Spyro the Dragon Trilogy Review

Earlier in the year, I played got the original Spyro trilogy for the PlayStation 3. And now that seems like it was a bad idea, but I'm glad to be reminded of how dated the first three games are, as I hadn't played them for about a decade. There were some things I remember, and plenty I didn't.

PROS:

-All of the games I'm reviewing here were released for the PlayStation 1, and considering that fact, all of these games look gorgeous. The scenery is far more detailed than it has any right being, and Spyro himself looks far more advanced than PlayStation 1.

-The music of the Spyro trilogy works well in the context of the game. All of the music works well as background music, and does a good job not being too repetitive.

-The gameplay in the first Spyro game was somewhat weak. The gameplay of every first game in a series is somewhat weak. Spyro 2 and 3 do an excellent job fixing the gameplay issues of the first game, and the level design was also drastically improved around the gameplay.

-The story is good. Not great, especially the first one, but it's serviceable. The first game has you rescue dragons who were turned to stone, the second has you gather orbs to get back home, and the third has you rescuing dragon eggs. The story is fine motivation, but it's pretty obviously more about enjoying the gameplay rather than saving the world.

CONS:

-The music doesn't have much staying power. It's good music, but I'd be lying if I said I could hum a Spyro song from memory. When it comes to classic video game soundtracks, Spyro is the one that I remember least.

-Level design of Spyro 1 can feel very cheap. I'll give them props for making something that's fun to play despite the issues, but most of my time playing Spyro 1 I was just wanting to get through it to play the better games.

-Spyro 1 is very short. It really didn't take me long to beat the game, though I didn't exactly take it slowly. I played everything legitimately, but the game only took a small handful of hours for me to beat.

OVERALL OPINION:

The Spyro trilogy is fun, but whether you've never experienced the games or you played them as a child, I'd wait for the remake.