Spyro The Dragon: Every Realm Ranked

6. Beast Makers

Metalhead deserves better. He’s a good boss with an inventive battle, but it’s one of the few high points Beast Makers offer.

The game deserves credit for changing things up with Beast Makers; it’s the only realm that breaks away from Spyro The Dragon’s usually bright and colourful palette. But the dark and dingy atmosphere just feels out of place.

It seems the developers were not sure what do do with the swamp theme here. In Terrace Village, the main obstacle is electrified floors, something also used in the Beast Makers hub itself. You could argue this links to Metalhead, but then why focus on a swamp? Even Tree Tops, easily the best level here and one of the most rewarding in the game, eschews the boggy marshes to take Spyro to the, well, the tree tops.

The flight level would’ve been an opportunity to really explore the swamp, but instead we move further up the creek to an idyllic fishing hole.

Beast Makers just doesn’t commit to its theme enough to justify its dreary palette. The worst part is that in Japanese, it’s called Beautiful Garden Home. Hopefully that’s supposed to be ironic, otherwise it doesn’t say much for gardens in Japan.