Activision achieved success last year by remastering its classic Crash Bandicoot trilogy, so it only made sense for them to do the same with their other classic trilogy property, Spyro The Dragon! Bundling all three games into one package, not only is it the original games becoming available on the current consoles, but they’ve all been remastered in the graphics, sound, and controls.
Graphics
Spyro Reignited Trilogy looks fabulous! As a child, the original games of course looked amazing, but upon revisiting today they’re obviously a product of what nineties technology could do.
To see this remastering of those is to see what I thought they looked like when I was young. It not only looks like a modern game, the colors are bright and pop right off the screen!”
There’s fabulous attention to detail, from Spyro himself to the grass getting burnt brown after you use the flame ability. The dragons and enemies are also much more expressive with this graphical overhaul, which allows for greater delivery of their jokes, and better physical gags as well.
Controls
The translation to the modern consoles is aided by additions to the controls. Any fan of the originals will remember that they were designed for the original PlayStation controller, which had no analog sticks. As a result, controlling with the D pad in a 3D world was a little awkward, and the camera could only be vaguely moved by the L2 and R2 buttons. Clearly, it was the early days of 3D gaming, and they were still figuring out how to make that transition with the controls.
In this new remaster, the movement of Spyro and the camera is just like all modern 3D games, controlled by the left and right analog sticks, respectively. This not only makes changing the camera angles and figuring out where to go much easier, but movement of the character smooth.
The especially nice effect is that it cuts down on those cheap deaths where you accidentally fall off cliffs, or can’t see the enemies attacking you. Here, the camera is perfect, and that makes this trilogy, if it was possible, even better.
Gameplay
Of course the foundation of what made the games great is their gameplay. Spyro’s like a cute dog who can fly and spout flame at will, so he’s like the ultimate pet. Running around various worlds populated by a diverse roster of enemies to fry is great fun, and all are given a unique look, whether it be snowy, desertlike, foresty, or grassland. Bottom line: it’s fun to glide around and flame up bad guys, no matter who or where in the game.
If you never experienced one of the best trilogies of the classic PlayStation’s library, or have kids that were born long after the end of that console’s lifespan, this is the perfect game to play. Other than a new coat of paint graphically, redone vocals and music, and better controls, it’s the same marvelous trilogy you remember from your youth!
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