Insomniac Games is getting a big spotlight this year, thanks to its upcoming release Marvel’s Spider-Man. But it also helped that the developer’s first big-seller, Spyro The Dragon, is getting a faithful remake/remaster in the form of Spyro Reignited Trilogy.
YouTube channel The Video Game Historian chronicles how Insomniac Games came to be and how they got their name. The video also touches on the developers’ first work, Disruptor, on PS1. While it did not sell well, the game was interesting enough for Universal Interactive to publish and work together for their next project, codenamed Pete.
For the longest time, Pete was also the name of the dragon character that we now know as Spyro. The little dragon got his signature purple colour after many tests on using different colour and seeing if it looks good in the game’s levels. Mark Cerny, now famous for his role as the system architect on the PS4, was also involved with helping creating Spyro when he was at Universal.
Spyro The Dragon proved successful enough that it warranted two sequels, Ripto’s Rage and Year Of The Dragon. The video highlights how Insomniac managed to put in more content without complicating Spyro’s simple moveset- jumping, charging and his fire breath.
Spyro Reignited Trilogy is developed by Toys For Bob with some consultation with Insomniac. This remaster will bring all the three Insomniac-developed Spyro games the same treatment Crash Bandicoot received last year with the N. Sane Trilogy. It has been recently delayed to November 13th, releasing on PS4 and Xbox One.