Spyro the Dragon is the first game in the Spyro series and was developed by Insomniac Games and published by Sony, exclusively for the PlayStation, in 1998. Spyro himself is a small, purple dragon, and in this opening game he is attempting to save his dragon friends who have all been turned into crystal by the evil Gnasty Gnorc.

The game is a 3D platformer where you must collect gems, keys, and stolen dragon eggs, while at the same time dealing with the many hostiles who are thrown at you. Spyro can ‘butt’ enemies with his horns (on his head), or he can breathe flames at them. He can also jump, and he can glide using his tiny wings. Most satisfyingly, he can gallop with his head down, if you hold down the ‘headbutt’ button. Spyro also has a sidekick – a dragonfly called Sparx – who acts as your life indicator, depending on its colour.

Many of the gems you need are hidden, or are held by Gnorcs (henchmen of Gnasty Gnorc), so need to be extracted by whatever means possible. This means having to chase down the Gnorcs and butting them. Some require a bit more persuasion, though, and require three flame blasts to defeat. Other gems are hidden in the various nooks and crannies of a level. A good proportion are hidden in plain sight.

When you’ve freed ten or more dragons you can then visit the balloonist, who will fly you to the next world. Of which there are five in total. Your goals are: to free all 80 dragons, collect all the gems in the world, and rescue all 12 stolen dragon eggs. And then stomp Gnasty Gnorc.

Spyro the Dragon is a beautifully-made collecting game that shows off the PlayStation‘s 3D capabilities, while having gameplay that is simple to pick-up-and-play, but that also has some depth and challenge. The whimsical, light-hearted tone makes it especially good for kids, and I’m sure many of you reading this grew up playing Spyro the Dragon. Well, it’s still great fun to play now.

This first Spyro led to a variety of sequels, and the following two – Spyro 2: Ripto’s Rage! in 1999, and Spyro: Year of the Dragon in 2000 – were also PlayStation exclusives.

More: Spyro the Dragon on Wikipedia