Spyro the Dragon was ubiquitous throughout the 1990s, and it was one of the more unique takes on the mascot platformer genre despite Spyro’s fictional species arguably being more recognizable than the likes of Sonic the Hedgehog and Crash Bandicoot. Spyro was one of the few to survive the fad, and not only because his games were solidly designed. His signature purple skin popped in both the games’ environments and among the primary colors found in other protagonists in mascot platformers. Additionally, his quadrupedal and winged physique allowed for different physics and mechanics that would have never appeared in games with more anthropomorphic protagonists.
Unlike some of his contemporaries that were introduced around the same time, such as Banjo and Crash, whose own franchises slowly plummeted into obscurity before becoming dormant in the late 2000s, Spyro and his franchise’s downfall happened as soon as Insomniac stopped making games for the series. It was only in 2018 that the classic Spyro formula would return and be well-received thanks to Spyro Reignited Trilogy. Now that the purple dragon has been brought back, future developers should be careful with the direction the series might take.
Spyro’s Rocky History
While Spyro: Enter the Dragonfly was superficially faithful to the original trilogy, its glaring technical issues ruined its attempts at bringing Spyro into the new generation of consoles. The series would stray further away from its roots, creating a couple of new continuities in the process, until Spyro was reduced to being one unrecognizable member of the extensive cast of Skylanders characters. Spyro hasn’t gotten anything since Reignited Trilogy, unlike Crash, whose first racing spin-off got a remake in addition to a new original entry in the franchise being released.
Crash’s own comeback is comparable to Spyro’s since it almost exclusively focused on the games made by Naughty Dog, which is understandable since they are by far the most famous and beloved titles in the series. Crash Team Racing: Nitro Fueled did include most of the most well-known post-Naughty Dog characters as part of post-release updates, and Crash Bandicoot 4: It’s About Time justified taking place directly after the third Crash game by characterizing the post-Naughty Dog games as part of different timelines.
What sets Spyro apart in this regard is that Spyro has three blatantly defined continuities: the original series, The Legend of Spyro, and Skylanders. As much as some older fans might not want to admit it, the later Spyro games have gathered a small following, with Skylanders being commercially successful regardless of Spyro’s role in the series. Thankfully, there does not seem to be any pressure to include elements from post-Insomniac games.
The only things from the post-Insomniac Spyro games that seem to be popular with all kinds of Spyro fans are the characters Cynder and Blink, respectively from The Legend of Spyro and A Hero’s Tail. As a result, whoever is in charge of the next Spyro game can dedicate the title to the classic series without sacrificing the wants of a vocal part of the fandom.
Spyro’s future is currently uncertain, with the franchise set to be acquired by Microsoft and the studios that could potentially work on Spyro games being moved to primarily work on Call of Duty titles. However, it is safe to say that the series is far from dead, and some new content should be expected in the future. That being said, considering the series’ current predicament, the next Spyro game should be a safe attempt at a modernized version of the classic Spyro style instead of something that attempts to experiment too much.
Spyro Reignited Trilogy is available on PC, PS4, Switch, and Xbox One.
