Spyro is a platform game series originally created by Insomniac Games as an exclusive for Sony's PlayStation console. The series features the adventures of the titular character, a young purple dragon. Since the series' introduction in 1998, there have been numerous sequels and a reboot trilogy. The series was originally produced by Universal Interactive, later became known as Vivendi Games; the rights to the intellectual property were acquired by Activision after its merge with Vivendi in 2008.
The series went dormant for a decade, until a collection of remakes of the original Spyro PlayStation trilogy called Spyro Reignited Trilogy, developed by Toys for Bob, was released for the PlayStation 4 and Xbox One in November 2018, and later for Microsoft Windows and Nintendo Switch in September 2019. In 2026, a brand-new entry in the series, Spyro: A Realm Beyond, was announced, set for release in Spring 2027.
Development and history
PlayStation exclusivity (1998–2000)
Spyro the Dragon was released in North America on 9 September 1998 and Europe on 23 October 1998 for the PlayStation. It is a platform game that placed the player as Spyro, a small purple dragon set with the task of freeing his fellow dragons from crystal prisons, which are scattered around their world. Each level is accessed through 'portals' from a main world. The game closes out with the climactic battle between Spyro and the primary antagonist, Gnasty Gnorc. The game sold well, with a total of five million copies being sold worldwide. The game received favorable reviews from IGN giving Spyro the Dragon a 9 out of 10. It received acclaim for its musical score by Stewart Copeland.
Ripto's Rage!, known as Gateway to Glimmer in PAL regions, followed on from the success of the first title, making its release on 2 November 1999 in North America and 5 November 1999 in Europe for the PlayStation. The game introduced new characters including Hunter, a cheetah; Elora, a faun; The Professor, a mole; and Zoe, a fairy. The structure of the game is similar to the first, with levels being accessed from the three main home worlds: Summer Forest, Autumn Plains, and Winter Tundra. The game ends with the climactic duel between Spyro and the primary antagonist, Ripto. The game introduces some abilities for Spyro, including hovering after a glide, swimming underwater, climbing ladders, head-bashing, and the ability to use power-ups. Like its predecessor, it was critically acclaimed.
Year of the Dragon was released in North America on 24 October 2000 and Europe on 10 November 2000 for the PlayStation, and it was Insomniac's last Spyro game. In the game, the dragons are celebrating the Year of the Dragon, an event held every twelve years in which new dragon eggs arrive in the dragon worlds. Bianca, an anthropomorphic rabbit and apprentice to the primary antagonist, The Sorceress, invades the Dragon Realms to steal the dragon eggs. During her escape, Spyro pursues Bianca down a rabbit hole that serves as a portal to the Forgotten Realms. This long-abandoned territory is governed by The Sorceress, who seeks the dragon eggs to harness their wings and restore magic to her fading domain. As in the previous games, levels are accessed from a central home world, of which there are four: Sunrise Spring, Midday Gardens, Evening Lake, and Midnight Mountain. The game also features levels in which the player controls "Sparx", Spyro's companion dragonfly, in a bird's eye view shooting game as well as four new playable characters: Sheila the Kangaroo, Sgt. Byrd the Penguin, Bentley the Yeti, and Agent 9 the Monkey.
Multiplatform and handhelds (2001–05)
Season of Ice was the first Spyro game not to be developed by Insomniac Games or be on a Sony console, released for the Game Boy Advance and developed by Digital Eclipse. It is known as Spyro Advance in Japan. Spyro must use his fire breath to rescue the fairies in the various Fairy Realms after they are frozen by an evil monster named Grendor.
Season of Flame was the second Digital Eclipse title and was released for the Game Boy Advance. It is the sequel to Season of Ice, and introduces new features, such as the ability to breathe other elements besides fire. In the game, Spyro must recover the stolen fireflies scattered across the Dragon Realms and foil an evil plot by Ripto and his minions.
Enter the Dragonfly is available for the PlayStation 2 and Nintendo GameCube, and was developed by Equinoxe Digital Entertainment and Check Six Studios. It had received mixed to negative responses from reviewers, referring to the numerous glitches, lack of storyline, originality, and long load times. The story begins with the baby dragons preparing to receive their dragonflies and celebrating. Ripto captures the dragonflies, making the dragons helpless, and accidentally scatters the dragonflies across the world with a spell. Spyro must recover the dragonflies.
Attack of the Rhynocs, also known as Spyro Adventure in Europe and Australia, is the third and final game to be developed by Digital Eclipse. Spyro is tasked with collecting the "Heart" of each land in order to stop Ripto's latest evil scheme after a machine malfunctions opening a portal, bringing Ripto back into the dragon realms following the events of Enter The Dragonfly.
The Cortex Conspiracy, known as Spyro Fusion in Europe and Australia, and Spyro Advance Wakuwaku Tomodachi Daisakusen! in Japan, introduces multiple game screening. It is a crossover game between Spyro the Dragon and Crash Bandicoot, and a companion game to Crash Bandicoot Purple: Ripto's Rampage. In the game, Spyro travels through Crash's universe in a side-scroller, rather than the traditional isometric, top-down view.
A Hero's Tail is available for the PlayStation 2, Xbox and Nintendo GameCube, and was created by Eurocom. The game revolves around an evil plot by the villain Red, a former Dragon Elder, who begins to plant Dark Gems around the Dragon Realms, sucking the life out of these worlds. He also works alongside Gnasty Gnorc and Ineptune. Spyro then begins his journey to destroy all the Dark Gems, alongside Sparx, Hunter, Sgt. Byrd, and Blink.
Ripto Quest was released for mobile phones on November 12, 2004. It is depicted from an isometric viewpoint. The plot has Spyro collecting four machine parts to stop Ripto. Levi Buchanan writing for IGN and GameSpy gave the game a positive review.
Shadow Legacy acts as a sequel to Spyro: A Hero's Tail and was released only on the Nintendo DS. This is the first Spyro game that plays as a role-playing game as opposed to a platformer and the game allows Spyro to gain experience, level up and learn new spells and combat moves. Spyro must use his new skills to save his allies when they are trapped in the "Shadow Realm" which features returning levels from the Dragon Kingdom, Avalar, and the Forgotten Realms.
The Legend of Spyro reboot trilogy (2006–08) The Legend of Spyro is a game trilogy that is part of the Spyro the Dragon series. It acted as a reboot to the original series. The games use a combination of close-combat and platforming gameplay, though the gameplay is more oriented towards combat than previous games in the Spyro series were. The story revolves around Spyro, the protagonist, and his efforts to stop Malefor, The Dark Master, from destroying the world.The Legend of Spyro: The Eternal Night instruction booklet. Sierra Entertainment Inc. 2007.
The first installment of this game is titled The Legend of Spyro: A New Beginning. It focuses on Spyro's origins as a legendary purple dragon and his quest to stop Cynder, the black dragon waging war against the world. He meets Ignitus the Fire Guardian, a red dragon who tells him about his past and offers to train him in his newly discovered ability to breathe fire. Spyro must then embark on a quest to various worlds to rescue the other three Guardians; Volteer, the Electric Guardian, Cyril, the Ice Guardian, and Terrador, the Earth Guardian. Each guardian trains him in a new elemental breath to help him on his journey and eventual fight with Cynder herself.
Michael Graham, one of Sierra Entertainment producers of The Legend of Spyro trilogy, stated that they never planned to do a trilogy. They developed top line concepts for a story arc that they felt could potentially span over three games, yet no actual plans were made beyond A New Beginning, so they did not know if the story would continue.
On October 25, 2007, it was announced that the film rights for Spyro the Dragon had been purchased by The Animation Picture Company. Daniel and Steven Altiere wrote the script, which was going to be based on the recently released The Legend of Spyro trilogy. The film was going to be titled The Legend of Spyro 3D and was planned to be made from Los Angeles, California, with animation by a South Korean animation studio, Wonderworld Studios. The film was planned to be produced by John Davis, Dan Chuba, Mark A.Z. Dippé, Brian Manis, and Ash Shah, and distributed by Universal Pictures. Mark A.Z. Dippé was going to direct the film, which would've made it the first theatrical film Dippe directed since Spawn. This film was originally planned for released in theaters on Christmas 2009 for the United States and Canada, but it was delayed to April 10, 2010, for its North American release. It was later confirmed by Daniel Altiere that the movie had been cancelled due to decisions made by Activision (now part of the larger Xbox division) to go in a different direction, which was later revealed in the form of Skylanders.
Spyro Reignited Trilogy and Spyro: A Realm Beyond (2018–present)
Discussions around the relaunch of Spyro began as early as 2014. In a July 2014 interview with The Daily Telegraph, Sony Computer Entertainment CEO, Andrew House stated that his team was considering bringing Spyro back. House stated that he believed video gamers would be interested in revisiting a character from their youth. Later that same year, Insomniac Games CEO Ted Price also stated that making a new Spyro game was a possibility. In 2017, developer Vicarious Visions stated that they were aware of how high the popular demand was for a revival of the classic Spyro series. In a statement they said, "just keep asking". Spyro Reignited Trilogy was officially announced on 5 April 2018 and was originally going to be released on 21 September 2018 for PlayStation 4 and Xbox One, before being delayed to 13 November 2018. The game was developed by Toys for Bob and was ported to Microsoft Windows and Nintendo Switch, with a release date of 3 September 2019.
During the Xbox Games Showcase on June 7, 2026, a brand-new Spyro game, titled Spyro: A Realm Beyond, was announced. It is being developed by Toys for Bob, and is currently set to be released in 2027.
Other games In addition to Crash Purple and Spyro Orange, Spyro has made various crossover appearances in the Crash Bandicoot series. Spyro appears as a playable character in the Game Boy Advance version of Crash Nitro Kart, and makes a cameo appearance in Crash Twinsanity. The characters Spyro, Cynder, Dark Spyro, Sparx the Dragonfly and Malefor also made appearances in the Skylanders series, including all six mainline games and the television series. Elements from the Spyro series were added to Crash Team Racing Nitro-Fueled as part of a post-launch game update in August 2019. Spyro, Hunter, and Gnasty Gnorc appear as playable characters, along with Spyro-themed karts and a "Spyro Circuit" race track. Spyro-themed parade and pool floats appear in Crash Bandicoot 4: It's About Time, while both Spyro and Dark Spyro have major roles in Crash Bandicoot: On the Run! Spyro, Elora and Ripto made appearances as playable characters in season 3 of Crash Team Rumble.
Cancelled games