User blog:TyrantRex/TyrantRex's thoughts on Spyro: Year of the Dragon

Note: This isn't a proper review, but rather my thoughts and opinions on the game!

I recommend listening to this while reading this: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=17AegYtwb20

Background
So Spyro 3, the final game in the original PS1 trilogy, this is actually the one Spyro game that never played before. Why? Not sure if I've mentioned this before, but back then when me and my older brother were kids our parents often bought us pirated PS1 games, they were much cheaper and we were dumb kids unaware that piracy was even a thing. Spyro 3 is one of those games that have anti-piracy methods that activate game-breaking glitches to prevent you from playing a pirated copy so I could never properly play the game for long.

It wouldn't be until the Re-Ignited Trilogy was announced that I finally decided to pickup a legitimate copy of Spyro 3 (which costs over $70 dollars!), meaning I'm going this game about 95% blind.

The Game
If there's one game I'd compare this game the most to, it'd be Sly 3: Honor Among Thieves. I never made one of these blogs for Sly 3 but to summarize in my opinion that game takes the same core formula from Sly 2: Band of Thieves which worked well and repeats it, then then tries to add new mechanics to add some more variety and not be a copy-pasted Sly 2. However I felt it got carried away adding new stuff and ended up losing focus with too many underdeveloped  gimmicks. AAAND Spyro 3 does the exact same,

At this point there isn't much more left to say about the general gameplay of a Spyro game, since all three share the same general structure. I do will say that after playing three very similar games in a row and never got bored of that core gameplay, because it is a well done collect-a-thon style of game. And it's not like  Spyro 3 copy-pastes Spyro 2, there are a few tweaks which I think are good. Levels are still mostly linear paths that loop back to the start when you reach the exit portal, but that's not the end of the level as there are additional optional areas.

The major change is that objectives for main collectibles are slightly reworked, now you access them via portals in the levels that take you to a different section. I like this chang because in Spyro 2 some sidequests have you running around in circles around the whole level, this keeps them more organized though occasionally it feels like you're taking a detour from the main path.

The slight problem with Orbs in Spyro 2 is also fixed, now to unlock bosses you have to clear the main objective in every level in the hub world but you need Dragon Eggs (the new main collectible) to unlock levels. This is good because now you're told consistently to keep collecting Dragon Eggs through out the game. Speaking of the Dragon Eggs, when you get them the egg hatches and the newborn somehow already has a name. Something minor but kinda funny is that sometimes the newborn hatches wearing glasses and bows... how did they get that inside the Egg?? I can't help but point that out every time it happens. Another small detail is that when you beat the final boss you can fry cook Moneybags until he gives you back all the money he scammed you out of.

And then we get to the new stuff that the game adds... the main being lots of additional playable characters -INSERTMAJORSLY3FLASHBACK- There are four main hubworlds, each comes with an unlockable new character, first you play a level specifically designed for them, then they become available in certain sections in regular levels. Right off the bat the first problem is that there will be times when you reach a section that requires a character you haven't unlocked yet, meaning backtracking. But the bigger problem is that most of these are very underutilized and even intrusive at times. So what do I think of each unlockable character?
 * Sheyla Kangaroo: She plays mostly the same as Spyro but instead of gliding she can jump very high. She's the one that gets used the most and I'd say probably the better one because she doesn't play too different.
 * Sgt. Byrd: Bird's kinda hit-or-miss. His playstyle involves firing fireworks rockets, flying, and picking up heavy objects. The problem is that the flying controls are rather awkward and he sorta dissapears towards the end of te game.
 * Bentley Yeti: On paper this would've been my favorite, he smashes stuff with a giant ice club and can reflect projectiles and I like the character's design. Problem, he only get used THREE times after the introduction level and two of those are in mini-games one of which is terrible, meaning he only gets ONE proper section built around his gameplay after the introduction level.
 * Agent 9 Monkey: He's the worst. He had potetial but again only THREE side missions after the intro and ALL of them have an added gimmick that's always unnecessary. One's a first person shooter, the other is an on-rails shooter, and the last is a top-down shooter?
 * Notice a pattern? The kangaroo is the only one that gets used consistently and mostly sticks to her playstyle, the rest don't get much playtime, barely get to just follow their regular playstyle, and/or are kinda forgotten. This is where the game reminds me the most of Sly 3, Lots of new player characters but they're hit-or-miss and are underutilized. The other new gimmick is the skateboard. At first I didn't like the thing, controls feel weird and performing tricks without falling off is finnicky. Eventually I got the hang of it and it got better, but it still not the best new mechanic. And at least unlike most new characters the skateboard gets used enough to not feel underutilized.


 * The new characters and the skateboard are the only new gimmicks worth mentioning, but not the only ones. There are a lot of mini-games and gimmicks that either barely get used or only show up once in the entire game, this also results in less objectives being built around the core gameplay the game is supposed to be around. Games throwing too many gimmicky stuff to add variety is something I don't like, I feel like they lose focus in the way and sometimes the alternate stuff even take away from the main gameplay. In fact, too many side playstyles overshadowing the main selling point is why I didn't finish either Sonic Adventure game. There's a reason Crash Bandicoot: Wrath of Cortex gets criticized for having too many vehicles and not enoguh normal Crash levels.


 * So in conclusion... in my opinion Spyro 3 shines best when it is focused on the main game, when it starts spreading thin with new gimmicks, it loses some points. I still think it's a solid game, I just like Spyro 2 more because it's more focused on what it wants to do. Same can be said about Sly 3 and Sly 2, and also Crash 3 and Crash 2.

Conclusion
So what do I think of the PS1 trilogy. Each got their different strong and weak points, and all somewhat suffer from being primitive 3D games, however I think they hold up quite well to this day as far as collect-a-thon platformers go. And that's why I'm looking forward to the remaster, it'll be a good chance to fix some of those issues the games have and hopefully it'll be well recieved by the more modern gamers just like Crash N. Sane was. Looking at how positive reactions were to the reveal trailer were, it's clear there are lots of people who still fondly remember these three games, the remaster hopefully will be a good chance to revisit them with some improvements and introduce the trilogy to newer audiences.