Spyro trilogy (PSX)

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SpiceWare
Posts: 149
Joined: April 8th, 2015, 7:04 pm

Spyro trilogy (PSX)

Postby SpiceWare » January 15th, 2021, 3:49 pm

In 81 I switched my gaming from the Atari 2600 to the C= VIC 20, and continued gaming on computers from that point on until I ran across the original Spyro the Dragon for the PSX in the late 90s.

Every few years I like to replay the original trilogy. I recently learned about Duckstation, and decided to do my latest replay using it. It's a new PSX emulator for Android, Linux, Mac, and Windows, and is the first emulator I've found that supports rendering the Playstation's 3D graphics at higher resolution on a Mac. I have a Mac mini connected to my 4K TV. I use it as my DVR (cut the cord back in 2013), media center for my ripped DVDs and Blu-rays (stored on a Drobo with 36TB of storage), as well as some gaming for which I have a couple PS3 controllers paired to the mini.

I'm using rips of my original Spyro discs and have finished Spyro the Dragon with 120%. Gameplay in Duckstation was quite good, I even finished the challenging Tree Tops without any issues. I'm now about halfway thru Ripto's Rage!

The graphics via Duckstation are astounding. The amount of detail in the character textures really gives new life to the old game. The background textures are a bit blocky, which gives me an Atari 2600 vibe (due to its low-res 40 pixel background).

Rendered at native resolution:
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Rendered at 8x resolution:
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120%
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astrodomekid
Posts: 183
Joined: September 10th, 2016, 12:48 pm

Re: Spyro trilogy (PSX)

Postby astrodomekid » January 26th, 2021, 11:53 am

I really hope the Critic reviews the whole trilogy. I know he looked at the first game a while back, but the franchise as a whole has a special place in my heart.

SpiceWare
Posts: 149
Joined: April 8th, 2015, 7:04 pm

Re: Spyro trilogy (PSX)

Postby SpiceWare » January 26th, 2021, 2:40 pm

That would be cool. For me I loved 1 and felt 2 was a great improvement. While I like 3 overall, I felt the extra playable characters detracted from the game. I'd probably score them as A, A+, and B+.

I'm almost done with Ripto's Rage!, just have skill points for 2 of the speedways left to unlock the epilogue.

Also about halfway through Year of the Dragon.

I've noticed the textures for the characters are not as detailed in the later games. It's not noticeable at 1x, but is when rendered at higher resolutions. I suspect they made them smaller to free up space in RAM and/or on the CD for other things. Still looks better than 1x so not a complaint, just an observation.

TheEagleXIII
Posts: 283
Joined: December 22nd, 2019, 9:33 am

Re: Spyro trilogy (PSX)

Postby TheEagleXIII » January 26th, 2021, 4:02 pm

I've been playing through these the past year. Finished 1 & 2 and they're great. The trilogy definitely needs a review on this site - they are iconic titles for the PS1 as much as Crash.

I took me until halfway through 2 to appreciate it as much as the first game. Depending on your viewpoint the biggest pro/con is that the levels are quite big/long, especially if you try to 100% them. Some levels can be up to 20mins long by the time you're done.

I started 3 recently so be interesting to see how it stacks up. I've been playing on a modded PS Classic, so I was able to upscale to HD and it does look very nice, even though it still shows off the polygons.

SpiceWare
Posts: 149
Joined: April 8th, 2015, 7:04 pm

Re: Spyro trilogy (PSX)

Postby SpiceWare » January 28th, 2021, 1:50 pm

SpiceWare wrote:I've noticed the textures for the characters are not as detailed in the later games.



Here's an example of that with Bianca's eyes in Year of the Dragon. Can view full size image in reply 20 at AtariAge.

Screen Shot 2021-01-27 at 7.08.03 PM 1.jpg
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