10 Things To Love And Hate About The Spyro Reignited Trilogy
Where does this remake and remaster sizzle with success? And which parts left us feeling burnt?
Spyro the Dragon appeared in three games bearing his name between 1998 and 2000. Though the purple, fire-breathing character is a heavy point of nostalgia for most people, when it was announced that all three titles were being remade for release in 2018, there was a certain amount of trepidation.
While there is little doubt that anyone who played these games extensively during their childhood has (mainly) fond memories of them, it always feels like a risk to get yourself excited for something that holds sentimental value to us.
What if it isn't as good as we remember? What if we just don't get it anymore? What if it turns out to be a shameless cash-grab, and we end up feeling scammed?
In a time when remakes and remasters are becoming more commonplace as developers realise the power that nostalgia holds over its audience of a certain age, what was there about the Reignited Trilogy that made it either exceed or fall short of our lofty memories? And how accurate and fair were these memories in the first place? Let's examine it together.
10. Hate: The Flying Controls
While each of the games has similar flying segments where you fly around and collect sets of objects and enemies, there are also "Challenges" that appear in the second and third games where you complete a race or trial given to you by Sparx or Hunter.
In the normal modes, the main frustration comes from the "all in one" category where you need to execute a perfect run, grabbing every item set all in the space of one run. When it comes to challenges, the most difficult part can be racing the AI or shooting a certain number of enemies.
The main drawback in all of these is how "heavy" the flying controls are. It is easy to under-correct and sail slowly into the water for an instant fail. Especially when compared to the tight on-ground controls, these flying segments are made harder by the fact that Spyro handles like a barge and you are constantly fighting to keep him even vaguely on track.
Coupled with some challenges where a single "bonk" or a missed boost can spell doom, you can end up repeating levels over and over with your frustration rising gradually as you go. Faithful to the original, but still annoying.