Can you imagine anything more nostalgic than replaying the original Spyro the Dragon game with a friend or a partner by your side, taking on the levels together and chasing sheep to your heart's content? It's the stuff of dreams, and while games like Split Fiction and It Takes Two provide a truly interactive Co-Op experience, jumping into a classic game like Spyro and experiencing it in a whole new light is what this retro gamer is all about
The Spyro 1 Co-Op Mod comes to us from Tokatta and allows drop-in/drop-out split-screen Co-Op in either vertical or horizontal modes. The plan is eventually to move from two players to four players, but for now, it's just the two of you who will be taking on Gnasty Gnorc and saving dragons together.
If you know your Spyro mods, then you'll already know about the Spyro2x2 mod that Spyromain released last year. Tokatta studied that 2-player mod for the second Spyro game in order to bring us a Co-Op version of the original!
Currently, the mod has compatibility for two players, both moving independently of each other, as well as movable cameras, and the inclusion of Sparx. You can play in horizontal or vertical split modes in either 4:3 or 16:9, with a total of three 'view-fit' modes. In-game items and enemies will react to the player nearest to them, so if you're romping ahead, you'll take all the glory while the other person just follows behind in your wake.
You and your companion player will share lives, but the game deals with respawning individually. There are still some bugs to sort out with camera issues and some pitch control while flying, but all in all, it's very playable and enjoyable thus far.
This is a mod, so you'll need a legally acquired ROM of Spyro the Dragon (USA) and a patcher to add the mod to the ROM file. Then, you'll need either an emulator like DuckStation or a way of getting the game onto a disc to play on a chipped/modded PS1, and two controllers.
Head to Romhacking.net to download the mod!
