Twenty years later: Spyro the Dragon?

[Nightingale]

Spyro the Dragon is a bit of an odd case for me: It has always found ways to be around me (mostly due to my friends and acquaintances goshing over it) but I never found it appealing enough to give it a try... and it is a shame, because a game starring a purple dragon seems designed for my liking.

Even worse, game was always a central conversation topic during the peak of the PS era. Here are a few examples of it being always around:

• It was one of only two games my friend bought when he got his PSOne (the other being Winning Eleven) and he would play it relentlessly. Furthermore, it was one of the very few games I didn't get when I bought the console from him.
  
• My then-girlfriend was a PS nut and would only play Crash Bandicoot, FF7, and, of course, Spyro (but as a fun little sidenote, I wanna mention that I used to call Crash "Discount Sonic", just to piss her off ).
  
• The one leaked screenshot from the closed beta of Bleem! featured no other game than Spyro.
  

• And, well... there's a certain member in here whose avatar turned out to be a constant reminder that I shall probably try that darn game out at some point
  

I don't know if it is clear at this point or not, but my interest is finally growing... and here is where you guys enter.

You see, I want you sell me into playing it, to tell me what makes it such an alleged gem and why should I try it out... but there's one catch: I don't want you to link me to any YT video or article outside of this site for it, for I take word-of-mouth and the opinions of people I know far more seriously than those.

I should probably mention that I don't care about the chronological of the games and the like... whatever point in franchise history you think is the most fitting starting point for a newcomer (due to a number of reasons, like improved controls and whatnot) I'd be fine with.

So, that's about it. Let's see if I can finally join team Spyro !

[Grungie]

I’ve only played the first game, so I can’t speak on the others, but I played Spyro 1 for the first time 10 years ago, and I found it incredibly boring. Maybe it’s because I wasn’t a kid when I played it, and maybe because I was used to how other collectathons were, but a large part of the game felt like it took little to no effort. To unlock certain worlds and stuff, you needed to collect gems, they’re scattered all over the place and you just walk up to them to get them. I’m not going to be overly critical over that, as Banjo Kazooie and Donkey Kong 64 did the same thing with musical notes/bananas.

My problem was that the game was about freeing the dragons, and a huge chunk of the game placed them in places you basically just walk up to. So I spent a massive chunk of the original game feeling like I didn’t really earn anything.

[Hotspot]

Spyro the Dragon, is the platformer game you never knew you needed! It's a fun and quirky game, with quirky characters, and a great soundtrack (That was also used for the Amanda Show.. FYI). It has plenty of challenges, especially since you can't double jump. You know what they say, "Give me a challenge!".

The second game brings in new quirky characters, that actually stick around (If that makes a lick of sense). Also, new abilities and game mechanics.

The third game is actually my favorite, it brings in even more quirky characters, and gives you 4 other characters you can play as in their own specific levels. (From a paranoid, laser shooting monkey, to a talking penguin that shoots rockets out of his shoulders.)
I don't know why the third is my favorite, but I guess it's because there's more fun minigames.. like attacking a snowman with a laser. (Or is that the second game.. I haven't played it for years.)
But I love that one the most!

The second and third are more similar to each other, than the first one. Which is how most games are, since they figure out what they need to fix from the first.

Essentially, my favorites are in backwards order. With the last being my favorite, and the first being my least favorite. But they're all fun in the sun, and the "collectibles" are always different per game. Like the first game you rescue dragons, the second you collect orbs, the third you find dragon eggs. etc.

I'm interested in the remake! But they tweked the music, and from the song I listened to, I like the original better. Like there's this good beat they cut off, so it's not as epic.

[Moonface]

If you're intending to play the originals, then start with Spyro 2. It improved everything about Spyro 1, and added in more than just collecting things thanks to the addition of challenges and objectives. Spyro 3 is very similar, except as Hotspot said, new characters were added who get a level dedicated to them, as well as various bonus areas in other levels.

Steer very clear from Enter The Dragonfly, as that game had potential but was put out before it was finished and as a result, is missing content and is riddled with problems.

A Hero's Tail was better, but I remember it feeling very childish and aimed at younger audiences in every aspect.

The Legend of Spyro series is a complete departure from what Spyro did before, and went very plot heavy. Breath attacks felt redundant in favour of melee attacks, and Sparx became obnoxious due to speaking English instead of making buzz noises. Eternal Night, the second in the TLoS trilogy, was such a bad game with very few, if any, redeeming qualities or improvements over A New Beginning.

[queenzelda]

I've only come to know Spyro through the Skylander series myself. I played a bit on the first Spyro game that my brother had at the time & like Grungie, found it a bit dull. Never tried the other Spyro based games until I got Skylander's Giants & got my first Spyro figure, personally I love the design of ram Spyro, his attitude & attacks in the Skylander games are great.

[Nightingale]

Thanks a ton for your input, guys.

Now... before I go over my friend's house to borrow his CDs in unnecessarily violent ways (), I need to ask you one last thing: What about the many GBA ports of Spyro? Are they any good?

[ShiraNoMai]

I had a friend that owned Season of Flame, and got to look at it for a bit while hanging out with them. They seemed to play that a lot more than Season of Ice, so I can only assume that game was the better one. I believe it came a year after Season of Ice, so maybe it had some improvements as well? I wish I had more experience with them to tell you

I also want to let you in on a tid-bit of information regards to this:

• (but as a fun little sidenote, I wanna mention that I used to call Crash "Discount Sonic", just to piss her off ).
  

The developers used to call Crash 1 as "Sonic's Ass Game", moreso because the game was done with the character seen from the rear.

[Nightingale]

I had a friend that owned Season of Flame, and got to look at it for a bit while hanging out with them. They seemed to play that a lot more than Season of Ice, so I can only assume that game was the better one. I believe it came a year after Season of Ice, so maybe it had some improvements as well? I wish I had more experience with them to tell you

I also want to let you in on a tid-bit of information regards to this:

• (but as a fun little sidenote, I wanna mention that I used to call Crash "Discount Sonic", just to piss her off ).
  

The developers used to call Crash 1 as "Sonic's Ass Game", moreso because the game was done with the character seen from the rear.

Thanks a lot, Shira. I was very interested on those particular games.

And that little tidbit is awesome xD