Spyro 2: Season of Flame

The Good
It's Spyro! On a handheld!

The same ridiculously addictive gameplay is there, again with all the sub-games and puzzles within puzzles.

The Bad
The best levels on PSX Spyro had large worlds to explore. The worst ones had islands in space you had to hop between or die trying (not much of a puzzle, is it?). The ONLY levels on GBA Spyro have islands in water (you can no longer swim) you must hop between or die trying. Granted, this is probably due to hardware limitations, but smacks of being unimaginative.

Of course, this is further compounded by the fact that Spyro now plummets like a meteorite, so you're going to be dying a LOT (although with infinite restarts-from-last-world-hub-position, it's just a pain rather than unworkable).

Sheila's levels are dull, Agent 9's levels are nonsensical. And there's no more of that lovely Spyro voice acting (again hardware, so no biggy).

The Bottom Line
Still Spyro. Still addictive. It'll occupy a fair few train journeys. But if you're new to Spyro and only want one Spyro game, get the PSX Year Of The Dragon instead...