One of the most famous gaming icons of the late 90s and early 00s is the beloved purple hero, Spyro. With the debut game released in 1998, the Spyro series went on to be one of PlayStation’s most iconic franchises in history, despite it changing hands and platforms numerous times.
The original adventure game paved the way for Spyro to be an unforgettable feature of this gaming era. Several sequels, reboots, and remakes have been released since, proving that this heroic purple upstart won’t be fading away any time soon. However, with so many entries in the franchise, it begs the question – where do they all stand?
13 Spyro: Enter The Dragonfly
Starting this list at its most disappointing end is Spyro: Enter the Dragonfly, one of the most disliked iterations in the entire franchise. Aside from its many bugs and glitches, the game was simply unoriginal and boring for many fans.
It was a near identical clone of other more popular Spyro games just with much of the magic and heart stripped out of it. Enter the Dragonfly did introduce a new power for Spyro in the form of bubble breath. However, this is not enough to bring interest to a game whose main task is catching dragonflies.
12 Spyro: Shadow Legacy
Spyro: Shadow Legacy is a good example of a gaming franchise trying to branch out of its existing genre and failing terribly. Unlike the majority of Spyro games, this entry attempts to mold itself into an RPG but fails to add anything innovative enough to do it well.
The plot of Shadow Legacy involves several of the franchise’s worlds being absorbed into the alternate dimension of the Shadow Realm. To save his friends from this new threat, Spyro must battle enemies, complete quests, and level up his skills with EXP. Its basic story and lack of classic Spyro game sparkle make it a more forgettable entry in the series.
11 Spyro: Season Of Ice
As the franchise’s first foray into handheld consoles, Spyro: Season of Ice is a title that divides many fans and reviewers. Its story is a classic Spyro quest of rescuing fairies from an evil wizard, though the game did start its own alternate timeline to the main games.
Its bright, colorful characters and iconic turn-of-the-century game feel makes it a pretty decent game on this list. However, Season of Ice is ultimately let down by the difficulty of its navigation and being a rougher first attempt of a handheld title that later games would do far better.
10 Spyro: Attack Of The Rhynocs
Spyro: Attack of the Rhynocs is another game that some detest while others adore. It falls into the same alternate timeline as Season of Ice and doesn’t change a whole lot from the style of its gameplay.
Attack of the Rhynocs’ level design is sleeker than Season of Ice, and the RPG elements that it adds to the game are certainly done better than Shadow Legacy. But the pacing of this game suffers as a result, lowering its place in this list.
9 Spyro: A Hero’s Tail
Every hot potato franchise has that one title that seems to be an odd one out. For Spyro, it’s undoubtedly Spyro: A Hero’s Tail. As the only game developed by Eurocom Entertainment Software, it was the first of its kind to be developed for the Xbox as well as the GameCube and PlayStation 2.
A Hero’s Tail allows players to trade in their usual purple protagonist to instead play as Sparx the Dragonfly, Hunter the Cheetah, Byrd the Penguin, or Blink the Mole. These other characters give the gameplay more variety, however, ultimately the game sticks too closely to the original formula.
8 The Legend Of Spyro: The Eternal Night
As the second title in the late 00s reboot trilogy, The Legend of Spyro: The Eternal Night is an enjoyable game to play. The breath abilities in this game are the same as in its predecessor, with the addition of Dragon Time which allows Spyro to slow down time.
The Eternal Night features more puzzle-solving than other Spyro games and places an emphasis on exploration. While it's a perfectly good game, it's ultimately outshone by the other titles in its trilogy.
7 Spyro 2: Season Of Flame
Another second Spyro game, except this time for the GameBoy alternate timeline, is Spyro 2: Season of Flame. Like any good sequel, this game takes the best elements of its predecessor and makes small improvements.
The design and gameplay of Season of Flame are much more polished than Season of Ice. The story follows all the classic Spyro hallmarks, but many players found the controls and the camera angles difficult to get used to.
6 The Legend Of Spyro: A New Beginning
The Legend of Spyro: A New Beginning is the inaugural title of the reboot series and was a breath of fresh air for the franchise and its fans. It introduced Spyro’s mastery of four elemental abilities – fire, ice, electricity, and earth.
With a heavier focus on combat rather than platforming, A New Beginning brought a more grown-up feel to the typically child-oriented series. Its polished design, fantastic voice acting, and swelling orchestral score made it a great way to reintroduce the character to fans.
5 Spyro The Dragon
Here’s where things begin to get tricky. Though it’s no surprise to see the original Spyro the Dragon ranked highly, some fans may question its place in the list. All in all, the top five are excellent, fan-favorite titles with only a few elements to separate them.
Spyro the Dragon sets the standard for all its progeny and sees Spyro rescuing his fellow dragons from the evil Gnasty Gnorc. It has all the classic Spyro features that fans love – quirky characters, special abilities, and plenty of collectibles. This game is also one that catapulted the PlayStation to grand success, allowing the console to compete with other platforms.
4 The Legend Of Spyro: Dawn Of The Dragon
Divisiveness is a key feature of several Spyro games and The Legend of Spyro: Dawn of the Dragon is no different. However, despite its critics, the game still has a massive cult following. Dawn of the Dragon deserves credit for what it brings to the series in its ambitious completion of the reboot trilogy.
Not only does Spyro have his four elemental abilities, but enemy-turned-ally Cynder does too – wind, shadow, venom, and fear. The two must navigate the high-fantasy reinterpretation of their world to defeat Malefor. The game supports both co-op and single-player and is the only title in which Spyro can fly freely.
3 Spyro 2: Ripto’s Rage
As the direct sequel of the original game, Spyro 2: Ripto’s Rage is another successful franchise follow-up. In this game, Spyro explores the realm of Avalar, which becomes a staple in future games. It also introduces Hunter, Elora, and Moneybags who all become beloved Spyro characters.
In addition to key graphics and gameplay improvements, Ripto’s Rage allows Spyro fans to explore more of what the world has to offer. It matches up well against other juggernaut platformers such as Mario 64 and Banjo-Kazooie.
2 Spyro: Year Of The Dragon
Spyro: Year of the Dragon holds a special place in Spyro fans’ hearts and has some of the best reviews to boot. As the final title of the immensely popular original trilogy, Insomniac Games could have easily thrown in the towel and coasted. Thankfully, they didn’t.
Spyro: Year of the Dragon levels up the music, graphics, and gameplay of the first two games, giving its protagonist a new quest of collecting stolen dragon eggs. It modifies the original formula enough to feel interesting but not so much that it ceases to feel like a Spyro game. Its bombastic design makes it one of the most memorable Spyro games ever.
1 Spyro Reignited Trilogy
Rarely does a remake get released two decades after the original and still live up to the nostalgia-tinged memories of fans. However, the Spyro Reignited Trilogy does the impossible. As a new version of the original trilogy, it hits the Goldilocks zone of loyalty to the content, while also adding enough to make it accessible to contemporary gamers.
Of course, graphics have improved since the PlayStation’s polygonal models of yore. However, the Spyro Reignited Trilogy leans away from a complete redesign. It remains faithful to the childish wonder that filled the earliest games and elevates it to new heights. Fans can only hope to see more games like this coming soon.