He can't remember if it was 5 or 6 because he has dementia. There are many cases of dementia. Some experience anger others are addicted to alcohol and most common is what we see in the intro. I don't think I'd cl8mb into that dragons car.

Im playing it right now haha

This is something I've felt as the years go by, especially after replaying the trilogy recently. 2 and 3 are always interrupting the flow of gameplay with dialogue and minigames and backtracking. There's something to be said about how important movement and control is in a platforming game. Designers spend a lot of time getting things to feel just right, to the point where just moving around and exploring is a fun activity in of itself. The player shouldn't have that experience taken away from them and be forced into some weird, less-fleshed out alternate control scheme every 5 minutes. But some point, game developers got it in their heads that they had to add minigames, alternate control schemes, vehicles, and so on. I'm having a blast charging around as Spyro, but every 5 minutes I have to get in a plane or on a manta ray's back or on a turret or on a skateboard or switch to a slow kangaroo or skip through some dialogue or spit rocks at lizards... And all I want to do is get back to charging around as Spyro. Spyro 1 is a lot shorter and less "fleshed out" in comparison, yeah, but at least I'm left to charge and glide through levels undisturbed. It's pure enjoyment of the game's fundamental controls, and it never gets old for me. I'd love a Spyro sequel that was just more Spyro 1 level design, without all the bells & whistles.

It ain't that deep bro!

Dont worry we can skip nestor aswell now

I want to say as a big fan of FLCL, I'm super glad you liked the series. It's probably one of my favorite anime. And your take on the order is an interesting take. I have three views on it now after hearing yours and a few reasons why. 1. The common view that it goes Grunge, FLCL, Progressive (Haruko being confronted constantly by Jinyu, and ultimately realizing at the end chasing Atomsk is impossible), Alternative (Haruko now focusing on her job, even receiving a promotion, focusing her ire on Medical Mechanica, and....is that Naota as Kana's Dad behind the newspaper?), then Shoegaze. 2. Your theory. A very compelling one which makes me think... 3. Your's.... Only it's possibly on a time loop because of all the NO use and users. Because I wouldn't be surprised it is Naota as Kana's Dad. But Haruko has been using so many NO users to catch Atomsk, it's making time loop and paradox.

😎👍 Good video

I give your ramble a solid 10/10

Great video Tower

It gives a different Perspektive. Spyro 3 has rhynox which are there to cause harm, Spyro 2 has baddies who harras the locals and Spyro 1 has only locals being against the dragon

Do you have a transcript you can put in the description? There were a couple of points where I had trouble following and I'm not sure whether it's just because FLCL has always been tough for me to follow or having a hard time audio processing

First

Spyro 1 is great because you can track your 100% as you go. It was the first game I ever beat 100% and I return to it again and again. Spyro 2 I have also 100% completed… but Spyro 3 never (damn skateboard minigames) Spyro 1 also has the best soundtrack, but that could be my nostalgia talking.

I did stop to ask myself why i'm just blatantly killing critters and warring natives without giving it a second thought. I assumed it was because Spyro is a carnivore? You should also add that in historic European iconography, the dragon is Satan incarnate, an infamous bad guy. So your theory makes sense.

Very good video brother!

Really stupid to assume that the whole premise of the game is a lie to make the player out to be the bad guy. What a waste of my time this video has been.

Your argument is spot on. The first Spyro game is still really good and has a perfect flow to it.

omg my favorite game is just settler colonialism

I once played Spyro while stoned and came to the same conclusion. I mean think about it. Dragons are always the bad guys in fairy tales. They usually invade a land and take all the treasure. So maybe this doesn’t make them bad guys, more just doing what dragons do. Like animals.

I viewed most of the enemies as the natives rebelling now that the dragons are gone, while gnorcs are invading. The shepards of artisans might be rightfully angry that dragons eat their flock. But in peace keepers and magic crafters there's wars going on between the locals. Dream weaver enemies to me seem like dreams run amok, transforming into nightmares. To me to be a stabilizing force in those worlds. The gnorcs in artisans are robbers looting the place, they really only show up in the uninhabited ice caves in peace keepers, only just reaching dream weavers by balloons by the time spyro gets there. Their presence is heaviest in beast makers, a swampy land like their own that they are trying to pave over and make it more their own. The only enemies that seemed aligned with the gnorcs are the ice wizards, but they might just be making gnorcs of their own on the spot. It kind of makes sense most place don't like the presence of dragons but in their absence more aggressive powers take over. The forgotten worlds seems to be an example of successfully kicking the dragons out. Everyone gets their own world, but as the magic dries up they find the rhynocs invading everything. Avalar has no real history of dragons, but Ripto is clearly from a world with dragons who were likely keeping his reptilian faction from conquering the worlds around them.

Reigneted is a 0/10 just for the fact it omitted the cheat code for unlocking climbing, diving and the headbash in 2 on purpose. Like why? Its the only way I play through the game to avoid backtracking so its dire that the devs think their vision of someone else's creation trumps original design.

Samurai Champloo was one of many inspirations for my Samurai Legends Books and manga.

Towerizer a KZbinr I used to watch used to shout you out all the time. Also down with system D lol

I think you're right. Infact, I used to wonder about that. Because Gnasty Gnorc only captured them after the dragons called him "ugly." Also, in Dragon Shores, from Spyro 2, the Gnorcs are the good characters.

Fully agree, i hate the 'stupid' frustrating challenges like icehockey, just give me the gems and dragons!

Ripto’s Rage >

honestly, even when I was young, the dragons seemed a bit off to me, even though I LOVED and still LOVE this game

I'm not totally sold that the dragons are bad since the Beast Maker's dragons really do come off as the Victims, and you can Argue the DreamWeavers/Peacekeepers ones Really are doing their job (I do think Gosnold claiming Spyro isn't "A Real Dragon" yet very Insulting though. Brah...look at his Kill-streak!) but there are times they do come off villains. Like that one Dark Passage dragon that seems to pat Spyro on the back when he says "I'd Rather Flame the Fool!" and goes "Now you're Thinking!" did come off as diabolical. I do feel that way about that Wizard's Peak dragon that seems to love killing wizards (I'd argue its payback for Wizard of Earthsea.) and that Misty Bog dragon that took ridiculous pleasure in 'SMASHING' & 'STOMP THEM!' when referring to all the puny little enemy's. I feel like the dragons much like the people of Avalar are just a mix bag of Good and Evil. Really its Spyro himself who was the Biggest Villain. Weird references, but I'd almost compare Spyro to Guts in the BlackSwordsmen arc, with his brutal drive for vengeance and Dave Sim's Cerebus the Aardvark (He really does look/act quite allot like Spyro in the early volumes.) in terms in how he's driven by Selfish desire and it only helping others to forward his own goals whether it be for Treasure, Revenge, or simply a Vacation. I don't Spyro is the actual Good-Guy till Spyro3, since at that point his desire to retrieve the dragon eggs is non-selfish, and its Very VERY clear that Moneybags and the Sorceress both are DEEPLY in the Wrong. Still...Spyro you're a Adorable little Sheep-Murderer! (Honest I think Hunter needs his own Essay for how awful and Manipulative he actually was to Spyro. Hunter: I'm just going to hold this Egg as Spyro kills a bunch O baby Lizards!)

I recall from... somewhere? The old PS1 instruction book? That Gnasty's World used to be called the "Dragon Junkyard" or something along those lines, and they banished Gnasty to it.

I have a bias for spyro 1 since I grew up with it & only emulated 2 + 3 recently, but I hated how often the gameplay loop from 1 was broken up by challenges & dialogue in 2 & 3. the core formula from the first game had you navigating through levels, dealing with unique enemies & hunting gems along the way, meanwhile in 2 & 3 the pace of the game is slowed down a fuck-ton by putting primary objectives / collectables behind challenges. some are fine like the flying ones in glimmer & the various super-charge ones, but the rest don't elaborate or expand upon spyro's moveset in a meaningful way, like why the fuck is spyro on a trolley or skateboard he's a dragon what's more & I understand the target audience for these games is a younger demographic, but the story doesn't encourage you to do these tasks for the various factions either. although not pronounced the story in the first game atleast made spyro's role important, he's carries himself as the one dragon with the responsibility of saving his elders, releasing them feels important as they provide you guidance & reflect the world around them returning to normalcy. in 2 you're literally gas-lit into saving avalar by helping a bunch of unrelated, random factions who you might not feel for / relate to; you just run around doing petty chores / tasks for them & the rewards they give you don't feel that important vs releasing dragons I get most of it was done because the devs wanted to experiment with their skills, they had less time to iron out 2 & 3 etc. which is fine since its made me really appreciate how special the first game is & if we ever get custom level tools I'll be damn sure to make more with spyro 1's formula in mind

bro doesnt actually like to play games

the game is ballin

I've been on this dragons are actually imperialists theory, also Spyro 1 is the only canon Spyro game. I think Gnasty learns his lesson and stopd taking mercy on children the second time around, we just dont see Spyro get frozen on screen. The rest of the games are Spyro's coma dreams as he sleeps forever in his crystalline prison. This is why the games get progressively wackier and Spyro's abilities start getting further and further from his true capabilities, his brain is losing its grip on reality.

I’m the same. Spyro 1 is incredibly chill and all the extra mini games and missions in 2&3 just felt like busywork

At least in Spyro 2 you could avoided backtracking by doing a cheat code to unlock all the abilities at the start of the game so you could just get the whole world completed on the first visit; where in Spyro 3 there is no avoiding backtracking because there are no cheat code to unlock all the characters and even if there was you’ll still have to go back to the previous world to play the Sparx level because his level isn’t available to play until after you defeat the world’s boss.

I'm glad someone is talking about this. I think it goes beyond nostalgia. It was just a great game.

Thank you for correctly breaking down why this game is the best in the series. I would also add that spyro one has really great level design that rewards exploration as opposed to the boring linear designs of the sequels.

Quite a shocker hearing about the backtracking being a problem in Spyro 2/3. Compared to most other collectathons, there is so minimal backtracking. Spryo 2 has like 4 backtracking levels total? And out of those four, 2 (the climbing levels), can be easily bypassed with some simple jumps/movement.

Bro complaining that collecting eggs to unlock portals doesn’t make sense while first game literally has Gnasty freezing everyone because he was called ugly, and then for some reason wasn’t able to do it again

I still consider this Spyro content because THIS IS A HIDDEN GEM 💎!!

Your theory has inspired my own theory. You make a good point about the home worlds belonging to their respective inhabitants, like the gnorc artisans, the militaristic peace keepers, the wizards in magic Crafters etc. - I think the dragons ransacked the lands to steal their treasures and gems for their own hoards (you know, its just what dragons do.) Gnasty comes along and turns their gem hoard into gnorcs, which not only increases his own army, but also disruptes the dragons hoard and returns the gems to their rightful homeworld in one fell swoop. (Easier to transport gems if they have legs, right?) And now you are commiting a gnorc genocide just to recover the gems that you already stole once. So yea, dragons are still the bad guys, but I think the gnorcs really are made of gems.

Tuco the balloonist is such a psychopath that they even used him as inspiration for the psychopath named Tuco in Breaking Bad 😅

The shepards are wizards who haven't graduated the spyro equivalent of Hogwarts yet. Maybe they have subtler magics and theyre the ones who have mind-controlled/influenced the sheep to create essentially a sheep golem to protect their lands (toasty)

Spyro 1 was a straightforward and cohesive adventure. Spyro 2-3 was an adventure that constently got interrupted by frustrating and distracting mini-games. When i play spyro I wanna glide around an open area, charging enemies and collecting gems, not feeding a picky idol his favorite fish or doing damn trial-and-error escort missions to protect some blind NPC (IM LOOKING AT YOU ALCHEMIST AND THOSE LITTLE MUSHROOM-LOVING BOMB GUYS SHIELA ESCORTS) The strange thing is as a kid i loved all the "extra content" like skateboarding and side missions, and I found the original felt kinda empty and lonely. But as an adult, now I just love the quiet, cozy, openness of the original, the ability to take it at your own pace, the simplicity. No obnoxious or distracting NPCs or side content (ok maybe egg thieves are obnoxious but thats kinda their thing lol) A final point is just the openness of spyro 1 levels, i mean i haven't actually measured the maps in a map viewer or anything like that, but based off memory and feeling, Spyro 1 levels just feel more open and inviting and spyro 2-3 felt much more linear and "on rails". Sure Spyro 1 had some small and more linear levels like dark hollow, but even the first "level" stone hill is just magical. Its basically just a big arena that you explore at your leisure, and as a kid simply learning you can glide up into the hills and that little hillside fort that looks like it would all be out of bounds at first is mind-blowing. Its just a simple level, but it invites exploration, it entices you to scour every nook and cranny and rewards you with hidden areas, like the aforementioned hill tops/the fort, inside the well or the hidden little cozy beach cove area. And that's just the first level, basically a tutorial. Other levels go above and beyond with this interconnected openness with alluring exploration options, like dark passage, wizard peaks, tree tops and misty bog just to name a few. Anyway not trying to hate on Spyro 2-3, i think they are good games, and were monumental in my childhood, but just hoping i can explain why i also find Spyro 1 to be my favorite as ive grown. I know i just repeated alot of points you already made, but it feels good to articulate and rant for yourself, so just thought id let it out and Fanboy a little bit about one of the greatest games of all time.

Always happy to see more Spyro fans celebrating these great games, but being honest with you it doesn't feel like you thought these points through very well. The magic of the dragon eggs is explained, but you already told us you skip the cutscenes. You say the first game lets you play it in any order, shortly after explaining that there are several benchmarks of dragons, gems, and eggs. Just constructive criticism, I feel like you could think through these a little better and make sure you're not contradicting or sabotaging your own points, because I largely agree! When I'm playing through Spyro 3 especially, there are so many mini games, skateboarding, boxing, hockey, that I just skip because they feel like they break up the flow of the gameplay. I replay the first game multiple times a year, and the others maybe once every year or two, because like you say, it's so streamlined and approachable. I miss having simple videogames where I can just switch them on, run and jump, explore, collect things, and progress through it naturally. Where I actually disagree in practice, is that I sometimes go out of my way to avoid picking up gems while playing, specifically because I want to backtrack and play the levels a second time to hunt for the missing gems. It's as close as I'll get to recapturing that feeling of exploring the levels for the first time.

I recently replayed Spyro 1 & 2 for the first time in 20 years, and I have to say, I completely agree. I think you highlighted every single complaint I had about the later games. The first game had such a mechanical simplicity to it while still allowing you to explore these great, huge worlds. The backtracking was annoying, and the annoying companion stuff in 2 really fought against this narrative that Spyro and co. were trying to save their world ASAP. It's as if the scenarios and in-game minigame dialogue were written by different people who didn't communicate anything to each other during development.

I'm glad I'm not the only one who feels this way, I was worried my preference for spyro 1 was from nostalgia as it was the only one I had as a kid, when the reignited trilogy came out I kinda found myself annoyed by how much you got stopped, but everyone I talked to saw it as a good thing so I felt like I was crazy

I just wish there was a GTA sized version of Spyro. Like Spyro 1 but Skyrim sized lol for the PS5/ PC.

Amazing video. Finally i found someone that talks about backtracking. As a kid i preferred spyro 2 or 3, while in the years playing constantly all three games i realized that nowadays i always prefer to play the first one. Music, ambient, levels and no backtracking make me prefer Spyro 1, however i always take 2 and 3 in my heart for beautiful memories i have and the great levels and soundtracks of these 2 amazing games.

There's a reason Spyro 1 is my most replayed game on the switch. Having to backtrack is annoying. I agree with the whole video, glad to know I'm not the only one who feels this way haha