I first played 'Spyro The Dragon' on a Playstation Underground demo disc. I thought it was incredible. I always loved the N64 platformers, so this was a chance for me to get in on the action. I hope you enjoy this video as much as I did making it. As always, give it a share if you learned something new. Thanks for watching!
God weren't Underground Samplers great. I really think more companies should do demos these days. I definetly want to buy a game more if I like its demo.
ME TOO! this is what I played when I was little, I didn't play mario until I was 7 I played spyro when I was 4-6 I don't know what happened to me stopping because I absolutely LOVED that game!
The "my mother could play" was spot-on. My mom actually got hooked on these after watching me play. She played through the first one herself and absolutely hated Tree Tops
"My mother will be able to play"... ABSOLUTELY TRUE AND SUCCESSED!! My mother never liked videogames (called them "little machines or maquinitas in Spanish) or even listen their "noise", but she loved to watching me playing Spyro the Dragon, the first one. One day I said to her to try to play, ans she tryed; With this you move, this for fire, this for jump... and she was playing for a while!! she was nearly on her 60 or 62 maybe... The most surprising to me was when, next day, she told me to play again!!! Was the only one game she love to watch and play ever!!
Spyro the Dragon, original series, have changed my life deeply, forever. Everything, from character design, to level design, overall difficulty, colors, musics and rendered athmosphere is magic and shows how professionnal people behind those are.
Spyro 2 is hands down without a doubt one of the greatest sequels to any video game ever made. And as a personal bonus it is home to my favorite hub world in the entire trilogy, Autumn Plains. However the first game still will always be legendary and have a very special place in not only my heart but the hearts of all fans.
I still have fond memories of my Dad playing all three main Spyros to completion. It was his favorite as we could bond over them. I enjoyed the graphics and witty humor as a child and he loved the challenge courses and platforming.
Then play them again!! I prefer them over the remakes, because it lost the humor, and some parts are way to easy, and some (like a certain gulping boss) are way harder then they are supposed to be. Some characters are changed in both design and personality, that they seem worse IMO.
@@Gadget-Walkmen LMAO, uh huh, sure kid. Believe what ever you are on. They ain't the se in tone and humor. They literal have different words changed around, and different line delivery. No, the jokes are not the same.
@@zionthedragon8866 They ARE the same in tone and humor, you half wit. I'm talking about the overall tone of the world itself is the same. You act like the jokes have to be verbatim which they don't have to be like that at all. As long as the same message of the jokes are the same, it does't matter if the jokes aren't word for word. The only person acting like a kid is you because on how ridiculous and laughable your complaints are.
@@Gadget-Walkmen They are NOT the same tone, you nimrod. The overall all tone is more babyish and dumbed down, with shippings and little more forced, and everything especially more (little) child friendly. No, the jokes wouldn't have to be the same if they didn't lie and try to claim this was a remaster. A remaster, in terms of a videogame, means the same exact thing, but updated graphics (not changed, more akin to a HD remaster), fixed controls, and things are written out to flow better. But this is more of a remake, but as they still lie and claim to be a remaster, I will hold it to the rules of a remaster. And the joke delivery isn't the same if you change the words around, and tone and words, even the tiniest, and timing, are everything in a joke, which no, reignited doesn't land. The only kid is you, laughing off things you don't agree with, and not putting two and two together when comparing the differences side by side. That or you just refuse to accept that's it not the same, and are nostalgia blinded so badly with rosey glasses to see that there is a difference.
Yeah, especially considering the hardware it looks great. While I didn't play it that much back then, I definitely remember it for being one of the very few good looking and playing FPS on the PSone.
@Comrade Sky Yeah I know, the word "talent" is used (and I used it too, since it was said in the video) to describe also acquired skills and overall mastery, not just natural abilities or tendencies. That being said I hate the word too, it's used everywhere nowadays, and like you said it sounds like it's something you're born with.
Legit. When I got the remaster they gave u the option of either having the remastered music or the original music. I went for original and oh man it was amazing.....it brought back so many good memories
Stewart Copeland is a hell of a drummer and music composer. He is one of my main influences as a drummer, even though I never listened to The Police very much.
Spyro was my very first video game. As a little girl I loved dragons and my favorite color was purple. It was a game my dad and I bonded over. When I heard it was getting a reboot, I immediately had to buy it. The game inspired me to stream here on TH-cam to which I have made new friends and found other people who love Spyro as much as I do. I can not express enough my love for the masterpiece that enriched my childhood. I'm so happy it was made. To this day, it will always remain my number 1 favorite. Thank you insomniac 💜💛
I didn't realize Spyro basically invented LoD rendering (Level of Detail, the technical term for decreasing polygonal and often texture complexity with distance). That's cool.
Dylan Morrison I think some games used LoD before then, but had nowhere near as high of a maximum render distance, fading usually like 50m away from the camera. I like to point at Sonic R for Saturn for an example.
They didn't invent it, they just developed it further. Super Mario 64 had this as well and came before, although they couldn't do as much because of the limitations of the N64 compared to the PS1. When the camera moved far enough away from Mario, his figure got swapped with a low-poly version and you could clearly see it.
Decreasing texture resolution by distance is not LoD but a separate technique called mipmapping and according to wikipedia sources was invented in 1983. Spyro didn't invent LoD either, the concept of LoD existed since 1976 but Spyro was one of the first video games to make use of it.
Keep in mind that unlike the N64, the PS1 had no Z-buffer. That means all triangles have to be drawn in order, back to front, to be seen correctly. That requires a considerable amount of processing for the hardware of the time, so they had to be super clever with optimizations, on top of LoD with such a small amount of RAM.
I'd always wondered what the "Z-buffer" thing was that Nintendo 64 emulators always talked about. o.O Considering that the PlayStation didn't have one, that just makes 3-D PlayStation games seem even more amazing to me. :O
I never owned a PS1 so I finally got a chance to play the Trilogy on the PS4. An amazing series, loved it. I actually got a platinum trophy on the 3rd title.
Skul?! Wow, that's a pleasant surprise! I thought you'd be busy working on the next video from a week ago for Splatoon 2! A Spyro fan. I like you even more now!
Disruptor is one of my all time favorite PS1 titles (and I have around 300). The controls are tight, the graphics are great, the psionic powers are an interesting twist, and the the live-action cut scenes are hillarious! I can't recommend it enough if you like doom-like games. =)
Disruptor is freaking insane for a first ever game. That's the first time I've ever seen or heard of it but even from the clips shown here it looks solid, polished and damn _good_ . It's no wonder Insomniac did so well with a first offering like that.
I remember as if it were yesterday... As I entered the living room of my father's boss, there was this kid sitting on the floor , staring at the television with unblinking eyes and motionless body , on the screen I could see a purple dragon, breathing flames in the horizon, while I was questioning what on amazing earth was that gray-box- shaped thing? I had not known yet the Playstation and there was my first contact to one of my childhood's greatest memories. I approached the unknown boy and the uncharted world on that screen and after a few exchange of words I had the opportunity to play the game for the first time. I was thrown to new fields where my imagination flew wild, my mind was blown away, all the possibilities in polygons, all the world to explore. Each press of a button was an immediate immersion-drive that took over my senses and I needed that in my days ! As soon as the gaming session ended and I was brought back to the cruel reality of not owning the console, I begged to my father for all that is worth beneath this sky, to purchase that sacred gray-box video game. A week later, I had the blessed surprise as my father came home with a box that represented all of my dreams, in the haste of happiness I unboxed my first Playstation . Fast forward time, a 27 years old man, at the edge of shedding the infant tears of beautiful memories, I write this raw comment to thank Insomniac for crafting a beautiful story for many children to tell. Its not just gaming, It is love , dedication and dreams translated into Bits. Thank you!
I feel you. I legit almost shed tears while I watched this beautiful video showcasing the history of one of the few pieces of my childhood that made it so special and worthwhile. Man, where is the time machine when you need it 😫😫
15:50 I actually was introduced to the game via the PS1 at my grandparents house. They only had two games... Spyro the Dragon and Spyro 2 Ripto's Rage. Greatest childhood game ever
Thanks for dedicating your time to such a deserving series. I've been blessed to have such a wonderful game as my first to own, and a wonderful video that teaches me more about it.
I was more a Crash fan myself, but that's because I spent so much more time with those games. Spyro was always something I wanted more time with and it seems like now is the time.
Great video! I think another major component of Spyro's success was just the SPEED of the game. The games on Nintendo systems like Mario, Donkey Kong and Banjo were much more of a slow, careful, precise experience. In Spyro you not only had a totally open world to explore but you could also blast through it as fast as you wanted with Spyro's charge attack. Sparx was around to grab the gems for you to keep it from becoming tedious and slow. It almost feels like playing a Katamari game sometimes, you see a line of gems and just race through it and hear those satisfying dragonfly sound effects as you collect each one. It gave Spyro a totally unique feel really set it apart from its competition. You could never call Spyro a Mario 64 clone for example because although somewhat inspired by it, it makes a point of making the actual collect-a-thon part ongoing and satisfying. They really pushed the Playstation to its absolute limits and playing Spyro 3 today is incredible because the graphics are so polished it makes you go "did this really come out in 2000??"
My mom taught me how to play Spyro the Dragon and I still love it to this day. So many great memories of watching her find the secrets and learning the controls for myself ❤
I can't believe I had forgotten about Disruptor, seeing the first aid power up alone brought back a flood of memories. Definitely an excellent game if you're into doom. I gotta find it again.
I want to thank you for sending me back to my childhood, the world needed this homage to spyro. You have made my day, i am very exited for the re-ignited trilogy
A small correction around 12:50. I saw an old interview with Alex Hastings about his engine, it mainly works by reducing (and completely removing) textures on far away geometry more than changing the polygon count. This is because the PS1 could render a truly insane number of polygons provided they did not have textures. That's the secret of the Spyro engine: replace the fog with untextured (but still colored) polygons. The engine had 7 LODs (Levels Of Detail) for putting textures on the polygons, so the transition was smooth and seamless. The end result was incredible draw distances with good performance, and arguably the best trilogy ever made.
My favorite since back in the day when I was blessed with my first PlayStation. When the Reignited Trilogy was announced I knew I had to have it. Bought the PS4 just for that and have had a blast sharing the magic with my 6 year old. She is very good at gaming and has thoroughly enjoyed going through them on her own. Long live Spyro!
0:47 - Yep, if there's any games that epitomize the "not Nintendo" image of the late '90s and early 2000s, it's FFVII and MGS... wonder what snake and cloud are up to nowadays
Cloud is searching for a bigger sword, snake is old and retired, or he got sucked into a weird portal thing during Metal Gear Survive. I hope it’s not canon.
You make my day when I see a new video out, the way you piece together your work, connecting all the dots, truly great work norm, you've outdone yourself once again 8)
I still remember playing Spyro 2 for the first time when my mom bought it for me as a little kid. It was amazing. My mom knew absolutely nothing about video games, she'd never even played one before, but even she knew that Spyro was good.
I know next to nothing about the development of these games and this is such an awesome way to get informed. As a kid I always thought Spyro and Mario64 were very similar, but this helps me really get the connection.
I've always felt that Insomniac has had one of the most interesting "lives" of any gaming company. IGN I believe wrote up a massive piece a few years back going over everything, even including the cancelled Girl with a Stick that they were stuck on for half a year before starting Ratchet & Clank, AND the never-before-seen concept they were working on briefly before _that!_ I can't recommend it enough, I've cited it repeatedly when working on my own videos, it's THAT good!
Spyro was one of my favorite games as a kid all three of them sat on my shelf with metal gear and stacks of other ps1 titles. Booting up the reignited trilogy was like nostalgia being directly injected into my veins and it was the same joy i had playing the games all those years ago.
Never knew Spyro had such an amazing origin story! That little purple dragon really did his thing! Great job insomniac! Great job on this video. It's another epic watch!
When I was a kid, Crash and Spyro was everything to me. I often daydream about going to their world and bond with my two favorite characters. Now, 24, I no longer enjoy games as much as I used to. But I will always remember them as my childhood heroes
I still feel sad I didn't have a PlayStation all those years ago; I was able to get glimpses of it at a friend's house, though he wasn't nearly as keen on it as I was so not all that often. He had a demo of Spyro, and even that small slice of the game was soo fun. I still get nostalgia for a game I never actually got to play.
yeah its sad, but, at least * most * leave the gameplay, the reason the game exists free and up to the player, and leave the paid content optional, at least, sometimes.
Nah Universal wanted money - thats why the original trilogy was released over three years. It was Insomniac who didn't to just milk it, but that mindset was definitely already there.
Delusional boomer mindset. These great games are the exception, not the rule. Did you not even listen to the video? The reviewers are constantly referencing the cash-grab low-effort copycats that have existed since the industry started. People are trying and succeeding at making amazing games still today, despite your rose-colored nostalgia holding the past above the present.
Man i agree with you... But this Video starts out by basically stating that Sony wanted to own the market and therefore tread into Nintendo's territory.....
I played my first ever Spyro game back in 2007 when I was 7. After I started playing ‘Eternal night’ I was immediately hooked, the legend of Spyro series will always be my favorite game series. I know most Spyro fans don’t like the rebooted series, but I still have so much love in my heart for it ❤️
Congratulations Toys For Bob. You made a man in his mid 20's shed tears of joy over his childhood nostalgia after seeing what you had revived in the old trilogy of Spyro. The Reignited Trilogy is a masterpiece. And IT DEFINITELY lived up to expectations.
@@aaronm4706 It's not possible then, because AAA relates to the relative budget and size of the game at the time. Something like Spiderman PS4 or Halo Infinite are AAA while most Nintendo titles are A-AA. SMB 3 was considered a full AAA game at the time since it was the most expensive game Nintendo ever produced and likely one of if not the most expensive game ever made.
Thank you for this amazing content and "bravo!" for the production value. Spyro 2 was my first ever game(I knew nothing about it beforehand) and it totally blew my mind, visually and musically, just the general feel to it. I transcended. What a beautifully composed game, my god.
I don't understand why anyone would dislike this very informative video. It was exactly what I wanted when I clicked on it. The kind of short and sweet video game documentary I'd expect on TV. I played Spyro 2 & 3 as a child and this video was very enlightening, thank you!
watching this made me realize my love for this game series (I play the originals almost annually) has a much more mature backing to it. thanks for looking into this strong history and making me feel more super charged in my love for this game!
Grandmathers stealing their kids game. That is what happen to me. My mom fell in love with the game. More then I did. I liked it a lot. My mom became very addicted to it.
I wish I could relate to a family that likes video games. I've loved video games my entire life but all my family ever did was snidely talk about video games as if they were cancer itself or the spawn of satan. Or at the very least, a huge annoyance to them. Everything was "stop playing that fucking nintendo thing" even when it would turn out to be something like a Playstation or a Dreamcast. Didn't matter. To them, everything game related was a "stupid annoyance".
+Blood that's very mature. Be sure to include your nongamer parents in your life when you can though. Half the time they react like that because they feel left out, I know it's that way with my mom.
Hey man. I’ve been watching your channel for years, and I never made a comment. Now, I have to. Your channel is, in every meaning of the word, awesome. It’s fun, interesting, learning and full of facts and history. It reminds me that I was fun and joyful kid, despite grumpy, angry motherf that I became today. Thanks man, just continue with good work.
Kidd Wow, the internet. What are you doing with your life? You had chance to become someone, someone who could actually do things, but no. You became a guy wandering around the internet, insulting people who didn't agree with your petty opinions. The fact that people liked this indicatives so much about the human race; blindly follow anything. All I hear is a baby who knows how to type. Take your idiotic nature away from sane people, please. We don't need you and you here, and as long as you stay as a person who just insults, no one needs you anymore.
And here we are years later and spyro is one of the most beloved games that PlayStation made. I grew up with this game and it brought me so much joy to play even with the reignited version
I had Spyro 2 when I was a kid, and I absolutely loved it. 15 years later, I got the remake on Steam and was damn near in tears because I was so happy to be playing again.
Another addition of Spyro is “Spyro A Hero’s Tale”. One of my favorite childhood games because I grew up with gamecube! Will always be nostalgic to me!
I loved the Legend of Spyro trilogy. It had its flaws but provided a far more interesting and (imo) magical world for Spyro to explore and a great story with fantastic music. The gameplay wasn’t outstanding but it was still an enjoyable beat em up experience. I really hope that trilogy gets remastered or re-released so more people get to experience it.
What I love the most about Spyro is that the series came from a humble place. Insomniac are a genuine group of devs passionate about everything they do and I still feel, despite their massive scale nowadays, there's still that humbleness involved in anything they make and they rarely ever make an objectively bad game nor is a game bogged down by iffy business practices. I'm so happy for their success, especially as Spyro is near and dear to my heart.
Seriously, this is everything to want out of a documentary like this. Can't believe the amount of research you seem to be doing for each video for being free to watch. Hope to see many more!
Watching this has just made me miss the game so much so now I’m downloading the PS1 trilogy on PS3. I hope the Switch eventually gets the Reignited versions.
Thank you for putting this video together! As a lover of Spyro since I was a baby (from watching my dad play it on our PS1, to letting me try it out at age 3-4), there was a lot of information in here that I had not known about. I truly enjoyed this video - thank you for reigniting my love for Spyro ☺️
I always loved the music of these games! Let’s be honest... I loved all these games for so many reasons! My childhood was so much better because of them.
one of my first video game loves was spyro: a hero’s tail - i pretty much missed the original trilogy because i was so young, but my siblings adored it! now i’m so excited to be starting out the reignited trilogy!!! thank you for this video, i love spyro so much and it’s awesome to learn how much dedication and love they put into developing it :,)
A month ago I discovered the Reignited Trilogy by accident and immidiately bought it for the sake of nostalgia. I had so much fun on the PS1 versions! I kinda remembered playing Enter the Dragonfly and The Legend of Spyro 1 on PS2 but I agree they were not as memorable as the trilogy (though I quite liked catching baby dragonflies with bubbles). And now, I am finally educated on my favorite dragon's history! Thank you very much for sharing and thank you Insomniac Games for creating masterpieces!
I remember when my sister got this for Xmas. Me and my brother initially offered to help her with difficult bits and ended up playing the game with her from start to finish. Nostalgic
Spyro and my mother are literally the reasons why I got into gaming. The memories I have. I would play hours upon hours. I loved the characters, music, everything about these games. I teared up watching this. Spyro is a childhood hero to me. Thanks mom ❤️, I had an amazing childhood.
Even though I never really played the game apart from the demo disc many times, I watched this since it's the Gaming Historian. Love your delivery, presentation, and art. Unparalleled production value.
they even used Elijah Wood as voice for Spyro in The Legend of Spyro: The Eternal Night (2007) The Legend of Spyro: A New Beginning ( 2006) , The Legend of Spyro: Dawn of the Dragon (2008) and he didnt even mention that :P haha but holy shit this game is still one of the best games ive ever played !
I first played 'Spyro The Dragon' on a Playstation Underground demo disc. I thought it was incredible. I always loved the N64 platformers, so this was a chance for me to get in on the action. I hope you enjoy this video as much as I did making it. As always, give it a share if you learned something new. Thanks for watching!
God weren't Underground Samplers great. I really think more companies should do demos these days. I definetly want to buy a game more if I like its demo.
I remember those! That's where I first played Spyro too!
Gaming Historian
Can you make a history of playstation
Gaming History Spyro Reignited Trilogy has been delayed in November
ME TOO! this is what I played when I was little, I didn't play mario until I was 7 I played spyro when I was 4-6 I don't know what happened to me stopping because I absolutely LOVED that game!
The "my mother could play" was spot-on. My mom actually got hooked on these after watching me play. She played through the first one herself and absolutely hated Tree Tops
"My mother will be able to play"... ABSOLUTELY TRUE AND SUCCESSED!!
My mother never liked videogames (called them "little machines or maquinitas in Spanish) or even listen their "noise", but she loved to watching me playing Spyro the Dragon, the first one.
One day I said to her to try to play, ans she tryed; With this you move, this for fire, this for jump... and she was playing for a while!! she was nearly on her 60 or 62 maybe...
The most surprising to me was when, next day, she told me to play again!!! Was the only one game she love to watch and play ever!!
Miguel Angel MG “succeeded” not “successed”. Success is a noun therefor it doesn’t have a past tense. Oh sorry I’m being that guy again.
TOFU Elemental lmao you were that kid werent you
@@emil6421 ugh that kid
Man, that one kid who is super annoying and points out that one mistake in your comment. You should feel ashamed. Oh wait I'm being that one kid too
Wow, that's cool.
Spyro the Dragon, original series, have changed my life deeply, forever. Everything, from character design, to level design, overall difficulty, colors, musics and rendered athmosphere is magic and shows how professionnal people behind those are.
Caring about a cartoon dragon can change your life, but only for the worse.
Spyro 2 is hands down without a doubt one of the greatest sequels to any video game ever made. And as a personal bonus it is home to my favorite hub world in the entire trilogy, Autumn Plains. However the first game still will always be legendary and have a very special place in not only my heart but the hearts of all fans.
Yes!!!! The music for the main worlds in this game was beyond beautiful but autumn plains.....Best way I can describe the music was it was enchanting
Autumn Plain is my favorite, fracture hills and harbor were my favorite levels
@@e2daz265 harbor lol “troubles with the trolley aye?”...
@@ir0n392 😂 the nostalgia just made me sob
@@ir0n392 “I’M LITTLE POE PEEP AND I LOST MY COWLEKS”
I still have fond memories of my Dad playing all three main Spyros to completion. It was his favorite as we could bond over them. I enjoyed the graphics and witty humor as a child and he loved the challenge courses and platforming.
Then play them again!! I prefer them over the remakes, because it lost the humor, and some parts are way to easy, and some (like a certain gulping boss) are way harder then they are supposed to be. Some characters are changed in both design and personality, that they seem worse IMO.
@@zionthedragon8866 LMAO uh huh. Sure. the humor and tone is ALL here that matches the original.
@@Gadget-Walkmen LMAO, uh huh, sure kid. Believe what ever you are on. They ain't the se in tone and humor. They literal have different words changed around, and different line delivery. No, the jokes are not the same.
@@zionthedragon8866
They ARE the same in tone and humor, you half wit. I'm talking about the overall tone of the world itself is the same. You act like the jokes have to be verbatim which they don't have to be like that at all. As long as the same message of the jokes are the same, it does't matter if the jokes aren't word for word.
The only person acting like a kid is you because on how ridiculous and laughable your complaints are.
@@Gadget-Walkmen They are NOT the same tone, you nimrod. The overall all tone is more babyish and dumbed down, with shippings and little more forced, and everything especially more (little) child friendly. No, the jokes wouldn't have to be the same if they didn't lie and try to claim this was a remaster. A remaster, in terms of a videogame, means the same exact thing, but updated graphics (not changed, more akin to a HD remaster), fixed controls, and things are written out to flow better. But this is more of a remake, but as they still lie and claim to be a remaster, I will hold it to the rules of a remaster. And the joke delivery isn't the same if you change the words around, and tone and words, even the tiniest, and timing, are everything in a joke, which no, reignited doesn't land.
The only kid is you, laughing off things you don't agree with, and not putting two and two together when comparing the differences side by side. That or you just refuse to accept that's it not the same, and are nostalgia blinded so badly with rosey glasses to see that there is a difference.
Disruptor looks insane for a first game for a group of inexperienced guys of the time.
Disruptor was really fun, owned it on the PS1 back in the day and it was a solid Doom competitor
Yeah, especially considering the hardware it looks great. While I didn't play it that much back then, I definitely remember it for being one of the very few good looking and playing FPS on the PSone.
Two words: "talented programmers"
Disruptor actually is very fine console FPS from 90's, very underrated technical marvel.
@Comrade Sky Yeah I know, the word "talent" is used (and I used it too, since it was said in the video) to describe also acquired skills and overall mastery, not just natural abilities or tendencies. That being said I hate the word too, it's used everywhere nowadays, and like you said it sounds like it's something you're born with.
A degree in English from Princeton and the best you can do is “thank you for releasing me”?
Lol this is such an underated comment
Sounds like House of the Dead 2 dialogue😂
I'm fucking done lmaoooo
Thank goodness no one plays Spyro for the story.
💀💀💀😂
Okay, a grandmother taking her grandchild's game because she likes it more is just so dope for some reason.
Lugmillord agree
Ironically Spyro was the very first game I remember playing and it was my grandmothers. We got a Playstation soon after and stole/was given her copy.
That poor grand kid
I remember this game. It was perfect
Mine loved Super Mario Brothers on the NES. She played it right up until she passed away in the early 2000's.
Wow. Seeing the first Spyro game and hearing its music again after all these years gave me goosebumps. Nostalgia is a hell of a thing.
Legit. When I got the remaster they gave u the option of either having the remastered music or the original music. I went for original and oh man it was amazing.....it brought back so many good memories
Nostalgia hits differently if it's related to something one of a kind
Stewart Copeland is a hell of a drummer and music composer. He is one of my main influences as a drummer, even though I never listened to The Police very much.
Scorpions. Scorpions are one hell of a thing.
Spyro was my very first video game. As a little girl I loved dragons and my favorite color was purple. It was a game my dad and I bonded over. When I heard it was getting a reboot, I immediately had to buy it. The game inspired me to stream here on TH-cam to which I have made new friends and found other people who love Spyro as much as I do.
I can not express enough my love for the masterpiece that enriched my childhood. I'm so happy it was made. To this day, it will always remain my number 1 favorite. Thank you insomniac 💜💛
Are you single? ❤
@@banaweekidane2630 Haha I am not. But I’m always down to make a new friend who’s into Spyro ☺️
@@banaweekidane2630 are you single?
Aw yes inject that well-researched video game history into my *VEINS*
Max Marriner le new meme?
Lol
yiiiss
Too late for me now
I love these video so much
The fact they managed to get Spyro 3 out is incredible! major respect to those devs
Making their first game in a month obviously ensured Universal Interactive that they had the magic touch!
Same with Crash Bandicoot: Warped!
I didn't realize Spyro basically invented LoD rendering (Level of Detail, the technical term for decreasing polygonal and often texture complexity with distance). That's cool.
Dylan Morrison I think some games used LoD before then, but had nowhere near as high of a maximum render distance, fading usually like 50m away from the camera. I like to point at Sonic R for Saturn for an example.
They didn't invent it, they just developed it further. Super Mario 64 had this as well and came before, although they couldn't do as much because of the limitations of the N64 compared to the PS1. When the camera moved far enough away from Mario, his figure got swapped with a low-poly version and you could clearly see it.
Decreasing texture resolution by distance is not LoD but a separate technique called mipmapping and according to wikipedia sources was invented in 1983. Spyro didn't invent LoD either, the concept of LoD existed since 1976 but Spyro was one of the first video games to make use of it.
Keep in mind that unlike the N64, the PS1 had no Z-buffer. That means all triangles have to be drawn in order, back to front, to be seen correctly. That requires a considerable amount of processing for the hardware of the time, so they had to be super clever with optimizations, on top of LoD with such a small amount of RAM.
I'd always wondered what the "Z-buffer" thing was that Nintendo 64 emulators always talked about. o.O
Considering that the PlayStation didn't have one, that just makes 3-D PlayStation games seem even more amazing to me. :O
I never owned a PS1 so I finally got a chance to play the Trilogy on the PS4. An amazing series, loved it. I actually got a platinum trophy on the 3rd title.
Yeah same! I really in love that game, almost done the first game Spyro the dragon!
I had no clue how innovative Spyro was for the time with its soundtrack, optimization, and enemies. Really cool
It made me bust a few times as well
@@michaelpacinus242 bustin makes me feel good
Spyro was the very first non-Nintendo game I ever played, and it's one of my favorite video game characters of all time. Thanks for making this video!
SkulShurtugalTCG didn't expect to see you here
Skul?! Wow, that's a pleasant surprise! I thought you'd be busy working on the next video from a week ago for Splatoon 2!
A Spyro fan. I like you even more now!
Me too! Croc was another.
Skul really gets around, doesn't he?
Same I forgot to play it today
Man is it just me or does the Doom clone game look incredible for the time?
Spyro vs Doomguy.
Disruptor is one of my all time favorite PS1 titles (and I have around 300). The controls are tight, the graphics are great, the psionic powers are an interesting twist, and the the live-action cut scenes are hillarious! I can't recommend it enough if you like doom-like games. =)
yeah it actually looked fucking great. it is hard to believe
Can't believe a game like this slipped under my nose.
It looks awesome. The swinging of the weapon seems a bit distracting though.
Disruptor is freaking insane for a first ever game. That's the first time I've ever seen or heard of it but even from the clips shown here it looks solid, polished and damn _good_ . It's no wonder Insomniac did so well with a first offering like that.
Man, I absolutely love 'Spyro: Year Of The Dragon'. I love how they shake things up with gameplay.
My second favourite PS1 game. Just behind Crash Bandicoot 3: Warped.
I remember as if it were yesterday...
As I entered the living room of my father's boss, there was this kid sitting on the floor , staring at the television with unblinking eyes and motionless body , on the screen I could see a purple dragon, breathing flames in the horizon, while I was questioning what on amazing earth was that gray-box- shaped thing?
I had not known yet the Playstation and there was my first contact to one of my childhood's greatest memories. I approached the unknown boy and the uncharted world on that screen and after a few exchange of words I had the opportunity to play the game for the first time.
I was thrown to new fields where my imagination flew wild, my mind was blown away, all the possibilities in polygons, all the world to explore.
Each press of a button was an immediate immersion-drive that took over my senses and I needed that in my days !
As soon as the gaming session ended and I was brought back to the cruel reality of not owning the console, I begged to my father for all that is worth beneath this sky, to purchase that sacred gray-box video game.
A week later, I had the blessed surprise as my father came home with a box that represented all of my dreams, in the haste of happiness I unboxed my first Playstation .
Fast forward time, a 27 years old man, at the edge of shedding the infant tears of beautiful memories,
I write this raw comment to thank Insomniac for crafting a beautiful story for many children to tell.
Its not just gaming,
It is love , dedication and dreams translated into Bits.
Thank you!
Blessed comment.
I feel you. I legit almost shed tears while I watched this beautiful video showcasing the history of one of the few pieces of my childhood that made it so special and worthwhile. Man, where is the time machine when you need it 😫😫
dang that hit hard
Who knew Ernest Hemingway owned a PlayStation?
@ISRAEL GONZALEZ - We are all author of our amazing stories!!!!
Spyro is the REASON my Dad bought us a Playstation in the 90s. We replay Spyro to this day!
Michelle the Human i wish my dad didnt left
Spyro and Crash Bandicoot both games were the reason I want a PlayStation. out of all the trilogy Spyro 2 is my favorite because it was so much fun.
for me it was that and Gran Turismo.
My dad is the reason I got into Spyro as well he even played the game with unfortunately he’s gone now
The 90s were such a great time I miss those days...excited for the reignited trilogy!! Awesome video!
15:50 I actually was introduced to the game via the PS1 at my grandparents house. They only had two games... Spyro the Dragon and Spyro 2 Ripto's Rage. Greatest childhood game ever
Thanks for dedicating your time to such a deserving series. I've been blessed to have such a wonderful game as my first to own, and a wonderful video that teaches me more about it.
Spyro was my favorite Animal game mascot. His games were fun and he was really cool. I miss him.
Spyro will be back this Fall.
Bryce Mckenzie he's not gone.
Plus he has ongoing TV series what in opposition to Skylanders games is about him..
I was more a Crash fan myself, but that's because I spent so much more time with those games. Spyro was always something I wanted more time with and it seems like now is the time.
Logan Daniel I always preferred Spyro but I like Crash too.
Great video! I think another major component of Spyro's success was just the SPEED of the game. The games on Nintendo systems like Mario, Donkey Kong and Banjo were much more of a slow, careful, precise experience. In Spyro you not only had a totally open world to explore but you could also blast through it as fast as you wanted with Spyro's charge attack. Sparx was around to grab the gems for you to keep it from becoming tedious and slow. It almost feels like playing a Katamari game sometimes, you see a line of gems and just race through it and hear those satisfying dragonfly sound effects as you collect each one. It gave Spyro a totally unique feel really set it apart from its competition. You could never call Spyro a Mario 64 clone for example because although somewhat inspired by it, it makes a point of making the actual collect-a-thon part ongoing and satisfying. They really pushed the Playstation to its absolute limits and playing Spyro 3 today is incredible because the graphics are so polished it makes you go "did this really come out in 2000??"
Pokémon platinum is the best Pokémon game. You are wrong about the sinnoh region
@@sismail4689 sir this is a Wendy's
@@TheAssassin642 lol
Did you forget about super Mario 64 speedruns
Spyro the Hedgehog
It’s nice to see Spyro getting more attention! Thank you for this!
DreamSaturn dae Spyro le underrated gem
My mom taught me how to play Spyro the Dragon and I still love it to this day. So many great memories of watching her find the secrets and learning the controls for myself ❤
I can't believe I had forgotten about Disruptor, seeing the first aid power up alone brought back a flood of memories. Definitely an excellent game if you're into doom. I gotta find it again.
I used to flap off to that game
I want to thank you for sending me back to my childhood, the world needed this homage to spyro. You have made my day, i am very exited for the re-ignited trilogy
This is gonna be good!!!
Agreed.
DunkKeeper why do you say that? Where’s your amazing TH-cam series?
Didn't you say the trilogy was nothing special?
The Completionist when will you complete darksouls 2?
oh yeah mr krabs
“A game so good, yo’ grandma will steal it.”
They should have put that on the box.
@@ms046 no
gran: you're gonna let go a that control little boy or i'm gonna give you a sloppy wet willy
kid: **covers ears**
gran: mistakes were made
she already did 30 years ago for my dads entertainment.
@@DlcEnergy she got the slippers
It’s insanely cool that they still kept up the quality despite these games being developed in a year
Insomniac games actually gave a sh*t
Wow, I can't believe I never made the Spyro - Pyro connection on my own
Wow. You suck
@@carlrygwelski586 Cursed comment
@@cube2fox I'll send unsolicited pictures of my open ass
@@carlrygwelski586 did u sent it to ur dad?
@@davidrabbit8868 No
Made me want to hear more of the history of insomniac games
dustin robins they made Rachet and clank as well as the new Spider-Man game 2018 there doing quite well
@@ethanwashoe5868 really cool seeing how successful Insomniac and Naughty Dog have become
Id love a history of Ratchet and Clank!
Such a great episode. Thanks!
A small correction around 12:50. I saw an old interview with Alex Hastings about his engine, it mainly works by reducing (and completely removing) textures on far away geometry more than changing the polygon count. This is because the PS1 could render a truly insane number of polygons provided they did not have textures. That's the secret of the Spyro engine: replace the fog with untextured (but still colored) polygons. The engine had 7 LODs (Levels Of Detail) for putting textures on the polygons, so the transition was smooth and seamless. The end result was incredible draw distances with good performance, and arguably the best trilogy ever made.
Planning to start working on my own engine soon, so this'll be very useful info. Thanks for sharing!
My favorite since back in the day when I was blessed with my first PlayStation. When the Reignited Trilogy was announced I knew I had to have it. Bought the PS4 just for that and have had a blast sharing the magic with my 6 year old. She is very good at gaming and has thoroughly enjoyed going through them on her own. Long live Spyro!
0:47 - Yep, if there's any games that epitomize the "not Nintendo" image of the late '90s and early 2000s, it's FFVII and MGS...
wonder what snake and cloud are up to nowadays
lmao
Nowadays, Cloud and Snake are starring in Super Smash Bros Ultimate.
Cloud is searching for a bigger sword, snake is old and retired, or he got sucked into a weird portal thing during Metal Gear Survive. I hope it’s not canon.
@stirange The Final Fantasy 7 Remake looks great though. Metal Gear Survive though…
I heard Snake and Cloud are Smashing.
... that didn’t come out right.
You make my day when I see a new video out, the way you piece together your work, connecting all the dots, truly great work norm, you've outdone yourself once again 8)
I still remember playing Spyro 2 for the first time when my mom bought it for me as a little kid. It was amazing.
My mom knew absolutely nothing about video games, she'd never even played one before, but even she knew that Spyro was good.
Spyro 1-3, Resident Evil 1-3 and Tekken 3 were my favorite games
I know next to nothing about the development of these games and this is such an awesome way to get informed. As a kid I always thought Spyro and Mario64 were very similar, but this helps me really get the connection.
I've always felt that Insomniac has had one of the most interesting "lives" of any gaming company. IGN I believe wrote up a massive piece a few years back going over everything, even including the cancelled Girl with a Stick that they were stuck on for half a year before starting Ratchet & Clank, AND the never-before-seen concept they were working on briefly before _that!_ I can't recommend it enough, I've cited it repeatedly when working on my own videos, it's THAT good!
I love Spyro! Thank you for making this video!
Spyro was one of my favorite games as a kid all three of them sat on my shelf with metal gear and stacks of other ps1 titles. Booting up the reignited trilogy was like nostalgia being directly injected into my veins and it was the same joy i had playing the games all those years ago.
Never knew Spyro had such an amazing origin story! That little purple dragon really did his thing! Great job insomniac! Great job on this video. It's another epic watch!
When I was a kid, Crash and Spyro was everything to me. I often daydream about going to their world and bond with my two favorite characters. Now, 24, I no longer enjoy games as much as I used to. But I will always remember them as my childhood heroes
I still feel sad I didn't have a PlayStation all those years ago; I was able to get glimpses of it at a friend's house, though he wasn't nearly as keen on it as I was so not all that often. He had a demo of Spyro, and even that small slice of the game was soo fun. I still get nostalgia for a game I never actually got to play.
Disruptor was an awesome FPS, it was one of the first PS1 games I got :)
Doom guy. Fitting lol.
Back when making games was about how fun the game could be, and not all about how much money they could squeeze out of players.
yeah its sad, but, at least * most * leave the gameplay, the reason the game exists free and up to the player, and leave the paid content optional, at least, sometimes.
Nah Universal wanted money - thats why the original trilogy was released over three years. It was Insomniac who didn't to just milk it, but that mindset was definitely already there.
They were already implementing sbmm into Spyro 3 lol
Delusional boomer mindset. These great games are the exception, not the rule. Did you not even listen to the video? The reviewers are constantly referencing the cash-grab low-effort copycats that have existed since the industry started. People are trying and succeeding at making amazing games still today, despite your rose-colored nostalgia holding the past above the present.
Man i agree with you... But this Video starts out by basically stating that Sony wanted to own the market and therefore tread into Nintendo's territory.....
I played my first ever Spyro game back in 2007 when I was 7. After I started playing ‘Eternal night’ I was immediately hooked, the legend of Spyro series will always be my favorite game series. I know most Spyro fans don’t like the rebooted series, but I still have so much love in my heart for it ❤️
Congratulations Toys For Bob. You made a man in his mid 20's shed tears of joy over his childhood nostalgia after seeing what you had revived in the old trilogy of Spyro. The Reignited Trilogy is a masterpiece. And IT DEFINITELY lived up to expectations.
I want it
Spyro special from out of nowhere and I couldn't be happier about it.
Woah, I can't believe they created that trilogy in just four years! That is some extreme work ethic.
Ah, the good ol' days when a "big" AAA title could be made from the ground up by eleven people...
I believe that's still possible to some extent, though it's rare. Games don't have to be overly complex and cost millions to develop to be good.
@@aaronm4706 bloat in the modern gaming industry is probably the biggest problem it faces today. its why so many games seem like money siphons.
Now when they try that we get no man's sky lol
@@aaronm4706 It's not possible then, because AAA relates to the relative budget and size of the game at the time. Something like Spiderman PS4 or Halo Infinite are AAA while most Nintendo titles are A-AA. SMB 3 was considered a full AAA game at the time since it was the most expensive game Nintendo ever produced and likely one of if not the most expensive game ever made.
what makes you think this is still not possible
Spyro holds such a special place in my heart, I’ve rinsed Spyro 3 and I’m still not sick of it
Seeing that game footage and soundtrack from the first Spyro game brought a nostalgic tear to my eye. Thanks so much for the video!
“YOU JUST GOTTA BELIEVE!!”
Mr Neddlemouse The legendary Sanic master nyan wrong quote and company lol.
Agnes K. What do you mean?
I’m referencing this moment th-cam.com/video/5v5BDrFsptw/w-d-xo.html
Agnes K. Um, Parappa the Rapper is on the Sony Playstation?
Hold up, I need to search something. *goes out to google*
Parappa came out in 1996. Spyro in 1998. *HMMMMMMMMM*
Agnes K. I was originally referencing Spyro but I’ll go with that
Thank you for this amazing content and "bravo!" for the production value. Spyro 2 was my first ever game(I knew nothing about it beforehand) and it totally blew my mind, visually and musically, just the general feel to it. I transcended. What a beautifully composed game, my god.
Magnus Jordal. Nice.
I'm a 36 year old man and a baby girl due on the 29th of December and I'm pumped to play the remastered game's with my princess .
Sounds like a based dad, to me. Good luck.
Did the birth go well? :)
*games
Wait you're a man and a baby girl? Go back to Tumblr.
My birthday is the 29th so lets hope she was born on that day! Having a capricorn is hardworking though....just ask my parents! But good luck!
I don't understand why anyone would dislike this very informative video. It was exactly what I wanted when I clicked on it. The kind of short and sweet video game documentary I'd expect on TV. I played Spyro 2 & 3 as a child and this video was very enlightening, thank you!
watching this made me realize my love for this game series (I play the originals almost annually) has a much more mature backing to it. thanks for looking into this strong history and making me feel more super charged in my love for this game!
The nostalgia is hardcore. I love Spyro. I was heart broken when I found out I lost my original PS1 Spyro 1 disc a few years ago.
Grandmathers stealing their kids game. That is what happen to me. My mom fell in love with the game. More then I did. I liked it a lot. My mom became very addicted to it.
I wish I could relate to a family that likes video games. I've loved video games my entire life but all my family ever did was snidely talk about video games as if they were cancer itself or the spawn of satan. Or at the very least, a huge annoyance to them. Everything was "stop playing that fucking nintendo thing" even when it would turn out to be something like a Playstation or a Dreamcast. Didn't matter. To them, everything game related was a "stupid annoyance".
I never played 2 but we had 1 and 3 and loved both of them. I especially loved 3, it was the only one of the trilogy I stick with long enough to beat.
+Blood that's very mature. Be sure to include your nongamer parents in your life when you can though. Half the time they react like that because they feel left out, I know it's that way with my mom.
Hey man. I’ve been watching your channel for years, and I never made a comment. Now, I have to. Your channel is, in every meaning of the word, awesome. It’s fun, interesting, learning and full of facts and history. It reminds me that I was fun and joyful kid, despite grumpy, angry motherf that I became today. Thanks man, just continue with good work.
"What's the Profesor's species?"
"Professor."
I thought he kinda looked like a mole XD
I never realized Spyro was just Pyro with an 's' in front.
Never got into Spyro at all. But I can hear you talk about any game anytime.
Kidd supa gaaaaiii.
@Kidd
This statement say more about you, you know?
Kidd Wow, the internet. What are you doing with your life? You had chance to become someone, someone who could actually do things, but no. You became a guy wandering around the internet, insulting people who didn't agree with your petty opinions. The fact that people liked this indicatives so much about the human race; blindly follow anything. All I hear is a baby who knows how to type. Take your idiotic nature away from sane people, please. We don't need you and you here, and as long as you stay as a person who just insults, no one needs you anymore.
@Kidd
You prove my point 0_0
It's alright. You just might as well have been a child solder.
I always love these informative/long form videos. Glad whenever I find a new release.
And here we are years later and spyro is one of the most beloved games that PlayStation made. I grew up with this game and it brought me so much joy to play even with the reignited version
I just have to say as a kid who grew up watching PBS, listening to the endings of your videos unlocks a core memory for me, thank you.
I had Spyro 2 when I was a kid, and I absolutely loved it. 15 years later, I got the remake on Steam and was damn near in tears because I was so happy to be playing again.
Great video, hope a Spyro 4 comes out
It did. You have the Skylanders and the Sparks games. Spyro is now a DLC franchise.
Another addition of Spyro is “Spyro A Hero’s Tale”. One of my favorite childhood games because I grew up with gamecube! Will always be nostalgic to me!
spyro 4 is spyro enter the dragon fly for gamecube
It was announced that number 4 is being bought by Microsoft for Xbox. Sort of bummed as I don't plan on buying another system
I loved the Legend of Spyro trilogy. It had its flaws but provided a far more interesting and (imo) magical world for Spyro to explore and a great story with fantastic music. The gameplay wasn’t outstanding but it was still an enjoyable beat em up experience. I really hope that trilogy gets remastered or re-released so more people get to experience it.
Great video! Love learning about my my favorite purple dragon 😍
Stop Skeletons From Fighting I never played Spyro when it originally came out, so this is useful information
Why do skeletons fight?
SSFF!!!!! Love your stuff man!!!!!!
What I love the most about Spyro is that the series came from a humble place. Insomniac are a genuine group of devs passionate about everything they do and I still feel, despite their massive scale nowadays, there's still that humbleness involved in anything they make and they rarely ever make an objectively bad game nor is a game bogged down by iffy business practices. I'm so happy for their success, especially as Spyro is near and dear to my heart.
Seriously, this is everything to want out of a documentary like this. Can't believe the amount of research you seem to be doing for each video for being free to watch. Hope to see many more!
Watching this has just made me miss the game so much so now I’m downloading the PS1 trilogy on PS3.
I hope the Switch eventually gets the Reignited versions.
i know you made this comment three years ago, but in case you didn’t know they do have the reignited trilogy on the switch now!! :))
Amazing video, this trilogy is great and you did an awesome job highlighting it!
Such a great video! Love the original Spyro series! Thank you for such a great video!
The original Spyro trilogy was my childhood. My parents introduced them to me at a young age & I’ve been hooked ever since
Thank you for putting this video together! As a lover of Spyro since I was a baby (from watching my dad play it on our PS1, to letting me try it out at age 3-4), there was a lot of information in here that I had not known about. I truly enjoyed this video - thank you for reigniting my love for Spyro ☺️
Spyro: Year Of The Dragon is my childhood!
I always loved the music of these games! Let’s be honest... I loved all these games for so many reasons! My childhood was so much better because of them.
As a lifelong Spyro fan, thank you for such and accurate and respectful documentary.
Bepis
one of my first video game loves was spyro: a hero’s tail - i pretty much missed the original trilogy because i was so young, but my siblings adored it! now i’m so excited to be starting out the reignited trilogy!!! thank you for this video, i love spyro so much and it’s awesome to learn how much dedication and love they put into developing it :,)
I remember how much I enjoyed the first games but The Legend of Spyro: Dawn of the Dragon was actually my favorite and didn't disappoint me
Me: Hey, a Spyro video.
My mind: *Stewart Copeland intensifies*
I'm guessing a history of Crash Bandicoot video is next.
Did you know gaming did a small piece of crash
A month ago I discovered the Reignited Trilogy by accident and immidiately bought it for the sake of nostalgia. I had so much fun on the PS1 versions! I kinda remembered playing Enter the Dragonfly and The Legend of Spyro 1 on PS2 but I agree they were not as memorable as the trilogy (though I quite liked catching baby dragonflies with bubbles).
And now, I am finally educated on my favorite dragon's history! Thank you very much for sharing and thank you Insomniac Games for creating masterpieces!
I remember when my sister got this for Xmas. Me and my brother initially offered to help her with difficult bits and ended up playing the game with her from start to finish. Nostalgic
Well I can say one thing, the reignited trilogy definitely brought in a new fan for the series.
Childhood Fav, PS1!!!
Spyro A Heroe's Tail was my first Spyro game, it was amazing!
Same
Every gaming company ever... "We didn't know what we were doing"
Spyro and my mother are literally the reasons why I got into gaming. The memories I have. I would play hours upon hours. I loved the characters, music, everything about these games. I teared up watching this. Spyro is a childhood hero to me. Thanks mom ❤️, I had an amazing childhood.
Even though I never really played the game apart from the demo disc many times, I watched this since it's the Gaming Historian. Love your delivery, presentation, and art. Unparalleled production value.
they even used Elijah Wood as voice for Spyro in The Legend of Spyro: The Eternal Night (2007) The Legend of Spyro: A New Beginning ( 2006) , The Legend of Spyro: Dawn of the Dragon (2008) and he didnt even mention that :P haha but holy shit this game is still one of the best games ive ever played !
@oO{ Dawabo }Oo yes he did !
Sweet! I love Spyro! Can't wait for the Remastered Trilogy. (Even with the delay)
Randomark3087 has it been delayed?
Russ Mawson Yup. 'Til November.
Randomark3087 Aw man! I was sure it'd be great little late birthday gift for me! (born on September 25th)
Quality > Quantity
*Remade