rage gets 4/5 Stars

Spyro 3: Year Of The Dragon

Year Of The Dragon is absolutely phenomenal, even compared to the other two games. It has some of the most complex level design in the series, a strong balance of variety and consistency, and a pretty much perfect progression system. YoTD feels like a perfect balance of the first two games. The enemies drop gems just like the original, and pretty much every accomplishment is tied together through the same collectable system: Eggs. You still need to beat every level to unlock the next world, but doing pretty much anything whether it's beating the level, playing challenge rooms, or just simply exploring will net you an egg. You can pretty much pick and choose whichever eggs you want, as long as you have 100/150 to unlock the final boss, which allows for a bit more freedom than the previous game's required 40/64 orbs.

Just like Ripto's Rage, there are still side quests and mini games, maybe even moreso this time due to the increased amount of characters to play as. There's an additional five characters this time around, and while none of them are as fun as Spyro, I don't hate any of them either. It helps that rather than being weaved into the levels like in the second game, the mini games are only contained in these separate challenge rooms. Not only do they help the levels feel much larger, but it also prioritizes the Spyro gameplay above everyone else. The core levels are also some of the best in the series, especially in the latter half of the game. Some highlights include Firework Factory, where you can fight ninjas and shoot down dragons,  Haunted Tomb, which packs in tons of tricky riddles and platforming segments, and Frozen Altars, which gives you ice breath to use just for one level.

The story is also the best in the series for me, probably due to the character development of Bianca, who starts out as one of the main villains, but eventually becomes one of the good guys. The boss fights are also great, especially Scorch who's so imposing he straight-up throws one of the previous bosses at you. The soundtrack is not as good as the first, but a close second with some serious high points and my personal favorite song in the series, Fireworks Factory. Once again, though, most of my issues with this game come from the remake. To be fair, Reignited does improve on certain aspects, particularly with the visuals once again, and most of the alternate characters (especially Agent 9) controlling leagues better. However, the flight and swimming issues are still there, some of the minigames were made harder, and strangely enough, Year Of The Dragon was way more buggy than any of the other games, even crashing at one point. Aside from the bugs, though, these downgrades didn't detract from my experience as much as in Ripto's Rage. Nothing was as swimming-heavy as Aquaria Towers, and the way progression works means you're punished a lot less for skipping out on a minigame or flying segment you're not a fan of. As a result, at least in terms of the Reignited versions, Spyro 3 is my definite favorite.

Oh, and you can beat up Moneybags (the bear who takes all your gems in the latter two games), so it's gonna be an automatic 10/10 anyway.

Spyro 3: Year Of The Dragon gets 5/5 Stars

Overall, this isn't a perfect recreation of the Spyro trilogy, and there are plenty of cases where the original games were just better, mostly in terms of the camera, certain aspects of the control, and general polish. However, I think the positive changes far outweigh the negatives, with the Reignited Trilogy's beautiful artstyle, excellent attention to detail, increased content, and improved accessibility still making it a great way to play some of my favorite games. It may not be the definitive Spyro experience, but compared to the N Sane Trilogy which I believe is a massive downgrade over the originals, I'd still wholeheartedly recommend the Reignited Trilogy for both Spyro fans and newcomers to the series.