My first gaming console was the original playstation. We had a lot of games for it, in particular I remember playing a Rayman game designed for kids and Toy Story 2. But by far, my favorite thing to play was the original Spyro trilogy, back when Insomniac still owned the rights to it, and before whatever company bought the franchise and ruined it. The worlds were so imaginative, the music so fitting. It was the ultimate gaming experience. Back then I had no idea what I was doing, I would watch my sister destroy all the levels I could never get to. Coming back to them and playing them, I'm still awed by the pure imagination and creation it must have taken to develop this game. Now I see all the little nuances that I missed before. For instance, in the very first Spyro game, (called Spyro the Dragon), the enemies go through stages of society.
In the first homeworld (the Artisans home world), the gnorcs (haha gnorcs) wear little hats, use wooden swords, and seem to live pretty simply it has an overall prehistoric feel to it. There's even Shepherds tending to their sheep (which are one of the most hilarious enemies to kill). In the next homeworld (Peace Keepers), the gnorcs seem to have discovered gunpowder, and use it to their advantage. The gnorcs in that world are dressed in civil-war era clothing, and mooned you if you turned your back to them (I'm not kidding, chase them into their tents, burn the tents and turn your back). The next homeworld (Magic Crafters) deviates from the pattern, and the gnorcs go back to a medieval age, where they practice magic, and ride animals as mounts. My favorite touch from Magic Crafters were the earth wizards that ran in panicked little circles when you got past their wall of earth.The next homeworld (Beast makers), the gnorcs have discovered electricity, and some of them are dressed in dark clothing with mohawks (The boss of the world is even called "metalhead"). The next homeworld, and my favorite homeworld, (Dream Weavers) doesn't fit this pattern at all, filled with faeries and jesters and things that grow HUGE when it's dark. The developers did an amazing job with this world, putting in a lot more mechanics that make the game that much more fun (and more frustrating). The final world (Gnasty's world), the gnorcs are in a modern age. One of the levels features a shipyard, where gnorcs are loading barrels (and throwing them donkey-kong style) onto ships while the mechanics guard the paths. Another level features gnorcs with grenades and machine guns wearing camouflage armor.
One of the best elements in the game was the music, and how perfectly it fit the level. One of the best examples of this was in Spyro 2: Ripto's Rage. The level called Hurricos is an industrial world with giant gears, tesla-like electronics and huge windmills. The music reflects the world perfectly, thanks to the musical genius of Stewart Copeland (The drummer legend of the Police). He did every song in the original series. Some notable examples are The Hurrico's theme, the Zephyr theme, the Dream Weavers Homeworld theme and the Ice Cavern Theme. I also found out that he did music for one of my favorite TV shows; Dead Like Me.
To finish off this rant, I just want to say how much the franchise has been ruined by pretty much everyone after Insomniac. While I understand that after 3 games, working on even more sequels for the same game would get extremely boring, no one could have done a better job than Insomniac did on the first three games. By far, the original Spyro trilogy, are the best Spyro games ever made.
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