For me, comparing StD and LoS is like comparing The Witcher and Modern Warfare 2...
1. Spyro the Dragon: definitely platform game
Legend of Spyro: 30% platform, 70% action combat
2. StD: young dragon with non-speaking, only bzzzz-making dragonfly, trying to defeat some enemies, gather lost treasure and visit worlds through portals (maybe he really wants? who knows?)
LoS: young dragon with speaking, almost-funny dragonfly trying to discover, who the heck is he, then trying to stop the summon of Malefor, finnaly trying to stop Malefor himself
3. StD: perfect game for everyone, children and adults, good humour, colourfull worlds, awesome music
LoS: game made rather for adults and teens, more difficult, more serious, more dark, chorus music (awesome, but in different way than in StD)
4. StD: for lot of people it's strongly bound with childhood (at least for me
)
LoS: Spyro serie for younger generation, if somebody didn't play StD, LoS will be a real Spyro for him
For me, both series are great. Spyro the Dragon reminds me of my childhood, when I came back from kindergarten and then play Gateway to Glimmer and Spyro the Dragon... But Legend of Spyro is a different Spyro story, alternative one. No portals, no dragon eggs, no Elora, Moneybags etc... Serious story of saving the world, growing and, finally, love...
Maybe it looks different, but I think that LoS has better plot than StD (not only DotD, I mean mainly ANB and TEN). What are you doing in StD? Gathering dragons/orbs/eggs to go to another world, btw fighting with a boss bla bla bla and finally you face the most Evil one, you face him once, gather ALL what you can gather, face him second time and then you can see alternative autro...
Story in ANB and TEN is better imo, you don't have to gather anything, you just go through a land to save one of the Guardians. In LoS Spyro doesn't work alone. Ignitus and others teach him, tell him where to go next, how to defeat the Evil etc. In StD Spyro was alone, the only advices were about controlls...
Wow, I write a lot, but I think, that you will understand, what I mean (it still can be difficult with my English gramatic skills).