wrote that "Spyro is to the PlayStation what Banjo-Kazooie is to the Nintendo 64", and stated that it "combines the two most-important aspects in any good game: graphics and gameplay." Crispin Boyer, also of Electronic Gaming Monthly, proclaimed that Spyro "raises the bar" for 3D platformers, and wrote that it had replaced Gex 3D: Enter the Gecko as his favorite "PS mascot game". Joe Fielder of GameSpot called the game "a proficient, fully 3D platform game" for the PlayStation, comparing it favorably to one of the more recent platformers on the system, Blasto, and proclaiming that it "excels over Blasto in every way imaginable." Despite this, he wrote that the game "only gets very, very high marks, instead of outrageously high marks", citing its lack of high difficulty as the main factor that made it inferior to games like Super Mario 64 and Banjo-Kazooie. Edge named it the best 3D platform game for the PlayStation, but criticized Spyro's limited abilities and said that the game was not as varied as Super Mario 64. Critics lauded the game's presentation, specifically speaking praise for its graphics, technical performance, and Copeland's music done for the game. GamePro reviewer "Slo Mo" wrote that the game's graphics and animations gave Spyro "the look and feel of an animated film" while calling the in-game environments "breathtaking". Harris wrote that the game "utilizes the PlayStation's hardware to the max", and praised the quality of the in-game animations; he particularly praised the rescued dragons' talking animations, which he said gave the characters "incredible personality." Fielder praised the game's dynamic lighting system and character designs, and noted "a near-complete lack of pop-up" during gameplay. Sushi-X of Electronic Gaming Monthly said that the graphics were "among the finest" on the PlayStation. Fielder spoke positively of Copeland's compositional work, calling it "wonderfully atmospheric." Slo Mo described the music as having a "catchy, mellow jazz-rock swing to it" while also praising the voice work for its wide array of unique voices. Many critics held praise for the game's level design and controls, though some noted its simplicity and low difficulty level (with the exception of Tree Tops). Fielder called the level design "exceptional", while Boyer praised the levels for encouraging exploration among players. Sushi-X called the play controls "perfectly tuned" whilst Fielder wrote that they worked well both with and without the DualShock's analog stick, although Smith expressed that controls were unsuited