sorry for the shit formatting as well

I'm sorry this is a massive ass wall, but I just wanted to put my thoughts to rest, so this'll be the last time I post about these games.

I think 7/10 is a fair rating for the whole collection.

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Consistent and constant stutter, noticeable framerate drops in pretty much every level. Not good. Between this, the loads and mod potential the game is crying for a PC release (even if I sound like one of https://youtu.be/FsKEQCeTBck these guys). Crash is the same and was considerably better on PC, this could improve the game so much I might boost this collection up a point. It doesn't impede the ability to complete the game but definitely impedes the fun and is hard to deal with when I'm used to much better. Remember when most console games targeted 60FPS? Sigh. I miss 6th gen.

Aesthetic is more generic. OG was truly built for Spyro and often more interesting. Painting feel and impressionist look on things fit a fantasy dragon world perfectly and added many subtleties. There were more real textures. It was more than just a cartoon and the heavily stylised designs mixed with other things were really engaging. This one is just a cartoon and while it's well-done does not scream Spyro and could fit any IP of the same ilk just as well. There are also some jarring inconsistencies in stylisations with some things looking painfully simplistic and others being bizarrely restrained (every underwater section sticks out like a sore thumb). Worse than weird spots the OGs had. Finally, the game is extremely overbrightened or has way too much going on in spots.

The game feel is more "finicky" than the OGs and a sidegrade rather than upgrade. Aside from readability issues in spots, and some gems being needlessly annoying to see without the gem finder, there is laughable level geometry in spots. Swimming is so weighty to the point it feels inconsistent with flying or onfoot, it felt like a different game in its weight being so emphasized. Hovering has that quirk of stopping you if you try to hover early, which rarely impedes the ability to complete challenges but noticeably impedes enjoyment of using it, exploring etc. (very clearly a bandaid for the rushed nature/lack of ability to test the game, without this quirk there would be many more and easier skips.) Things that are just unpolished/lamer, every world transition (other than Sorceress' Lair! Hooray!) for instance, and worse UI. Many enemies have more issues (a bunch of them track you too well/aggressively, Misty Bog mandrakes are bullshit, numerous enemies whose attacks hit beneath where it appears they would, some enemies have weird and unessicary i-frames, and the fucking cat witches in Charmed Ridge). You can't skip any of the letterboxed cutscenes anymore and a couple are annoyingly added (whereas they should have gone the opposite direction and made them easier to skip and stamp out those you couldn't). There are also more general little hiccups (some tinier glitches and a lot more visual issues than the OGs), especially in the latter two games. I'm not saying the OGs had perfect game feel but they hold up better to the same kind of scrutiny, ie geometry is basically perfect, few enemies are unfun, controls feel more responsive and have many less quirks, fewer forced cutscenes, considerably better UI and especially transitions, loads feel far better due to the slick transitions, more polish in general, framerate has its drops but they're much rarer, no noticeable reload times when you die nor between most cutscenes, much better swimming.

As well as that: Sheila and skateboarding are significantly worse, Bentley is worse due to his camera and his club weirdly feels more finicky. But Byrd is about equal and Agent 9 and the sub minigame improved. Sparx definitely improved, I actually loved his levels now, they were improved in all respects. Superflame reticle was better in OG as well and feels too slow now. Aside from the skateboard races, none of the issues in those things felt like they made the game too hard or really unfair, again- but they're way less fun.

There are also a couple inconsistencies with movement becoming inverted for certain stuff. I don't remember if the OGs were that way but if so then it should have been altered/options added. It's also weirder when, IIRC, the first game never does that and now all three are in one package.

FOR SOME REASON MOTION BLUR IS ON IN PEACE KEEPERS NO MATTER WHAT. FIX THIS REEEEEE

Swim In Air and Double Jump are stomped out when people loved those. Roll in air is patched now too, so fuck the fun glitches. (And they didn't even patch the skateboard race lag bloody hell) At least you can still skip two of the three backtracks for climbing and get swim early. Please, don't patch that, lol.

Upsides: speed is noticeably increased (though tbh this seems like a bandaid for the lag lol). IMO that was a massive boon for Spyro 2 especially, which I thought was originally too meandery. The added weight and more detailed geometry make the games feel more "real" and alive sometimes and can be fun to mess with. It just doesn't make for platforming as good because it isn't entirely there. Headbash is actually fun to use now, even though you kinda have to wait until the peak of your jump to use it (don't remember if this quirk was in the OG so forgive me, feels wrong here regardless, just a tad too much delay). Free travel between worlds is a blessing, it's great for just fun exploring and makes the game faster. While the gem finder is a bandaid for the grass shit it's still appreciated and I would use it a lot in 2/3 regardless. (I still know the first game too well.) Skill Points in 1 are nice and, while they're just a bonus, make that game feel a bit more complete. Free camera is nice and, while the OG camera rarely impedes exploration and works very well for what it is, this feels a lot more natural.

Epilogues are gone. Nobody likes this.

Why is All Abilities gone. Backtracking in Spyro 2 was always arbitrary and unfun.

Toggle Superflame being officially embraced is great and makes the powerup feel like a much better reward. (Even though Superflame itself is much less satisfying.)

Sound is pretty bad for the most part, stuff that should stand out doesn't and stuff that stands out is often deafeningly so. Weird mix of more subdued, diffused, realistic etc sounds with awful cartoony ones. Also hurts game feel. Sounds chosen are generally worse whereas many of the original sounds are, deservingly, iconic. Music is generally much worse due to being muffled (OG music is balanced in a weird way and feels muffled under the SFX too, it didn't do it for me to switch back to that...), even if dynamic music was a cute idea. Line delivery is more inconsistent (honestly, it's inconsistent in the OGs too but there's stuff in the remake that makes me cringe, there are more breaks from the overall tone, and certain characters were truly ruined with their new delivery/designs/mannerisms). Shitty music cues in cutscenes of 2/3 (I don't like 1's either, but for one thing that game never had good cutscenes, and for another there are less and they're less important, and the cues aren't really as bad, so they didn't bother me as much).

As I've mentioned they basically butchered the final world of Spyro 1 (too naturalised, too familiar, too bright- Gnasty's Loot has fucking Artisans architecture WHY? They didn't think about what the designs they had would say about that world, and it originally had instant impact, heavy juxtaposition and dread that is completely gone), Dream Weavers is weak for the most part, Beast Makers while beautiful is nowhere near as striking or memorable in context and its levels start showing real inconsistent quality, and none of the game feels threatening anymore when it used to have incredibly clear thematic and mood progression. If they fixed that and some of the game feel issues it would have been on par or surpassed the original IMO but its flaws can be very glaring and, while I can BARELY stomach them/the amazing level design is still there, I never care to play the final world nor some levels I used to love looking at again. They make me want to play the OG very badly instead. I'm fine with Artisans (although some of it is still dumb, and in this aesthetic it has much less atmosphere), Peace Keepers is good, I actually mostly prefer Magic Crafters in the remake.

I actually think Spyro 2, while it still isn't as good as the first game here (Spyro 1 has clearly always been the best Spyro game fight me), 2 improved over the original version. Fucking sue me. Stuff I've mentioned above still applies, some NPCs make me cringe, generally stands up less to scrutiny, etc. However I think the game feels much, much better to play with added speed (even all the minigames have faster cycles) and the added life in added geometry and stuff like shaders has benefitted this game the most of the three. Ripto and his henchmen actually feel more threatening and entertained me more which compelled me to play the game and, surprsingly, get into the worlds much more. Also, I felt that evolved the tone from Spyro 1, so I can also appreciate this as a sequel/in context a lot more than the OG. While there are numerous worse levels, I always felt some in the OG didn't live up to their concepts, or looked too flat/clearly game assets. It's hard to explain entirely but they generally feel more finished here, again, aside from a few. For example Robotica Farms used to feel pretty slapped together but the added grass just makes it feel much more lush and it has become one of my favorites from 2. Zephyr, which originally had an interesting concept but fell very flat, has become an amazing level. I felt the game was just more alive than the OG at several points, even though a lot was lost. Also, again, Superflame being fully embraced is great. It makes it more fun to replay. 2 lost a lot of little things, it's not wholly definitive by any stretch, but I think it gained more in a couple major improvements. I still disagree this is the best Spyro game and HELL NO it is not better than any version of Spyro 1 but the remake made me "get" why people like it a lot, and I haven't felt that way in almost a decade. https://youtu.be/-VIb1gCxPfI

3. Hoo boy. I have to cut a lot short. This is a very complicated one. It's interesting. It was worth playing once. It will be worth replaying rarely I think. However, it pales in comparison to the original. The plot and characters have become so generic, so much more upbeat and cartoony and simplified that they're unengaging now. It's not a good capstone to the trilogy anymore, at all, regresses a lot in tone from both previous games. I want to skip the vast majority of that stuff now where the remake has refreshed and made me appreciate 2's, mostly. I think the game lost a lot more atmosphere than even the other two. It might be nostalgia, but I miss the old aesthetic the most in this game, the art being worse here doesn't help. The game overall isn't really worse because of some one major thing (although there are major problems, Lost Fleet can go to hell now) but a LOT of little issues you can spot and generally, a lack of the same care to flesh out the environments. Assets don't feel like they're designed around that or get as much detail in this one, generally, they feel more like game assets and more colors etc seem to be repeated. There's stuff that truly looks unfinished. There's noticeably worse animations etc. Game feel suffers more issues in general. But it's weird, some stuff is spot-on in this game, and really it's not that bad. The original was often inconsistent too... it was just a lot better. It never had the same lows. But still same level design, there's some stuff that holds up well in the remake, etc., it's just I can notice this one is so much more rushed than either the OG or the other remakes. By the way, for some reason Enchanted Towers got a fucking perfect remake and (even with the Farley glitch, which is unpatched like the skateboard races >_>) is clearly much higher quality than anything else in 3, from the very first shot of the level. Cleaner, moodier, didn't toss shit on, but greatly added to the mood, and it doesn't feel like pasted assets whatsoever. Okay. Well, I'll leave this at that.

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7/10. Again. It was worth playing, it's worth replaying sometimes.
As much as I piss on these remakes- for one thing, they still got the classic level design- and for another I'm always going to be impressed that they were pushed out in under a year. Hearing more about the development made me sad (and much less angry about the state of the remakes). They easily could have been a trainwreck. They deserved a lot more time. They just still should have been much more and many issues are simply stupid design/direction/decisions, not crunch. And regardless, the crunch issues exist.

1st game: 7-8/10
2nd game: 7/10
3rd game: 6/10
For comparison, OGs
1st game: 9/10
2nd game: 6/10
3rd game: 7-8/10

I don't have faith in the future of this franchise, some of that is TFB showed some real stupid decisions, but honestly more of it is... Activision. While I have considerable issues with TFB, Acti are going to drain their passion and energy, we're going to start getting more bullshit (CTR has that added exclusive skin/Oxide Edition junk after all, and nobody has a problem with it, which is Acti's cue to push more in the future), we're going to get more rushed stuff, this just can't end well. I hope y'all savored the revival while you could, and I hope the next game turns out reasonably well, but I have no faith beyond that. Same for Crash honestly (but I am looking forward to the next Crash game much more, both because I liked that remake more and it's probably going to have awesome level design- don't have the same faith in TFB's level designers, dunno who is still there/was responsible for what, but majority of their Skylanders levels beyond the first game are slogs/some truly awful).