The original Spyro the Dragon was released in 1998. Insomniac Games developed the PlayStation platform game, and Sony Computer Entertainment published it.
The North American release arrived on September 9, 1998, followed by a European release on October 23. The game introduced Spyro, a young purple dragon who travels through the Dragon Kingdom to rescue dragons trapped in crystal and recover stolen treasure. His dragonfly companion, Sparx, acts as both a guide and a visual indicator of Spyro’s health.
Spyro began as a much darker concept called Lifespan, involving a dragon living through thousands of years and multiple eras of invaders. The design shifted toward a colorful, accessible adventure inspired partly by the fantasy film DragonHeart. Stewart Copeland, formerly of the Police, composed the soundtrack.
Players sometimes confuse the year with Spyro 2: Ripto’s Rage! from 1999 or Spyro: Year of the Dragon from 2000. Those were sequels; the original game belongs to 1998.