The Japanese version had some minor changes made to the game:

• Signposts were added, giving the player hints and tips.
• Additional voice clips when Spyro jumps and when Spyro completes a level fully were implemented.
• Sparx remains green, though his brightness gradually drops as Spyro gets hit.
• Spyro moves slightly slower.
• Camera movement was changed.

The American commercial campaign for Spyro the Dragon, in which a sheep nicknamed Toasty stages a boycott of the game for featuring violence against innocent sheep, used a practical animatronic for the sheep instead of CGI. According to one of the commercial's art directors and TBWA/Chiat/Day marketer Doug Mukai, this was done because it strongly contrasted with the CGI imagery prominent in newer video game graphics and advertising, and brought "more character" to the sheep.

When Insomniac Games first started to develop the game, Spyro was a green dragon. However, this caused problems as Spyro kept blending in with most of the environments, causing them to eventually change his color to purple.

The song from Wizard's Peak is also used as the intro to the TV series, The Amanda Show.

If you press L1 and Triangle at the same time on the title screen, a Crash Bandicoot: Warped demo will play.

Doctor Shemp, the second boss in Spyro the Dragon, got his name from an inside joke at Insomniac during the first Spyro game's development. When something didn't go according to plan, the developers would say 'You got the Shemp'. The phrase stuck and was put into the game as the second boss's name.

In an early version of the game, the 1-Up model was used in place of the dragon statues.

In an early demo, there was an additional gem awarded to the player for entering the 'Return Home' whirlwind.

Cleetus can be rescued from Beast Makers Homeworld and again in Twilight Harbor. However, his color scheme and voice are different in each location.

In some versions of the game, Cyrus is green, while in others he is yellow.

There are several extra music tracks that only play under unusual circumstances, and only in certain levels. What causes them to play is as of yet unknown. The European release added six more such tracks, which seem to play randomly after spending an extended period of time in levels that have already been completed.

The Japanese version of the game is significantly slower than other copies of the game. However, it does offer a 'Director's Cut Mode' when the game has been fully completed. When activated, the game runs at the same speed as the US version of the game.

When freeing Tomas the second time, Spyro says "You gotta believe!" at the end of the dialogue, possibly as a reference to PaRappa the Rapper.