When the Sony PlayStation blew onto the gaming scene it represented a COMPLETELY new era for both games but also the fans that enjoy playing them. Insomniac was fresh of the release of Disruptor- a first person shooter that was not exactly “more of the same” in that genre. The same can be said of Spyro the Dragon and the whole burgeoning 3D action platform genre and it was only on PlayStation.
Spyro the Dragon tells the tale of good versus evil as the Dragon Kingdom is under attack by the evil Gnasty Gnorc and his minions. Things went downhill rather quickly for the once great Dragon Kingdom because they underestimated their enemy, even mocked him and claimed he was no threat whatsoever. Gnasty showed them in one fell swoop that was well timed and extremely well executed which allowed him to easily take over the great kingdom of dragons. Controlling Spyro, it is your job to make things right again.
What Spyro the Dragon did right, that was wrong in so many other 3D action platformers, is a long list but I will focus on the best here. First, collecting things. Action platforming games have always been collectathons. You are going to collect something and a lot of it. More than likely you are going to be collecting several things and tons of them. Spyro the Dragon is no different. The gems you collect are everywhere. You earn some from defeating enemies, you earn them by smashing items in the level, you earn them by exploring and finding them lying about the game world.
Insomniac must have paid attention to the troubles gamers experienced in other games while collecting those things. See, in a 3D game it is sometimes hard to tell exactly where an item is in the game world relation to where your character is. Well, that is where Sparx your companion comes in. Sparx is your little faery partner that floats around you as you play. As you near something collectible like a gem, Sparx will grab it so you are not required to specifically work your way to it. This saves a TON of time and frustration.
Then there are the mini levels that actually, gasp, teach you to play better and learn tactics and methods that help in the regular game. Rather than just being about collecting more stuff, these mini games make you a better player in Spyro.
Today, 18 years ago we got our first taste of Spyro and over 10 games later, we still love this little dragon.
Grab a copy off of Ebay
This article was originally published on Retro Gaming Magazine.