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Spyro Reignited Trilogy

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Spyro Reignited Trilogy
Developer(s)Toys for Bob[a]
Publisher(s)Activision
Director(s)Dan Neil
Designer(s)
  • Toby Schadt
  • Ray West
Programmer(s)Brent Hostrawser
Artist(s)
  • Amber Long
  • Josh Nadelberg
Composer(s)Stewart Copeland
SeriesSpyro
EngineUnreal Engine 4
Platform(s)
Release
  • PlayStation 4, Xbox One
  • November 13, 2018
  • Windows, Switch
  • September 3, 2019
Genre(s)Platform
Mode(s)Single-player

Spyro Reignited Trilogy is a platform video game developed by Toys for Bob and published by Activision. It is a collection of remasters of the first three games in the Spyro series: Spyro the Dragon (1998), Ripto's Rage! (1999), and Year of the Dragon (2000). It was released for the PlayStation 4 and Xbox One in November 2018 and for Microsoft Windows and Nintendo Switch in September 2019.

Gameplay

Main articles: Spyro the Dragon, Spyro 2: Ripto's Rage!, and Spyro: Year of the Dragon

Spyro Reignited Trilogy is a remaster of the original Spyro trilogy developed by Insomniac Games for the PlayStation: Spyro the Dragon, Spyro 2: Ripto's Rage!, and Spyro: Year of the Dragon. Each game is a 3D platformer featuring the titular protagonist, a juvenile purple dragon named Spyro, as he attempts to restore peace in a set of worlds specific to each game by vanquishing enemies. Spyro's sidekick, a dragonfly named Sparx, acts as an indicator of his health, defending him from a limited number of enemy attacks. Additionally, the games feature a number of collectibles which must be acquired to make progress, such as gems, which also act as currency, and dragon eggs.

Spyro Reignited Trilogy attempts to mostly remain faithful to the gameplay of the original games. Each level is designed to match the size and layout of the levels in the originals.[1] A few features included only in one or two of the original trilogy were unified across all three games in Reignited, such as the addition of "skill points" in the first game, or Spyro's ability to roll from side-to-side in later installments.

The remaster also made a few changes to content in the originals that was no longer considered appropriate. Some enemies in the first game, for example, wielded semi-automatic weapons in the original PlayStation version of the game; they wield paintball guns in the Reignited version. Additionally, a genie character in Ripto's Rage! had its name changed from "Bombo" to "Bob the Flagkeeper" to avoid referencing a stereotype of Arabs and Muslims common since before the publication of the original game.[1]

However, most of the game's differences from the originals center around quality-of-life improvements. All the character's dialogues were re-recorded in their entirety with Tom Kenny providing Spyro's voice in all three games of Reignited.[2] Visual graphics were overhauled, and non-playable characters were given more distinct and varied personalities. The soundtrack was also re-recorded, with the options to play "dynamic" versions of the new recordings, where tempo is adjusted with Spyro's movement, or switch back to the original recordings.[3]

Development

A comparison between the first hub world of the original game (above) and the Reignited Trilogy version (below)

Discussions around the revival of Spyro the Dragon began as early as 2014. In July 2014, now former Sony Computer Entertainment chairman Andrew House stated that his team was considering bringing Spyro back, adding that he believed longtime fans would be interested in revisiting a character from their youth.[4] Later that same year, Insomniac Games CEO Ted Price also stated that making a new Spyro game was a possibility.[5] In 2017, developer Vicarious Visions stated that they were aware of how high the popular demand was for a revival of the classic Spyro trilogy following the release of their previous remaster, Crash Bandicoot N. Sane Trilogy.[6]

The realization of Spyro remasters was originally teased in April 2018 when several media outlets received a package with a purple egg from someone under the alias "Falcon McBob". The Reignited Trilogy was officially revealed a few days later on April 5, 2018. After initially being scheduled for release on September 21, 2018, it was delayed and released on November 13 of the same year.[7][8][9] The physical release of Reignited Trilogy contains the full game of Spyro the Dragon, as well as a subset of levels from Ripto's Rage! and Year of the Dragon. The remaining data must be downloaded as part of an in-game update.[10][11] At E3 2019, versions for Microsoft Windows and Nintendo Switch were announced and were released on September 3, 2019.[12][13]

Unlike the N. Sane Trilogy, development of Reignited Trilogy was a more collaborative effort between Toys for Bob and Insomniac Games. In the early planning stages, the staff from Toys for Bob brought their concept sketches of the titular character to the original team and held several discussions on how the character should look, with especially strong input from Ted Price. One of the key goals of the Reignited Trilogy, according to art director Josh Nadelberg, was to "get Spyro right". This involved putting Spyro's model through rigorous stress tests to explore the range of emotions and expressions that could be yielded before and after the discussions with Insomniac staff. Because Insomniac Games could not provide source code or original assets to use as a reference, Toys for Bob utilized an in-house emulation tool called "Spyro-scope" which showed the schematics of a level's geometry and revealed patterns in enemy pathfinding.[1][2]

Tom Kenny, who voiced Spyro the Dragon in the original Ripto's Rage and Year of the Dragon, reprised his role in Spyro Reignited Trilogy after 16 years with re-recorded voice lines, including the first game in which Spyro was originally voiced by Carlos Alazraqui.[14][15][16] Stewart Copeland, the music composer of the original trilogy, wrote a new main theme for the compilation, though did not write any other new tracks for the project.[17] The rest of Copeland's score for the trilogy was re-recorded by Stephan Vankov, an employee of Toys for Bob, with the game including an option to freely choose between the two soundtracks.[18][19] Controls were updated for modern platforms in several key ways, such as shooting fire set to the back right button and camera control set to the right analog stick, with an option to revert to the original control scheme at any point from the pause menu. Reignited Trilogy uses the Unreal Engine 4 game engine.[20] The game also received development assistance from Sanzaru Games, whose previous works include The Sly Collection and Sly Cooper: Thieves in Time, in developing the alternate gameplay styles in Year of the Dragon.

Reception

Spyro Reignited Trilogy received "generally favorable reviews" according to review aggregator Metacritic.[21][22][23][24] Multiple aspects of the game were praised, such as the upgraded visuals, attention to detail, and faithfulness to the original trilogy. Jonathon Dornbush of IGN praised the game's attention to detail, noting both the level design, with "gorgeous horizons" and layouts "pristine and accurate to the original", and character upgrades, such as non-playable characters exhibiting more unique and expressive personalities.[30] Mitch Wallace of Forbes similarly highlighted the game's detail, calling the levels "childlike fantasy made playable", while also praising Toys for Bob's ability to faithfully recreate the games despite not having access to the original source code.[31] Chris Moyse of Destructoid commended the game's soundtrack for its rerecording, "dynamic" aspect in which tempo adjusted to match Spyro's activity, and the option to switch to the original recordings.[3]

The game was criticized for issues such as long loading times, glitches, and frame-rate. Wallace noted all of these aspects, calling the loading times in particular "a tad unacceptable" for being "slightly longer" than those of the original games, despite being produced two decades later for more advanced consoles.[31] Moyse noted that the game, in remaining faithful, retained some of the original games' flaws, particularly the overall "bland" and linear objectives.[3] Jeremy Winslow of Slant reiterated that criticism, calling Ripto's Rage and Year of the Dragon "mere reskins" of the first game, while also chiding the game's inconsistent frame-rate and "slippery" controls.[32]

While publisher Activision has not released sales figures, it stated Spyro Reignited Trilogy "performed well" in its initial release.[33] In the UK, the game reached first place on the all-formats sales chart in its first week; while it sold less than Pokémon: Let's Go, it outsold both its Pikachu and Eevee versions individually.[34] It placed at the sixth position in the Switzerland all-format charts.[35] It was also the best-selling PlayStation 4 game in its first week in Australia.[36]

Spyro Reignited Trilogy won the award for "Family/Kids Title of the Year" at the Australian Games Awards,[37] and was nominated for the Freedom Tower Award for Best Remake at the New York Game Awards,[38] and for "People's Choice" at the Italian Video Game Awards.[39]

Notes

  1. ^ The original games were developed by Insomniac Games. Sanzaru Games led the development of the Spyro: Year of the Dragon remaster. The Microsoft Windows port was handled by Iron Galaxy.

References

  1. ^ a b c Spyro: Reigniting a Legend Panel at San Diego Comic Con 2018 (Video). YouTube. Spyro The Dragon. July 30, 2018. Retrieved September 11, 2019.
  2. ^ a b "Spyro Reignited Trilogy Devs on Remastering Classics". IGN. Archived from the original on November 1, 2020. Retrieved September 11, 2019.
  3. ^ a b c d Moyse, Chris (November 24, 2018). "Review: Spyro Reignited Trilogy". destructoid.com. Archived from the original on February 6, 2021. Retrieved June 27, 2020.
  4. ^ Williams, Rhiannon (June 12, 2014). "'Bring back Crash Bandicoot? I definitely wouldn't close the door on that'". The Daily Telegraph. Archived from the original on July 13, 2014. Retrieved September 4, 2019.
  5. ^ Karmali, Luke (September 4, 2019). "Insomniac Boss on the future of Spyro the Dragon". IGN. Archived from the original on September 26, 2014. Retrieved September 26, 2014.
  6. ^ Hood, Vic (August 4, 2017). "Crash Bandcoot N.Sane Trilogy did the business for Activision - and now everyone wants a Spyro remaster next". Eurogamer. Archived from the original on August 7, 2017. Retrieved September 4, 2019.
  7. ^ Wallace, Mitch (April 5, 2018). "'Spyro Reignited Trilogy' Officially Glides Onto PS4 And Xbox One This September". Forbes. Archived from the original on April 5, 2018. Retrieved April 5, 2018.
  8. ^ Makuch, Eddie (August 16, 2018). "Spyro Reignited Trilogy Delayed For PS4 And Xbox One". GameSpot. Archived from the original on August 17, 2018. Retrieved August 17, 2018.
  9. ^ Dornbush, Jonathon (August 16, 2018). "Spyro Reignited Trilogy Release Date Delayed to November". IGN. Archived from the original on April 20, 2019. Retrieved August 23, 2018.
  10. ^ Good, Owen S. (August 2, 2018). "Spyro Reignited Trilogy physical copies only have the first game on disc (update)". Polygon. Archived from the original on February 6, 2021. Retrieved August 4, 2018.
  11. ^ Dornbush, Jonathon (October 29, 2018). "Activision Clarifies Spyro Reignited Trilogy Download Requirements". IGN. Archived from the original on February 6, 2021. Retrieved December 11, 2018.
  12. ^ Dayus, Oscar. "E3 2019: Spyro Reignited Trilogy Coming To Nintendo Switch This Year". GameSpot. Archived from the original on February 6, 2021. Retrieved June 12, 2019.
  13. ^ Chalk, Andy (June 10, 2019). "Spyro Reignited Trilogy confirmed for PC". PC Gamer. Archived from the original on February 6, 2021. Retrieved June 10, 2019.
  14. ^ Dayus, Oscar (June 12, 2018). "E3 2018: Spyro Reignited Trilogy's First Gameplay Revealed, And It Looks Gorgeous". GameSpot. Archived from the original on June 13, 2018. Retrieved June 13, 2018.
  15. ^ Kelly, Kevin (April 5, 2018). "Spyro the Dragon is Back in the Spyro Reignited Trilogy". Activision. Archived from the original on April 6, 2018. Retrieved April 5, 2018.
  16. ^ Makuch, Eddie (April 6, 2018). "Spyro Reignited Trilogy For PS4 And Xbox One Announced [date mislabeled as "June 11, 2018"]". GameSpot. Archived from the original on April 6, 2018. Retrieved April 6, 2018.
  17. ^ Fogel, Stefanie (July 19, 2018). "The Police's Copeland Composes New 'Spyro' Main Theme". Variety. Archived from the original on July 20, 2018. Retrieved July 20, 2018.
  18. ^ Fekete, Bob (July 19, 2018). "'Spyro Reignited Trilogy' Features Original Music, New Song From Stewart Copeland". Newsweek. Archived from the original on February 6, 2021. Retrieved July 20, 2018.
  19. ^ Tailby, Stephen (November 1, 2018). "Spyro: Reignited Trilogy Soundtrack Has Original Composer Stewart Copeland's Blessing". Push Square. Archived from the original on February 6, 2021. Retrieved November 11, 2018.
  20. ^ Harradence, Mike (November 20, 2018). "Activision responds to Spyro Reignited Trilogy's lack of cutscene subtitles". VideoGamer.com. Archived from the original on February 6, 2021. Retrieved November 20, 2018.
  21. ^ a b "Spyro Reignited Trilogy for PlayStation 4 Reviews". Metacritic. Archived from the original on April 20, 2019. Retrieved November 16, 2018.
  22. ^ a b "Spyro Reignited Trilogy for Xbox One Reviews". Metacritic. Archived from the original on April 20, 2019. Retrieved February 10, 2019.
  23. ^ a b "Spyro Reignited Trilogy for Nintendo Switch Reviews". Metacritic. Archived from the original on July 1, 2020. Retrieved September 3, 2019.
  24. ^ a b "Spyro Reignited Trilogy for PC Reviews". Metacritic. Archived from the original on November 29, 2019. Retrieved September 19, 2019.
  25. ^ Slead, Evan (November 15, 2018). "Spyro Reignited Trilogy review". Electronic Gaming Monthly. Archived from the original on February 6, 2021. Retrieved June 28, 2020.
  26. ^ Reiner, Andrew (November 12, 2018). "Spyro Reignited Trilogy". Game Informer. Archived from the original on February 6, 2021. Retrieved June 28, 2020.
  27. ^ Leri, Michael (November 19, 2018). "Spyro Reignited Trilogy Review – Still a Gem". Game Revolution. Archived from the original on June 30, 2020. Retrieved June 28, 2020.
  28. ^ Clark, Justin (November 13, 2018). "Spyro Reignited Trilogy Review - Fan The Flames". GameSpot. Archived from the original on February 6, 2021. Retrieved June 28, 2020.
  29. ^ Prell, Sam (November 13, 2018). "Spyro Reignited Review: "A Joyous Trip Down Memory Lane Well Worth Taking"". GamesRadar. Archived from the original on June 30, 2020. Retrieved June 28, 2020.
  30. ^ a b Dornbush, Jonathon (November 12, 2018). "Spyro Reignited Trilogy Review". ign.com. Archived from the original on February 6, 2021. Retrieved June 27, 2020.
  31. ^ a b Wallace, Mitch (November 13, 2018). "'Spyro Reignited Trilogy' Review: Keeper Of The Flame". forbes.com. Archived from the original on February 6, 2021. Retrieved June 27, 2020.
  32. ^ Winslow, Jeremy (November 19, 2018). "Review: Spyro Reignited Trilogy". slantmagazine.com. Archived from the original on February 6, 2021. Retrieved June 27, 2020.
  33. ^ Harradence, Mike (February 13, 2019). "Crash Bandicoot N.Sane Trilogy sales top 10 million". videogamer.com. Archived from the original on February 6, 2021. Retrieved June 27, 2020.
  34. ^ Dring, Christopher (November 18, 2018). "Pokémon and Spyro top hyper competitive week at UK games retail". GamesIndustry.biz. Archived from the original on February 6, 2021. Retrieved November 18, 2018.
  35. ^ "PLATTFORMÜBERGREIFEND". GameChartz.ch. Archived from the original on April 13, 2021. Retrieved April 13, 2021.
  36. ^ "#spyro reigns supreme pic.twitter.com/PNZPCyLjfs". November 22, 2018. Archived from the original on February 6, 2021. Retrieved July 11, 2019.
  37. ^ "Your 2018 Winners". Australian Games Awards. December 19, 2018. Archived from the original on January 12, 2019. Retrieved January 9, 2019.
  38. ^ Keyes, Rob (January 3, 2019). "2018 New York Game Awards Nominees Revealed". Screen Rant. Archived from the original on February 9, 2019. Retrieved January 9, 2019.
  39. ^ "Italian Video Game Awards Nominees and Winners". Italian Video Game Awards. April 11, 2019. Archived from the original on February 26, 2018. Retrieved May 25, 2019.
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