I had issues with the way the game controlled or 'felt' a number of times. The levels here are actually well-designed. It's unlikely you'll find yourself backtracking or spending a long time in a level looking for a solitary gem or two you overlooked.

Sometimes you might have to turn your camera around to find ledges to the side where some gems might lie, glide to somewhere off the beaten path or attempt some tricky super-charge ramp maneuvers but that's as hard as it gets. Gems are obtained from enemies, treasure chests (some requiring keys) or just found lying around in bunches. The game is a collect-a-thon but it doesn't fall into the trap of having an overwhelming number of objects to pick up or 'where is that last damn gem' problem games like these tend to stumble over. You'll never get lost but there is still some enjoyment had from exploration. They mostly follow a linear route with some branches. Levels are fairly compact but well-constructed. After replaying it, how does it hold up after so many years? Mostly, pretty well. Game was a childhood favorite, as was the second one. I no longer own my original PS1 copies (or any of my PS1 stuff for that matter) but I did decide to buy this game for my PS3 from their PSone Classics section (I'll get around to 2 and the one I never played, Year of the Dragon, and perhaps the Reignited Trilogy afterwards eventually). I have played the first two games in their original form though. The series has seen some reinvigoration with the Reignited Trilogy which I've not played.

Spyro dragon game