This video really should have more exposure, not only is it a great analysis but the memeing was actually funny in a way that bigger humor focused videos aren't
This was the first ever video game I remember playing as a child, and what i think set me down the course of playing video games in general. I love how you tackled the details behind worldbuilding and the characters we meet. You really did this amazing game justice.
Overall a very thoughtful look at the original trilogy of games, with a lot of in-depth bits here and there that I haven't seen much on elsewhere. This is either the second or third time I've watched it now, because not only is it just a good video, it's also just quite amusing, especially that ending bit.
I have played spyro 2 so many times and never consciously noticed the interconnectedness. It always just felt like being in another world... that deep dreamy immersion that comes from a good long book that no amount of graphics technology and famous voice actors have achieved in modern games. games gave up on this high effort approach and now complain that they can't even eat and pay bills without loot boxes and other predatory gambling rubbish. There must one day come a great revival of the art which I am avidly awaiting.
The developers said in an interview, I believe during the speedrun of Spyro 3 with Ted Price and the other two devs, that there never was a Spring homeworld. They never intended to make one.
Absolutely fantastic video, dude! Loved your analysis of the Spyro games and the humor throughout was damn funny. I never noticed how connected all the levels in Spyro 2 were, that's really cool. You got a new sub
I LOVE the Spyro series so much! I completely agree with basically everything you had to say in this video! Especially the funny dispersing of random other clips to show the emotions you feel with and against certain characters and other games... that we will NOT discuss. I still play and replay Spyro 2 & 3 the most out of any other game that I own. I really wish Insomniac would take back their prize character and give us actual good content instead of letting their precious dragon be driven over multiple times with a tank.......
I’d like to thank you for this video. I’m aware I’m late to this party, but Spyro 2 was the game that made my childhood and to see someone who appreciates this game too is really gratifying. Watching some of the worlds again and looking back to the game over 10 years since I last played it was something really special. Thankyou, again, you have another subscriber now
Aw man, this is my childhood right here, so much nostalgia for this masterpiece. I remember it was hard as balls but I got all the way to 100% cause god damn I had nothing else to play.
I feel like it's worth mentioning that a LOT of Spyro 2's music comes directly from a sample pack called Spectrasonics Distorted Reality 2. You'll recognize a lot of the sounds! /watch?v=qNKdRNELcdM
Yes! Thank you! I always felt Spryo 2 was the best of the trilogy for all the same reasons! I've never seen anyone talk about all the charming little subtleties like this.
I've waited so long for you to cover Spyro! :D I agree with pretty much everything you said about Spyro 2. When I played the first Spyro game for the first time in ages, I noticed how bleak it was when you looked closer at it. In the second and third games, there are NPCs who you can talk to. In Spyro 1, you have the other dragons, but they disappear once you revive them. For a majority of the game, Spyro is all alone with everyone trying to kill him (or the other way round). Looking back, I can see why Ripto is considered the main villain in general. Gnasty Gnorc is talked about and made to be a serious and dangerous threat who must be handled with extreme caution, regardless of how heroic or arrogant Spyro acts. He runs away from you and goes down in two hits. The Sorceress has a much more diabolical motive compared to Ripto but she's barely in the game. Ironically, everyone interacts with her throughout the story, except for the main protagonist. When I was younger, I liked Spyro 3 because Spyro was angry as he was in Spyro 2. But now, I can see that Spyro 2 had the best story and world-building.
In my personal opinion, I always thought the Dragon Worlds were the Spring themed world, like it was never mentioned as a Spring Realm or something. But that's my theory. Also, I loved how the Reignited Spyro games gave different redesigns for each characters, mostly the Dragons and Sheila the Kangaroo! (Hey! I'm probably not the only one who thought it was strange that Sheila's the only female character with no hair or clothes! And personally thought her redesign is awesome! ^^)
If there's a compilation remake, they should make it so that you can see levels from other levels in Spyro 2, like in Super Mario Sunshine. I also feel like making editorials now, but about what? How Kirby's Dream Land 3 expresses its story through gameplay?
I don't know why it matters that the dragons in Spyro 1 disappear. The NPCs in Spyro 2 and 3 don't have much to say anyway. They might as well not even be there. Also, you'd be right that the first game didn't reward players for paying attention to peripheral details, but each dragon world did have its own set of problems for Spyro to solve, and levels were geographically & thematically situated in relation to one another. In fact, Jak and Daxter TPL world's are pretty much a literalized version of Spyro the Dragon, without all the loading screens in between levels. Dragons and NPCs do sometimes help Spyro or affect things in a level, such as opening the boss doors, activating the platforms in Artisans, Tuco bringing Spyro to egg thieves he missed, and dragons from earlier levels showing up in later levels. Spyro 2 certainly did improve on this and telegraph story and characters better, but they weren't absent in the original game. If anything Spyro 3 had me invested in its world the least. The levels just felt too disjointed.
I actually like Spyro 1 the best by far. I think it has the best level design, 2 feels more haphazard with how it places stuff at times and most importantly just doesn't have the same rhythm charging around. I think that's something only 1 nailed- maybe it's just due to replaying the game so much, but I used to replay 2 just as much, and I always felt like 1 had more a proper path through the levels that was a lot more satisfying to run through and thank goodness no dumb backtracking. Yet it didn't feel outright linear all the time due to the size of the levels and some sort of simple but pretty clever puzzles based around where to glide. Really not a fan of many of the minigames too, I would love to skip many when recompleting 2 whereas I regularly 120% 1. To be honest, I think 1 gets really overlooked. I like 2 but I always thought 1 exceeded in level design and my preference for it over 2 has only grown, I just find 2 so much less replayable with the minigames and relatively lacking level design next to 1. I'm not saying it's completely missing from 2 but I think there were a lot more gems and stuff in places that didn't really form or connect to fast routes. There's also that the game noticeably peaks during Autumn Plains and Summer Forest has some kinda boring levels and then Winter Tundra is over so fast it's like what the hell is this pacing and I wish I could just start the game in the second hub I agree about the worldbuilding though. Except in 3. It was my first game so look I have more nostalgia for that than the other two (which I didn't play until after LoS was finished) but even as a kid I thought it felt like it just chucked more characters at you to *seem* like it had more of that than it actually does. Like you said the worlds don't feel interconnected, and I sure didn't put my finger on that as a kid but I could just feel it. I think 3 is a downright boring game to be quite honest, and I will never get the continued adoration of it, but that's another topic.
Oh my god, spyro 2 is so dear to my heart, it was the first game I ever played. What are your thoughts over The Legend of Spyro series? Personally I enjoyed them, but I was a kid at the time. I doubt they'd hold up
I'm weird in that I actually like Spyro 1 best of the trilogy. In many ways, it's objective the weakest game, in that they built on the basic formula very successfully in the subsequent two games, as you've detailed here, and in general delivered a much more rounded experience (you can argue that maybe Year of the Dragon suffered from bloat a little bit, trying to make the gameplay too diverse with extra player characters and recurring challenges like skateboarding, but that's debatable, and some of the weakness is undoubtedly down to the slightly rushed released schedule). Yet something about Spyro 1's aesthetic hits a note for me that the other two don't quite hit in the same way. Funnily enough, I think it's actually the emptiness. What's odd is that usually doesn't work for me in upbeat games, I want the world to feel lived in. Yet something about it does work for me in Spyro 1. I've thought about it, and I think part of it is Sparx, the fact that you're alone but not really alone in this big, wide world. There's a kind of lonely grandeur to it all. It's difficult to put into words, but it strikes a real chord with me, even if my more rational side is going, "So how do the dragons actually *live* here?" Part of it is also just the music, to be fair. Stewart Copeland did a great job with all three games, but having listened to them all again recently, I'm comfortable saying that the first's soundtrack is the clear standout for me. The Dreamweavers levels in particular were just excellent. Actually, that goes for the levels overall, not just the soundtrack. (Even if the enemies in Jacques' boss level are absolutely terrifying when you're a kid.)
A wise dragon once told me aim high in life, but watch out for flying boxes.
Stewart Copeland's score seriously helped the tone and worldbuilding of the game.
I always loved how you could interact with the environment and enemies in the Spyro series.
Raise your hand if you'd cuddle with the Faun and Bunny Magician
*Raises both my hands and legs*
(raises hand)
Yes...""""cuddle""""
Spyro 2 is probably one of my top 5 favorite games.
I never thought about Spyro 2 this way, man this video was some great insight to one of my fav games.
This video really should have more exposure, not only is it a great analysis but the memeing was actually funny in a way that bigger humor focused videos aren't
This was the first ever video game I remember playing as a child, and what i think set me down the course of playing video games in general. I love how you tackled the details behind worldbuilding and the characters we meet. You really did this amazing game justice.
Overall a very thoughtful look at the original trilogy of games, with a lot of in-depth bits here and there that I haven't seen much on elsewhere. This is either the second or third time I've watched it now, because not only is it just a good video, it's also just quite amusing, especially that ending bit.
Thank you for this. You've expertly captured why this is still one of my most favorite games I've ever played.
I have played spyro 2 so many times and never consciously noticed the interconnectedness. It always just felt like being in another world... that deep dreamy immersion that comes from a good long book that no amount of graphics technology and famous voice actors have achieved in modern games.
games gave up on this high effort approach and now complain that they can't even eat and pay bills without loot boxes and other predatory gambling rubbish.
There must one day come a great revival of the art which I am avidly awaiting.
My sides went up with that balloon at 10:39
The developers said in an interview, I believe during the speedrun of Spyro 3 with Ted Price and the other two devs, that there never was a Spring homeworld. They never intended to make one.
Spyro 2 is my most nostalgic game of all time, how did I never notice the connectivity? Gret video!
Absolutely fantastic video, dude! Loved your analysis of the Spyro games and the humor throughout was damn funny. I never noticed how connected all the levels in Spyro 2 were, that's really cool. You got a new sub
DEFINITELY my favorite of the original 3 games, which are the only 3 that matter.
Just when I thought there was no more magic to come out of the original Spyro series.
This video lead me to replaying all three games for the first time since I was a wee child. Thanks, B-Mask!
I have to say, this is my favorite video game, video you have made thus far. Glad you're making this grade A content still.
I LOVE the Spyro series so much! I completely agree with basically everything you had to say in this video! Especially the funny dispersing of random other clips to show the emotions you feel with and against certain characters and other games... that we will NOT discuss. I still play and replay Spyro 2 & 3 the most out of any other game that I own. I really wish Insomniac would take back their prize character and give us actual good content instead of letting their precious dragon be driven over multiple times with a tank.......
I’d like to thank you for this video. I’m aware I’m late to this party, but Spyro 2 was the game that made my childhood and to see someone who appreciates this game too is really gratifying. Watching some of the worlds again and looking back to the game over 10 years since I last played it was something really special.
Thankyou, again, you have another subscriber now
Aw man, this is my childhood right here, so much nostalgia for this masterpiece.
I remember it was hard as balls but I got all the way to 100% cause god damn I had nothing else to play.
I like burning the flags in every level
I feel like it's worth mentioning that a LOT of Spyro 2's music comes directly from a sample pack called Spectrasonics Distorted Reality 2. You'll recognize a lot of the sounds! /watch?v=qNKdRNELcdM
This is amazing! Thanks very much for the link. Going to pour over this.
Bro
Spyro 2 was my childhood favorite.
Yes! Thank you! I always felt Spryo 2 was the best of the trilogy for all the same reasons! I've never seen anyone talk about all the charming little subtleties like this.
I've waited so long for you to cover Spyro! :D I agree with pretty much everything you said about Spyro 2. When I played the first Spyro game for the first time in ages, I noticed how bleak it was when you looked closer at it. In the second and third games, there are NPCs who you can talk to. In Spyro 1, you have the other dragons, but they disappear once you revive them. For a majority of the game, Spyro is all alone with everyone trying to kill him (or the other way round).
Looking back, I can see why Ripto is considered the main villain in general. Gnasty Gnorc is talked about and made to be a serious and dangerous threat who must be handled with extreme caution, regardless of how heroic or arrogant Spyro acts. He runs away from you and goes down in two hits. The Sorceress has a much more diabolical motive compared to Ripto but she's barely in the game. Ironically, everyone interacts with her throughout the story, except for the main protagonist.
When I was younger, I liked Spyro 3 because Spyro was angry as he was in Spyro 2. But now, I can see that Spyro 2 had the best story and world-building.
Oh B Mask you never fail to make some quality shit man
In my personal opinion, I always thought the Dragon Worlds were the Spring themed world, like it was never mentioned as a Spring Realm or something. But that's my theory.
Also, I loved how the Reignited Spyro games gave different redesigns for each characters, mostly the Dragons and Sheila the Kangaroo! (Hey! I'm probably not the only one who thought it was strange that Sheila's the only female character with no hair or clothes! And personally thought her redesign is awesome! ^^)
Scorch and shady oasis being connected makes sense with the music being very similar as well.
Can't wait for the Reignited trilogy in November! It's gonna be amazing!
Oh what I would give to see a B-Mask video solely about theatre.
Your wish may yet come true. We'll see what happens in the new year =)
Thank you very much for kicking this off with the scorch theme tune.
I'm so sad I've only found you channel now. This video was fantastic, you got another sub.
Nice and fun review, glad i've found a channel like this
How do you not have more views? Great content
The Legend Of Spyro series was pretty good on the world building aspect but not on the characterisation.
If there's a compilation remake, they should make it so that you can see levels from other levels in Spyro 2, like in Super Mario Sunshine.
I also feel like making editorials now, but about what? How Kirby's Dream Land 3 expresses its story through gameplay?
*TROUBLE WITH THE TROLLEY EY?!?*
JESUS H CHRIST I HAD FLASHBACKS.
I don't know why it matters that the dragons in Spyro 1 disappear. The NPCs in Spyro 2 and 3 don't have much to say anyway. They might as well not even be there.
Also, you'd be right that the first game didn't reward players for paying attention to peripheral details, but each dragon world did have its own set of problems for Spyro to solve, and levels were geographically & thematically situated in relation to one another. In fact, Jak and Daxter TPL world's are pretty much a literalized version of Spyro the Dragon, without all the loading screens in between levels.
Dragons and NPCs do sometimes help Spyro or affect things in a level, such as opening the boss doors, activating the platforms in Artisans, Tuco bringing Spyro to egg thieves he missed, and dragons from earlier levels showing up in later levels.
Spyro 2 certainly did improve on this and telegraph story and characters better, but they weren't absent in the original game. If anything Spyro 3 had me invested in its world the least. The levels just felt too disjointed.
omg Spyro 2 is my absolute favourite game.
Bonus point for throwing in Rich Evans.
oh fuck yeah spyro 2 was amazing. that was probably the first rich world game I ever explored
6:10 haha oh god! That brought back some repressed memories from my childhood!
Would love to hear your thoughts on the remake trailer.
Spyro reignited cannot fucking wait
Whuts up with the normal map rock texture background? Hahahaha I just noticed it
I actually like Spyro 1 the best by far. I think it has the best level design, 2 feels more haphazard with how it places stuff at times and most importantly just doesn't have the same rhythm charging around. I think that's something only 1 nailed- maybe it's just due to replaying the game so much, but I used to replay 2 just as much, and I always felt like 1 had more a proper path through the levels that was a lot more satisfying to run through and thank goodness no dumb backtracking. Yet it didn't feel outright linear all the time due to the size of the levels and some sort of simple but pretty clever puzzles based around where to glide. Really not a fan of many of the minigames too, I would love to skip many when recompleting 2 whereas I regularly 120% 1. To be honest, I think 1 gets really overlooked. I like 2 but I always thought 1 exceeded in level design and my preference for it over 2 has only grown, I just find 2 so much less replayable with the minigames and relatively lacking level design next to 1. I'm not saying it's completely missing from 2 but I think there were a lot more gems and stuff in places that didn't really form or connect to fast routes. There's also that the game noticeably peaks during Autumn Plains and Summer Forest has some kinda boring levels and then Winter Tundra is over so fast it's like what the hell is this pacing and I wish I could just start the game in the second hub
I agree about the worldbuilding though. Except in 3. It was my first game so look I have more nostalgia for that than the other two (which I didn't play until after LoS was finished) but even as a kid I thought it felt like it just chucked more characters at you to *seem* like it had more of that than it actually does. Like you said the worlds don't feel interconnected, and I sure didn't put my finger on that as a kid but I could just feel it. I think 3 is a downright boring game to be quite honest, and I will never get the continued adoration of it, but that's another topic.
Oh my god, spyro 2 is so dear to my heart, it was the first game I ever played. What are your thoughts over The Legend of Spyro series? Personally I enjoyed them, but I was a kid at the time. I doubt they'd hold up
0:16 My best friends gone cause of you and your stupid racism!
You should win an Oscar for that editing :)
holyshit 6:49 actually changed my child hood. mind fucking blown.
This was spot on mate well done
Was I the only person who got real uncomfortable for a second right at the beginning of the video 👀
"trouble with the trolley eh?"
Amazing video
Frasier at 4:50. Nice.
I fucking wish I had seen this video when it came out. Great content being slept on smh
Aren't you going to comment on the Subway level from Spyro 3
You should really do a video about FINAL FANTASY IX, as you seem to really like that one just as I do.
Will you by any chance, considering that you did a video on Peter Pan, do a video on Alice in Wonderland?
rest in peace spyro :(
6:08 - 6:20 Funniest 12 seconds of my life.
I liked this video it was well made.
10:55 Why the Lester Nygaard pic?
spyro 3 was my fav
Fucking triggered me with that ending, all my effort spent avoiding anything to do with skylanders ruined.
Damn you.
0:13 Spyro is my favorite
the Meaning of Life?
Rich Evans.
Source for 1:13?
Sgt. Byrd came from Zephyr.
My god... it all makes sense now
these are crackin videos
RICH EVANS IS THE KEY TO ALL THIS
YotD = best
Whish this game would get a PC release...
You can play it on a emulator.
2:19
1:13-1:17 INSULT!
I'm weird in that I actually like Spyro 1 best of the trilogy. In many ways, it's objective the weakest game, in that they built on the basic formula very successfully in the subsequent two games, as you've detailed here, and in general delivered a much more rounded experience (you can argue that maybe Year of the Dragon suffered from bloat a little bit, trying to make the gameplay too diverse with extra player characters and recurring challenges like skateboarding, but that's debatable, and some of the weakness is undoubtedly down to the slightly rushed released schedule). Yet something about Spyro 1's aesthetic hits a note for me that the other two don't quite hit in the same way.
Funnily enough, I think it's actually the emptiness. What's odd is that usually doesn't work for me in upbeat games, I want the world to feel lived in. Yet something about it does work for me in Spyro 1. I've thought about it, and I think part of it is Sparx, the fact that you're alone but not really alone in this big, wide world. There's a kind of lonely grandeur to it all. It's difficult to put into words, but it strikes a real chord with me, even if my more rational side is going, "So how do the dragons actually *live* here?"
Part of it is also just the music, to be fair. Stewart Copeland did a great job with all three games, but having listened to them all again recently, I'm comfortable saying that the first's soundtrack is the clear standout for me. The Dreamweavers levels in particular were just excellent. Actually, that goes for the levels overall, not just the soundtrack. (Even if the enemies in Jacques' boss level are absolutely terrifying when you're a kid.)
Honestly only Skylanders and Enter the Dragonfly ruined the series. A Hero's Tail was decent and Legend had a good story.