Welcome to our review of Spyro Reignited Trilogy! What? You already read a review for this game on our website? Oh, you must mean this review for PS4 and Xbox One! No worries, we got you covered! We Re-Reignited the game and bring you the Nintendo Switch version? Is it any good? Let’s follow the dragon and find out!
I’m pretty happy with some of the remakes that are being ported to the ‘newer’ consoles. Yes, you can argue if we need another remake of Spyro, Crash or even Torchlight II (coming to consoles/available on consoles as you read this review). Yes, in a way it’s a cash grab move from the developers. But, on the other hand.. they grant people a way to relive some games from the good old’ days. Since I grew up on Nintendo, I did not play a lot of Spyro and Crash. I grew up on Donkey Kong, Conker and Banjo. So I was stoked when they brought some of the old PlayStation mascots to the Switch. But did it stand the test of time?
What does it offer?
The remake gives us the first three games – and if we have to believe the fanbase – the best ones before the whole toys-to-life (Skylanders, Disney, Amiibo, etc.) became a thing. Spyro is a young and bashful dragon, who is helped by a little dragonfly called Sparx. Spyro does not feature a health bar, like in Mario, but uses Sparx as an interactive system. If Spyro is hit, Sparx will change in color – and eventually, disappear at all (which means, one more hit and you’ll lose a life).
The main purpose of the Spyro games is collecting stuff and beating the bad guys. Sounds like your standard platformer right? Well, it kind of is. Spyro moves a little less flexible than a Donkey Kong or Mario.. since he’s a dragon and such. But hey, he can run, he can charge, he can breathe fire and most of all he’s a purple hero, so yes – he will also protect. Take that Italian mustached plumber!
Spyro the Dragon:
It’s the first game in the collection and consists of running around, collecting gems and saving dragons turned into a crystallized version of themselves. The world is one giant hub, comparable with Peach’s castle in Super Mario 64. Each world needs a certain amount of dragons or gems to unlock, but you can also choose to 100% each world (which is recommended, since it’s more fun that way).
If you had told me that each world is a stand-alone game in an arcade… I would have believed you in a heartbeat. There is not a solid storyline, which connects the levels. Not a big deal, since each level feels fresh and fun. There are some repeating level-characteristics of course, like a flight level, a boss fight and such. Although the game is a stellar twenty! years old, it still holds up to the modern standard. The camera controls can be a bit tricky to start with, but once you get the hang of it, you’ll burn right through this entry.
Spyro 2: Ripto’s Rage!
The second entry in the collection is Ripto’s Rage, which takes Spyro into the world of Avalar for a vacation of sorts. But it would not be a videogame if there wasn’t a plot twist. Well, here is warlock Ripto! Now, if you are from Europe or Australia (like me), you probably are wondering… Ripto’s Rage? We never had any Ripto’s Rage! Correct, it was released as Gateway to Glimmer in the PAL region.
Spyro has to collect a whole lot of orbs and gems to learn new moves and gain access to certain areas. Luckily the gems and orbs are still easily found and handed out by NPC’s for completing certain tasks. One of the things I liked in the second installment, was the fact that Spyro is now able to touch the water! In the first entry, Spyro goes into an anaphylactic shock and ‘dies’. Well, rejoice! We still have to go from hub to hub, but the world is more … diverse? The change from dragons to other races, which inhabit the world make it feel more alive.
I thought that this entry was one of the best entries in the series. It’s not that strange that Insomniac Games, the developer of the Spyro series, would go on to create the highly awarded and beloved Ratchet and Clank.
Spyro: Year of the Dragon
The third installment of the collection if the Year of the Dragon. It follows the same formula as the previous entries. Spyro is given a hub world, with some standalone levels to create the original platformer experience. Instead of gems or orbs, you will have to collect ‘dragon eggs’, which don’t look like dragon eggs and contain dragons. Oh, and he finally learns to do a ground pound! But hey, Insomniac Games decided to spice it up even a little bit more…
They added four other playable characters, which are freed during the game: Sheila the kangaroo, Sgt. Byrd the penguin, Bentley the Yeti, and Agent 9 the monkey. Together with Spyro, they have to battle the main enemy called the Sorceress. The Sorceress is an iron-fisted mean and bad-tempered queen of the Forgotten Worlds. Aiding her is Bianca the Rabbit, her apprentice who attempts to hinder Spyro on his mission. It’s a nice change of pace and we should see this as an experiment, instead of creating a third Spyro game with just some evolved story, moveset, and the same… game as part I and II. I know that the other playable characters were not that well-received back in the day (and today), but I do ask of you – try them! They can be as fun as Spyro and bring a nice change of pace to the game.
Sidenote:
Yes, I’m overall positive about the Reignited Trilogy, but there is a little bit of a bitter taste after reading about this release in the media. I have a lot of games digitally, so I’m not surprised by ‘bigger’ downloads. The whole Trilogy is a good amount of 16GB on my Nintendo Switch. So yes, you can argue – go for the physical version! But… you will have to buckle up for a lot of downloading since half of the game is locked behind a mandatory download. The cartridge version of Spyro contains half of the game data, the other half has to be downloaded. If you have any form of data limitation or a ‘slower’ internet connection, maybe you should ask the developers to take a look at Projekt Red, which puts the Witcher on one. whole. cartridge.
Conclusion:
The Spyro Reignited Trilogy is a wonderful remake of a great IP. For those who missed out on the original trilogy (like myself), rejoice and pick it up! For those who grew up with Spyro, pick it up and spread the love to your kids, friends, and neighbors. The only side note I found was the huge download size and some frame drops in the loading screens. And that does not take away anything of the fun. We need more of these kinds of platformers on the Nintendo Switch. It’s different from the games nowadays but in a good way.
