Spyro The Dragon Returns In Unreal Engine 4

Just a few days ago we caught a glimpse of a Spyro the Dragon project by a designer who chose Unreal Engine 4 to revitalize the game's first level. Today we get to see that same situation done by an entirely different designer/developer: Sheffield Hallam University student Jamie Shilvock. Today we get to see a video of that project, live and ready to roll in a video which shows the entire environment, full of movement – save the dragon himself. What Shilvock has done is give us hope that this classic game – and the even more classic character – won't be just be lost to time, space, and Skylanders.SEE: Another Spyro reborn in Unreal Engine 4

You see, Spyro the Dragon hasn't left our gaming universe. This character is simply locked in with the Skylanders universe. His IP belongs to the people who make the Skylanders franchise of games. That doesn't mean we can't have hope that we'll see him bust out on his own again at some point.

NOTE: In the image above, Spyro has been added in post-rendering by SlashGear. At this time Shilvock has not rendered Spyro himself, just the beautiful environment you're about to see.

Have a peek at the video below to see what's possible – at least on the environment side of things.

Next you'll see a tiny gallery of in-engine images. These images were captured by Shilvock as the demo was running. Cross your fingers for a public demo release, too!

Below you'll see a play through of the original Spyro the Dragon on the original PlayStation. This video shows Spyro rolling through the same level you'll see above – Arisans's Home.

You'll notice how the graphics have come quite a ways since back in 1998. Back then it was created for PlayStation (now called PlayStation 1), then in 2007 it was ported to PlayStation 3, PSP, and PS Vita. Below you'll see the game played on PS3.

Look good? Do you wish we'd have a Spyro the Dragon reboot in the near future? What platform would you want to play it on?

[polldaddy poll=9297227]

UPDATE: We've now gotten in contact with the creator of the demo you see at the top of this article, Jamie Shilvock! In his own words:"My lecturer tasked the class with recreating an old game, at least a decade old, in the Unreal Engine 4," said Shilvock. "It was for a 3D Game Environment module, so it didn't require any programming to make it function as a playable level.""I chose the Artisans homeworld from Spyro as it is one of those games that stuck with me since my childhood.""I still think the art style of the original game is truly incredible."

Another example of an environment made in this same class was by student Jude Wilson, who decided Golden Eye 007 would be a good place to start.

ABOVE: Golden Eye 007 in Unreal Engine 4 by Jude Wilson (classmate of Shilvock).

"I know its a very complicated process with licensing/copyright issues and such," said Shilvock, "but I hope that these fan/student projects reach the original developers and let them know that there is a strong desire for professionally made remakes of classic games."

"Remastered HALO is a perfect example that it can work."

"I don't think projects like these will affect the future of original video games titles though, they're just hitting a certain nostalgic niche that people really want to see."