The fall of Spyro the Dragon: how one of gaming’s most iconic characters got left behind
Oh, Spyro. What happened to you? At the turn of the millennium, you were riding high as one of the biggest names in gaming. Since then, you’ve spent the last 25 years gliding into a steep descent, down into the valley of gaming obscurity, left to fester in the same scrap heap as Sly Raccoon, Conker, and all those poor apes from Ape Escape. So, the question is, how did it come to this? To understand the demise of Spyro, we have to turn back the clock. The first game in the series, Spyro the Dragon, launched in 1998 to critical acclaim. It was a platformer with a difference, as unlike Mario, Crash, and others, who could only jump, Spyro’s wings made him a glider. This gliding factor allowed for more expansive levels and flying missions, helping Spyro to feel more like an adventure game than its 3D platforming rivals. It also had buckets of charm, both in terms of design and the voice acting, the latter thanks to the unrivaled talents of Tom Kenny, or, as you might know him, SpongeBob SquarePants. At the development helm of Spyro the Dragon was Insomniac Games, the studio that would go on to produce a trilogy of games starring the purple dragon, including Ripto’s Rage! in 1999 and Year of the Dragon in 2000. Then, Insomniac’s contract with the game’s publisher, Universal, ended, and the developer parted ways with Spyro, going on to create Ratchet & Clank before teaming up with Marvel for the recent Spider-Man games.
Read the full story on Pocket Tactics: The fall of Spyro the Dragon: how one of gaming's most iconic characters got left behind
Over a quarter of a century after the arrival of Spyro the Dragon, we’re charting the spectacular rise and fall of the PlayStation icon.