Why does Spyro's World feel so different?

[@juggernautknight2749]

The sky boxes really make the game. The super distant worlds, always wondering what's happening on the other side.

[@lucasdolding6924]

Sky boxes plus the music definitely create that otherworldly atmosphere

[@StrangeScaryNewEngland]

@@lucasdolding6924 My favorite music has to be Dark Hollow. Something about it...

[@JDuth]

Completely agree, the sky boxes are amazing!

[@lucasdolding6924]

@@StrangeScaryNewEngland it’s an S tier track for sure, love listening to the whole soundtrack to the first game tho

[@ShawneeGamer]

OMG YES

[@thrusteavis]

Spyro's world looks like the subconscious ideal world I conceived games to be as a kid. Endless mysterious perfect places

[@grantkeller4634]

This game colored my dreams as a child

[@MelanatedRepublican]

Criiiiiiiinge

[@thrusteavis]

@@MelanatedRepublican seethe child wonderless dork

[@xirochamber5863]

@@MelanatedRepublicanleast cribge thing ive seen all day. I literally had a fight with a coworker today who said swans weren't birds because they are water fowl.

[@MelanatedRepublican]

@@xirochamber5863 well your coworkers is right....

[@abigailbostic2198]

When I was a kid, I used to run around and pretend that Spyro was a dragon that escaped from the zoo and he had to outrun an imaginary zookeeper that was following him. I pretended that Alpine Ridge was the "zoo" since the pens for the beasts look like animal enclosures. I liked hidden areas/corners because it made me feel like Spyro was hiding out there to trick the "zookeeper", so I would always try to get to out of bounds places like this! Definitely lots of cool ones I didn't know about!

[@StrangeScaryNewEngland]

It's funny how as kids we invent all of these different scenarios with our imagination about something like a video game, which already has it's own fascinating story to it! Lol. I did this kind of thing playing the army men games on ps1 and would imagine myself as one of MY toy army men that happened to come to life, and I'd imagine the areas on the levels as places around my house or yard.

[@DoofenSpyroDragon16]

That would actually be a cool level concept, if you don’t mind I might take that into consideration for a fan track (with credit to you of course 😁)

[@abigailbostic2198]

@@DoofenSpyroDragon16 aww yeah, go ahead, that sounds sick as hell!

[@user-di7df8ln8y]

Chad Dayoman drops another banger

[@DoofenSpyroDragon16]

@abigail funny I almost named my newest track “Zoo” something but it didn’t fit. 😆 oh well, one day, when inspiration hits me I will 😁

[@GSDGamingx]

Insomnianc really nailed not just this game's atmosphere but the whole trilogy. The combination of the music, sky boxes and general artistic direction all work in such perfect harmony to create worlds that feel both inviting and dangerous at the same time.

[@chromasus9983]

Also (as an admitted fanboy) the PS1 is just a perfect console look for so many genres. The sharp textures and polygons can create something that looks charming, or spooky, or realistic, in so many different ways. Their representations are always easy enough to infer, without using muddy textures that take away from the depiction at all. The PS1 is the best there is. :)

[@grantkeller4634]

@@chromasus9983that first gen of 3D consoles was so dreamlike

[@MelanatedRepublican]

Cringe dude

[@TheSoulPlaneShow]

@@chromasus9983 100%

[@ElmerFudd16]

@@MelanatedRepublican Outta here Republican clown

[@GGDAWG7]

Never would I have imagined that over 20 years later, there would be creators making YT videos of Spyro to bring back that childhood nostalgia

[@YungStinkyWinky]

The skyboxes are absolutely dreamy, and honestly Stewart Copeland's soundtrack makes the worlds even dreamier. Sound is incredibly powerful.

[@DoofenSpyroDragon16]

That’s the main reason I’m a Spyro fan is the music. It was so otherworldly and fantastical and amazing to kid me. I often had dreams of how the music was made.

[@grantkeller4634]

Reignited trilogy completely missed the mark with the skyboxes

[@HystericalDark]

​@@grantkeller4634and their renditions of the spyro 1 OST as well

[@rotiwokeman]

I'm so glad people like you exist. When I was a kid, nobody around me saw the wonder and magic on the boarder of games like this. They just wanted to do PvP stuff.

[@ThaRixer]

What a good video. A lot of what you described is how i feel about Autumn Plains in Spyro 2. The grandoise castle and serene music. Loved the soft spoken voice overs and music choices btw. You're a really versatile creator dayo

[@dsmoothb]

This video would make a great ASMR video

[@Takeru9292]

Autumn Plains was my favourite spyro level of all time too!

[@the120cxx]

Well dang, devs did their research then

[@SoggyJoe]

The artists behind this game are magicians. They wanted an interactive Pixar animation and they nailed it ten fold.

[@jvb5719]

playing the game over and over again, isn't the worship of ashes, but the preservation of fire.

[@childofgod1409]

Dark souls lore 😂

[@MelanatedRepublican]

Criiiiiiiinge

[@frank6013]

@@MelanatedRepublican youre pathetic and empty

[@trillman1111]

Jumps on light house. "There is a weird circular texture on it." Referring to the Fresnel Lens, which is how light houses look like.

[@alphayui]

For me what really makes this game is this feeling of "something beyond". The levels never appear as small as they really are and it always feels like there's a whole world just around the corner. As kids we thought that if you run far enough from Stone Hills, you'll arrive back in the home world and that there's a secret level hidden somewhere in those sweeping, green hills. It's the same in Magic Crafters - it feels like if you could climb those mountains, you'd find a whole new world of valley, waterfalls and magic behind them. But for me personally this feeling is the strongest in Beast Makers. The swamp feels like it goes on forever. Somewhere on an island far away in that fog, a scary creature is howling. Maybe, if you can fly a log just far enough away, you can see it...

[@dr3dg352]

You've perfectly summed up my love for Beast Makers. 😊

[@DoofenSpyroDragon16]

@@dr3dg352 same, that’s my favorite homeworld, I love swampy places in games thanks to the game Scooby and the Spooky Swamp 😄 and the fact I live in somewhat a swampy area.

[@AimlessStranger]

Cool video man. I know everybody likes their mini games, challenges and races from Ripto's Rage and Year of the Dragon, but personally? Straight up #1 just Spyro the Dragon is forever my favorite. It's just got a vibe and the ability to be played almost subconsciously once you've ran through it enough. Like, I'll start a playthrough and then realize I'm already in Magic Crafters and I don't know where the time went or what was going through my mind. It's almost like spacing out and daydreaming where your hands do the playing while your brain just spaces out and ponders things that have nothing to do with the game. Almost hypnotic, but maybe that's just me. And it's not just the simplicity of the game, it's the originality and creativity that just can't be matched. It's just so unique and tranquil the whole time. Idk man, I love it. It was the first game where I got 100%... or whatever % it technically was. lol So proud. I'll also throw in my 2 cents on my favorite level. For me? It's in Peace Keeper's and it's called Ice Cavern. Favorite level in the game. It's like it was so unexpected ya' know? The overworld is a desert, every level IN that world is a desert. And then just hidden away and creepin' down in some secret tunnel lies an ice world. The music, the atmosphere, the enemies. It just culminates into some weird, surreal place. I frankly never understood why it was even in that world. But I reckon it's like how deserts get cold at night (?) Maybe? lol Also, if my memory serves me, isn't Ice Cavern the only place in the whole game where you blatantly charge enemies over the edge? Like normally it's, "Burn the burny guys and charge the chargy guys" but for the most part it's an instant kill every time. But Ice Cavern has the juggernauts where you have to bash into them multiple times and brute force them into oblivion. It's a great mix of (again) tranquility AND aggression. I just think it's an underrated map. Which reminds me that from the highest point in the beginning of Ice Cavern there's another blind bend that you have to glide around and land on a hidden island that has like 3 or 4 1UP boxes. And I love the Reignited Trilogy. I think over all they did a respectful and sincere rendition of a beloved classic. You can even go into sound settings and change the music to the original soundtrack. Still though, I really would like to find a way to go back to the PS1 graphics. When that game came out, I for real thought that it was the most beautiful game. My Great Grandma loved watching Spyro. And (I think) it was right around the time that they started putting thumbsticks on the "paddles" and actually utilizing them. So to play THAT game with THAT advancement in the controllers, rumbling and what not, I thought that was an unforgettable experience. One of the best games on the console in my opinion. The first trilogy was way cool, and I even guiltily admit that Enter the Dragonfly kinda' did it for me too. 😅 But what a sad path that dragon went down over the years. Some of those games were just disgraceful. lol Anyway, that's my comment. Great video again man.

[@ryujinvstheoni6688]

I think that the Dream Weavers is the best Homeworld, and here is why. With each of the levels, including Jacques, represents a different transition of your sleep. Lofty Castle, Haunted Towers and the Actual Homeworld are the Nice Dreams. Jacques is the Nightmares that comes with sleeping. And Dark Passage being the transition of a child trying to sleep, the lights are on, they are cute little puppies, when the lights go out they are red monster demons, which is a child's mind trying to make sense of something that may seem terrifying at first, but when the lights get turned on, it is completely innocent. With how lon the level is too, could represent the time it takes a child to finally fall a sleep.

[@DoofenSpyroDragon16]

I love this interpretation!

[@lilfuzzballa]

Woah

[@grantkeller4634]

Great theory about the lights

[@hakunamatata3214]

I had a Spyro shrine in my closet as a kid. Complete with recorded music on a casette tape a sheet that I dyed purple to lay the display on. I printed pictures off my computer and used packing tape to "laminate" them. I had all the games(at that time) displayed and a homemade Spyro stuffy that a dear friend made for me. I used to turn the tunes on and curl up on a fluffy pillow, close the closet door, and take naps. It was alot cooler than it sounds. Lol

[@SirDavid290]

It was your happy place essentially.

[@MelanatedRepublican]

Criiiiiiiinge

[@dandanbeanz]

The nostalgia is so strong that I can smell dinner being made

[@soya_kitchens]

No way...me too! Oh, wait, someone is just cooking dinner right now...😅

[@MOCskoden]

The beautiful skyboxes, the unique soundtrack, Spyro himself as a adolescent dragon who is limited but has moments to show unlimitations thru flight or powerups for a brief moment shows what could be of the dragon in his future

[@Monki_Lives_Again]

Spyros worlds in the trilogy are so nostalgic I could sit in all of them for hours

[@a-pathetic]

What an excellently written video. Keeps the viewer on their toes the entire time. I mainly watch your speedruns but your other content is amazing on its own too!

[@stephe1506]

If anyone is interested, spyro music from every game can be found on Spotify playlists too

[@riccardoleone4265]

That's one thing I always perceived as a child: the later games might have been more fun with the missions, the NPCs and the power-ups, but the first one is so atmospheric. You can really feel like those are places inhabited by a large clan of dragons and temporarily deserted. And I can foget to mention: those worlds have biomes: meadows, desert, mountains, swamps, floating islands, harbors. You can immediately place a level in its designed hub world just by looking at the scenery, with the only exception of the ice cave. The levels in the sequels are heterogeneous and you can never guess which is their hub world if not for the level of difficulty

[@liampouncy7808]

For me and my bros it was always Spyro 2. =] I often think that the reason it feels the way it does is because you always go back to these places of calm. So few games these days really savour that feeling and let it breathe. Sure, you might have a homeworld or hub without enemies (firelink shrine, dirtmouth, many others I know) but they often feel like they only take as much space as they need. With Spyro, it really seems like they're saying, "This isn't just a reprieve from the action - this is a key part of the experience." You defeat Crush, get taken to Autumn Plains, and it feels like this new space to enjoy is your reward for the hard work. Something about immediately seeing the pool in front of you... For me I always saw it as something ornamental, but the orbs at the bottom speak to, "This is another space for you to enjoy, go for a dip." So much of these games are like that, and I wish a lot more developers could learn to utilise it more. Not all games need to rely on tension and difficulty to get people to come back. (not that there's a problem with that on it's own) Great video, dude. I'd be more than happy to see more like it.

[@GabrielleTollerson]

for me it was all 3 😄 Each gave me a euphoric feeling ❤

[@Takeru9292]

I LOVED Autumn Plains!

[@1ove1ess]

Dark hollow is a cherished part of my childhood. This atmosphere, this soundtrack. I had the demo back then. Man this feels comforting. This video is absolutely excellent, great job!

[@TrueNomadSkies]

I only had the demo for years and played it for hours and hours and hours haha

[@stephe1506]

All the game music can be found on Spotify 🙂

[@OdaNobunaga15]

I’ve always loved how super fantasy the world of Spyro is. Every world feels like a place I really want to go and live in.

[@lilfuzzballa]

It largely comes down to those mystical and wondrous looking skyboxes. They looked like paintings in the sky. But I think what also added to it was Insomniac's innovative LOD (level of Detail) system that made it so close up cliffs, walls, hills, and structures would be detailed in textured, but the further and further away you got from them, they would slowly lose their texture until they became smooth textureless objects in the distance. This of course was a creative way to allow Spyro games to maintain long draw distances, and stay within the texture rendering limits of the PS1's limited hardware. Many other games would use other tricks like maintaining the game in closed interiors, use a lot of corners and turns to block long lines of sight, having smaller play spaces, use fog, or just straight up black out areas that are too far away. But in Spyro, the untextured smoothness of structures and landmass in the distance gave them a specific art style that allowed them to blend in seamlessly with the baked in skybox art. But it also added more depth to the background, making the distant view seem even more vast and unknown. If these distance objects were covered in fog or had textures, it would honestly clash with the skybox. But because they blend in and become apart of the background's artsyle, any spot you decide to stare off into the distance, looks like an entire painting that invokes mysticism and wonder of a whole undiscovered world ahead.

[@darknid158]

I think it’s easy to say that the music by Stewart Copeland helped paint the cozy feeling instead of giving it that old liminal feeling most older games give us

[@cakejumper]

When I was younger I used to love standing by the little wall fountains in Stone Hill so much that'd I'd try to paint the scene in art class in school. Over. And over. And over 😅. I still love how much the game encourages you to explore and look around, interact with some things just for the sake of it, and just sit and take in the sky boxes and the increasingly surreal settings. I'm not much good with finding ways up to usually unreachable platforms or lookouts, but it's so nice to know that we all get such a similar feeling from the game after so long no matter how we enjoy it. Great video man, and congrats on the new any% record!

[@yunnanne]

I think Spyro is the closest feel to 'childhood home' as of now. As much as I love the Reignited trilogy, nothing will beat the PS1. There's something special about the music, the endless worlds and the cute charaacters.

[@mpg272727]

Always LOVED Dark Hollow. It feels so warm, comfty and cosy. It feels like a warm summers night.

[@vokkera6995]

At least in the first game, for me, it’s that every level is an island in some way. Maybe it’s in the literal water, or floating in the clouds, or even an isolated spot in the desert or plains. You’re completely aware of the pastel skyboxes and are clinging to a tiny piece of land. It feels like you’re always in a dream. That feeling is less strong in the sequels, because they’re a lot more restrictive, with high walls around you.

[@RoyalAspects]

The spiders absolutely scared the SHIT out of me when I was a kid that when I saw them moving in the cave at the start I dared not go in. And the plants in misty bog jumpscared me so bad I didn’t even go in that level for years! But for some reason the rest of beast makers was cool to me.😂

[@dr3dg352]

I love Beast Makers! 💜

[@GabrielleTollerson]

SAME 😂

[@chloeirvine78]

I did the same thing.

[@grantkeller4634]

The hog behind the hut in the beast makes home world made me scream out loud on my latest playthrough

[@craigDgoat]

Spyro feels like a world of pure fantasy. No realism needed here!

[@quinnholleman1547]

This is a large part of the reason why, even though I love the Reignited Trilogy for bringing all 3 games together in a gorgeous new package, I'll always prefer the originals. They have such a unique feeling that sticks with you and makes you want to run around in these worlds and imagine where they are in relation to each other and what's around the corners you can't see. I also love that the cutscenes take place in unique environments that don't otherwise exist in the game, making you wonder where they are and how you can get to them. Then 2 and 3 have ANOTHER cutscene-exclusive area and it just fills me with childlike glee wondering "Where's that? I wanna find that place!" even knowing all these years later what's going on. It's crazy that 26 years later (I can't believe he's that old), these games still feel so special and unique in a way a remake can never fully capture.

[@BagzAndPresident]

Reignited trilogy is terrible

[@Jroobelucios]

@@BagzAndPresidentnah

[@lard_aardvark]

14:27 So, that weird circular texture on the lighthouse is actually a Fresnel Lens, which are commonly used in lighthouses to help amplify and focus the beam of the light.

[@Dayoman]

Didn't know there was a functional inspiration for that!

[@jaedavas3050]

Beat me to it! Cool detail :)

[@Zimonov]

"Why does Spyro's world feel so different?" "Because you're a purple dragon facing a nasty narc"

[@theshockinglyeloquentdog9945]

Uhm,*Gnorc. lol how embarrassing for you

[@Zimonov]

@@theshockinglyeloquentdog9945 prounounce it in a british dialect and then pronounce narc in a british dialect. it's a joke

[@lumilauraa]

amazing video dayo! but i just gotta nerd out about 4:10. basically- the reason that star shows up there is because of how the PS1 was designed. it doesn't HAVE a z-buffer, something the N64 did. the short of it is that the z-buffer allows for things like depth calculations and perspective-correct texture mapping to be handled by hardware. because the PS1 didn't have this, these things had to be coded manually, in software. it's the same reason why sometimes you can see spyro when he's just behind a ledge or you can see gems through short walls sometimes. these calculations had to be written manually, and it's a MONUMENTAL task to get it 100% accurate. different mobys/level environments in spyro 1 seem to have different priorities of how accurately depth-wise they should be drawn, relative to the camera. if you force the lowest LOD mode onto the whole game, it starts to look really trippy as most bits of the level environment distort and don't quite render where they actually are in worldspace. this is what's happening to the stars above in ice cavern.

[@Dayoman]

Appreciate the clarification. I airways get the explanation wrong on that lol

[@lumilauraa]

@@Dayoman its my fault for trying to explain a complicated concept over twitch chat all those years ago LMAO

[@WaterLockser]

I think what made the spiders in high cave so scary for most kids is that up until that point there hadn't been an enemy you couldn't beat with either your flame or charge. Naturally seeing the spiders cased in metal you assume a charge is required to beat them only to bounce off them and take a hit as a result. Encountering an enemy that was immune to your two main ways of attack was somewhat terrifying.

[@Nathan55411]

I think liminal is the perfect word to describe some of these worlds, especially after you've collected all the treasure and defeated all of the enemies. I remember this odd feeling when I was a kid that I couldn't get anywhere else and even after learning about liminal spaces, I hadn't considered applying that word to what I felt as a kid. I think this is a feeling that I felt the strongest in Autumn Plains in Spyro 2. No sparkly gems, no sound of the orb bouncing around behind the breakable wall, not to mention said wall is just gone now, no gem baskets or jars, just a runt of a dragon in a wide open courtyard with autumn leaves falling from the trees, an empty pool, and maybe a couple of sheep. You climb to the top of the castle, looking over everything in this homeworld which seems to just be on its own plateau, completely and utterly isolated from the rest of the world. You stare off into the distance, listening to the wind and the ethereal dream-like music. There's nothing left here but the memories of the treasure that you joyfully collected without question. The only way to put them back is to eventually press new game all over again. All of that aside, I don't know if making these levels so dream-like was entirely intentional outside of Dream Weavers, but since they are literally called, "Insomniac Games," I wonder if they started just subconsciously putting their daydreams into these games. They did say they had sleepless nights making these games at the end of the Spyro 3 credits so I feel like it could be possible!

[@Takeru9292]

I loved Autumn Plains, it's my favourite spyro level of all time

[@juliantruitt4037]

Pretty much the single insightful thing that was said in the video.

[@tjones7341]

How DARE you reignite my trauma over what happens when you swim out of bounds in Jak and Daxter. You included that on purpose! You know what awaits out there!

[@LoneKuroRaifu]

Its a mix of the chill dreamy music, and colorful atmosphere. The game itself is simple but allows you to challenge yourself by exploring hard to reach areas. Not many games do this anymore

[@charlesstone369]

Stonehill was my favorite. The sense of ancient magical adventures in a distant beuatiful world with so much to discover and explore!

[@ManFromThePits]

I remember looking out over the bay, where the teleport pad is, and wishing I could sail into the distance to a new world. It filled me with the wonder of possibility. Stonehill was classic!

[@codycarr6905]

Crash's levels feel like.. levels. Spyros levels feels like lands from a dream that you wanna explore before you wake up.

[@Djohnson3]

The Music, the Colors, the Nostalgia of it all is Still Intense and Imbedded in my 34 year old Child Soul. Being able to Play the Remastered Version on the Xbox One was so Thrilling, I even Bought it for my Nintendo Switch. I still KZbin the Soundtracks from the first 3 Games, Crack a few cold ones and Reminisce about the Good Ol' Days as a Kid

[@HystericalDark]

The original OST by Stewart Copeland has been made available on Spotify again, tho unfortunately, not all music is there and some versions sounds different (Ice Cavern sounds completely different from the game version halfway through)

[@Foxtrot311onAJ]

I appreciate this video soo much, spyro's world is unmatched in whimsy.

[@Anthrolithos]

@14:29 It's not a "weird circular texture" - it's meant to be a Fresnel Lens, a catadioptric formulation of glass lenses that allows for more efficient focussing of light with less material than traditional lens structures. It was hailed as "the invention that saved a million ships"

[@dragonbird9462]

This is prime Dayo content. Liminal Spyro gameplay and locations. Thoughtful ASMR commentary. Chill DnB beats. Loved every minute of it. One thing this video made me think of was how I didn't understand game logic and limitations as a little kid. By being ignorant of these limitations, I was trying to go anywhere that I could see. The forcefield, especially, frustrated 5 year old me. However, now those limitations and weird areas are so special to me because my childhood brain filled in all the gaps of what I imagined would be there. It's now so interesting to think of all the places that all of our childhood brains imagined within the hard-to-reach areas of these games. Anyway, rant over, keep it up Dayo! Loved this video ♡

[@Hyper_Drud]

There’s just something about the Spyro and Ratchet & Clank games that makes the levels feel so wondrous. Even just the credits sequence in the Spyro trilogy feels so nostalgic.

[@Aladite]

I was literally watching an hour long documentary about spyro's whimsical worlds!! I'm so happy to dine on more of spyro's world! One day when I make a video game, spyro is going to be my main inspiration!

[@tylerdestroyer91]

I literally made a tweet 2 days ago about how I was in a mood specifically to revisit the original version of Spyro 2. These games are a vibe. Thank you for doing this video!

[@keileyk8507]

I don't know how to put into words how much I want a new Spyro game with THIS kinda feeling. I want this formula, doors to magical places, collectives, a big bad evil at the end of each hub world.

[@kwarner5]

Let’s not forget that Stewart Copeland from the band The Police made the soundtrack to the game which really sold not just each level but the vibe of the entire game. There is no music like Spyro 1 soundtrack

[@Crow_Rising]

Dark Hollow has always been special to me. The starry sky above, the warm glow, the vibrant greens, the campfires, the chill music... Everything about it fills me with a sense of warmth and comfort, but it also fills me with the sense of the very beginning of an adventure. To me, Dark Hollow is "Home", and everything else in the game is the adventure that comes after. My very first games were Crash 2 and Spyro 2, and there's a lot in those games that are special to me. I later got Crash 3 and Spyro 3 and then finally Spyro 1, and out of all of those incredibly special experiences Dark Hollow is still the one that is the most special to me and has had the longest lasting impact. I've since grown into a more regular gamer and I've had my fair share of games I've simply played through and then put down. Spyro is one of those things I inevitably come back to eventually, and to this day I always make sure to take some time to slow down and enjoy Dark Hollow to the fullest, really taking in the chill vibes and beautiful sights. It's nice being able to slow down and just chill for a bit before getting the adventure going proper, and there's not a huge list of games that I have anything similar with.

[@MoctorDac]

when I was a kid I always wanted to get past those forcefields and just run endlessly

[@Atri4]

Such an honest video, love to see it! Very comfy.

[@Wyglafff]

The 3 spyros on PS1 were my favorite games as a kid (and I still love them to death). I replayed them all so many times I lost count. I played so much that I discovered bugs to put entire levels underwater (by getting the last car part in Mystic marsh and jumping underwater just before being teleported back to the quest giver) and used movement tricks that I see in speedruns now (I was of course bad at them but reaized I could sometimes reach unreachable heights). I love Spyros on PS1 so much!

[@The_Early_Gamer]

14:26 Interestingly, that circular texture makes plenty of sense. The light in top of lighthouse have this crazy looking glass thing. Pretty sure it's called a fresnel lens and it concentrated the light into a beam. And it also used a lot less glass than a typical lens.

[@Leafeye7942]

As a kid I had a ps1 and like 5 games, Spyro one, a tonal space game, Spider-Man, frogger, and I swear one more. But Spyro was the only one that my grandma would watch me play, o remember getting to nasty’s fight, and failing time and time again, all the while she was cheering me on. Until one summer day I did it! I’ll always think of her when I think of Spyro

[@samhein321]

this is one of the most satisfying games, you break every crate into particle effects, juicy looking gems spawn jumping numbers, background objects can be charred with unique animations, chasing down fodder, LOD that smoothly remove textures for a seamless transition to the skybox making them feel one and the same, unique enemy idle animations and interactions together, seamless level transitions while you see your gems spew out and get counted after every stage, etc... they nailed the satisfaction and dopamine you get from every action you do here.

[@bandolierboy1908]

No wonder I was hooked on it as a kid

[@polatiger4765]

That is one of the very few games that feel perfect. I enjoyed every single level of it.

[@roseheart270]

10:00 you had to hit me in the feels with Animal Crossing music right then.

[@nevets5]

I had the same experience with the grassy fields of Stone Hill. Now, especially after doing game dev... I figured the world would abruptly stop after a hill or two... but I didn't expect it to be so vast!

[@jeffreybright6354]

Dark Hollow has been my favorite since i was a child! It is nothing but VIBES. If i ever make it big, i will have a faithful recreation of that made as my personal garden to retreat to. Defintely gunna watch the whole thing and upvote now that i know you're a real one

[@mlgodzilla4206]

Spyro’s world just hits different. The Reignited version adds to this too, with beautiful colors and lighting.

[@BagzAndPresident]

Reignited is terrible

[@MourningCoffeeMusic]

THE DARK HOLLOW THEME 🥹

[@ShahroozSmith]

"He (Gnasty Gnorc) may not even be the bad guy." ...Well, he was called simple, not-a-threat, and UGLY on public TV by the dragons he imprisoned in statues.

[@Casey757]

Dark Hollow!! The soundtrack for this level is 🔥🔥🔥🔥

[@nefariouscj9791]

This was my very first PS1 game. First console I got also. This game was my introduction to a whole new world of video games I now find myself in, in my 30s now. The music, the areas, the trials and tribulations I faced in this game. It was all so good and very memorable. From the cute sheep in the first area to the monkey things that honestly freaked me the hell out when I was a kid in the tree top level. I loved every bit of this game and I'm very thankful it was my first game and I got to experience it when I was a kid really made the whole world so fantastic to me.

[@ClarkKentai]

I find the levels in Spyro to be really similar to Quake 1, in the sense that they feel like half-remembered dreams. You know all the architecture looks like *something,* but you're not familiar enough with it as a denizen to actually know for sure.

[@kafkatt4388]

Sound design and music made the world of spyro 1 truly give the right vibrations

[@BagzAndPresident]

The first game’s soundtrack is the best. 2 and 3 became too techo. Spyro 1 is dream rock

[@kafkatt4388]

@@BagzAndPresident agreed, they built on a foundation without adding soul sadly

[@wiilov]

Man, The PS1 era really was such a rich culture, in hindsight... I miss when Sony was like that.

[@Ashtalon]

Incredible video! Spyro sparked my imagination so much as a youngster. I'd Spyro fanfiction for my story writing tasks in school when I was 5-6 and I was really taken with the worlds and atmosphere in the game. I wished Spyro would appear in my backyard! I'd love to see more videos from you like this. Thanks and I'm subscribing!

[@cloudycolacorp]

I realised when I draw pictures I try to make them as colourful as this game is. Even at its grungiest the colours are next level, especially on a CRT

[@linewizard]

I played this game when I was 4. The disc I had was scratched and would freeze during loading pretty often. When I finally got to the later worlds after what was probably months of playing, I remember feeling so far away from the comfort of the Artisans world. I distinctly remember having a nightmare about drowning in the waters in Misty Bog.

[@ManFromThePits]

I once had a nightmare where a giant tap-dancing gnorc fought the power rangers. It was a silly dream looking back, but at the time that gnorc was terrifying.

[@glowingrunes]

I feel very much the same about the GBA games Spyro: Season of Ice and Spyro: Season of Flame. Especially Season of Ice. I was enchanted by the Winter Fairy Home music, comforted by the cozy trees and waterfalls of Autumn Fairy Home, and in Season of Flame I enjoyed my visits to Winter Mesa and the Agent 9 levels. I always wondered about Winter Mesa's starry skybox - and how it moved so fast, suggesting that Winter Mesa is some sort of floating island? There were also a few platforms in Autumn Fairy Home where I would walk right to the back and find my favourite spot to nestle and just chill, imagining what it would be like to live life as a fairy, or maybe some sort of rogue guardian dragon. Yes, overall the GBA games are terrible - reused assets, memory leaks, janky camera movements, I could go on - but they were my special games and worlds I could revisit again and again.

[@lukemorgan2594]

Instant like and sub because of the first three games that you played as a kid being Spyro Crash 2 and Toy Story 2. Sent me straight down memory lane.

[@robertcooper4th259]

It all looks empty, flat and dream like, then some enimies look creepy because they’re so low Polly that they don’t look cartoonish due to having elements of horror creatures and not enough cartoonish elements

[@djlbarr]

I've discovered your channel through this video. As someone who also grew up with Spyro (mainly 2) but hasn't replayed or reflected upon it all that much, I feel like your words perfectly describe the aesthetic sensibility of something surreal and magical I experienced as a kid - something austere and beautiful about the colorful low-poly worlds that we didn't have the vocabulary to describe when playing as kids. But we later found the words to describe them long after the first encounter, while looking back and replaying with nostalgia. You're kind of like a museum curator or tour guide for all of this; your video's sweeping shots and camera angles make me think of drone shots or real estate. Artists always work with the tools and practices of their time - calling them limitations would not be inaccurate for a video game but talking about it like that emphasizes video games as a technology, which minimises what's most special about them - interactivity. The freedom for the eye to see and imagine something something more, or something beyond (a freedom which isn't questioned when one "dreams" of it) versus the emphasis on it as being some prototype for "realism" or a simulation of a machine with a manual for its correct operation (which is what glitching in speedrunning breaks). This applies to both the creator and the player. One person sees rudimentary shapes from an "outdated" era of 3D graphics, another person sees figures in an eerie, impressionistic landscape. I'm no authority on reboot cash grabs but the Reignited trilogy, despite looking nice for what it is, fails to capture the whimsy that was honed by the necessity of the originals' creation in their time. The addition of more details did not create re-enchantment. I like to think it's not just nostalgia but something objective in the art that was not updated for the present. But that's more on your the other video; I think you described it as a UE mess there. There comes a time when people absolutely want to take what they're seeing with their eyes seriously and the excuse that something isn't worth careful thought because it's "just" a video game or "cry over your childhood" begins to look more absurd the more and more connected (or imprisoned) by screens this world becomes - especially when serious discussions about the pragmatism of sales numbers are naturally unquestioned. I follow speedrunning a bit but not really for games I have an emotional, nostalgic connection - I think I'd like to replay Spyro 1 and check out your streams. Didn't realize I turned this comment into a soapbox, but thanks.

[@sarahsheepdog]

Dark Hollow has been my favorite level since i was a kid and the remake did it so right

[@Headspr0uter]

i didn't expect the slightly grumpy guy i was watching on stream yesterday to make a video on spyro 1's immaculate vibes but i agree, i especially liked skipping the initial beasts in alpine ridge as a kid to look down on them roaring me in a low-poly form. creepy, but fascinating.

[@PudelMitFoen]

Spyro 2 may be my favorite game of all time, but the atmosphere of Spyro 1 is something entirely different. This strange, but cozy feeling of isolation. You're the only dragon here, the adults are all gone - you're on your own, kid. Spyro 2 feels more crowded and interconnected, which the serie would dive more into in the later games. I won't say that one thing is better than the other, but damn, does this make Spyro 1 something special.

[@Soc1235.]

Loved the use of Klonoa boss fight music and unreal tournament. So much nostalgia in this video!

[@Zeffh29]

Awesome video. I love how Spyro and only a few other games make me feel REALLY nostalgic, and playing it over and over the years only brings me back memories and create new ones.

[@raggedy_bat]

I think this is the most relatable Spyro video I’ve seen. Dark Hollow, creepy spiders, Beast Makers aesthetics, everything. Thank you, Dayo, I was happy watching this video ❤

[@vulpeculafae]

This was such a fun video to watch and now I need to replay those games.

[@Meganstaek]

Loved this video! The commentary sets it apart from other similar videos. I think I'm going to try some of these out of bounds tricks myself soon! Love that you included a playlist of the music you used too, what a delight

[@Arroes2911]

This is an absolutely beautiful video. Your voice, the poetic prose, how you describe each thought, thank you.

[@TheSoulPlaneShow]

is there a video about spyro 2 like this? you're such a good narrator, love it

[@TheRelicKeeper]

I've been waiting for this video since you mentioned it in your streams, and it's even better than I imagined. Thank you for continuing to make excellent content, and good luck on the continued 36:xx grind, I'll be sure to watch!

[@KelpGull]

Dark Hollow is really peak spyro vibes for me. I love all of the original trilogy but it's hard sometimes to start a playthrough, get to dark hollow in the very beginning and be like... well... that was the absolute pinnacle right at the start LMAO

[@DMoots]

The "weird circular texture" on the lighthouse in twilight Harbour is meant to be a Fresnel lens, not a mistake but actually another example of crazy attention to detail from the designers and devs.

[@nathanglynn7443]

I was born in 1993 in Australia, my first console and gaming experience was a PlayStation 1 gifted by my eldest sisters boyfriend at the time (she was moved out by the time I was born) and the first game I ever popped in was Spyro 2 gateway to glimmer. From the get go I was mesmerized how this beautiful 3D world was laid out before me and to explore it in all its detail meant just overcoming the challenges presented before me. I only ended up with 15 or so PS1 games before I moved onto the PS2 then PS3 and so forth until now I'm a PlayStation nut with the PS5. My childhood was spent with Spyro 2, the demo of Spyro 1 and then on my ninth birthday I got Spyro 3 and boy I must have spent hundreds of hours in those worlds. Spyro literally was my childhood icon, my friends were all playing the ocarina of time or the newest Nintendo console at the time and like that was great and all, but I really just loved Spyro and that worlds ambience, the music, the fun and joy of exploring. I still get fever dreams about the professors challenge in mystic marsh. Forward to today, I have spyros skull tattooed on my arm with a gem and an egg. It was a tribute to when insomniac sold Spyro off and his "death" when the PS2 games came out. (Although I don't mind the trilogy with a new beginning, however it's just not the same) A tribute to the mascot that meant to much to me as a child. Shortly after this tattoo the reignited trilogy came out and I was sooo excited and ordered all of the merchandise, it was amazing, the visuals great, completed all the games within two days. However, it wasn't the original, the original ambience and the original soundtrack and that polygon goodness that left more to the imagination (as some of toys for bobs recreations didn't match what I felt as a child) the skyboxes, oh man I missed the skyboxes.. Spyro means a lot to me and throughout my life I never really knew anyone who felt the same, from the early days of the internet until even now there didn't seem to be any Spyro fanatics... Until I stumbled upon your page randomly. I love your work, please keep doing what you do!

[@troyX]

Incredible video. As a lifelong fan of the original Spyro trilogy on the PS1, I really enjoyed your analysis.

[@HesGotaGun505]

Until I played Spyro, I never realized what it meant for a dev to reward exploration throughout 100% of the game.

[@ashessakura7518]

In Spyro’s world I didn’t like that even the homeworlds weren’t safe like they were in the second and third game, if you leave a portal to go back home there’s enemies still waiting for you that can hurt you, homeworlds to me were supposed to be the safe space where you could breath and just de-stress… then again Spyro 2 was my intro to the series and I played Spyro 1 after I finished Spyro 3 so maybe I’m biased and used to seeing an empty homeworld? That’s one of the things that stuck out to me as a kid and I still remember it to this day

[@mattwhiting2205]

Thanks for making this video. The vibes man... the vibes. Great memories.

[@nicolas19975]

Playing Spyro the dragon on my ps1 right now and I’m really enjoying it , love everything that’s being said in this video.

[@stewartbugler]

Those circular textures on the Lighthouse glass is absolutely realistic. Honestly look it up the warbled glass I think its called is designed to turn the light into a spot light. Basically the curves in the glass focus the light to that cone shape they have instead of the light going being refracted out.

[@christianmorgan6806]

the music is the epitome of dream worlds. You have a fantastic voice for these kind of videos. Please do retrospectives.

[@KatoCoyoteCombatWorkshop]

KLONOA MENTIONED LETS GOOOOO lofty castle is my favorite place in any PSX game, let alone Spyro. I think about those colors, those mysterious two planets, and that piano playing in the background whenever that sky turns a shade of pink.

[@ManFromThePits]

Haunted Towers for me. I remember one year, playing through that level around Christmas time, with a few old-time Christmas songs playing in the background. Golden memory. And then later that night we went out, got a real tree, put it up with the game fresh on my mind - smell of pine, sounds of Christmas, and a good game.

[@hououinkyouma3864]

I love 2 and 3, but the atmosphere and artstyle of the first one is unmathced