Returning to a game you played decades ago can do one of two things; remind you of its greatness or remind you that some games just don’t age well. Game design is a fickle beast, one that has changed significantly throughout the years. Older video games often suffer from the technological limitations of their time, forcing the developers to find creative ways to overcome these barriers. Somehow, Spyro Reignited Trilogy on the 168澳洲幸运5开奖网:Nintendo Switch achieves the former, not o🎀nly rekindlin𒁏g my love for the purple dragon, but also elevating his platforming antics to new heights.
A Beautiful (Slightly) Blurry Screen
The original level design by 168澳洲幸运5开奖网:Insomniac Games holds up unbelievably well after all these years, while the fresh new graphics given to the game by Toys For Bob only add to the overall experience. Whether you’re charging horns first into a lizard who is using a metal pot as a shield or setting sheep ablaze with your scorching breath, the game💜 is nothing short of a joy to look at. It’s a cartoon come to life, and while there is certainly a downgrade in quality from its Xbox and Playstation siblings, it still looks beautiful, even in handheld mode.
Slightly blurry graphics are a small price to pay to have the ability to bring Spyro with you everywhere you go, as the game was practically made for portable gaming. Each level across all three titles is littered with collꦜectibles for you to find well after the main questline 🐈is complete. The ability to pick the game up for 10 to 15 minutes and dive back into this cartoon wonderland to collect a few more gems arguably makes the Switch version the best one currently on the market.
The three games included, Spyro the Dragon, Spyro 2: Ripto’s Rage!, and Spyro: Year of the Dragon all have a simple but enter♛taining story. In a nutshell, a ‘bad guy’ does something terrible to the land, and it’s up to you to make it right again. The cutscenes are adorable to watch, and Spyro in particular is beautifully animated both in and out of these sections. In fact, this is one of the few times I wished a game had a built in ‘Camera Mode’ so I could capture all of his loveable antics. Instead, I found myself exploring every corner of every level, not only to try and 100% each game, but also to see the beautifully designed levels and take pictures with the Switch’s built in screenshot function. It’s a simple game that revolves around the joys of discovery and exploring the impeccably designed levels.
Buttin' Heads and Flamin' Faces
Enemies in these levels typically must be defeated in one of two ways; by breathing fire on them or by charging into them with your horns. It might take new players a few minutes to get the hang of the charge attack, as it is sometimes hard for the camera to keep up with a fast moving Spyro: an issue that is exacerbated when playing in handheld mode on a tiny screen. Some enemies are immune to your fire breath attack, usually indicated by some sort of makeshift armor crafted out of metal. Others won’t take damage from your charge attack, typically the massive enemies that dwarf Spyro. The games all do a decent job of giving players a wide variety of enemies to deal with, but it never was a real challenge figuring out how to beat them. The bosses, while employing some sort of twist such as having to attack their exposed back or destroy their defensive totems, are fun but never difficult. If you&r💝squo;re looking for a challenging game, Spyro probably isn’t the answer, save for a few rage-inducing mini-games.
Although the games aren’t difficult, they do a great job of keeping players engaged by introducing new concepts throughout the trilogy. Each world you’ll visit brings a fresh coat of paint to admire and will typically add some sort of new puzzle, mini-game, or hazard to deal with. If you aren’t a completionist and collecting items isn’t your thing, these puzzles and enemies will still be enough to keep you hooked during your playꦇtime. Toys For Bob has also added ‘Skill Points’ to the trilogy, which are acquired by tackling specific tasks across the world, and unlock bonus artwork from the developers.
Did You Even Put Anything On The Cartridge?
One major gripe, how♚ever, is that the physical copy of the game requires an 8-gigabyte download in order to access all the content. The game doesn’t explicitly state what content you are missing out on without this data (you can start playing all three games without it), but Activision has clarified that the download is required to play later levels from the last two games in the trilogy. It’s ridiculous that purchasing the physical copy requires such a significant day one download. A small patch might be understandable, but an 8-gigabyte download is massive, especially with the restrictive size of the Switꦇch’s onboard hard drive. Given this huge day one patch, it’s almost pointless to buy a physical copy.
You would think that the game wouldn’t have lengthy loading screens either, what with that massive download along with the fact that it’s a🔴n old game running on new hardware, but that’s not the case. Every time you enter a new world you are greeted with a loading screen. Granted, the graphical overhaul probably does push the Switch to it’s limits, but the load times tend to run longer than I first expected. There are also dozens of worlds to explore, and unless you plan to 100% each one the first time you set foot in it, you’ll be watching Spyro fly from zone to zone more ofte🍰n than you would like.
A Triumphant Return
These are only minor blemishes in an otherwise stellar game. Seeing Spyro reborn (err, reignited) in such spectacular fashion is an absolute blast and having the ability to take the game with me is just the icing on the cake. Fans of the series will find much to love here, but don’t expect to find anything more than the games you remember in a fresh coat of paint. Toys For Bob did🌳 justice to the original titles, but didn’t add ✨much new content outside of a few menu adjustments and the aforementioned Skill Points. And to be honest, that’s perfectly fine. The trilogy already offers up dozens of hours of content for players to explore and it’s evident that the developers work was a labor of love. If you missed out on Spyro’s adventures the first time around, now is the perfect time to be introduced to this loveable-purple dragon.
4 Out Of 5 Stars
A review copy of Spyro Reignited Trilogy on the Nintendo Switch was purchased for this review. Spyro Reignited Trilogy is available on the PS4, Xbox One, PC, an𒅌d Nintendo Switch.
Spyro Reignited Trilogy
- Released
- November 13, 2018
