The 15 Top Spyro Games Ranked Worst to Best

Image: Insomniac Games

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Cody has been a gamer ever since his family got a Sega Genesis when he was five-years-old. In addition to his love of narrative-focused RPGs and ho... Read more

Reviewed by Benjamin Barr

The original PlayStation was home to a number of games that went on to become iconic franchises in the video game world. Resident Evil and Metal Gear Solid both saw their first titles launched on this iconic console. Crash Bandicoot might be the series most intrinsically linked to the PlayStation, but there’s another little Sony mascot out there we shouldn’t forget: Spyro the Dragon.

There are fifteen games in the mainline Spyro series, but which ones are the best? We here at High Ground Gaming decided to make a list of all Spyro games ranked from worst to best so you know which of these games are worth your time and which ones you probably shouldn’t bother with.

Spyro Games Ranked From Worst to Best

Are you ready to lower your horns and charge into battle? It’s time to rank all of the Spyro games from worst to best!

15/15

Skylanders: Spyro’s Adventure

Platform(s): PC, Mac, PS3, Xbox 360, Wii, Wii U, Nintendo 3DS
Developer: Toys for Bob, XPEC Entertainment
Release Date: October 13, 2011

Starting off our list of all the Spyro games ranked from worst to best is Skylanders: Spyro’s Adventure. While it technically has the Skylanders name at the forefront, this was originally intended to be the first title in a second reboot of the Spyro series.

The game was commercially successful, but didn’t quite inspire the renewed excitement the studios hoped for. They later made a direct sequel called Skylanders: Giants which had Spyro as a playable character, but took him out of the leading role.

14/15

Spyro: Enter the Dragonfly

Image: Check Six Studios

Platform(s): PS2, GameCube
Developer: Check Six Studios and Equinox Digital Entertainment
Release Date: November 5, 2002

Spyro: Enter the Dragonfly is the fourth home-console title in the series and the first not to be developed by Insomniac Studios. It also was the first to make the leap to the PS2. The advantage in graphics didn’t really help, though, as this game lost a lot of the charm that made the original trilogy great and wasn’t very inventive overall. Unfortunately, giving Spyro bubble-breath wasn’t enough to save it from devolving into obscurity.

13/15

Spyro Orange: The Cortex Conspiracy

Image: Vicarious Visions

Platform(s): Game Boy Advance
Developer: Vicarious Visions
Release Date: June 3, 2004

This is an interesting one. Spyro Orange: The Cortex Conspiracy was developed and released in conjunction with Crash Bandicoot Purple: Ripto’s Rampage (sort of like the way Pokémon games come out in pairs.)

Ripto teams up with Neo Cortex in both of the games, forcing Crash and Spyro to join forces in order to defeat them. Both of them are side-scrolling adventure games, but the character you play is different depending on which version you buy. There are a bunch of mini games as well, which make up the bulk of the games’ content. It was a neat gimmick, but neither of them ultimately added up to particularly memorable games on their own.

12/15

Spyro: Shadow Legacy

Image: Amaze Entertainment

Platform(s): Nintendo DS
Developer: Amaze Entertainment
Release Date: October 18, 2005

Up next on our list of Spyro games ranked is Spyro: Shadow Legacy. This was considered the last game in the original continuity for over a decade before the Spyro Reignited Trilogy came along. Spyro goes to train his magic at the Dragon Temple when a storm comes and traps all his friends in the Shadow Realm, a strange new dimension.

This game is peak Spyro silliness, but without a lot of the spark that made the games which came before it memorable. Its isolation on the Nintendo DS also made it a game that many fans never had the opportunity to play.

11/15

Spyro: Season of Ice

Image: Digital Eclipse

Platform(s): Game Boy Advance
Developer: Digital Eclipse
Release Date: November 7, 2001

Spyro: Season of Ice was the little purple dragon’s first foray onto the handheld console market and the first game made after the completion of the original trilogy. This started a sort-of alternate timeline from the one later established in Enter the Dragonfly that carried on in the other GBA titles.

Being able to play Spyro on the go was a great idea that would come to fruition in later titles, but this was a rough first effort.

10/15

Spyro: Attack of the Rhynocs

Image: Digital Eclipse

Platform(s): Game Boy Advance
Developer: Digital Eclipse
Release Date: October 27, 2003

Now onto the top ten! Ask different people about Spyro: Attack of the Rynocs and you’ll get different answers. The third GBA title doesn’t change the gameplay style much, but does expand on the roleplaying and item collecting elements.

This might sound like an improvement, but a lot of the new features only serve to slow down the pacing of the game. It’s still quite enjoyable and has a loyal fanbase, however.

9/15

The Legend of Spyro: The Eternal Night

Image: Krome Studios

Platform(s): PS2, Xbox, Wii, Game Boy Advance, Nintendo DS
Developer: Krome Studios, Amaze Entertainment
Release Date: October 2, 2007

The Legend of Spyro: The Eternal Night is the second game in the Legend of Spyro reboot. It picks up where A New Beginning left off, with Cynder leaving and Spyro attempting to find the Dark Master responsible for the events of the first game.

There’s nothing wrong with The Eternal Night. It’s a very enjoyable Spyro game. There isn’t very much to distinguish it from its predecessor, though — it’s just more of the same.

8/15

The Legend of Spyro: A New Beginning

Image: Krome Studios

Platform(s): PS2, Xbox, GameCube, Game Boy Advance, Nintendo DS
Developer: Krome Studios, Amaze Entertainment
Release Date: October 10, 2006

We put The Legend of Spyro: A New Beginning higher on the list than its successor because it gets more points for innovation. This was the first true reboot of the Spyro series. They cast non-other than Elijah Wood in the role of our fire-breathing protagonist along with Gary Oldman as the Dragon Guardian leader Ignitus.

This reboot not only changed the design of the titular purple dragon, it also changed some gameplay elements as well. It’s much more action-forward than the original series with combat playing a much more pivotal role.

7/15

Spyro 2: Season of Flame

Image: Digital Eclipse

Platform(s): Game Boy Advance
Developer: Digital Eclipse
Release Date: September 25, 2002

Next up is Spyro 2: Season of Flame. The title can be a little confusing. It’s the second Spyro game on the branching Game Boy Advance storyline, not the second game in the main-line series. It’s probably the best Spyro game on the GBA though.

The story is pretty typical, you have to search around the Dragon Realm and find the stolen fireflies. The game looks and feels much more polished than its predecessor, however, and being able to control Agent 9 and Sheila the Kangaroo gave the gameplay some fun variance.

6/15

The Legend of Spyro: Dawn of the Dragon

Image: Étranges Libellules

Platform(s): PS2, PS3, Xbox 360, Wii, Nintendo DS
Developer: Étranges Libellules, Tantalus Media
Release Date: October 21, 2008

Dawn of the Dragon is the third and final installment in The Legend of Spyro reboot. It was primarily developed by Étranges Libellules, a French studio who only ever made a handful of games before they closed in 2012.

It’s set three years after the events of The Eternal Night, featuring a teenage Spyro. This is the first Spyro game that allowed the player to fly whenever they wanted (rather than just during certain missions and levels.) It also had a co-op mode where one of your friends could play as Cynder. It also arguably has some of the best motion design in the series. Dawn of the Dragon made for a powerful close to this second timeline.

5/15

Spyro: A Hero’s Tale

Image: Eurocom Entertainment Software

Platform(s): PS2, Xbox, GameCube
Developer: Eurocom Entertainment Software
Release Date: November 9, 2004

Every major series has that odd gem somewhere between console and studio changes. For Spyro, that’s A Hero’s Tale. It’s the fifth console game in the original series, the best Spyro game on PS2, the first to come to Xbox, and the only one to be developed by Eurocom Entertainment Software…and it’s magnificent.

This game allows you to play as Spyro the Dragon, Sparx the Dragonfly, Hunter the Cheetah, Byrd the Penguin, and Blink the Mole! Spyro plays like he typically does, but the others add a variety of gameplay that simply isn’t present in most of the other titles. The only downside is the amount of time you have to spend backtracking.

4/15

Spyro: Ripto’s Rage!

Image: Insomniac Games

Platform(s): PlayStation
Developer: Insomniac Games
Release Date: November 2, 1999

It shouldn’t come as a surprise that all of the original trilogy are in the top five. These games set in motion the most iconic franchises to start on the PlayStation, after all. Spyro: Ripto’s Rage is the second game in the series. As the title suggests, it introduces the villain Ripto, an angry warlock who decides to conquer the realm of Avalar and eventually becomes the most recognized antagonist in the series. Ripto’s Rage also introduces characters like Moneybags and Hunter the Cheetah.

There were some new gameplay mechanics as well like swimming, climbing, and a new head-bash ability.

3/15

Spyro the Dragon

Image: Insomniac Games

Platform(s): PlayStation
Developer: Insomniac Games
Release Date: September 9, 1998

Here’s the one that started it all. Spyro the Dragon came out in 1998 when platformer popularity was at an all-time high. Gnasty Gnorc has taken over all of the dragon homeworlds and turned all of the dragons to stone. It’s your job to journey throughout the realms, release all the dragons, and defeat Gnasty Gnorc.

Sure, this isn’t the most polished game in the series now, but it introduced most of the mechanics that would carry through nearly every game that came after and it’s still loads of fun to play today. How many other first titles in a franchise can say that?

2/15

Spyro: Year of the Dragon

Image: Insomniac Games

Platform(s): PlayStation
Developer: Insomniac Games
Release Date: October 24, 2000

The third and final entry in the original Spyro trilogy (and the last one to be made by Insomniac Games) is also probably the best Spyro game PS1 has to offer. It took everything that was good in the first two games and expanded the graphics, environments, and the gameplay.

The bombastic use of color and the mission to collect all of the stolen dragon eggs makes Year of the Dragon one of the most memorable experiences in the franchise. It looked like no Spyro game would ever be able to dethrone it for nearly two decades, until recently…

1/15

Spyro Reignited Trilogy

Image: Toys for Bob

Platform(s): PC, PS4, Xbox One, Nintendo Switch
Developer: Toys for Bob
Release Date: November 13, 2018

The Spyro Reignited Trilogy takes the original three games and completely rebuilds them from top to bottom. It remains as true to the originals as possible while also adding features to the older games that make them more accessible to a modern audience. Blocky PS1 ground assets are now lush fields and NPC dialogue was updated so you don’t have to hear the same 4–5 lines of scripted dialogue every time you unfreeze a dragon.

This is both the best way to start the Spyro series and the best of the best Spyro games ranked. You can even get it on Nintendo Switch.

Become a High Grounder

Thank you for reading our list of all the Spyro games ranked. We hope you enjoyed it and that you rip Ripto a new one! Be sure to follow High Ground Gaming for news, reviews and more lists like this one.

Happy gaming!