The graphics are fantastic, with their dynamic lighting effects, a near-complete lack of pop-up, and well-designed great-looking characters. The soundtrack, done by The Police's Stewart Copeland, is wonderfully atmospheric. Once to a new stage, the balloonist will always be willing to take you back. Each of the worlds has a balloonist who will take Spyro to the next once a requirement has been met, such as freeing five dragons, collecting 2000 gems, and so on. In them, Spyro must collect a number of different items before the time limit expires, with each of the items providing him with an extra few seconds to grab all the rest with.

There are several flying levels too, which are similar to the arcade game Prop Cycle, save for having to pedal. As a dragon, you can breathe fire, charge enemies using your horns, and glide with your short, stubby little wings. The gameplay in most levels of Spyro the Dragon is much like that of any other 3D platform game you've ever played, but this time you get a few extra moves beyond the standard. As the one dragon that must have come up under the spell's height/weight requirement, you travel the six worlds - which, incidentally, have six levels each - freeing the dragons and claiming stolen treasure and dragon eggs as you go. It appears that the dragons had been talking trash about the evil Gnasty Gnorc on TV, so, in retaliation, he casts a spell that imprisons them all in crystal.

Spyro lives in a brightly hued realm of magic much like that of a Disney cartoon, except without the severe toothaches that would provide. It has better graphics, a far more useable camera setup, tighter control, it isn't incredibly difficult, and is much, much more fun. It's impossible to escape not mentioning the last attempt at this, SISA's Blasto, so let's get that out of the way right here in the beginning: Insomniac's Spyro the Dragon excels over Blasto in every way imaginable. Yes, it's taken some time, but there's finally a proficient, fully 3D platform game for the PlayStation.

Spyro ps4 metacritic