Spyro the Dragon
1998 · Platform · PlayStation
Overview
Spyro the Dragon was a 3D platformer in which a small purple dragon explored six interconnected homeworlds and their associated level areas. The game's draw distance — terrain and objects visible much further than most PlayStation games — was a technical feat. Stewart Copeland's soundtrack and accessible design made it one of Sony's strongest family-friendly titles.
Deep Dive
Spyro the Dragon was developed by Insomniac Games — their second game and first under Sony's internal publishing. The game's large draw distances were achieved through custom rendering techniques and aggressive LOD switching. Stewart Copeland, drummer for The Police, composed the soundtrack after responding to an Insomniac job posting.
Developer Story
Spyro the Dragon was developed by Insomniac Games in approximately two years as Sony's platform answer to Nintendo's Mario 64. The development team worked closely with Sony's Japanese studio on optimisation techniques. The game launched in September 1998 in North America.
Did You Know?
- Spyro's large draw distances were achieved through custom rendering techniques Insomniac developed specifically for the game.
- Stewart Copeland — drummer for The Police — composed Spyro's soundtrack after responding to an Insomniac job posting for a game composer, not knowing what the project was.
- The game's homeworld structure — levels accessible from a central hub area — was directly inspired by Super Mario 64's world design.
- Spyro was originally designed as a human character — the dragon design was adopted because it would be easier to render a simplified non-human form at acceptable polygon counts.
