Board 8 > Spyro

(+) Yeah! (+)

I have no idea what the consensus is here. I THOUGHT it was 2 > 3 > 1, but after seeing posts in the "Post each time you beat a game" and GotM topics, I no longer suspect that's the case. It still is my opinion, based almost entirely on the Reignited Trilogy (prior to that I had played about half of the original version of Spyro 1 and that's it).

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Spyro 1 is my favorite game of all time.

I borrow-traded Ripto's Rage with a friend for Ape Escape in 5th grade, then he moved to St. Louis. So I went a few years only having Spyro 1 and Year of the Dragon. When he moved back, he said the game was broken at a party.

Eventually I got a new copy at the end of high school and replayed it and... it wasn't nearly as good as I remembered. Hunter is fun, but better in Year of the Dragon. And "I'm a faun you dork!" is really the high point of that game's dialogue anyway. Year of the Dragon had a little more variety of environment, though I'm not sure if I quite would say it's better... still replaying it in Reignited.

So while I like the latter two games in the series a lot and am not sure of which I'd prefer, Spyro 1 is king and it's not even close.

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1 > 3 > 2


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Very much enjoy them all, but I feel strongly that they improved with every entry, culminating in YotD being just outside of my all-time top 10.

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3 > 2 > 1 (based on PS1 games)

Year of the Dragon is the most polished and well-paced game, in my opinion. Although some of the side character levels get kind of annoying, it does have some awesome minigames too. And I like the egg hook.

Spyro 2 has some weak boss fights but it's still mostly on par with Year.

Spyro 1 definitely feels the most dated but I enjoy it's slightly darker atmosphere and weird PS1 liminality probably the most out of all three games.

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I will say, I do love the wealth of differing opinions. There is no universal opinion on this, which just, in my mind, shows the quality of the trilogy and how different parts of it can read well to different people.

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It's 1 > 3 > 2 or 3 > 1 > 2
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3 > 2 > 1

This is actually a huge shock to me. I grew up only playing 2 & 4, so I was expecting 2 to remain my favorite.

After playing Reignited though I really gotta give it to 3.

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2 > 3 > 1

Ripto's Rage is in my top 10 games of all-time. I prefer a lot of the levels in 2 to 3, and I also find some of the extra character levels in 3 to be not that fun.

All 3 are great games, though.

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Originals as a kid: 3 > 2 > 1
Reignited as an adult: 1 > 2 > 3

2 > 3 > 1


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HanOfTheNekos posted...

I will say, I do love the wealth of differing opinions. There is no universal opinion on this, which just, in my mind, shows the quality of the trilogy and how different parts of it can read well to different people.

The fact that each of them has now been called an all-time top 10 game by different users a dozen posts into this topic is truly a testament to that.

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It depends on the day, but generally I go with 2 > 3 > 1. I think I base this on level design. Sometimes 3 creeps ahead of 2, but not too often. I like eggs more than orbs and talismans I think, but some of the orb quests are pretty memorable.

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Honestly I have cycled between all permutations of this over the last 20 years

I love 1's simplicity, 2's additions were fantastic, 3 had more bells and whistles though not all of them were totally successful

I lean towards 2>3>1, but it could be different tomorrow

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I liked em all pretty equally back in the day but now I definitely prefer the directness of 1.

3 feels like a better 2 in most ways.

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I will say that the PS1-ness of 1 is most charming.

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Why I like 1 the most as an adult is because while is definitely the simplest (and arguably easiest), it also has the best level design for me. It really feels like an exploration game. Finding all of the gems requires some actual hunting and there's several environmental puzzles in the game, where you can see high up ledges and are left wondering how you're supposed to get to them using creative glides and supercharges. Simply exploring the levels feels fun as a result. By comparison, 2 and especially 3's level design is way plainer, often almost entirely removing any kind of platforming or environmental puzzles in favor of minigames... and said minigames just often aren't that fun these days. I often walked out of them feeling like I wish they had just done what Spyro 1 did instead.

3 > 2 > 1

1 > 3 > 2

I don't think it's particularly close, either. 1 is amazing, 3 is good, and I hated 2. For whatever it's worth, I never played the games as a kid, so this is all based on the Reignited Trilogy.

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DireKrow posted...

Why I like 1 the most as an adult is because while is definitely the simplest (and arguably easiest), it also has the best level design for me. It really feels like an exploration game. Finding all of the gems requires some actual hunting and there's several environmental puzzles in the game, where you can see high up ledges and are left wondering how you're supposed to get to them using creative glides and supercharges. Simply exploring the levels feels fun as a result. By comparison, 2 and especially 3's level design is way plainer, often almost entirely removing any kind of platforming or environmental puzzles in favor of minigames... and said minigames just often aren't that fun these days. I often walked out of them feeling like I wish they had just done what Spyro 1 did instead.

This is basically why I like 1 the most as well. I like 3 for bringing back the gems as things to look around for though, I remember a decent amount of exploration.

That said I think 2 and 3 are also notable for being some of the earliest "set piece" kind of levels. It's actually pretty neat how each level has their own story arc and there's usually some kind of final climax before you beat the level. Nothing too grand of course, but they feel ahead of their time in that respect. Most collectible games give you context for the main collectibles, but even the spyro levels themselves have plots. My favorite ones are the levels where you participate on two sides of a war in 3, I think they were like seagulls vs walruses? And there's the romeo and juliet subplot...so good.

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2 has "both sides of a war" as well, Zephyr and...somewhere else

But the point about 1 encouraging more exploration, and the way gyms are put in visible areas encouraging you to figure out how to get there is a really good one and helps me articulate why I love it so much - feeling your way through a level, especially working out specific supercharge routes, is great fun.

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3 > 1 > 2

3 and 1 are pretty close and I had fun with both. 2 sucked. The bosses were awful, and the minigames were terrible too. Only played Reignited.
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3 > 1 > 2 as a child, 1 > 3 > 2 nowadays. All three are great though. As to why 2 was always in third place:

pjbasis posted...
3 feels like a better 2 in most ways.

As has already been stated here, 1 has more of an emphasis on exploration, which sets it apart from the sequels.

XIII_rocks posted...

2 has "both sides of a war" as well, Zephyr and...somewhere else

Oh that's what I was thinking of. Maybe 3 didn't have that.

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