Just like Crash Bandicoot N. Sane Trilogy, Activision comes back the following year with Spyro Reignited Trilogy. Essentially the PS1 Spyro trilogy remastered in one game compilation. Honestly, I didn't have much to go on. My wife isn't a fan of Crash but she absolutely loved Spyro. Also the original developers eventually went on to making Ratchet & Clank series.
I only finished the first two Ratchet & Clank games many years ago. Spyro is a vastly different experience from Crash series. You get multiple hits before dying. Thankfully, you can attack small creatures that transforms into butterflies for your dragonfly friend to eat. It was a clever idea making his condition as your health bar.
I personally loved on the game selection screen, all three games' current completion percentages are presented. This is very helpful for those who love going all the way to completing these games to their fullest. Spyro the Dragon involved you rescuing trapped dragons. Originally due to hardware limitations as well as time restricts.
Most dragons looked somewhat similar to each other. Thank god, all of them looks very different. In fact, this alone was a high light of this version of the game. All three games does also give you the option to being able to switch sound tracks. Not only that, in Spyro 1 you also collect dragon eggs from thieves.
In Spyro 2, there's different collectibles such as the orbs that could get Spyro back home. You also need to collect talismans in order to stop Ripto. In Spyro 3, dragon eggs becomes your second biggest collectible in the game. I also liked both Spyro 2 & Spyro 3, you get more direct help from other characters.
I also liked the humor displayed in these games similar to Rare with their N64 platformers. Excluding Conker's Bad Fur Day for many reasons. Spyro is a small purple dragon that has to help others from three different tyrants. I really liked in this compilation's cover you actually get to see all three of them.
You can almost place them in a triangle I'm not kidding. Obviously Dr. Neo Cortex was the final boss of Crash trilogy games. I very quickly got pulled into these worlds. It sorta reminds me I dare to say Banjo-Kazooie? Yeah, there are some similarities. In fact, if enough people are interested. I might do a more proper comparison with Banjo-Kazooie with Spyro trilogy.
Anyway, you get to keep every gem in the original Spyro. But in both Spyro 2 & Spyro 3, there's a greedy bear named Moneybags whose will force you to paying him a lot of gems. Even for small things like how to swim or how to climb up ladders. Honestly, what a prick this guy is. He even makes a small reference about Sonic himself.
You can tell each Spyro game adds more variety to the overall experience. Sure I can also say that about Crash trilogy as well. Not to upset Crash fans, I felt slightly more of those worked better in Spyro trilogy. Honestly, I do like you can easily tell what to do for the most part. At the same time being new to these like myself was such an eye opener.
Unlike Crash Bandicoot N. Sane Trilogy, some of the original actors reprise their roles. I have heard complaints some characters sounded better in the original PS1 games. But hey what can you do right? I also liked how the controls even with a handful of issues still gets the job done. It's more surprising that this compilation has more achievements/trophies than Crash trilogy does.
Spyro has a lot of levels within their respective hub worlds. I should mention how they go about getting to the bosses is different between the three Spyro games. Originally, you could go directly into a boss level. Then in Spyro 2, you must collect all the talismans or enough orbs to unlock the boss levels.
This is slightly done differently in Spyro 3 where getting on a vehicle with a handful of characters surrounding it. Actually takes you directly to the bosses. Yeah in Spyro 2, you still have to go find where the boss levels are. This is more different than Crash trilogy I'm not kidding. Spyro is a lot of fun to watch as well as to play as.
I felt some of the additional characters in Spyro 3. Each one brings a different game play style. Sparx aka your dragonfly is done in a retro shooter style. Shelia comes off as a mix between beat em up & a platformer. Sgt. Byrd comes off as a weapon's guy including a jetpack. Bentley's levels are a weird variety.
He usually comes off as a beat em up. Although, he does have a boxing theme level. I swear this is one of the shortest Spyro levels I ever played. Agent 9 plays like a third person shooter. Now that's interesting because Insomniac games later went on to making Ratchet and Clank series. Thus his levels are precursors to that series.
Your friend Hunter is playable in the bonus levels. Usually, in the first two Spyro games you only play as Spyro. He had to be included in those respective games' bound levels. It is interesting, someone else gets those instead. Some reviewers complaint about Spyro 3 offers too much content. The closest thing for the longest time I played this was Donkey Kong 64 on Nintendo 64.
Both 3D platformers has a handful of playable characters that all bring something else to the table. I highly felt if I were to do one massive PS1 vs. N64 comparison video. I probably would be crazy enough to do that. Anyway, Spyro series is such an experience. I highly doubt I could do it any justice. Even with dark moments, there's more than enough light moments.
More recently added from October 17th, 2020.
If you are an completionist, there's so much to go to keep you busy for hours. I got to say the soundtracks in all three games holds up amazingly well. There's a great variety of boss fights as well. Spyro cameos in Crash Team Racing Nitro-Fueled with Hunter and Ghastly Gnorc as playable character with their own track.
Considering Crash 4 surprised everyone, I wondered if we might get a new Spyro game. Especially, that franchise didn't fell as hard as Crash had. I may not be the person to truly know the original three PS1 games. I can see this from what I seen of both versions, this compilation is very faithful to the source material.
It is incredibly fun to explore even in levels with enemies that's difficult to avoid or take out. I should mention, I bought the then new big bundle with Crash N. Sane Trilogy & Nitro-Fueled included while on sell. I also got on sell, Ultimate Sonic Bundle that isn't as great as this bundle. These games gives you more than enough reasons to love Spyro.
Clearly a lot of love for the games as well as it's fan base are shown here. I felt they really knocked this out of the park. Although, I would say this is actually better than N. Sane Trilogy. I grew up closely to that franchise which is why I'm a bigger fan of N. Sane Trilogy in the first place. But you really couldn't go wrong with either compilations here.
Spyro is more fantasy with some clever usage of game play mechanics. It actually does skate boarding better than most newer Tony Hawk games. Funny enough, Activision done Tony Hawk Pro Skater 1+2 more recently. It is likely some PS1 games could be getting this treatment in the near future. Personally, I was very surprised how much I enjoyed these games.
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