And likewise for the visuals; this collection is nothing short of stunning. The environments are lush and beautiful, the characters fluidly animated and full of charm. It looks great by 2018 standards, but it's especially impressive when you compare with the originals and see just how closely Toys for Bob has stuck to the original intent.

Though the level layout and gameplay is more or less identical to the originals, there have been plenty of small touches that make it all easier for a modern audience to digest. You can now manipulate the camera with the right stick, which is a great help, and you can easily keep track of which collectibles you've found in each level from the pause menu (an ability previously only found in the second game). Beyond that there's new voice acting, featuring a fresh performance from the original Spyro voice actor Carlos Alazraqui, and a faithful update of the original peppy soundtrack.

The first game has probably received the most love and care to bring it up to standards, with each of the generic elder dragons Spyro rescues throughout the game replaced by unique characters that lend a much-needed dose of personality. The sequel Ripto's Rage is perhaps the highlight of the bunch with its varied worlds and character-driven story, but Year of the Dragon is no slouch either with its host of playable companions and optional minigames. With the three of them originally released across three years it's not surprising that the games all offer similar experiences, but the core loop of diving in and out the levels until you've satisfied the conditions to move on to the next set remains pretty fun throughout.

Those with rose-tinted glasses will love returning to these lovingly restored games, but trying to look at them objectively it's clear that many aspects have not aged gracefully, and even compared to '90s contemporaries like Super Mario 64 and Banjo Kazooie they can feel sparse. In particular I was struck by the distinct lack of verticality, with most levels sprawling and flat. And there's no shortage of obtuse puzzle solutions that require you to do unintuitive things like glide from a particular ledge around a blind corner. This kind of item hunt was very much the fashion in the late nineties, and I'm glad it's left as is here for history's sake, but it can be hard to appreciate now.

All up this is an immaculate remake of a set of fun, important, imperfect games. The slip-ups here are very few (the annoyingly frequent loading screens that appear in the first game jump to mind), and returning fans will want to play through again to experience the visual reimagining alone. We can only hope that this collection serves as a proof of concept for a full-on reboot of the franchise, like the one Insomniac previously delivered for Ratchet and Clank.

Spyro Reignited Trilogy is out now for PlayStation 4 (reviewed) and Xbox One.