As Drop-D move through some of the best classic video games, there comes a time where we must move consoles. So today, we move from cartridges to CDs, and take a look at some of the best Playstation games ever made. In the first of these Playstation nostalgia trips we’ll be taking over the coming weeks, we’re going to take a look at the classic PS1 3D Platformer, Spyro the Dragon.
Released in 1998 by Insomnia Interactive, Spyro the Dragon was one of the first 3D platform games. Where Mario left off, Spyro continued and he expanded the genre of a platformer in ways never before seen, and only copied since. Spyro breathes fire, charges and glides, as he takes you through the game’s six worlds on your way to a final showdown with the games baddie, Gnasty Gnorc (no relation to the Gnu). Moving through the worlds, you pick up your standard platform collectibles, in this case gems and eggs, as you seek to free the other dragons imprisoned by Gnasty Gnorc for insulting his questionable beauty.
Now, I’m not railing against the ‘old school’ platformers and all their glory, but Spyro was one of the first platformers to allow you to move in 3D seamlessly, while maintaining gameplay. 3D platformers had been attempted before on the Playstation, but most fell short. Unnatural controls and sub standard camera movements crippled other games (see Blasto). But Spyro the Dragon fixed all the mistakes made by other botched attempts at 3D level based gaming, and became one of the first proper 3D Platformers, on a par with Crash Bandicoot, a game with which it was often twinned.
As with any classic platformer, the subject matter of Spyro the Dragon is light-hearted and the world it’s set in is almost a Disney fairytale. Everything is brightly coloured. You’re followed by a chirpy dragonfly that protects you, and helps you collect gems. You save your games by interacting with a fairy. Spyro himself is animated in almost a feline manner, giving him an added cuteness and endears you to him as you play through the game.
But don’t think the game is childish. It’s an incredibly challenging game, despite its sugary facade and low age rating. It attracted a core group of completionists who agonised over gaining the much sought after 100% game rating. That was no easy task requiring the player to collect all the gems, eggs, and rescue all the dragons across all thirty-six diverse levels. The game’s enemies were unique to each level and grew in difficulty as the game wound through its increasingly perilous, vertigo inducing stages.
Personally, I still have a fondness for Spyro after all these years. I was twelve when I first played it, I’m twenty-three now and the game still has some serious playability despite looking a little dated. Furthermore, and as is the case with a lot of older platformers, the music in Spyro is spectacular. I’ve rarely seen a game with a soundtrack that suits the mood of the game. The wonderfully atmospheric soundtrack, crafted by Stewart Copeland of The Police, gives the perfect audio counterpart to Spyro’s character and his world.
There’s just so much to like about this game and you can’t argue that its charm has endured, whether you were a fan of the game thirteen years ago or not. The sugarplum world of Spyro the Dragon was one of the greatest triumphs for a 3D platformer game, and one that was rarely equalled. So hook up your emulator, plug in your controller, and delve back into Spyro. You won’t regret it.
Published on Drop-D.ie, 23rd May, 2011
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