darkSpyro

I personally got the DS version as a kid and it was just a puzzle so on a console standard is this game worth trying out or should I just be content with having played the other two in the series?

It has its merits,and it's definately my favorite - a lot more story and puzzle oriented than the other two and it gets the moody-but-comical tone Krome seemed to be going for almost entirely right. However, the combat system is thought to be way worse.

The GBA version though? Spyro's first and only current Metroidvania entry is pretty awesome for being the only one of its kind. Short but sweet.

What have people specifically said about the combat and how it was worse than the others?

The difficulty curve for the combat in this game is kind of broken. It's ridiculously hard. to the point that some people never finished the console version. In terms of atmosphere, music, art design, and story, it's the best of the LoS games. The general combat is almost the same as it is in ANB. It's just the issue of it being difficult and there are no cheat options if you're having a hard time.

If you can find it cheap and you're really curious, I'd say it's worth a shot, but don't go out of your way for it or anything. It didn't make any major improvements to ANB and the unfair difficulty really drags it down.

The GBA version really is awesome, though. An underrated gem and a great swansong for the GBA in Europe (it was the last game for the console there). It looks beautiful, plays incredibly smooth and has solid challenge and replay value.

In my opinion (keyword opinion) this game is the best out of the Legend of Spyro series: both the GBA version-which is especially freaking awesome- and console versions. (To be fair, I haven't tried the Wii version. Also I want to check out the DS version at some point but honestly I don't have high hopes). I'll just talk about my own experience with the console version for now (but definitely get on that GBA version as well, I think its an amazing game):

• The game is rather difficult, but I always found this as a good thing considering ANB is pretty much "press O and you win", and let's be honest, all of DOTD is button mashing (... even flying). In TEN you have to be aware of what you can do in order to get past any part of the game. Something too hard? You should use dragon time, or pick a different element (or keep an eye out for those dragon relics). I don't feel like anything is ever unfairly difficult. I love this about this game.
  


• The collectibles were also a sight for sore eyes after ANB: Spyro needs something to collect, in my opinion. I do wish that there were a level select after you beat the game, along with showing you what collectibles you need to find in each level still. That would have increased the replayability of the game for sure, but there's nothing we can do now. Sigh.
  


• The story is great: ANB and DOTD are full of cliches, and I suppose this one isn't completely innocent either, but it's a lot better. Also the writing is great: Sparx is funny (I suppose that's purely an opinion... but trust me, he's hilarious), Spyro seems to be given more personality (as opposed to ANB where he is portrayed as some sort of perfect hero, or DOTD where he has zero sense of humor), and returning characters never seem too forced. It's great.
  


• Also the music is freaking great. For some reason this seems to be an unpopular opinion. And I am not ok with that.

I know this is a wall of text, but I really hope that no Spyro fan will skip TEN because they've heard other people say it's too hard (which, don't get me wrong, it is hard) or they played ANB or DOTD and were not impressed. Honestly it has become definitely one of my favorite Spyro games (below the originals in my book, but still great) and perhaps even one of my favorites of all time. It's sad that not everyone else sees this, but I understand that this is only my opinion. If you can find it for not too expensive (I don't know... maybe ~$15ish?), I'd say go for it! Long story short: give it a try if you haven't!

If anything,if it's too difficult,not much Comet Dash and the secondary eletric attack can't fix,the Earth Flail if you upgraded it and know how to control it as well; and by the point where the difficulty picks up hard you'll have the latter to destroy everything already.