Why is there still no other game like it?

>>11879378 (OP)
Even Insomniac didn't know why Spyro worked and dumbed down the levels and replaced a lot of the original gameplay with party game shit for the sequels.

>>11879472
The first one was very easy. If anything, Ripto's was more or less enhanced with more stuff and the bosses weren't pushovers.

>>11879378 (OP)
I’m playing this for the first time, and I’m not really getting it. Every level just feels like a personal sandbox for the player to explore than an actual level with challenges that the player must circumvent. On the off chance you die, who cares, just walk two steps back to wherever you were. Some people complain about the minigames in the sequels, but at least they challenged the player in interesting ways. Every dragon saved just feels like a “whatever” instead of an achievement.

>>11879493
It's an easier game (it actually has a noticeable difficulty curve still) but the joy is in taking in the environments/soundtrack and getting to a few "cool" spots on each map where they tuck away some gems or a dragon.
If that's not for you drop it, but I would probably try to at least get through a couple of Peace Keeper levels (2nd hub)

>>11879493
This has always been my experience, ever since I first played it. It barely felt like a video game

>>11879492
Spyro 1 is more of a chill vibes type game, not every game has to be about challenge. Spyro 2 and 3 were "harder" but it wasn't a satisfying challenge, it was just shitty annoying minigames that killed the flow of the game and completely missed the appeal of the original.

>>11879819
Not for me at least, I liked the speedway

>>11879493
>huh why is this kids game so easy, chat?

>>11880338
Fucking this. Kids SUCK at games!!!

>>11880338
Fucking this. Kids are TERRIBLE at games!!

>>11879493
>Every level just feels like a personal sandbox for the player to explore than an actual level with challenges that the player must circumvent
Platformers... had a rough transition to 3D

>>11880458
This. Say what you want about Spyro but at least it wasn't as bad as Mario 64. Spyro has a world that actually feels cohesive, they're fantasy world places you can explore, while in Mario it was like a bunch of thrown-together obstacle courses in levels that don't even make sense and have no good theming to them.

>>11879493
>Every level just feels like a personal sandbox for the player to explore
Is that bad? Or are you just not into exploration games?

>>11879378 (OP)
Some scaly is making a rule 34 ripoff of this game, complete with knot mechanics.

>>11880476
That's a good question. I guess the reason so many people dislike it is because usually in exploration games such as Metroid or Ocarina of Time you get a cool reward or upgrade, while in this game maybe they give you a gem or something.

Spyro hitching on containers and boxes after charging into them is a deal breaker.

>>11880474
The "portal to another world" design is best for 3D platformers since you can make whatever you want in any direction, it gives the most creative freedom.

Half of DKC's levels taking place in caves and the other half in factories is an infamous example of what happens when your game starts in the jungle (the most recognizable locale) and has to go deep into the bad guy's territory.

>>11880442
I remember really enjoying this one as a kid. Rented it from video ezy for the week, but beat it only in a day. Coming back it felt really crappy and didnt hold up like Muppets racers.

>>11879493
Yeah that's what they were going for, a fun sandbox for kids to do whatever and collect shit. The core fun of the game is how spyro controls and racing around the maps. Big open maps to explore at your leisure was novel at the time when most games had linear levels with strict goals.

Crash 1 and Spyro 1 are too barebones and simple compared to their straight-upgrade sequels imo. Fun, but they are difficult to go back to after playing the 2nd in the series.

>>11879378 (OP)
Spyro 2 and 3 are like it

Spyro 1 strength is the visual/audio side of the levels. You need to like exploring stuff to see interesting things instead of hoping for a reward/ challenge to enjoy the first game.
Spyro 2/3 are just minigames connecting to more minigames, and none of them are interesting. The closes spyro 2 comes to 1 are the home worlds.

>>11879378 (OP)
Is this the urban youth instagram meme version of this cover?

>>11880530
doesn't know ball

>>11879378 (OP)
There’s plenty of mediocre games anon.
But really if you’re saying you like running around in the open environments, I prefer Banjo Kazooie

>>11879493
You wouldn't get it. You had to be there as a kid to understand its magic. There was no Minecraft, no Fortnite, even no GTA.

>>11879493
I just finished getting 100%. My opinion improved a little bit, I thought there were some cool challenges towards the end and some of the collectibles are real tricky to find. Overall though, they aren’t as challenging as they were in Ripto’s Rage. I didn’t even realize I was fighting the final boss until the credits started rolling. Great music and graphic of course.

>>11879493
These games can be pretty relaxing to play because you are constantly doing something and advancing but there's like 5 really hard missions in the whole game. I don't think anyone ever played these for the (non-)challenge they provide.

>>11879378 (OP)
Is it a controversial take to say that Spyro is actually a perfect video game? I actually cannot think of a single flaw about it. The game is very simplistic but yet its so fun and everything just clicks together perfectly. The levels and platforming are fun, Spyro has a limited but fun and useful moveset. I love this game. Its one of the few games I actually think deserves a perfect score that isn't just some puzzle genre shit. I don't see how people even rank or grade puzzle games btw on a side note. How are these type of games even scorable?

>>11881710
They were also able to create beautiful worlds and skyboxes back then with very little.

>>11881756
Spyro's soundtrack was also amazing. This was the actual best platformer of the 5th gen even though most seem to think its SM64 or Banjo Kazooie.

>>11879493
>Every level just feels like a personal sandbox for the player to explore
Yes

>>11879493
>>11881846
How is it a sandbox when the collectibles and quests are predetermined on how you complete or approach them other than you can choose the order.

>>11879819
>Spyro 2 and 3 were "harder" but it wasn't a satisfying challenge, it was just shitty annoying minigames that killed the flow of the game and completely missed the appeal of the original.

Why did devs LOVE putting shitty frustrating minigames everywhere in platformers in that era? Killed Banjo Tooie and Sly 3 too.

Spyro 1 is the only ps1 platformer with almost zero interruptions to gameplay, allowing the player to spend the entire game in a flow state. It also has almost no gimmicks outside of the entirely optional flying levels. Combined with the excellent jazz-fusion soundtrack and the abstract, dreamlike worlds, it simply has an unmatched atmosphere and is my favorite in the trilogy.

>>11879472
2 and 3 are objectively better games

>>11882185
>gameplay

>>11879493
>Every level just feels like a personal sandbox for the player to explore
That was the whole point, even having a bullet point on the back of the box mentioning it. The game was designed as "exploring big open 3d levels" and stuck to it.

Also yes, it was literally designed to be a kid-friendly game. That's why it's so easy. Sony noticed that most of the popular titles were rated T or M, while Nintendo was dominating the E market, so they specifically commissioned more kid-friendly games. Crash and Spyro were two of them.

>>11880530
>>11882236
2 and 3 are objective downgrades in almost every aspect 1 excelled at

Spyro 1's levels were almost entirely large open spaces with lots of hidden spots to find and a focus on platforming and gliding long distances.
Spyro 2/3's level designs are almost entirely linear, and the game is more focused on "beating the level" and completing objectives than anything else. The focus on platforming is mostly gone.

Spyro 1 allowed you to fully complete a level on the first visit, so you didn't need to keep backtracking to levels you've already done just to get one more thing that you couldn't before.
Spyro 2/3 added in extra unlockable moves and alternate characters, respectively, just to force you to backtrack and pad out the game's play time with tedious busywork. All of the alternate characters are slower and more boring to play than Spyro himself.

Spyro 1 didn't have any minigame bullshit, just a handful of Flight levels that were fucking kino since they gave you free flight which wasn't allowed elsewhere in the game (save for one level)
Spyro 2/3 added tons of tedious minigames, often making you play them twice to fully complete them. Spyro 3 took it even further, straight-up ripping off other PS1 games because the devs were running out of ideas.

They're not bad games at all, they're just very different from the first game. Spyro 1 is a 10/10 while 2 and 3 are 8.5/10.

>>11882392
>Spyro 1 is a 10/10
Spyro 1 is way too basic for a 10/10. Other franchises have first installments like this and the devs iterate on it and make the sequels better. Instead of doing that Insomniac decided to focus on minigames and gimmicks.

>>11879493
What Spyro lacks in difficulty it makes up in vibes. It oozes color and music, it's like candy in videogame form.

>>11882435
This. The art team and music team nailed it.

>>11882414
>it has more stuff so it's a better game!

>>11882463
That's not what I said at all.

>>11882463
Now I know a Spyro shitposter when I see it. It's always the same "backtracking and tedium" shit, which says more of the player than the game itself.

>>11882470
>tedious minigames are good actually!
>alternate side characters that are all worse/slower than Spyro are good actually!
hi insomniac dev

>>11882490
Did you think that maybe instead of liking the minigames that instead, Spyro 1 had room for improvement like every other first entry of every franchise, and Insomniac fumbled making a better game by going down the minigames path instead of refining their existing formula?

I blame the Japanese casuals for the direction Spyro 2 took. Have you seen the Japanese version of 1? Those filthy casuals who can't into anything that isn't turned based or a puzzle game were like
>waaaaahh I'm lost I don't know where to go!!!
>This goes too fast I'm getting stick!!

So then they made 2 the way it is so they wouldn't have to deal with this bullshit late in dev again.
Cattering to the lowest common denominator instead of assuming people who play the sequel got good at the first game and instead of telling them to get good, it honestly almost feels like modern gaming started with Spyro 2.

>>11880442
I have to play this one.

>>11882723
Those retards are still around trying to ruin videogames. One of them made a thread here in fact >>11879482

>>11882723
I don't think any fan was at fault, it was entirely the devs wanting to justify the games beyond we want more money. Same that happened with Crash, Mario or Sonic. They didn't want to just do the same thing again but since the core of the game is rather simple they try to add other elements.

should i play this one? I remember seeing it around in the 90s. I have a vague memory around the 90s of going with my dad to a furniture store, probably halloween weekend, and while he was looking at furniture they had a kiosk set up or a console with this game on it. as a n64 owner it was really interesting getting to play it. i only had a half hour or so with it but had a good time. i was very young back then though and hardly remember it. for whatever reason that memory comes back to me every other month. maybe the universe is telling me to play spyro? i feel like this would have been in the late 1990s or the very early 2000s.

>>11882723
Talk about a nonsensical opinion. I want whatever you're smoking, no sane people can come with such madness in the shape of text.

>>11883165
Imagine you're a western dev, you're ready to release the game in Japan but then testing doesn't go well at all and you're forced to make adjustments either through crunching because the deadline is there, or the release date gets pushed back because of it (which means losing a lot of money).
Next time you make a game you're going to make damn sure this doesn't happen again and the best way to do that is to streamline the design to begin with.

>>11883170
>>11883170
>>11883170
I don't think that is what resulted in mini games, they're not even the only ones in that era to add that shit. That localization debacle never made sense though. Nerfing Spyro's charge speed made sense as an option if they needed that. But how the fuck did those moon people see that camera in round 2 of testing and think "yeah that's better"? You actually cannot see where you're going.

>>11882723
>I blame the Japanese casuals for the direction Spyro 2 took
No. Spyro 1 jap audience had no say in any matter. Sypr 2 and 3 ended up this way because the creators had no idea how to build upon the original game. Same as naughty dog and vehicles in 3.

>>11883082
They're good games. One of the best examples of art style beating raw graphical power.
Just don't be surprised when a kids game is a bit easy or childish.

>>11882392
>Spyro 3 took it even further, straight-up ripping off other PS1 games because the devs were running out of ideas
They wanted to make accessible games for young KIDS first and foremost so they probably intentionally dumbed down the levels in the sequels. They simply didn't want any of the stages to be even half as "complex" as something like tree tops was.

>>11883768
You can't dumb down an already easy game, if anything the biggest complain of the first was how easy it was.

I like the vibes of PSX Spyro, it's comfy. Is it the closest thing to a good horseshow game we'll ever get?

>>11886060
Look into the game Sulphur Nimbus.

>>11879378 (OP)
come to think of it, trying to base a game around controlling a dragon doesn't seem like an easy job

>>11879493
>Every level just feels like a personal sandbox for the player to explore
Yeah?

ahhhh

>>11882392
>>11882435
>>11881710
Agreed. Spyro 1 is genuinely a 10/10 perfect game. The dreamy vibes are absolutely immaculate.
Its tasteful and restrained use of colour theory, architecture, and distance to ever so subtly hint at a rich and enchanting setting STILL hasn't been replicated in any game.
And of course Stewart Copeland is one of the most talented composers ever and he brought his A game for Spyro.
While 2 and 3 are still great games, they don't make you feel like you're inside a fairy tale like the first game does.

Also fun fact about Stewart Copeland, his dad helped found the CIA

>>11887520
It baffles me that anyone actually thinks this. I mean, I know you played it when you were a kid and that's why you love it, but come on

>>11887528
I replay it regularly and it remains true. Not my fault you have no taste and/or soul.

>The J2ME, GBA, DS and PS2 version of The Legend of Spyro: The Eternal Night are all entirely different games by 3 different companies.
Why? Is there really such a big Spyro fanbase to warrant this?

>>11887545
This was just normal in that era. Games were cheap to make.

>>11881612
There was Mario, though. And the dragon doesn't quite compare, I'm afraid.

>the naysayer is shoehorning a backdoor consolewar
No. Bugger off. You have plenty of threads.