I’m gonna bring it back to a game from my younger days for this next one. I’d even wager that most people my age have played this game at least at some point in their lives.
So I’m going to include all three of the original Spyro games in this post. This includes Riptos Rage, and Year of the Dragon. I honestly don’t remember how I got this game. I imagine it was probably Christmas. But when I fired up the game and heard that nostalgia sounding menu I was ready for action. I liked that in this game I was able to collect things. I’ve mentioned before that the crackfest of getting 100% in a level was a high you couldn’t break.
The first game was very straightforward, not exactly a game changer in my book. Riptos Rage was amazing though. It added new elements that made it so you couldn’t 100% a level on the first try and never return. No sir, now you had to go back later when you learned to swim, climb, and other abilities you didn’t get out of the gate. These games also had voiced cutscenes which was a little different for me. I was used to doing a lot of reading when these something was happening that it didn’t feel as immersive.
Not Spyro though. As much as I wanted to toss my controller as a kid, I persevered got 100% on the whole game. It was real dedication. Now I’ll be the first to admit, a lot of PS1 games did not age well in todays HDMI filled world. However, this game was fortunate enough to be given the remake treatment. Well, remaster.
Now when this was announced I couldn’t spend my hard earned dollars fast enough. I was pumping with memories of the challenges I had endured. These games made me a man. No help from Mom and Dad with those ones, just straight dedication. You know what I realized when I booted the game up and hopped into the world? Even though the graphics were so amazing in the new ones, I felt as though it looked the same as I had remembered. That may not make sense at first so let me clarify.
When you’re young you let your imagination fill in some gaps. Playing the game now, I felt as though that was what I saw when I was young. It was the EXACT same game, except graphically stunning. These games were some of the best times I had on my PS1, and I still have the original game disks somewhere. The remaster really was worth all that time. My imagination may not be as strong as it used to be, but I felt like a kid again.
EK Creates 