Whenever beloved intellectual properties from my younger years get picked up for any kind of modern kickstart or reboot, I tend to hold my breath a little bit. Initially to temper the unbridled excitement, but also to mitigate a kind of pure, please-don’t-mess-this-up fanboy dread. I understand the basic business strategy behind a lot of these nostalgic callbacks—magic was there once, so let’s try to rekindle that creative fire (and rake in some serious cash with those retro vibes, of course). Plus, if enough time has passed and the fans seem to really want it, then why not? At that point, it would almost be a disservice not to dig up a dormant franchise and celebrate its strengths with current hardware and refined gameplay mechanics.
This is all well and good some of the time, though there are instances where such a resurrection can fall flat on its face, and I worry that Spyro—that amiable purple PS1 mascot from the late ‘90s and early ‘00s—could be playing with (dragon) fire. Sorry, I just had to.
If you’re reading this article, you’ve surely heard the substantial rumor reported by Kotaku UK’s Laura Kate Dale. If the sources in her article turn out to be reliable, we’re supposedly getting an official announcement from Activision regarding a new Spyro the Dragon trilogy remaster in March, with a reported retail release in Q3 of 2018 (July, August or September). Seeing as we’re rapidly approaching Spyro’s 20 year anniversary in September, that particular month seems most likely. The HD collection itself will supposedly resemble 2017’s Crash Bandicoot N. Sane Trilogy, meaning there will be a shiny new coat of paint along with fresh assets and animations, though the original games, at least from a core gameplay and level design perspective, will remain fundamentally intact.
On the surface, this all sounds awesome. Take everything that made the formative Spyro titles great and update that experience in a big-yet-straightforward way for modern audiences. Yes, please. I’ll take thirty copies, thanks. But there’s one part of that Kotaku news article that has me pumping the brakes a bit: “...a remastered soundtrack.” This is a huge red flag, and let me explain why.
While I adored much of what Vicarious Visions and Activision did with the N. Sane Trilogy, I did take slight issue with how they handled the music. From what I could gather online, the original composers Josh Mancell and Mark Mothersbaugh weren’t involved at all in the new project. As such, what was often being referred to as a ‘remastered soundtrack’ was instead completely remade from the ground up. Even though the tracks sounded convincing, they were actually clever approximations of (and in some cases, significant alterations to) the original MIDI PS1 compositions. Sometimes they were good, other times they weren’t. Why the PS1 tracks, as well as Mancell’s and Mothersbaugh’s long-standing expertise, weren’t utilized during development is anybody’s guess. Though in the end, I’m sure it came down to money, licensing issues and possibly a hoarding of creative control. Regardless, it’s a real shame, and I think these inclusions could have really propelled the collection to even greater heights.
As iconic as the Crash Bandicoot soundtracks are, I don’t think they even compare to Spyro’s early audio work, hence my trepidation regarding Activision’s leaked verbiage. Stewart Copeland, longtime drummer for the Police and one of my favorite musicians of all time, originally put those tracks together, and in my humble opinion, they still hold up to this day. He put such a unique aural spin on those mascot games, concocting some truly unique sounds that felt freshly unexpected inside a 3D platformer. For the uninitiated, it’s this strange mix of ambient fantasy, excitable world flavors, acid trip Renaissance and hyped-up elevator jazz that just works, and I fear that too much well-intentioned tampering, possibly from the wrong hands altogether, will result in an underwhelming revamp. Which brings me to my main point: Copeland needs to be involved with this project. I know he’s busy with opera and orchestra these days, and I’m sure he still commands a high price for freelance work, but going about it any other way seems like a recipe for aching disappointment.
Given the issues with N. Sane Trilogy’s soundtrack, I’m not entertaining any delusions. If I had to venture an estimated guess, I’d posit that Activision won’t want to pony up the cash for Copeland and, like last time, they’ll simply have Vicarious Visions do everything in-house. Don’t get me wrong—the audio team over at VV is obviously filled with talented, hardworking people who will, no doubt, produce something totally serviceable (hopefully even excellent) that thematically suits their retro collection. But if fan nostalgia—and let’s be honest, my own fervent anticipation—is any indication, that might not be enough. I’d love to hear Copeland’s current take on his old work, complete with expanded instrumentation, some true remastering and maybe even a few brand new tracks. It may be a bit close-minded to say, but I think he’s the only guy who can do the soundtracks any real justice.
Given N. Sane Trilogy’s almost underground runaway success, I’m sure Activision is expecting similar results from this next throwback outing. That said, overall sales numbers of PS1 titles show that Spyro quite never reached the mainstream heights that Crash did, so I’m sure this upcoming remastered collection probably won’t do nearly as well as the orange marsupial’s. Personally, I can’t wait to dive back into Insomniac's beautiful world, and am hoping that continued sales are good enough to warrant a non-Skylanders standalone reboot for our classic purple dragon.
Lastly, keep in mind that, as of this writing, there still hasn’t been an official Spyro announcement from Activision. So until that supposed PR day in March, nothing has actually been publicly confirmed. Translation: Much of this is speculation, so let's keep our expectations somewhat in check. Having mentioned that, what are you thoughts on a possible remastered collection? Let me know in the comments or on social media.
