darkSpyro

As the title says, I've been a fan of Skylanders since the games first came out. I had limited experience with one of the LoS games as well, but I never got to experience classic Spyro and I don't really have a way of doing that. Until now.

I've been extremely excited about this game since the rumors first started, but it's kind of weird.

I know nothing about Spyro.

Ok, ok, that's not entirely true. I understand that this game is an amazing platforming game and a lot of fans are really nostalgic for it. As someone who doesn't really have the nostalgia factor though it's a bit difficult for me to really get excited for the game itself, and not just the hype that surrounds it.

So, classic Spyro fans. Now's your chance, explain to me, and other Skylanders fans, or just people that don't know anything about this game, what makes it so great. And when I say that, I mean tell me what actually makes it great. What makes this game great, besides just the nostalgia. I'll try to stay as open-minded as possible and I'm genuinely interested in what you guys have to say about this topic.

I'm not here to argue about which version of Spyro is better, and I'm not looking to disagree with you guys. If something makes you enjoy a game then that's your opinion. You can't be wrong about what you enjoy, so all opinions are welcome in regards to classic Spyro.

I look forward to hearing your thoughts.

Honestly, without the nostalgia I'm not entirely sure. I can't find a single objective criticism I could level at Spyro, it's that good.... but if one were to play it now it would probably just be very tame or boring. The games aren't hard except for a few minor instances such as the mini-games; enemy reaction times are slow, your moves are visceral and mostly one-hit-kills, and the maps are made so you have plenty of distance away from your foes. It's a collect-a-thon without a map or direction. It's not about finishing all the levels, but getting enough of the things in any levels in the hub to move on and face Gnasty. At least, that's what the first game's like. The second and third have more clear cut goals and stories, where there's a beginning, middle and end to each level rather than them being a means to an end.

Oh, and Elora from Spyro: Gateway to Glimmer was my first crush. Speaking of which, the music and world design was enchanting, bewitching, alluring.... there's no word quite strong enough to describe how great the setting was. Summer Forest, Autumn Plains, Winter Tundra's themes were bliss, like, if I were to die right there and then listening to those songs I'd be fine with that. Let that set the tone for how tranquil these games were.

I know I do this a lot, but I'll plug my Top 10 Levels in Spyro the Dragon video here, which might give you an idea as to why I love it. Sweary warning and all that jazz.

Personally, it's hard to describe just how great it is. The best thing to do would be to play them for yourself. If you don't have access to a PS1, I think they can get them on PS3 from the PSN store??

If you absolutely can't play them, then I would watch playthroughs of them on youtube just to get a feel of it.

I'll admit a lot of it is nostalgia. But when i fell in love in '98, it was because I loved the characters and I loved the fantasy that the world was set in. It felt more lived in, and made me wonder what it was like to live in the world there. Spyro, like a lot of cartoon adventure heroes in video games, seemed like a cool dude I wanted to be friends with if I ever met him and he was real. And that alone made playing the game more fun to me. In terms of the gameplay, Spyro helped pioneer 3d adventure games on the PS1 and introduced the type of technology that allows you to walk around in an open world. This was the first game i played where I felt like I was moving in the world. Before the first Spyro, and game that was 2.5 or 3d in character, felt like the world was moving around me, instead of me around it. When Ripto's Rage and Year of the Dragon came out, the Spyro character and lore just gained depth and I felt like I was becoming apart of the world of the dragons and Avalar the more I explored (e.g. the Summer Forest ambiance music). Imagine your favorite Skylander getting a solo game and you get to explore the origins and worlds that the character came from and everything about them and how they became a hero. The worlds, the portals, the dimensions, the magic, the lore, the environment, the themes, THE DRAGONS. The thing I always wished for was that you could walk into portals that would take you to different universes that Spyro has explored in games. Imagine going from the Artisan home world at the beginning of Spyro 1, to traveling to Avalar's Winter Tundra from Ripto's Rage. And then maybe before the sun sets, traveling to Sheila's Alps to see the billy goats. This probably will never be a thing, but the imagination of it being possible is always what I love about Spyro. I wasn't just happy seeing the worlds as they came, I was always excited for what was next. Spyro filled my heart with so much joy and I am SUPER JEALOUS you get to play them for the first time. I'm tempted to tell you to emulate or find a way to play the original PS1 versions first, but I'll let you make that decision. Have fun playing Spyro.

Aesthetic, being just a pretty damn good collectathon in a Sony console, being a dragon game which is the same thing as Okami gaining points just for being a wolf game. Also, across all three games, an amazing variety of level themes and minigames, even if at the time the worlds all looked pretty similar except for color.

Can't talk about the classics much because I don't have the same nostalgia as everyone else, but it's just a solid, darn good experience, and not a whole lot of mascots at the time had that quality.

Instead of an isometric dungeon crawler like Skylanders, Spyro is a 3D collect-a-thon platformer with a series of levels connected by hub levels and you gotta get certain amount of gems, dragons, dragon eggs or talismans to progress. The music in the original games by Stewart Copeland is some of the catchiest music you'll ever hear with the folk rock standing out from the typical fantasy aesthetics. Your health is also determined by the colour of the dragonfly Sparx, so make sure to toast some sheep and frogs to get some butterflies because Spyro had limited lives.

Honestly, it's not just nostalgia, the Spyro games are really good. Collecting stuff feels so good as you just have to approach the gems, Sparx gathers them for you and just listen to the lovely gem sounds. It's like collecting treasure in Skylanders except it's just gems. It's far better than having to stop and hold a button to collect mundane items you see in many Ubisoft open worlds.

Great visuals even on the PS1.

Charming characters and actually has some semblance of story-telling, which isn't common in pure platformers.

Tight and responsive controls and a wide variety of moves that mean level design remains varied and engaging.

Great sense of humour, particularly "visual humour", such as the many enemies that do quirky things when idling and such.

Awesome soundtracks.

Mostly fun mini-games that keep things fresh.

They aren't the most challenging games, but the beautiful locations and the open spaces can make them just relaxing and fun to explore.