A Trilogy to Treasure - Spyro Reignited Trilogy Spoiler-Free Review (JaNinJuice)

The Adventure Begins!

From the good old days of losing 8mb memory cards and no analogue sticks, to the modern days of invisible game manuals and 4K (or should I say, Soar-K?! ↓↓↓↓↓↓ XD),...

...Spyro Reignited Trilogy, the collection of games to treasure landed on our shelves on November 13th, 2018.

Video by "Canadian Guy Eh" | Thumbnail image by "TravistheDragon"

What with the rumour of a potential Spyro 4 in early development, it is a great time to take a look back on the remade trilogy that rekindled many people's love for the little dragon as well as introduce this series to all you new dragon world children.

What is it?

Spyro Reignited Trilogy is a collection of 3 legendary gems from the PlayStation 1 era (1998-2000) by Insomniac Games, which were reborn from the ashes and reignited into a modern game collection that was developed by the talented developers at Toys for Bob and published by Activision Blizzard.

In the World of Dragons

The Spyro the Dragon series always has simple, yet wholesome storylines that are fitting for both children and adults to enjoy. Although the main focus of these games is the gameplay, the stories never feel underwhelming, or too simple, but charming and reminiscent of the good old days of early morning cartoons on TV, which got our parents up nice and early so they could prepare our breakfasts.

Spyro the Dragon (originally released on September 9th, 1998) introduces us to a magical place in which a simple, yet bad tempered warlock imprisons all dragons in crystal and takes over the kingdom due to how the dragons treated him (sending him to the "Dragon Junk-yard" and calling him "ugly"). Spyro now has to go on a quest to release the dragons and put that Gnasty dude in his place.

Spyro 2: Ripto's Rage (or Gateway to Glimmer if you are from Europe) was initially released on November 2nd (November 5th in Europe), 1999. This game's story sends our heroes, Spyro the Dragon and Sparx the Dragonfly to an unfamiliar locale where they encounter friendly new faces and 3 fresh evil ones. One of whom is ambitious about becoming this new, mysterious place's king. This place is called Avalar, and Ripto intends to stir up trouble throughout the land in pursuit of his goal. Spyro's new friends ask for his help to make Avalar peaceful again.

Spyro Year of the Dragon (came out on October 10th, 2000 in both the US and in Europe on PS1) shows our iconic duo, their friend Hunter (whom they met on their last adventure), and the dragons taking it easy while a new evil plot unfolds. This plot threatens the dragons' eggs and transports them into another exciting and enchanted land (described as "The Forgotten Realms"), enticing for any adventurer to explore. This time, they are up against the greatest villain they have faced so far, The Sorceress! Spyro and his friends must now rescue the eggs before it is too late!

Feel "Like a Dragon"

The controls are fire: responsive and wonderfully satisfying to use! The mechanics and their inputs are both intuitive, and when used in combination with each other, it is like a well played symphony: all the instruments (buttons) come together (are pressed) and compliment each other to make a beautiful sound (beautiful animations). The game shows how very simple actions can lead into many different gameplay scenarios that always makes the player feel like coming back for more and exploring the possibilities further.

What is more, which I believe is due to the previous modern trend of shooting games, for the button to shoot and use Spyro's flame breath, you can either use the circle button or R2 (the right trigger). This is clear evidence of how much the developers cared about the fans and their preferences; especially if this is the first game of its kind they have played and if they are most acquainted with First Person Shooters (FPS)

Because firing and knowing where to look are crucial in many parts throughout this trilogy, this time around, you are able to change the X and Y axis on your controller from normal to inverted (it can be customised separately as well), which allows you to play it the way you feel most comfortable.

In the retro days, because of the lack of an analogue stick, we always had to use the left and right triggers (L2/R2) to move the camera. But now, this system has been updated with the smooth and natural movement of the right analogue stick.

When charging, jumping and gliding through the expansive worlds, the visuals in coordination with the controls are so immersive you actually feel like you are Spyro rather than a person sitting on the sofa and holding a controller.

Image provided by "COMICBOOK"

Welcome to the Stage!

Portals are the gateways to the games' stages and the games let you tackle them in any order (though sometimes you need to meet specific requirements to access them); some levels being harder than others. Spyro levels are always named like a place on Google maps, Terrace Village, Fracture Hills, Seashell Shore to name but a few, each feeling very different from the last. The stages are accessed via hub worlds (or home worlds), small havens where you can take a rest from enemies and have fun collecting gems and other collectables in the latter 2 games. In the first game however, hub worlds are treated like regular levels where the main gameplay idea continues: enemies to burn, gems to collect and dragons to release.

Spyro the Dragon's stages are simple, but offer the harder platforming experience in the whole trilogy.

Spyro 2: Ripto's Rage's stages maintain the simplicity and design from the first game (for most of the time), though they are more expansive with more to do, usually having less dangerous gaps to jump and glide over than in the first game.

Spyro Year of the Dragon's stages are the most polished and thought-through of the 3 games: offering a looping design for most of the levels, where when you reach the end of a level, you find yourself able to backtrack to the beginning of it quickly, facilitating the completion process. In terms of difficulty, it is on the fine line between the first 2 games: more hazards to fall into than in Spyro 2, but not as many as Spyro 1, with more emphasis on where to go and the puzzle element of how to get to those places.

It's THE POLICE!

Image provided by Amazon

Now it's time to talk about one of the biggest selling points of these games; the music! Music plays an integral role in video games: it changes our mood, helps communicate information to the player without the game directly telling him/her/them what to do, and so on. The music in these games originally were composed by Stewart Copeland, the drummer from The Police. He also came back to provide the original scores he possesses and added them to the game (a lovely welcome addition that allows you to relive the PS1 days in high resolution graphics). The remade music however, was composed by Stephen Valkov, Toys for Bob's senior audio designer.

The music that is heard in the Spyro trilogy are pieces like no other in which the music has a specific melody that always jumps out at you as soon as you enter a level. The music is so alarming, so exciting, it feels like the real police just knocked down your door and barged right into you house! As soon as fresh save of Spyro 1 starts, the music is the first thing you experience and it just invites you into the game so well, you can't wait to get moving! This is the flow of all tracks the games use to bring you into the lands before you start exploring. If the music makes you excited before you start playing the game, it is clear you are in for a jamming time! The soundtrack is at its strongest when you have been in a level long enough and you hear a crescendo of notes played in unison that makes the games all the more satisfying to play: bringing a tear to your eye when leaving the stage and that level's tune ends.

These Games Have a Lot of Character

Image provided by "Creative Uncut" on Pinterest

In Spyro the Dragon, the only characters you will interact with (apart form the enemies) are the dragons of the kingdom. Each dragon has clear indicators of where their homeland is; from their personalities to the clothes they wear. It is a lovely welcomed addition to the remake, as opposed to the original where the only differences between them were their colours and patterns, give or take a few of them having specific features that made some stand out from rest of the dragons, being more memorable because of those special details (i.e., specific beard designs or small beady blue eyes).

Spyro 2 is where things become more interesting in the cast. Here, we have Elora the Faun (your guide for Avalar), Hunter the Cheetah (who gives you a lot of challenges) and Professor (an intelligent, yet clumsy mole who helps Spyro open doors, and find new areas to explore) as the main cast of heroes in the game. Meanwhile, our adversaries are Crush (a blue dragon winged monster and appears to be Ripto's least favourite ally) , Gulp (a green quadruped and loyal servant to Ripto) , and the big bad of the game (who has his name in the title) Ripto (a bad-tempered, and power hungry warlock). Between the good and evil sides is Moneybags, a cheapskate bear who acts as a paywall in stages. If you pay him, you can access more areas within the levels, open new stages, etc. You will be seeing this guy....A LOT! Apart from the main cast, Spyro and Sparx also meet the ones who reside in each of the stages: from peaceful monks to prehistoric cavemen and advanced robots. All these characters have great personalities and they really make you want to learn more about them as you bump into them while playing the game.

Spyro 3 is definitely the one in the collection with the most intriguing characters. Apart from Hunter joining us on our journey, we also get the pleasure of meeting new animal friends: Sheila the Kangaroo (a ranger for her homeland who makes it very clear where she is from the moment she speaks), Sgt. James Byrd (a military leader in command of his own base), Bentley the Yeti (a well-educated wild beast), and Agent 9 (a test monkey trained by Professor to be a soldier to defend the land). As previously mentioned, we also have The Sorceress as our adversary whose goals become clear as the game goes on. She is not alone, however. Bianca the Rabbit, a magical apprentice of The Sorceress, is training to be a powerful witch while doing our villain's bidding. These characters set up an interesting premise for the game, where they give us more details about where we are and what has happened in The Forgotten Realms. What is more, we are able to not only control Spyro this time, but also all our new animal friends, Sparx, as well as Hunter (in a few mini-games). It is a colourful cast of characters that easily make Spyro 3 the most engaging in a narrative sense and also from a gameplay perspective. Each character is fun and acts as a nice break from the main gameplay style we are used to. Although, it would have been nice to have seen some more interactions between the different characters here and there.

The Yellow, The Blue and The Green Sparx

The Great Stuff (Yellow Sparx)

• Gems are extremely satisfying to collect (it is very exhilarating to collect a lot of them at once and see that number in the corner go up).

• Enemy faints upon attacking them are always humorous and fun to watch.

• If you are used to the original trilogy, you will notice differences like different control styles and camera angles that may or may not take getting used to. Though, I think they are great because it fixes some of the issues the originals had (glitches, etc.) and makes it easier to see around the player characters. So, that is a good point in my guidebook!

• The game looks gorgeous with many vibrant colours that pop so much you will be making good use of that action button and gaze at the landscape for most of your playtime!

The Not So Great Stuff (Blue Sparx and Green Sparx)

• There are occasional glitches you can trigger by accident; noticeable when they happen. But, for most of the imperfections this game may include, you would have to go out of your way to make them occur; they do not ruin the experience at all! There may be one instance the frame rate does decrease in one specific area of the third game, but it seems to be a rare occurrence.

• Some challenges in this version of the 3 games have been made easier, though others provide some more challenge: an interesting balance.

• It is established by hardcore fans of the series that the movement control of the characters does not compare to the PS1 counterparts. However, upon playing it myself, yes, there are clear control differences that require more agile precision, but I can 120% confidently say that the experience here (at least for me) is just as good as it was back in the day, maybe even better!

The Juicy Fun

The presentation of the game sets up an aesthetically pleasing-to-the-eye experience that, when combining this with the satisfying and snappy gameplay (collecting gems, toasting foes, and jumping through portals, all while interacting with a plethora of whimsical characters), these games just give you a good time even if you are not good at games.

A big part of the fun as well is listening to the inhabitants of the stages and hearing what they have to say (especially within their extra hidden dialogue) - you got to love the little chats we have with them.

Who is this for?

• This game collection is rated 7+ by PEGI (or E10+ by the ESRB), but these are lovely adventures that even adults can enjoy!

• Anyone who is looking for a set of chill action platformers that brings a smile to your face every second.

Welcome to Summary Forest!

Even to this day, the original Spyro trilogy still holds up really well, but this collection of games, though it has its faults at times, is a wonderful remake that brings the worlds more alive than they did back in the PS1 days. This remake also strongly emphasizes its cartoonish style more, adding many little appreciative details that boosts the lovable charm these games had already and make them more of a joy to play. Controls are comfortable and intuitive and the visuals are stunning! There are means to play the original PS1 versions today, but these remakes are truly is the best way to play the first three Spyro games nowadays. This remade collection was made with love and I play it with love each time I pick it up.

Spyro Reignited Trilogy is easily accessible anywhere and on any system for a reasonable price. So, what are you waiting for? Super charge to the shops and add this treasure to your inventory today!