On the list of things anyone could do with Spyro, a reboot probably wouldn't be at the top of the list. These little dalliances would come to an end, though, thanks to a direction that changed everything for Spyro, mostly for the better. The Spyro Orange/ Crash Purple crossover with fellow ex-mascot Crash Bandicoot was a minigame-filled sidescroller, and the Nintendo DS' Spyro: Shadow Legacy allowed Spyro to try his hand at being in an RPG, of all things. Beyond its short-lived trilogy on the Gameboy Advance, Spyro also found mild success thanks to experimenting with different genres. On the handheld, Spyro fared much better in the hands of developer Digital Eclipse. Now available on Xbox and Gamecube in addition to PS2, the lows were real low: Enter the Dragonfly, the first multiplatform game, received the lowest reviews of the series, with Insomniac CEO Ted Price even saying the game treated Spyro like "an abused stepchild." Several games were planned, including an educational title, but all were canceled at various points in development. With Universal now holding the rights, Spyro went through a troubled time through most of the 2000s. Insomniac would bow out with the trilogy, having completed its four-game deal with Universal Interactive, which took its original mascot and went down a rockier path. The original game, Spyro the Dragon (1998), helped turn the character into an icon for the PlayStation (alongside Naughty Dog's Crash Bandicoot) and was soon followed up by two equally beloved sequels: Spyro 2: Ripto's Rage! (1999) and Spyro: Year of the Dragon (2000). The pivot paid off, with Spyro becoming a critical darling in 1998 and a hit during the holidays. But it didn't begin that way Spyro was originally dark and mature, primarily influenced by Dragonheart, but the direction was later changed to appeal to a younger audience. Insomniac Games' little purple dragon was ultimately a great departure from the developer's first game, Disruptor. While there were many of those cartoonish beasts, few can boast a history as successful and strange as the hero we all know and love: Spyro the Dragon. The debut of the PlayStation in 1994 led to the arrival of CDs as viable software vessels and helped trigger the war of animal mascots. The '90s were one of the most important eras in gaming.
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