Where Spyro 2 Went Wrong (and Right)

Spyro 2 is a mess. But I was able to learn a lot about the series and discussion about art by creating this video.

If you liked this video and want to see more, give it a like and consider subscribing for future updates from yours truly!

#Spyro #SpyroReignitedTrilogy #LiamTriforce

[LiamTriforce]

Hope you all enjoyed this one. Probably won't be covering the rest of the series, as I don't feel strongly about any of the games after Spyro 2. For a shorter and simpler video, this one got more personal than I thought it would, but I think it was necessary for you to understand where I was coming from.


Don't let go of those memories you have with childhood games, regardless of what anyone says. <3

[pyrrhickong]

The one thing I think that Spyro 2 nails that its predecessor doesn't is character. You get cute dragon animations and an occasionally smarmy and snarky Spyro along with an amusing interview framing device, but Spyro 2's worlds are so alive and filled with character. Spyro is a good-hearted snarker, Hunter is a massive goober who talks the talk and does just enough of the walk to make up for him being a loser, Moneybags is perfect in every way and every word out of his mouth oozes punchable charisma. I feel like what you spoke about with the hubs, in a way, reflects toward all of the game. Sure, hockey isn't that fun, but it's a fun idea for these monks to host a hockey league, and even more fun for these cavemen to want to go see the monks' hockey game if they weren't too busy being frozen in ice forever.

I really think that's the enduring legacy of Spyro 2: its world. It's got the core Spyro gameplay to carry it, and then all of its missions are in service of making little challenges feel either cohesive or silly. Where level design fails, individual moments prevail in memory. Do I find that makes for a better overall experience? Not necessary, character is a LOT more subjective than mechanical design, and suffers more on replays when you're looking for that design foremost. But even as someone in the Spyro 1 > Spyro 2 camp, my childhood memories of the second and third games are WAY more vivid than Spyro 1's, and I think that personal connection is why. Spyro was real good at that.

But you do definitely highlight all of the weaknesses and shortcomings of the game in a way that shows how this evolution of the series was not necessarily for the best, and that experience, I think, is more helpful than anything in making another great game in this franchise. So thank you for that.

[bengolding]

I have FAR FAR too much nostalgia to see any faults in this game whatsoever. It's perfect in every way and I've lost count of the number of times I've 100%'d it. I've just played through the Reignited Spyro 2 and similar to yourself, had such an amazing combination of nostalgia and awe at the graphics. To see a world I love so much come to life in such detail meant so much to me. Thank you for this video!

[rainbowbrony]

Despite the criticism, Spyro 2 is by far still my favorite of the trilogy.

[brandonbuell]

To me, I feel like Spyro 2 shines in its characters. All of the allies and enemies have great personalities. And each level has a unique type of enemy and has a cutscene before and after. In the first Spyro game, all of the characters (besides Gnasty Gnorc) feel like they have no importance to anything in the game. An example in Spyro 2, is the war between Zephyr and Breeze Harbor. You go to both worlds and help each with their side of the war. This makes it more memorable to me. And I know you are thinking that Spyro 3 also did this, and you are right it does. Spyro 3 is a great game. He’s just talking in the video of what it did wrong as a sequel to the first game.

[theartofwarforcallofduty]

Spyro 2 has better characters, even crazier puzzles to solve, and so much visual variety. But yeah, the unneccesary backtracking and having to recomplete levels during those backtracks are a drag.

[Sakuya]

Spyro 2’s storyline and intro of new characters to the series integral to the story (Hunter, Elora and the Professor) and the way the levels were interconnected (the war between Zephyr and Breezebuilders for example), the comedic opening and ending cutscenes to EVERY level and just the general fun-factor of the game makes Ripto’s Rage the strongest entry in the series IMO

[PsychadelicoDuck]

Bruh. Elephant herding was dope. It’s a mini puzzle of seeing how the cows react to the player’s abilities (flame gets them higher, charge further) and then using the appropriate one at the appropriate time based on the level’s terrain.

[ErjaB]

Spyro 2 was my first game in this franchise too and I remember spending so much time in Autumn Plains just prancing around, charging and swimming. I'm still amazed how fluid and fun just moving Spyro around is in these games, you really felt like a dragon.

I also used to herd the elephant-cows back and forth in Zephyr just because I could. Spyro the rancher dragon xD

[tessfairfield]

This was one of the first games I ever played. I didn’t have a memory card for my original play station so I never git too far past the second boss. But ten years later, a neighbor friend gave me his old PlayStation and he had Spyro 2, so I got to finish it at last and still had a blast playing it as a teen. Curiously, some of the annoying orbs you mentioned were my favorite mini games as a kid, especially the hockey game

[gypsyfreak]

I don’t care what anyone says I love this game

[kylewagoner]

Ripto’s Rage has the most memorable levels and bosses and overall design. I didn’t even own it as a kid (a friend did and I only own YotD) and it still stood out to me.

[azoz]

I strongly agree with what you said towards the end. Liking/disliking a game, book, or movie doesn't have to do with objectivity. You don't have to convince people. You just like like it. Period!

[-VoltGaming]

I love your videos, specially on Spyro, and when I was playing the reignited trilogy recently (after not playing spyro for almost 10 years), I did felt like the second game was the least good of the three, and I have a real emotional attachment to that game, Spyro 2 was the first game I ever finished by myself and it means a lot to me, here's the story if interested:
When I had my PS1, I aways played games using Gameshark, I never felt like I could finish a game without cheating, I was even kind of afraid of trying to play games without cheats, then one day I forgot my gameshark at a friend's house, on that day I was playing Spyro 2 and got to the final boss, then I noticed that I lost my gameshark, I was really afraid of trying to beat Ripto by myself with no cheats, so I pulled some courage and tried to defeat him, and then... I DID IT, that is my first memory of me beating a game, and that's moment I realized that I can indeed finish games all by myself.
I am a very insecure person since I was a kid, but that story reminds me sometimes that I am able to do stuff even if I don't think I can

[jesseyunderwood]

I personally will always come back to Spyro 2 as a comfort game. It's one of the first few games I ever played, one of the ones I played with my dad a lot (who loved gaming) and now one I and my husband are playing and he's experiencing for the first time. The music and the characters were what had me hooked (and what have attracted my hubby to now play since he originally watched me playing it). Emotions are what can make some games that aren't so great still be good. That they have these memories attached to them.

[LivingGuy]

I noted that there wasn't any mention of the cutscenes that happened at the beginning and ending of every level! Honestly, I thought that was a great feature, and I wish they would have brought that feature back in Spyro 3

[eoghanerk]

I have incredibly similar feelings and experiences with Spyro 2. It was the game of my youth, Summer Forest was a place that I disappeared to when the isolation of being disabled became to much (even if I couldn't completely comprehend those feelings at the time).

I've long had the same thoughts on balancing nostalgia with genuine critique, and the idea of letting yourself get lost in media, but hearing you say those things, with the visuals and sounds of Spyro 2 as the backdrop was incredibly emotional for me, more so than I would have expected.

This isn't even my first time watching this video, but maybe at 23 years of age, with the fear of the growing up and losing my true youth getting stronger every day, it was very impactful to hear those words attached to that imagery. Thank you for that.

[AHungryHunky]

4 years later, i agree with you. As a kid I loved Spyro 2 for the characters and world designs.

As an adult replaying the games Spyro 2 falls short due to its backtracking and how some levels feel designed around thr minigames instead of the core gameplay that made me love the series in the first place

[AtaeruCDX]

Personally I would always come back to Spyro 2 every few years or so and make sure to 100% it. Sure there are a few aspects that can annoy me, but I'm not bothered by the easy missions. I always thought of it as cool and neat mini-games that gave the game a lot of life, never as a insult to intelligence despite their occasional lack of difficulty sometimes.

[lil_baby_nothing]

Personally, I like the whole forcing you to replay a level to 100% it by making you come back after gaining a new ability. I liked that about Metroid and I liked it in this as a child. It was only an absolute pain with redoing the alchemist mission in Fractured Hills, but other than that, I felt like it kept things fresh and exciting.