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, theSpyroseries went on to be one of PlayStation’s most iconic franchises in history, despite it changing hands and platforms numerous times.
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The original adventure game paved the way forSpyroto 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?
13Spyro: Enter The Dragonfly
Starting this list at its most disappointing end isSpyro: Enter the Dragonfly, one of themost disliked iterationsin 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 popularSpyrogames just with much of the magic and heart stripped out of it.Enter the Dragonflydid 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.
12Spyro: Shadow Legacy
Spyro: Shadow Legacyis a good example of a gaming franchise trying tobranch out of its existing genreand failing terribly. Unlike the majority ofSpyrogames, this entry attempts to mold itself into an RPG but fails to add anything innovative enough to do it well.
The plot ofShadow Legacyinvolves 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 classicSpyrogame sparkle make it a more forgettable entry in the series.
11Spyro: Season Of Ice
As the franchise’s first foray into handheld consoles,Spyro: Season of Iceis a title that divides many fans and reviewers. Its story is a classicSpyroquest of rescuing fairiesfrom 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 Iceis 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.
10Spyro: Attack Of The Rhynocs
Spyro: Attack of the Rhynocsis another game that some detest while others adore. It falls into the same alternate timeline asSeason of Iceand doesn’t change a whole lot from the style of its gameplay.
Attack of the Rhynocs’level design is sleeker thanSeason of Ice, andthe RPG elementsthat it adds to the game are certainly done better thanShadow Legacy. But the pacing of this game suffers as a result, lowering its place in this list.
9Spyro: A Hero’s Tail
Every hot potato franchise has that one title that seems to be an odd one out. ForSpyro, it’s undoubtedlySpyro: 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.
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A Hero’s Tailallows 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.
8The Legend Of Spyro: The Eternal Night
As the second title in the late 00s reboot trilogy,The Legend of Spyro: The Eternal Nightis 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 Nightfeatures more puzzle-solvingthan otherSpyrogames and places an emphasis on exploration. While it’s a perfectly good game, it’s ultimately outshone by the other titles in its trilogy.
7Spyro 2: Season Of Flame
Another secondSpyrogame, except this time for the GameBoy alternate timeline, isSpyro 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 ofSeason of Flameare much more polished thanSeason of Ice. The story follows all the classicSpyrohallmarks, but many players found the controls and the camera angles difficult to get used to.
6The Legend Of Spyro: A New Beginning
The Legend of Spyro: A New Beginningis 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 Beginningbrought 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 toreintroduce the characterto fans.
5Spyro The Dragon
Here’s where things begin to get tricky. Though it’s no surprise to see the originalSpyro the Dragonranked 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.
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Spyro the Dragonsets the standard for all its progeny and sees Spyro rescuing his fellow dragons from the evil Gnasty Gnorc. It has all the classicSpyrofeatures 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.
4The Legend Of Spyro: Dawn Of The Dragon
Divisiveness is a key feature of severalSpyrogames andThe Legend of Spyro: Dawn of the Dragonis no different. However, despite its critics, the game still has a massive cult following.Dawn of the Dragondeserves 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 Spyrocan fly freely.
