Spyro Trilogy Retrospective (PS1)

it's about time I properly Revisited a franchise close to my heart that and my old videos make me cringe I hope I've improved a little Spyro the Dragon is a series that is incredibly Charming enjy to play I can't help but smile or chuckle with its humor while being blown away back in the day in the world she could explore I want to look back at the original PS1 Trilogy and some the games that really put them on the map and is still fun of toist day I'm going to break each game down since I already did a video on my Spyro matters to me go check it out if you haven't so join me as we take a trip through the Dragon World a detour to Avala on our way to Dragon Shores and the Mystery forgotten worlds in search of the Dragon xgs this is my Spyro retrospective Spyro the Dragon a story about a young purple dragon is tasked in freeing the other dragons for bring crystallized thanks to nasty nor and his spell immediately you get the five of the game with a camera and a microphone interviewing the dragons talking about how peaceful there has been in the many Dragon worlds only for them to bring up nasty Noor who lives in his realm on how he's been turning the gems of the world into Warriors to which one Dragon replies besides he is ugly ugly that does it oops by the fact that Sparrow is just too small to get hit by the spell he's the only one left who can stop nasty but as you do you find out there's more than rescuing dragons there's also the treasure to collect in the form of gems and these stolen dragon eggs by those pesky blue thieves and that mischievous laugh of theirs but Spyro isn't entirely alone he is joined by his trusted Ally Spark's dragonfly who not only will pick up nearby Collectibles but acts as your health the color indicates how many hit Sparks can take yellow means he's at full health blue means sp's been hit once green means twice and if he gets hit Again Sparks dies and Spar is one hit away from losing a life you can keep Sparks healthy by attacking the fodder which is sometimes sheep that drop butterflies for some weird reason don't worry about it as you rescue each Dragon they will all have different things to say usually tutoral related things like hey press the circle button to Flame and square to charge armored enemies or hey this is how you Glide or you know the notorious thank you for releasing me hey I mean at least they were grateful there's some funny dialogue here and there and each Dragon are supposed to represent each world it's a lot clearer in the reignited trilogy The Artisan dragons are all about art art and creativity the peacekeepers are hardened War Dragons using cannons in the hub World Magic Crafters full of wizard dragons and all things magical Beast makers while it's just a big old swamp where these dragons meant to be more one with nature dream Weavers it's similar to Magic Crafters but it's very dreamlike whatever that means then finally nasty's World which since it doesn't really have a theme there's no dragons here you will need to rescue a set number of dragons collect enough gems and rescue eggs in order to proceed throughout the world although for me personally I usually get everything because I enjoy these games that much and Spyro one is arguably the easiest of the free it's not really that tough to complete 100% you start off in a hub world and there are several of them and even in here there are dragons and collectibles before you even enter a level the artist's world the first world with grasslands and castles peacekeepers Canyons as far as the eye can see with dangerous purple goop and long gliding spots magic Crafters everything magical whizard using magic to remove things fairies that give you temporary breath Powers the introduction to this supercharge Beast makers dark gloomy and dangerous a swamp full of all manner of hostile creatures and home to everyone's favorite level Treetops dream Weavers expect the unexpected Illusions things coming to life creatures becoming ferocious in the dark nasty's wild although nothing to do in the hub World itself this is his last line of defense where all of the meanest gorcs are going to war with Spyro with actual weapons guns in my Spyro game this ain't a kids game anymore the first Hub world starts off with smaller scouted levels to get you introduced to Spyro and as you progress you'll be taking on larger Scout levels where you really have to scope the land to find all the treasures these worlds are awesome to look at it only enhanced by the Remake a level ends once you find the return home portal though fun fact you can actually just exit a level in the start menu and you keep all of your Collectibles some of my personal favorite worlds are lofty Castle from dream Weavers Dark Hollow for its nighttime aesthetic in The Artisan's World Wizards Peak for some supercharged action from the magic Crafters world there's also the speedway levels all about flying go through obstacle courses in order to win a ton of gems these can be fun since this is the only time you can just fly in the game but they also get pretty tricky luckily they are pretty good at putting you on a set path but you can go which whichever order you like each Hub World also has a boss level you progress through the stage as you would any other level but a boss will be waiting for you at the end most of the boss fights aren't super challenging but they are fun quirky characters like how toasty is just a black sheep on stilts masquerading as a wizard I think with a scythe I like to think it's getting revenge for all the abuse from the dragons Dr shm Who prances around with a staff and a metal plating but he doesn't protect his behind blo hard I mean that's just the best name so far oh he's like a tornado that casts storms on you but that's not nearly as funny metal head I guess I know his favorite music I'm more into jazz personally it's a robot that throws enemies at you and you got to break all of these metal posts to destroy him jaar which is actually French for Jack and it's a Jack In The Box ah that trolls you that's fun but man he is annoying and of course nasty knor the final boss he just tries to hit you from a distance with his staff as you can't get to him till you chase these thieves and retrieve the keys then he runs away from you until you Corner him flame him a few times and he goes down easy enough Spyro saves the day but if you've gotten everything up to this point you are treated to a bonus level nasty loot you get to fly around hunting thieves and collecting a bunch of gems even find a room with a portal of nasty with a bunch of purple gems really satisfying seeing the numbers go up here with everything wrapped up we get the true ending of the game Spyro living it up with Shades and one final interview on how he saved the dragon Kingdom only for Spyro to make a joke about nasty and for the spell to happen all over again it's a great gag the first game is such a strong star for the series it's simple Focus solely on Spar and his abilities and yet it's still a lot of fun with memorable worlds and characters but now it's time to move on to the second game Spyro 2 gateway to glimmer or ripto R for you Americans why the name change apparently a marketing decision from Sony Europe they preferred gateway to glimmer so that's why we have two different names but both games are exactly the same we joined Spyro after he saved the dragon Kingdom from nasty nor it's constantly raining damn it's just like my country Sparro decides himman Sparks should go on a vacation to Dragon Shores so they rush in with excitement I need to switch over to Avalar where we meet new characters Laura Aon Hunter AA and the professor imol the professor is trying to open up a portal to bring a dragon here to solve their problems lo and behold they were successful and intercepted Sparrow's Vacation by bringing him here before introductions are in order though the new villain ripto shows up blowing up the portal meaning Spyro is now tracked ripto whatever he's supposed to be wants to rule over Avalar but apparently hates dragons hence why Spyro was dragged into this mess after a comedic cut scene of how much of the joke ripto is he Retreats for now Spyro is told to meet them in summer forest where they will explain the situation further poor old Spyro no vacation for you for now you explore the first level glimmer oh gateway to glimmer makes more sense now it's actually one of my favorites the music is great too it's a vibrant colorful level for the shimmering Jewels with these Ms constantly dealing with lizards trolling and stealing gems Spyro mostly controls the same as the first game he does feel a tad more responsive and a tad quicker you can still charge flame and glide but now he has a little hover at the end to make those hard to reach places gems are still your main Collectibles but enemies now drop Spirit particles these are used to power these well powerups that Spyro can use throughout the world I personally prefer it when the enemies drop gems you have to take out a number of enemies before the power up can be activated this can range from supercharge spring different breaths like ice or superf Flame or even superflight most of these have a timer but you can recharge if you go back through the power up if you thought Sparrow 1 was simple here's where Sparrow 2 UPS the game you have more to collect this time around although you don't have dragons or eggs but instead we have these orbs you can find or from tasks you do you'll need enough orbs to challenge ripto once you complete a stage the resident will give you a Talisman that represents their world which are required to fight ripto's minions crash and gulp only this time to complete a level there's bag tracking some areas within the stage you aren't able to access because you don't have that ability but how do we get these abilities you might ask why the new favorite character money bags of course for just a small we fee he'll teach you various abilities like swimming which we couldn't actually do in Spyro one climbing and head bashing but that's not the only thing throughout Avalar you'll encounter money bags who will impede your progress unless you pay him usually it's pay toll to use the bridge for unlock this portal for gems he's notorious among the Spyro fans but sadly we have to put up with his crap for now just you wa till the third game I personally find the swimming the best and Spyro controls pretty good underwater you can even charge to swim faster when you finish glimmer this is where you make your way to the first Hub world summer forest to meet up with Aur the Hub wordss in this game are different compared to spiral one for starters there's only three yet despite that they are much more grandiose in scale and they are all based on the seasons summer forest Autumn Plains and winter Tantra strange that there's no spring though you can even find orbs here and there's lots of Secrets but they act like Spyro 1 a place where you can travel to various worlds and help the residents that live there Aura tells you what they need from Spyro and Hunter access your tutorial guide you'll also see him for stages requesting your help or asking you to do a mini game for an orb even though we need the orbs to stop ripto and this guy thinks it's funny to not give you the orbs but instead run around on his pet Man Ray conveniently finding an orb in his flipper uhhuh yeah in Spyro 2 there's a bunch of mini games now for orbs and of course tasks some of them are puzzles to solve others have you play some sort of sport or has scor a stupid out Alchemist he keeps walking all over the place like he's drunk while having to deal with this Earth shakers constantly trying to stop him only to find out that hey this is a two-part Quest that you can only complete if you have the head bash ability you get in the third hob World raise your hands if you were like me and ended up doing this before being told I can't finish it then having to come back with the head bash ability and have to escort The Alchemist again so then you can help Hunter take out the Earth shakers this Mission sucks when you're not doing tasks you are dealing with the resident's problems usually taking out the enemies you find along the way while doing the usual gem collecting but what I like about Spyro 2 is how much character these NPCs and the worlds have you always have an intro cut scene into what's going on so you have a rough idea of their troubles this game reminds me of a Saturday cartoon there's definitely some slapstick kind of dark humor for sure here to the point where you wonder if you're even helping especially when you watch the outro cut scenes jeez there's a lot more voice acting as well I think everyone knows at this point about Tom Kenny he's the voice of Spyro but is also known for SpongeBob and he actually reprises his role in the third game and in the reignited trilogy even the interactions with ripto are great he's definitely a joke but Spyro constantly making fun of him and getting him angry is fun to see and it feels very Spyro Speedways make a return the only real difference here is that now there's a bonus mission you can find in the Speedways to get an or and guess what it usually involves Hunter surprise surprise once you've gathered the talism and orbs that you need you're able to take on that area boss Crush you just dodge his fire and electric attacks flame him and then run away as he gets crushed pun intended by a bunch of Boulders restoring summer forest and forcing ripto to flee next up is gulp now this one can actually be a bit tricky especially the first time objects like bombs explosive canisters will be dropped for spity use however gulp can steal these for themselves and turn them against you his lasers can be hard to avoid and he's pretty quick to try and flatten you but once you've gotten this pattern down you're good ripto falls off into the abyss and all them ples restored thinking it's all over Spyro chills for a bit while Laura helps the professor fix the portal to send him the dragon Shores except ripto somehow survived they managed to convince money bags to give him bombs he kicks money bags out and takes over once again the last World here there's no Talisman just or and if you already have enough you can just ignore the levels and go straight to ripto but that's no fun right I mean it has one of my favorite stages Cloud temples with the legendary Agent Zero once you're ready it's time to take down ripto with this free Phase battle the professor has managed to come up with powerups via the orbs that Hunter will drop for you depending on which type of free orbs you get you'll get supercharge super Flame or an acid like bomb attack and is the only way to damage ripto now you can flame him to keep him at Bay as he will try and steal the orbs himself to power up while shooting Fireballs at you once his first phase is done he summons Robo gulp guess gulp was his favorite similar to gulp he'll try to flatten you and get new powers if he eats the orbs kick gulp to the curve and ripto creates a robot bird I guess to fly around as he starts to blow up the arena revealing nothing but lava Sparro picks up a gold or giving him super flight and Flame to fight ripto for a cool sky battle can be a bit tricky this phase as ripto keeps his distance and attacks from afar with projectiles that are pretty accurate just keep pting him with the super flame and ripto is cooked like literally he should be nothing but Ash melting in lava let's not talk about enter the dragonfly with ripto gone Sparro can finally go to Dragon Shores for that vacation and say is good buys while Hunter finally does something and squashes money bags allora gives the gems back to Spyro as a reward for saving Avalar and off they go there's only one problem dragon shaes is limited if you don't have all the Collectibles it's just a series of more mini games and you get tokens for doing them this unlocks previous cutcenes that you can watch but the best reward for getting 100% in Sp 2 is unlocking the permanent super flag now sadly at this point you've probably done everything so it may feel pointless however you can now start a new separate game and you'll start off with the super flame so you essentially can just go through the entire game on easy mode and it makes boss fights a joke that's Spyro 2 it has a ton of character an improved Spyro great worlds but the backtracking kind of sucks and some of the mini games aren't the best it's it's my least favorite despite being my first Spyro game but it's still really good on to the final of the trilogy and my personal favorite Spyro Year of the Dragon the last Spyro game from Insomniac before moving on to Ratchet and Clank in the dragon Kingdom everyone is sleeping and Hunter is here I guess when a bunch of holes in the ground appear and emerge are these Rhino creatures alongside a cloaked woman immediately they start stealing the dragon egg that are ready to hatch but the cloaked woman carelessly steps on Hunter's tail causing him to Yelp and waking all the dragons they try chasing her down but one Dragon Gets Stuck as she gets away meanwhile the cloaked woman delivers the last egg to her boss the Sorceress the leader of the rhinox and the one who wants the eggs one of the Dragons mentioned the eggs were taken to the Forgotten Worlds the place where the dragons used to live and that Spyro is their only hope considering he can fit through the holes Hunter Dives in like the fool that he is and gets stuck with the dragon having to push him in Spyro follows and is off to hunt for the eggs in the new adventure as you begin to explore the cloaked woman appears and reveals herself as bianka a trainee trying to become like her Mentor the Sorceress constantly telling Spyro to go home he'll never find the eggs like the one just behind me idle Frets you know the typical villain 101 but she seems Tamer than the actual Sorcerers and will be seeing her throughout the game Spyro controls and retains all of his new abilities from Spyro 2 so he's already at his best and he doesn't get any new permanent abilities still have to pay money bags for things because for some reason he's here temporary powerups like borrow to however make a return and work the same way here the supercharges back to how it was in SAR 1 using using a supercharged Pathway to activate into the first Hub world we go these ones are much more like the first game size they're based on the time of day Sunrise spring midday Gardens evening Lake and midnight Mountain as expected we have more gems to collect but most importantly dragon eggs to find and with each one saved they hatch you get a cute little animation each time it kind of reminds me of freeing the dragons in the first game enemies drops gems again yes I missed this in Spyro 2o I love the worlds in this game but one thing I do miss from Spyro 2 is the intros and outros there's none of that unfortunately you just talk to one of the characters there to get the lowdown of their problems basically the rhinox are causing issues trying to take over which I actually prefer this because it feels like a bit more like the Sorceress has a presence here even though you don't see her too much it's like the first game with nasty and his minions this game likes to reference other franchises there's a doom Mission a Tomb Raider reference Tony Hawks Pro Skater Spyro Edition I actually think this mini game is really fun doing tricks getting huge amounts of height and even the occasional race what does continue from Spyro 2 though is a similar structure there's missions to do here and even the occasional mini boss I do like most of them but even my favorite of the trilogy has some irksome tasks Speedways now have extra things to do and for some reason Sparks is our guide it's weird hearing him talk even in Babble now you have races you can do which I honestly think are really enjoyable you can use these blue stars to get a boost or go through the red stars for these homing bombs to slow down the competition each of these corses give you a dragon egg but wait once again Hunter can be found for a hunter mission where you actually control him in various vehicles for some reason these space animals from Spyro 2 are back and so Hunter is trying to stop them don't question it when you are not saving the NPCs or doing Speedways there's something else you need to do rescue these captured animals that the sorcerers order money bags to do because of course he has the audacity to say that they are a menace and he had to but he'll consider letting them go or look in the upper way for a small fee oo this is the game he gets his just deserts soon in comes the new playable characters of the game yeah it's not just Spyro anymore these new allies have their own levels as well as their own missions throughout the world the one thing I do enjoy is each each time money bags freeze them they immediately get their Revenge it's incredibly satisfying the first character you rescue is Sheila the kangaroo who dropped some interesting law about how the dragons lived here over a thousand years ago and that when they left most of the magic went with them and that's why some of the portals don't work and you need the magic from the dragon eggs to open them after her rescue she goes off to her home to solve some problems where we get to control her for the first time she's probably the closest to Spyro in terms of mobility and such she runs faster uses her feet to attack enemies and obstacles has different jumps a double jump and a high jump followed by a stomp that's similar to Spyro's head bash these levels usually aren't super long but it depends on the character Sergeant bird the war penguin armed with missile launchers sends money bags packing in a STIs in way his world is also overrun by rhox so off he goes to go to war helping his bird soldiers despite being a penguin or at least I think that's what he is he can fly you'll be mostly flying since his ground movement doesn't cover much he has a slow ascent and descent by mashing the jump button press square to fire his missiles you can also pick up certain objects like bombs and and you can drop them with the circle button there's a great level in the second Hub world that's perfect for him called Enchanted Towers it's just a big world to explore and I actually think I enjoy playing a sergeant bird more in this level than Spyro in the third world we have Bentley the yeti gives money bags a good old pummeling B with his clubs I like him as a character he always talks with such long and complex English words that Spar has no idea what he's saying half the time but his game play is just a little slow for my liking his jumping isn't great either making short hops can be a bit of a struggle he uses his Club to smash things and can even use it to deflect projectiles his levels are at least pretty short the craziest character agent 9 in the final world and working for the professor from Spyro 2 he is a monkey with a l is a gun who's kind of unhinged but that's putting it lightly he's a fun character but my least favorite to play because he's a shooter character and uh if you know me which some of you probably won't I have no interest in shooting games so yeah he switches from third person and first person depending on the level at least his theme is catchy some backtracking is required with these characters which is why I always unlock them as soon as possible before doing a level where they have a mission you must at least be every level in order for you to proceed to the next hub world the Sorceress realized who spy has not been dealt with orders Bianca to summon a creature to destroy him enter Buzz a toad monster thing that tries to hit you into the lava so you going to do the same but Spyro isn't alone Sheila assists You by stomping buzz into the lava when we knock him in I really like this idea because this happens with every character they team up with Spyro and take down the boss of that Hub World it makes them feel more involved more important Spike this time the Sorceress transforms one of her minions into this menacing looking creature with a big old laser gun now this fight definitely reminds me of Gulp and ripto if you get close he will smack you shoot laser balls at you from a distance while Sergeant bird drops ammunition because you can't hurt him otherwise and like goal ripto he can turn that ammunition against you so don't let him as long as you keep him at Bay you should be fine the monster to end all the monsters scorge now this is a creature not going to lie I can see this being pretty scary as a child especially when you're playing this for the first time even with Spyro's cartoony nature we've got Bentley throwing us Rockets to use against this winged monster who will spawn crabs on the arena and the occasional balls of electric like gulp now this fight can get tough since he spawns very annoying aggressive enemies that chase down Spyro take them out before they take out you as you take out bosses and progress through the game Bianca starts to show up more and more even telling Spyro that she's willing to give him a chance to leave but the Sorceress wants him dead there's a cut scene where she's practicing magic and she makes a mistake only for a hunter to get angry because he has a crush on her I guess Hunter for once in his life actually does a thing wrestling this weird mutant bunny saving Bianca her morals start to change after this making sure Hunter is okay after being captured by the sorcerer's trap and learning why she wants the dragon eggs and what she plans to do with them she ends up quitting and decides to work with Spyro to take her down gu she's not that bad after all the Sorceress however is bad to a tea she's definitely the best villain in the trilogy because she's Savage she actually seems intimidating she talks about how she wants the Wings off of the baby dragons she doesn't care if they're dead or alive she just wants their wings to make a spell that will give her eternal life she laughs over the idea of a creature squishing and crashing Spyro and the baby dragons the Sorceress do to say this man the only down side is that her and Spyro have zero interaction which the Remake did not fix a real shame now she is similar to ripto except she kind of has a more tactical approach she gets up to you and tries to hit you with her scepter when far away she will usually shoot the gulp electric balls while agent n will drop weapons for SP to use shooting cannon balls from far away and moving Cannon to get up more close and personal follow by one of the space sources the Sheep are usually using to chase her down when she gains enough distance she will try to hit you off with a homing Fireball attack and the weapon will destroy it but it's pretty straightforward knock her into the lava going out the same way ripto did and I'm sure we'll never see her [Music] again psych we are treated to our ending of the game recreating that interview at the end of the first game but with Bentley doing an interview this time he even asks if Spyro will go back to Dragon Shores again meanwhile Spyro asks around looking for Hunter but no one claims to know where he is even the Laura makes a cameo asking if Spyro will visit her in Avala but of course Hunter is off with his Bunny girlfriend with a fireworks display from Sergeant bird himself Spar looks away in disgust steal a child bless him you didn't think that was the end though right we've covered all the games to completion so naturally there's got to be something for getting everything in the game right but before that we have some unfinished business don't worry Spyro I won't be needing any more of your money now now don't look so surprised I found one of the dragon eggs and I'm going to sell it for a fortune back in Avalar uh uh-oh uh why are you looking at me like that I uh I I've got to be going now uh [Music] toodles drat double drat now that's satisfying there is another completion reward but before we can do that there is one more gameplay change that I've yet to mention Sparks even Sparks is playable as a sort of top- down shooter so apparently the Sorceress has these secret bases that have dragon eggs guarded by other bugs and anything Sparks can reach them there's one in the hub Wells that unlock after each boss including the final boss Sparks has full rotational movement you can strafe with the shoulder buttons and shoot with the circle button there's gems to collect and butterflies can give you health or change your attacks like spread shots or missiles even though I'm usually not the biggest fan of this I don't mind it it's a change of pace that I don't hate you find your way through to the end with a boss fight to rescue the egg these can get quite tough if you're not careful the enemy will overwhelm you with Victory hours egg secured Zoe tells us that Sparks gets new abilities from picking up gems further away from leading you towards gems you can't find so here's a fun fact this ability right here was just in Spyro 2 for free but the game never tells you which makes me think it wasn't supposed to be I never knew this as a child for your hard work you unlock the super bonus world it's sort of similar to nasty's loot except there's actually some things to do here to get a ton of gems hearing the sound of so many gems being collected is a pleasant sound mostly mini games re used flying around with superf flame the hardest skateboard race you'll ever do all to find out that hey the Sorceress somehow survived Bianca's powered up her ship so we can face the Sorceress in battle this rematch is a bit disappointing she doesn't really do anything but shoot you just follow her around aim your shots a bit and she's defeated for sure this time and she drops the final egg yining Ying Yang Twins we get a wholesome scene with the dragons playing with the baby dragons as Sparro delivers the final one got to have a burp gag in there I guess I don't know it was the 90s Spyro Year of the Dragon ended up being my personal favorite of the free it isn't perfect but I love it regardless I have failed to mention one thing about these games and that is the soundtrack across all games which have such incredibly put together music that captures each World perfectly thanks to Stuart Copeland who used to be the drummer for the group the police Spyro U the dragon would be insomniac's last game into the franchise since they felt like Spyro being a dragon on all fours too limiting they came up with a new franchise Ratchet and Clank and the first game even has spal influence in there like the optional skill points after giving up the rights to Spyro the IP got tossed around like salad trying to recreate that classic feel or just straight up doing something different left the fandom mixed on the future of Spyro and anything beyond the PS1 era until toys for Bobs would rebot the series with the rear kned Trilogy a chance for Spyro to return all fans get to relive their childhood with new fans getting to experience Spyro For the First Time s sadly despite the Remake doing monly well back in 2018 we have not had a new game since will a new game arise someday only time will tell but for now this caps off my return to Spyro the PlayStation 1 games still hold up to this day but the Remake is there for those who want a bit more of a modern feel or just can't get a hold of the old games if you like me talking about Spyro and perhaps you want me to talk about other games if this video gets a th000 views I'll cover more games but for now check out my tier list video on screen

Channel: SomeGuyCalledJ

Views: 557

Keywords: Spyro Retrospective, Spyro, Spyro The Dragon, Spyro the dragon review, Spyro trilogy, Spyro PS1, Spyro PS1 trilogy, Spyro 2, Spyro year of the dragon review, Spyro trilogy review, Spyro trilogy retrospective, Spyro the dragon retrospective, retrospective, spyro gameplay, Spyro year of the dragon, Spyro OST

Id: Wy95gfeUMW4

Length: 36min 34sec (2194 seconds)

Published: Tue May 21 2024