darkSpyro

Hello everyone!

I'm a huge fan of Spyro, I have played all of them (except skylanders) and I almost own all the games.

Spyro The Dragon was a very good platformer. At the time was mindblowing because you could explore vast levels in 3D. In terms of gameplay, it was very well executed, but, it had something missing, because it was just collecting... no puzzles and something like that.

So, Insomniac decided to shake things up a bit and delivered us an amazing game. Spyro 2 was groundbreaking because it offered a lot of diversity and fun, plus the gameplay was amazing.

A year later Insomniac delivered us a 3rd game. A 3rd game is always hard to do, because you don't want to have "more of the same" (Tomb Raider... cof...cof...). So, they gived us even more variety and... more playable characters! Spyro 3 was the definitive platformer for the Sony Playstation.

Insomniac Games delivered us 3 amazing games, but, as a new console came, IG wanted to do games directly to Sony, so they moved on leaving Universal behind (who own the rights).


Universal wanted a Spyro game on the 2002's Christmas Eve, so 2 developers make Spyro: Enter the dragonfly, but the time was short and they delivered us a flawed game. By the end, the Spyro fans were disapointed and they moved on with other franchises.

In mid 2004 a new Spyro came along and that game was very cool with some inovations. But by the end of the day, nobody cared.

So, Sierra wanted a complete reboot, and with that came The Legend of Spyro Trilogy.

LoS: A new beginning was a good start. It has great graphics, good OST, good characters and some gameplay inovations. But Krome made a huge mistake, and that was... where's the platforming? 90% of the game was combat, and by the end of the day, it became a repetitive experience.
If Krome Studios had made that game with a nice balance between Platforming and action, it could have been a good game. But that didn't happen.

A year later Krome did LoS: The Eternal Night. They listened to the fans and made the 2nd game more pleasant by delivering more platforming and puzzle solving. Neverless they made the game so hard that it became a frustrading experience. That's a shame, because LoS: Eternal Night is a good game.

Krome Studios was disapointed with The Eternal Night had become, so they delivered the task of making LoS climax with Étranges Libellules (but the story was made by Krome).
The french team made a fresh new experience based was Krome Studios made with LoS 1 and 2. Spyro and Cynder now can explore vast cenarios anda fly everywhere and anytime. And that's where the flaw is... the flying mecanic is so lame that became one of the lowest points of the game, and the combat moves of Spyro where more hard to perform.
It was a good game, but it could have been better.

The Legend of Spyro to me, in terms of design, was very good. I loved the new look of Spyro and the other characters. Gameplay wise, it had some good ideas (breath upgrading, combat), but in general was uninspired.

What do you think about the entire series?

Firstly, welcome seeing as you've just joined.

My opinion of the Spyro games I have played.

Spyro 2 RR: overall a very good and fun game, no doubt about that. Even despite this I just can't have fun with the game for more than a couple hours at a time. It's just not my kinda game, so to speak.

TLoS ANB: A highly entertaining game that I can have fun with for many hours at a time. This is my kind of game, my favorite type of game. However it isn't perfect, mainly, it's far too short. My 2nd favorite Spyro game.

TLoS TEN: This game is absolutely brilliant, it is virtually perfect. Everything in this game was done amazingly and it was a moderate challenge which I highly approve of. I can find myself playing this game for 6+ hours nonstop without even realizing it because I have so much fun.

TLoS DotD: Another great game in the LoS series but not nearly as good as the first 2. I can play this game for about 4 hours without getting bored but it doesn't last. This is not the great game I was expecting the series to end with.


This is entirely based on how much enjoyment I get out of playing the games.

tl:dr TLoS > Spyro 2
TEN > ANB > DotD > Spyro 2.

In TLoS trilogy my favourite is The Eternal Night, mainly because it had good combat and platforming. The only thing I didn't like was the dificulty. It was so frustrading!!! Spyro 2 is hard, but is hard in a good way... it is challeging. TLoS The Eternal Night is just frustrading...

^I have to agree with TEN being too hard. I didn't finish it until after DotD came out. Now I can do it in 4 hours though. Spyro 2 was frustrating in many parts too just like TEN, imo.

Spyro The Dragon- This is my favorite Spyro game ever, it is simple... But I love it more than the others, yet I don't know why. Maybe it's just that I miss the day when you could pick up and crew off more of a game without having to memorize a lot of attacks of weapons. It isn't even nostalgic to me, since I never played it in my childhood, yet I think it is just an amazing game for its time. I have replayed it so many times, the only reason it's not the one I've replayed most is because ANB is shorter and I've had it for longer.

Spyro 2: Gateway To Glimmer- I don't think this is the masterpiece and centerpiece of the Syro franchise like everyone else; it's shorter than the other two in its trilogy, there isn't that much to collect, and it isn't very difficult. Still, I can see why people love it, and even though it's definetly the worst game of its trilogy it is still amazing, making it more a compliment to its brothers. The environments and some of the music are definetly the best of any Spyro game though.

Spyro: Year of The Dragon- Oh boy, this game... Maybe I lied about the original being my favorite, and I just wanna look cool like that, this one is some serious competition, is what got me into gaming in the first place and has SO MUCH CONTENT! In an era with classics like Super Mario 64... I daresay this is just as great, and that is a massive claim! I can't put the greatness of this any more simply!

Spyro: Season of Ice- Incredibly hard for all the wrong reasons like awful control, sub-par blurry graphics even for the GBA, and gameplay that is just boring. Whereas the Insomniac trilogy is the undisputed peak of Spyro's greatness this is definetly the epitome of Spyro's more awful adventures, and quite frankly, deserves more hate.

Spyro 2: Season of Flame- Yes that's right, there's a 2 in the title! I like this game, it is definetly one of the best of Spyro's handheld collection and defines what Season of Ice should have been. This game definetly needs more love and it often gets overlooked A LOT which it just shouldn't be, because it is truly fun and good-looking. The controls are still bad, but not outright horrible like the last entry, and the worlds are vastly improved.

Spyro: Enter The Dragonfly- I could rant on all day about how I hate the hate this game gets. Seriously, other than the glitches it really isn't that bad, and maybe it's just me but there aren't that many glitches anyway and they aren't disastrous. It's not as good as the originals but it's definetly NOT the worst Spyro game. Console Spyro game? Maybe it's a runner for some people. But people, play all the Spyro games before saying this is the worst. Especially Season of Ice.

Spyro: Fusion- Meh... The Platforming is good, the characters are good, graphics are goo enough, music and content are bad, minigames are mixed... A very mixed game overall, not just because of the concept.

Spyro: Adventure- Like Fusion... It's very mixed. The gameplay and graphics are good, but not as good as Season of Flame, the content is pretty good, but something just seems off about it... The music... The themes... It just doesn't feel like it could be a genuine 3D Spyro game like Season of Flame, even though it's fun enough...

Spyro: A Hero's Tail- REALLY, REALLY underrated. I can imagine this game is what the developers in the Insomniac trilogy were going for and it feels like a HD remake of the originals. The themes, the music, the graphics, the characters, everything about this game is just really solid and brilliant overall. On the downside, there are quite a few glitches like deleting save files, but this is a game no true Spyro fan should be without.

Spyro: Shadow Legacy- It's okay, it's just not really memorable, and the controls are mixed. Plus it's really glitchy and the overall design is kind of bland. It's alright though, so if you want it and find it cheap, may as well get it... The concept is also used pretty well...

PART 2: LEGEND AND SKYLANDERS next.

The Legend of Spyro: A New Beginning; CONSOLE- Gets waaay to much hate. Is easily the best of its trilogy, best dialogue, best level design, best Elemental attacks, best story, best design, I could go on, overall, even though it's pretty darn easy it's just so joyous to play through.

The Legend of Spyro: A New Beginning; GBA- THIS is probably the worst thing to come out of the trilogy. It's not awful or broken or glitchy or anything, it's just really mediocre overall. Though I do think it gets bashed too much...

The Legend of Spyro: A New Beginning; DS- One of the better things from the trilogy, it is basically what Shadow Legacy should have been. The platforming is good, the graphics are nice, the art blends very, very well and the Light Puzzles can REALLY make you think sometimes. The combat does get ridiculous later on though. Boss fights are probably the best in the entire series!

The Legend of Spyro: The Eternal Night; CONSOLE- Very, very gritty, good story, good combat... Well, it would probably be the best in the trilogy, but everything it does A New Beginning does just a little better! Except for boss fights that is... Plus the difficulty being ramped up is a very welcome addition.

The Legend of Spyro: The Eternal Night; GBA- WHERE do I start? Look, this is outright the best thing from the Legend trilogy ever, Spyro's best handheld appearance, massive amount of content, outstanding graphics and music, great combat, difficulty, all of it... I could go on but it would just hamper the time I'd have to replay this amazing game.

The Legend of Spyro: The Eternal Night; DS- Mediocre at best. Graphics are mediocre, boss fights are mediocre, Elements, mediocre, controls, mediocre, puzzles, mediocre... It's a very iffy game because it simply tries to do too much and doesn't succeed at a lot of it.

The Legend of Spyro: Dawn of The Dragon; CONSOLE- Good, but not great. The biggest downfalls are visuals, which are completely dead, the story and dialogue, which has been murdered to Convexity and beyond, and it just fails at a lot of basic stuff like... Camera, physics, and the main feature: free flight! But at least everything's shiny- so you won't doze off by a long shot.

The Legend of Spyro: Dawn of The Dragon; DS- Another only decent handheld game. It's definetly not a disaster, in fact, fairly good- the graphics are good, the boss fights are good, gameplay and enemies are good- but everything it's done has just been done better. On the other side, the flight stages are very unique and so good I daresay it is worth buying it just for them.

Skylanders: Spyro's Adventure; CONSOLE- OH, GOODNESS! Where do I begin to say how much I think this game is SORELY overrated? This is without a doubt Spyro's worst console appearance yet! Not that much is special, the gameplay isn't addictive like it should be, the figures are overpriced, and there's just SO LITTLE CONTENT! The game is just so easy it becomes boring, and with a lack of online multiplayer, there is nothing to do worth the money it costs for everything.

Skylanders: Spyro's Adventure; 3DS- Gosh, this is the opposite of the console version! It's harshly underrated and for what it is there's actually quite a bit of content. It's also actually difficult and has quite the variety of levels. The characters are also a lot more balanced. This should have been the console version, it is just that good and such a wonderful callback to the old Crash Bandicoot, Spyro's old buddy. It still lacks in content for the cost, but it's a MUCH better game all things considered, and one of my favorite games featuring Spyro overall.