The Best PlayStation Game Every Year 1994 - 2024

From games directed at adults to the humble mascot platformer now, which is something Sony had droves of for a time. 

Where Nintendo and Sega were easily represented with Mario and Sonic, PlayStation had a strong list of candidates for star pupil. Spyro might be the more underrated pick, which is a shame because his original trilogy is incredibly fun. As the world counted down to the new millennium and hoped that all their electronics wouldn't fry, the second game slid out and became a lowkey PS1 banger.

Spyro 2: Ripto’s Rage (or Gateway to Glimmer in the UK) took the headstrong start of the original game and did what any great sequel does. The collectables were more meaningful, the gameplay had greater variety and the levels were far more interesting. Additionally, Spyro could finally glide, which opened up the already enjoyable exploration of them in wonderful ways.

Perhaps one of the game’s biggest strengths was its story and characterisation, which wasn’t something the genre tended to dwell on. Most 3D platformers had opening and closing cutscenes to bookend the experience. However, Spyro 2 had a healthy dose of in-engine cutscenes and conversational dialogue with NPCs. They were charming, full of cartoon hijinks and pretty effective character writing which helped to round out the world and contributed to the game’s Saturday morning TV tone.

Spyro 2 is a forgotten example of fulfilling the promise of its predecessor, and it was one of the best platformers on the original PlayStation.