The 'Spyro Reignited Trilogy' is an absolutely gorgeous remastering of a childhood classic
Few memories of childhood remain as uncomplicated and joyful as the first time I played Spyro. I was nine years old. Me and my friends stayed up until 4am, huddled around the tiny CRT television and whisper-screaming expletives at the screen.
We got caught, because at one point I could not hold back a shriek of anger at a particularly vexing flying level.
Like most gaming nostalgia, those memories are forgiving and clouded in reminiscence. But the hands-off E3 demo I saw of the newly remastered Spyro trilogy (which includes Spyro the Dragon, Spyro 2: Ripto's Rage, and Spyro Year of the Dragon) not only brought me back to that same place, but also somehow managed to coat my fondness for the series in an even greater sense of wistfulness.
For a remastered release of a '90s series that started on the first generation Playstation, Spyro Reignited doesn't look even a little bit out of place among other modern platformers. The environment are astonishingly lush, and it feeds into the rose-tinted glasses of nostalgia. The level I saw was a landscape bathed in the golden rays of a setting sun, with everything from the grass to far away castles basking in a soft but vivid vibrancy.
Nine-year-old me's head would explode just looking at it. But adult me still felt compelled by the basic gameplay loop and the charisma of the series titular winged hero.
At its core, Spyro stood out from its contemporaries because of the characters. Platforming games at the time existed in entirely wholesome worlds, but Spyro always had more of a fiery bite to him. He had attitude that imbued the world with a whimsical edginess. The goals were always of the world-saving variety (or Dragon Realm-saving, rather). But the wry humor of it now feels ahead of its time.
The juxtaposition of a world coated in a sincere earnestness that also has a sarcastic underbelly feels extremely 2018, and feels right at home in the irony-ruled internet age.
The core personality of the Spyro games has not only been kept intact in the remasters, but enhanced. The team went back and added a bit of dialogue and playful details to further illustrate the colorfulness of its characters, with more backstory and eye-catching flourishes of environmental storytelling.
One of the dragons you free, for example, fancies himself a world-class painter. And you can find him in a full-on art gallery that's been added to the level, filled with dramatic self portraits that are sure to inspire at least a snorted chuckle.
Tom Kenny returns as the voice of Spyro for all three remastered versions, bringing back much of the character's original swagger. You will encounter a plethora of fire and dragon puns, and it's a testament to Kenny's acting and the faithful authenticity of the remaster that they don't make you roll your eyes.
There probably won't be much here for people who aren't already fans of the original trilogy. But with the breathtaking HD graphics and improved controls and camerawork, it's sure to reignite the passion of nostalgic players.
The Spyro Reignited Trilogy releases on Sept. 21 on PlayStation and Xbox One for $39.99.
Topics Gaming
Jess is an LA-based culture critic who covers intimacy in the digital age, from sex and relationship to weed and all media (tv, games, film, the web). Previously associate editor at Kill Screen, you can also find her words on Vice, The Atlantic, Rolling Stone, Vox, and others. She is a Brazilian-Swiss American immigrant with a love for all things weird and magical.
