Artistic flare
See some familiar faces looking unfamiliarly good
shelf so they don’t get damaged by Gnasty Gnorc. You know, like his appears to have been. But perhaps one voice across all three games is the logical thing to do. Either way, also on the cast list, there’s a welcome return for Gregg Berger, who voices both Hunter The Cheetah and Ripto.
Similarly, the excellent soundtrack is being completely rerecorded, although not by its original composer, Stewart Copeland. Instead it’s being sympathetically arranged for modern audio standards by the in-house team.
But it’s the visuals that you’ll spend the most time drooling over, and what a visual overhaul it is. In 1998 the original PlayStation did a sterling job of rendering comparatively expansive open spaces as well as impressively animated
characters, translucent flames and gorgeously coloured skyboxes, rivalling the 64-bit competition of the time, but it was pushed to its absolute limit in doing so. Playing the original games now, they look as rough as a dragon’s arse compared to modern titles. Remastered for PS4, Spyro’s action now looks like an animated movie as you glide, dash, and roast your way through its fantasy worlds. Initial showings suggest it’s comparable in quality to the Ratchet & Clank remaster, and that’s saying something.
DRAWN TO SCALE
Fans of the old games will be pleased to hear that the Skylanders Spyro character model hasn’t been shoehorned into the old worlds; instead our hero’s been reimagined in superb detail, ensuring his slightly softer original personality is evident in the way he looks. Some of the detailing around his belly is different, and some fans have suggested he’s a little tubbier than they’d like, but considering he’s a new creation, he looks and moves in the way you remember the first game’s Spyro did (even though he didn’t).
He really looks part of the scene he’s in too, thanks to gorgeous lighting and interactive elements like grass swaying as he passes. Dark areas look amazing, and enemies have a real sense of weight as you barge them onto their backs. There’s new detail everywhere, from the smallest things like chicken feathers hanging in the air to the primitive (but beautiful) skyboxes of old, which have been replaced with new, intricately-rendered 3D worlds stretching off into the “REMASTERED FOR PS4, SPYRO’S ACTION NOW LOOKS LIKE AN ANIMATED MOVIE.” distance. Anywhere detail can be added, it has been, whether it’s the castle overlooking the hub world of the first game now
actually having textures when you see it in the distance (they were dark days indeed in the late ’90s), or grass catching fire and remaining scorched after he uses his fire attack. There’s also a lovely ‘cheep cheep’ sound
as Spyro gets stunned when he’s hit, and if you leave him alone for too long, he’s got plenty of idle animations to enjoy, one of which has surely been modelled on a cat, as Spyro delicately licks his paw then looks around. Considering Solid Snake barely had eyes on the original PlayStation, let alone a face that moved, Spyro’s fully-articulated expressions were a technical marvel in 1998, but the remake is on another level entirely.
This detail isn’t reserved for the main character, either. All the NPC dragons that you rescue now have unique character models, making for a much more engrossing and believable game world.
Alongside the new character models and rerecorded voices, the cinematic sequences are all-new too, so expect the sheen of quality to remain constant across all elements of the presentation. Activision is also promising ‘enhanced reward sequences’, which is interesting, but we’ve yet to see what that means in practice.
GOO, BAD, AND UGLY
However. Not all the changes will be embraced by the community. Personal taste will always make some people hate the new character models, but there is a more serious issue that’s been causing a stir, and that’s censorship. It appears that the guns in the Twilight Harbour level have been turned into gloop-shooters, spouting purple goo instead of the yellow blasts of old. They never looked exactly like real bullets, but they certainly weren’t goo. Even Spielberg, who famously replaced guns with walkie-
talkies in his ET remaster said he’d never do it again. It’s a controversial issue anyway, but the reason behind it might be as simple as keeping the age rating down. The old ELSPA rating was 3+, but maybe that wouldn’t be the case now if the game depicts actual guns – the Crash Bandicoot N-Sane Trilogy is a PEGI 7+ and that has a gun-toting boss in it.
What is definitely welcome is the revised control scheme, which has been adapted for modern audiences. In the revamped Trilogy the second analogue stick moves the camera, as opposed to the shoulder buttons of old, which is fine by us. Playing the original games now is – shall we say – confusing when you’re used to the now-ubiquitous twin sticks of the typical modern control scheme. The new Spyro still moves and attacks pretty much identically to his old self, but with a little more precision, and certainly more flair in his animation.
But the new is very much intended to enhance the old, and fans’ nostalgia buttons are going to be pressed mercilessly, starting right now, as the team is going so far as to patch in a trailer for the Spyro Trilogy into the Crash Bandicoot: Warped section of the Crash’s N-Sane Trilogy, accessible by inputting a slightly abbreviated version of the classic ‘Konami Code’ (namely 8, 2, 2, 2, 4, 6, 4,
6, r). It’s a nod to the original reveal of Spyro The Dragon’s existence which was included as a secret, playable demo in Crash Bandicoot: Warped, back in 1998. Alas, there’s nothing playable this time round, but it’s still a lovely inclusion.
Spyro Reignited Trilogy is getting a physical release, but only the first game will be on the disc – the others are downloads. It’ll cost you £34.99 which, considering buying the three original games secondhand could set you back over £80 in CeX, sounds like a no-brainer. Or should that be Gno-Gbrainer? No, it shouldn’t. That was always weird.
“SPYRO STILL MOVES AND ATTACKS PRETTY MUCH IDENTICALLY TO HIS OLD SELF.”