Welcome to my new blog Delay Constant! Here, I'll be looking back on whatever comes to mind in media, and sharing it through extensive research.
These looooong posts will be called Retrospectives, which will leave room for whatever else I could be able to do on here. To commemorate this, I decided to do the first Retrospective on something very close to me:
Spyro the Dragon.
I mean the original
Spyro here too, not the
Legend of Spyro games, not the PS2 games, not even
Spyro 2 - I'm talking the original classic. I haven't played any other
Spyro game, except for part of
A New Beginning and a couple GBA throwaways, and I don't want to start. Many people dismiss it today as yet another poorly aged early 3D title, but at the time it was pretty revolutionary.
Spoiler warnings up for sections 4-9, so let's get down to exploring this game, shall we?
1. A New BeginningIn late 1996, Universal Interactive Studios released a video game called
Disruptor for the hot new PlayStation. One of many unimpressive
Doom clones of the time by today's standards, it was developed by a fledgling company called Insomniac Games. It was well received at the time, even as Universal released the popular first installment of
Crash Bandicoot a few months earlier out of the neighboring Naughty Dog, whose development was oddly well-documented.
Astounded at the success of both games, Insomniac immediately went to the drawing board thinking about what kind of follow-up game they could make. In came senior artist Craig Stitt, who said "I've always wanted to do a game about a dragon". And by 1997, the team set out to create their next breakout hit, with
Crash veteran artist Charles Zembillas leading the design.
2. An Interactive PanoramaOne of the biggest outside supporters of Insomniac was producer Marc Cerny from Universal, who wanted to have a full 3D game where it was all about interacting with characters. This was revolutionary at the time, given the little amount of innovation made after
Super Mario 64. Added to that, this meant that there had to be a way to draw way more polygons than even
Crash Bandicoot needed to draw at any given time.
Cerny had challenged software engineer Alex Hastings to create such technology, and what followed ended up being a huge undertaking, even on the PlayStation. The final engine used 7 different render routines for different levels of detail, which allowed for a greater length of space to be drawn by handling the distant polygons.
Today, level of detail is second nature to developers, even with increasingly high-end video cards, but at the time this allowed everything from mile-long environments to high-polygon skies instead of a skybox.
However, this system was still not perfect, as was admitted by the huge undertaking required to build it, as well as the hardware restrictions the PlayStation had. Still, it did impress audiences and allowed for features like open-world flying challenges to be a reality for the first time.
3. A Soundtrack Worth Listening ToOf course, no game could be complete without a good soundtrack, and a game like Spyro is no exception. For Crash Bandicoot, Universal was able to bring in Mutato Muzika (made of former Devo members) to do the score, as well as voice actors like Brendan O'Brien and Michael Ensign.
For Spyro, Universal gave them the same sound effect artists from Universal Sound Studios as
Crash, and brought in Stewart Copeland (drummer of The Police and film composer) to write the score. This was Copeland's first video game project, and he went all out with memorable atmospheric tracks that completely helped pull players into the game's worlds. Noted by several factors, it's apparent that there was an extended period of swapping and re-composing tracks, which allowed for hidden tracks to pop up often.
In the recording booth came actor Clancy Brown, who was also recording for
Crash 3 at the time, to be one of the prominent voices in the game, primarily for many of the additional dragons. Brown would later be famous for playing Mr. Krabs in
SpongeBob.
But the main role of Spyro was still up for grabs. The first and last actor to be approached was Carlos Alazraqui, a famous cartoon actor known at the time for voicing the Taco Bell Chihuahua. After playing with the voice a little, the Spyro voice was made to be a mix of a young baby-ish voice and a hipster type. Spyro would later be picked up by fellow cartoon actor Tom Kenny for the remainder of the Insomniac-era games.
4. A Long Time Ago, in the Dragon Kingdom...The plot is simple - this is a PS1 cartoon-style game after all - but it does serve to set the goals for progressing through the worlds.
The Dragon Kingdom is made of 5 worlds by the time the evil Gnasty Gnorc becomes too hot to handle for the dragons. The ugly gnorc (a cross between gnome and orc) had long despised the dragons, and their shiny 14,000 treasure (Yes, it's called treasure, not gems). The dragons eventually banish him to their junkyard, but not before Gnasty takes 2000 treasure with him. He makes the junkyard his own, turning it to the 6th world Gnasty's World. He then finds 2 magic spells - one to turn treasure into gnorcs, and one to trap dragons in crystal statues.
That all takes place before the game starts.
The game starts with a news interview with 2 dragons from Stone Hill, while Spyro plays with a sheep and 2 other dragons (from Dream Weavers oddly enough) talk in the background. The first interviewed dragon Astor is a bit confused at whether there are 5 or 6 worlds, and whether they have 12 or 14 thousand treasure.
The unseen interviewer Bob then asks him about the rumors that Gnasty Gnorc found a spell to "turn gems into warriors for his cause", but the second dragon Lindar takes it and dismisses Gnasty with insults. Gnasty overhears this, and sets off his spell to trap all the dragons. However, Spyro is able to hide and escape the spell, setting off his adventure.
The main goals are easily set: reclaim the 14000 treasure, rescue all 80 (?) dragons (because the dragons seem to vanish back into platforms where they were trapped), and defeat Gnasty. One later addition to the goals is the theft of dragon eggs (later the central goal of
Year of the Dragon) by blue, cowardly thief versions of the
Star Wars Jawas.
5. An Artisan Sanctuary
Spyro starts off in the home of the Artisans world, an overall land of rolling hills and castles, pretty determined to fight Gnasty. But the first dragons he rescues try to calm him down and tell him his goals, as well as reminding Spyro of his lifeline, Sparx the Dragonfly. Sparx can sustain 3 hits before leaving Spyro to the elements, and he can be replenished by butterflies dropped from local fodder (such as sheep and bats).
The enemies in this home are all cowardly green gnorcs (including 2 bandits that can sustain 3 hits), which allows Spyro to get a feel for the controls before facing the harsh world outside. The only way Spyro can be harmed is through the fountain concealing the flight level and the water around the balloonist (as Spyro can't swim).
Every home comes with archway-like portals to each of the levels. Some of the levels are deliberately hidden to encourage exploration.
The first level easily visible is Stone Hill, a huge open land populated by tiny white rams and old hermits who attack with their cane. There is an egg thief whose laughter can be faintly heard as Spyro walks through the tunnel into the area with the hermits. More sheep can be found as fodder here. A locked chest can be found at the bottom of a well, with the key in a small cave on a beach near the exit "fancy vortex thing-a-ma-jigger".
The portal to the second level, Dark Hollow, is hidden in a tiny shrub maze. The level itself takes place at night, with an eerily calming lullaby playing. Green frogs take their place as fodder, among a variety of more aggressive gnorcs. There are gnorc grunts, who use swords and the first metal armor in the game; giant gnorcs wielding clubs; and a couple giant gnorcs with metal armor only on their belly. A locked chest is clearly visible on the largest platform in the middle, and the key can be found at the end of a side passage.
The third level, at the top of a tower, is Town Square. This level takes place close to sunset, creating a warm feeling to the medieval-style town, which is populated by chicken fodder, classic bulls who oddly don't charge into walls, gnorc matadors, and a thief on a high-up platform. This level introduces the first of many dragons who only say the generic "Thank you for releasing me".
In a corner of the home is a dragon head whose mouth only opens when Spyro has completed one of the main levels. Inside the mouth is a portal to the first boss, Toasty. The music is dramatic as Spyro enters the front courtyard to a castle, populated by the hermits from Stone Hill, as well as dogs who can take 2 flames and leap out on the first. The boss levels do not include fodder, so caution should be taken. The 3-stage back courtyard includes Toasty (a sheep on stilts in disguise as a pumpkin-headed hermit) guarded by dogs.
Hidden in the home's fountain is the entrance to the first flight level, Sunny Flight. Each flight level contains 4 types of obstacles Spyro needs to destroy while he flies rather than glides. In this flight, trains with 2 red barrels each roll through the central mountain island, there is a cave full of glowing chests, green archways line the boundary, and gnorc planes fly in circles around a nearby tower. Each flight level has a time limit and an unlimited amount of tries, which can be delayed by destroying obstacles denoted with different time bonuses, allowing for strategies to be made for attempting to complete the level in faster times.
Each home level has a balloonist conveniently placed but out of the way, who will only let Spyro reach the next world after setting a goal. Marco the Balloonist asks for Spyro to free 10 dragons before he will let Spyro reach the next world.
6. A Peace-Keeping Wake-Up CallThe second world in
Spyro is Peace Keepers, a land of deserts, canyons, forts, and tar pits. Both dragons and gnorcs alike here have adopted a more militaristic approach to living. Gnorcs in the home wear uniforms and can either walk up to attack, operate a cannon that Spyro can use against them, or hide in a teepee and taunt. A bullseye-marked rock structure blocks the path to the second half of the home, and a thief and locked chest await on the other side. Rabbits also roam around as fodder.
The first portal carved into the side of the border cliff leads to Dry Canyon, a 2.5-story canyon pass with several passages that lead to surprises hidden in plain sight. A lone platform at the far end of a bottomless pit holds a locked chest among other treasures. There are small yellow gnorcs who fire projectiles Spyro can ram to make harmless, vultures on pedestals, giant yellow gnorcs wielding vultures, a thief running around in circles down below the exit vortex platform, and more rabbits everywhere.
The second portal in the middle leads to Cliff Town. On the right is a cliff to a bottomless pit, and on the left is an explorable plateau only accessible by gliding. A tar pit river from a far-off waterfall cuts through the level. The rest of the level consists of a classic pueblo town populated by Mexican-style bandits, gender-ambiguous tall gnorcs with a red blouse (called "fat ladies"), a thief among the buildings, and fodder that look like mini-dinosaurs.
The third portal, down in a tunnel to the right of the balloonist, leads to Ice Cavern. True to its name, like all the other levels, it's a wide cavern with the path wrapped around the perimeter of a bottomless pit. Small gnorcs on skis throw snowballs that Spyro can charge through, large purple gnorcs wield their hands, similar large yellow-armor gnorcs can be slid into tar pits, and fodder bats fly around. A locked chest sticks out of one of the buildings, with the key immediately in a platform down below.
The portal to the boss Doctor Shemp is easily accessible near the bullseye rock. The first section of the level is a cliff pass with the "fat ladies" from Cliff Town who send suicidal armored tribesmen. A vortex lift allows access to an open pit with Dr. Shemp, the obnoxious boss, standing ground armored only at the front. A locked chest sits just below the exit vortex, with the key on a platform along the pass.
The platform made from destroying the bullseye rock allows access to the flight level, Night Flight. Many winding passages through and around the level's island mountains conceals floating red rings, green arches, glowing chests, and lanterns meant to be lit.
Gosnold the Balloonist, found at the end of a dock in a tiny pond, can let Spyro return to the Artisans, but will only let him advance after collecting 1200 treasure.
7. Mischievous MagiciansThe Magic Crafters world is the next to await Spyro. It is a land of royal dwellings, multitudes of caves, snowy mountain peaks, bottomless pits, tiny ponds, and the newly introduced supercharge ramps denoted by glowing arrows. When supercharged, Spyro can ram through metal chests and reach far off places. Goats roam all the levels here, and 2 thieves circle the home. Green druids who can manipulate certain terrain are often seen, along with metal-dress druids waving their staff. In addition, there are tiny floating druids who can control lightning, here dressed in green.
The first level is Alpine Ridge, a slightly autumn-esque land of moving platforms, narrow platforms, and large orange beasts owned by the metal-dress druids. The thief in this level has his a long stretch of land available to run from Spyro. The main druids from the home are joined by large blue wizards (kinda like the lightning druids) that can shoot magic bolts even at each other and their green druid counterparts.
The second level, whose portal is atop the hill with the supercharge ramp, is High Caves. The level can be split into two sections: one with expansive caves guarded by metal bugs, and a mountain pass with green druids. The bottomless pit near a supercharge ramp and the exit vortex is protected by fairies, who will save Spyro when falling and carry him to the top of the supercharge ramp. Another fairy is on a balcony at the far end of the cave, the first who can give Spyro a kiss granting him a short period of having superfire that can defeat the bugs. In addition, a narrow, but tall peak is filled with blue wizards being bombarded by cyclones from tornado druids.
The third level, whose portal is outside on a hill, is Wizard Peak. Immediately, fans of
The Amanda Show will recognize that the level's music is similar to the theme song. The level itself starts off in an expansive castle with blue wizards that can create giant club-wielding snowman gnorcs (snorcs, get it?), lightning druids, and metal-dress druids that are often crushed by those danged snorcs. There is a path along the sides of the castle, and there are two platforms only reachable by the supercharge ramps that can be used to bash a group of blue wizards. And if you haven't yet checked for the Artisans flight level, a dragon will tell you the secret.
The boss level, right next to the balloonist, is Blowhard. This consists of a couple tall peaks with circular arenas where the boss stages take place. Blowhard himself is a druid head with a tornado body who can create large lightning clouds. His path is guarded by lightning druids, and a lone old dragon sits in the middle of the path to the second arena, among green druids moving small platforms over water pits.
The portal to Crystal Flight is the first exposed flight portal, with an old dragon explaining the just of the flight level concept. The world consists of tall, winding crystal islands holding multicolor rings, green arches, gnorc planes, and glowing chests. This level is harder to beat due to the spread out nature of the obstacles, so an alternate approach is often recommended.
Tuco the Balloonist sits on a platform jetting out the end of the home, overlooking the vast pit and the open sky. This time, he asks for 5 dragon eggs, which wouldn't be hard to find even before reaching any of the levels.
7. Creatures and Machines
Beast Makers is the next world to await Spyro -- a vast swamp met at moonlight. Spotted chickens dot all the levels, and gnorcs have discovered the stinging power of electricity. Large wild hogs (a byproduct of the dragons here creating life from mud, but strangely drop treasure like the gnorcs) also dot the home's landscape. A locked chest sits in the corner of a small plaza, and the key is on a tree stump in the distance. The dragons in this world are portly redneck-types who remorse at the gnorcs' changing of their swamp.
The first portal on the path leads to Terrace Village, a quiet little town filled with all kinds of gnorcs. The small gnorcs from the home light up their own squares here, taller gnorcs wield sparkling sticks like chainsaws, and tiny gnorcs in an armored shell fire dual taser cannons. There is a hidden staircase and an area high up revealed by gliding to it. Lots of rockets and metal chest targets can be found all over.
The portal to the immediate near right on the path, guarded by a boar, leads to Misty Bog. This is an expansive level, with several different stages of paths that diverge and converge in strange ways. "Attack frogs" lash out their long tongues, armored gnorcs stand by with knives and chicken traps, living marsh shrubs await hungrily, and wild boars are willing to charge through anyone to get to Spyro.
Hidden behind the large tree near the final plaza is the portal to Tree Tops, considered by many to be the most difficult level in Spyro. Taking place in the canopy of a tall forest, the only way to get across bottomless pits is through a maze of supercharge ramps. The best way to navigate the maze is follow the thieves. 2 thieves to be exact, a red one and a green one, who carry treasure instead of eggs. They will run from Spyro to their respective otherwise unreachable hideouts. Along the path, they will wake up enemies along the way. Two interesting enemies here are small apes that throw bananas, and long thin apes that walk on arched arms and can heel kick Spyro.
The portal to the boss level Metalhead can be found in the end plaza near the balloonist. The level takes place in a lone fortress in the middle of a swampy sea. A sewer cuts through the middle of the huge "foyer" (hint, hint), and plenty of the Tree Tops apes can be found -- the only difference is the smaller apes are metal armored. Metalhead itself is invincible, and it's been charged up with a bunch of power poles scattered around the 2 arenas. So the only way to get at it is to destroy the poles however possible. Hidden in a waterfall next to the boss's second arena is a locked chest. Try and guess where the key is.
There are many pumpkin-looking cauldrons scattered around the home, but one on the far right end leads to a cave with the portal to Wild Flight. This flight level takes place in a more urban-looking environ, with 2 paths -- one with gnorc boats and green arches, and another with glowing chests and gnorc planes. Simple enough, but choosing a strategy is crucial. The music, which Copeland started composing during a PlayStation Underground interview, certainly helps build an action-y flavor to the tension.
Cray the Balloonist stands by at the end of a dock. He feels bad about the trapped dragons, so he asks for 50 dragons to be rescued before he will let Spyro proceed to the next world.
8. Welcome to the Nightmare Realm
After rescuing 50 dragons, Cray will send Spyro to the Dream Weavers, a world of mystical castles atop lofty platforms, tons of dream creatures, chains of vortex funnels to go back and forth, and more. Bouncing mushrooms take their place as fodder here, and the homeworld perfectly introduces Spyro to the Fools -- invincible jesters who will turn into clocks for a short time when hit and move a platform as a result.
On the right, easily visible, is the portal to Dark Passage. This is a huge mountain pass with tons of caves, tunnels, archways, and platforms. The fools here have lanterns they turn into instead -- when the lanterns are on, everything is perfectly fine, but when they're off, the puppies and metal fireball turtles turn into monsters! There are also floating cupid-devils with a deadly love arrow.
A portal can be found in the big castle in the distance. It leads to the mysterious Lofty Castle, curiously called Fairy Trap in the Japanese version. This is because there are fairies trapped in blue wood cages by the cupids. Freeing 3 of them in an area will allow them to activate a vortex funnel to the next area, and there are many areas with them. Joining the cupids are giant metal gnorcs dangling from tiny balloons, and "puffer birds", basically a limbless fat chicken thing that can peck at Spyro when close. The world itself is a white and gold monument among floating islands blended with a beautiful magenta sky.
Just out the back of the smaller castle on the left is a portal to Haunted Towers. This level can actually be split into four stages. The first stage introduces grenade gnorcs, suits of armor that can be reanimated by lightning wizards, and a fairy at the end who can give Spyro temporary superflame. The second stage is a vortex lift away, with a stretch outside the castle to another fairy at the end and tons of armor. The third stage consists of a lift to the top entrance to the castle, and a supercharge ramp to several chambers, and even back outside. One chamber leads to the third stage, which includes the exit vortex, but hang on-- forgot something. Using a crafty path with the supercharge ramp, Spyro can reach an area on the other side of the castle, denoting the last stage. Suits of armor on a staircase slowly come to life as Spyro races against the clock to get past them. The fairy at the end doesn't just give Spyro a little superflame, this fairy will have Spyro keep it for as long as he is in the level. Just a reward for mastering the supercharge.
On the top of some stairs, with the balloonist just a left turn away, there is the portal to the boss level Jacques. This level pretty much requires backtracking, as it is immediately split into 2 paths -- one with ape-crab creatures, and one with the armored versions. Fools are everywhere, guarding many of the rising platforms that may grant Spyro access to new areas. When the paths converge at the end, a locked chest sits next to the entrance to the tunnel reaching the boss. Jacques is French for "Jack", and this demonic jack-in-the-box (oddly missing the box to put his spring in) will be the death of Spyro if he does not watch out for flying boxes, or the lava lake below these tiny platforms. Each point where Jacques can be hit is denoted whenever he hops on a box platform.
A staircase and two fools is all it takes to reach the high-up platform behind the castle where the portal to Icy Flight can be reached. This level consists of snowy mountains and tunnels with a looping train track. It can be split into 2 sections -- the first consists of glowing chests and lanterns, and the second is led by the 2-barrel trains into open areas where gnorc helicopters bob up and down. Spyro often goes too slow to reach certain obstacles, so moving against the trains would be a good way to go when traveling the second part.
Amos the Balloonist warns Spyro that Gnasty's World ahead is a terrible place, and that Spyro should collect 6000 treasure to proceed.
9. The Adventure Comes Full Circle
Going back to Stewart Copeland, I noted that there assumably was a lot of switch-ups and re-orchestrating of tracks, but when coming into Gnorc Gnexus (the home of Gnasty's World), you immediately hear the same music that was in Toasty. It's unclear whether that coincidence was made as a thematic choice, but certainly this home can tell -- a relatively small bullseye-looking metal platform in the middle of a dawn-set ocean, with 3 metal dragon mouths circling around a trapped dragon in the center, a portal on the left, and Hak the Balloonist on the other side. Rats scurry around everywhere, and in each of the closed dragon mouths is a chest and a portal. Spyro is surprised that Delbin, one of the dragons from Artisans, was trapped there. It's assumed that some of the freed dragons tried to fight Gnasty but were trapped again, as every dragon in this world had already been freed before.
The exposed portal on the left leads to Gnorc Cove, a dock full of ships, giant humanoid gnorc mechanics, and stations of metal and TNT barrels. Here, Spyro makes a casual "You gotta believe!" reference to Parappa the Rapper when the dragon Tomas retracts his insults of Spyro. The locked chest and the key are in relatively close proximity, in a green chamber and a blue chamber respectively in the last hub near the exit vortex. However, the locked chest can be destroyed by barrels and the key will disappear.
Once Gnorc Cove is taken, the first dragon mouth will open, allowing Spyro to enter Twilight Harbor. This huge metal harbor glows orange from the sunset, and the first seconds of the music instill some kind of badass feeling as Spyro looks on the first machine gun gnorc. There are 2 varieties of machine gun gnorcs, the larger ones being called gnorc commandos, and there are also tall leopard-skin gnorcs with grenades and a machete. Includes a raisable bridge usable with a supercharge ramp.
The portal to Gnasty Gnorc's lair awaits after beating Twilight Harbor. Immediately when entering, a flourish of dramatic orchestra leads off the boss level. There are 3 stages to the lair. The first takes place in a large orange arena with 2 looping paths where thieves await holding keys. The last key lets Spyro lower Gnasty's platform, leading to the second stage -- an extensive looping chase with Gnasty. Plenty of chests meant to distract Spyro the first time. If he is flamed at the end in time, he will travel to the third stage -- a race against the clock to follow him across receding platforms above a pit of lava before flaming him a final time.
At this point, a cutscene shows with Spyro in the same place as the 2 dragons were in the opening, noting that he still had to get some of the scattered treasure around. The credits go, and Spyro is sent back to Gnorc Gnexus to meet with Magnus from Peace Keepers, who tells Spyro that the last dragon mouth will not open until the inventory is at 100%.
Once Spyro is ready, the dragon mouth opens and Spyro enters the bonus level Gnasty's Loot. This is the mountain/factory hideout where Gnasty stored the 2000 treasure he took when he was banished. Here, Spyro can fly like in the flight levels, but he has an altitude limit that can be lifted after getting keys from thieves to unlock new areas and altitudes. Some thieves are on the ground, while others fly planes. At the end, behind the exit portal, there is a room with a portrait of Gnasty and a whole bunch of fireworks crates. Light one, and watch the fireworks launch tons of purple gems everywhere. A perfect reward to end the game, after the last cutscene of course.
At the end, Spyro is made a celebrity on the news, while the 2 dragons from before play basketball with Spyro's sheep. But just before Spyro can dismiss any hope of fighting Gnasty again, the dragons are trapped again. He says "Here we go again," without realizing what Insomniac had in store for him instead. The credits roll, and Spyro is sent back to the start of Artisans home to farm lives from enemies and explore the kingdom until the game shuts down.
10. Postmortem of a Dragon
Learning that people don't want a sequel that's just more levels, Insomniac released Spyro 2. Whether you call it Ripto's Rage or Gateway to Glimmer, it was clear what they went about -- an unneeded expansion of the Spyro universe into a world beyond the Dragon Kingdom. But at least it was better than trying to keep the kingdom canon in Year of the Dragon. They knew enough to again put it into a place outside the real kingdom, but the influx of new characters made too many unnecessary changes to the ways the original Spyro connected with people.
Looking back, you can see pretty much the exact same parallels of Insomniac to Naughty Dog and Crash Bandicoot, though perhaps shifted a couple years apart. Naughty Dog had made 3 games with Crash, the third giving way to the 3 Spyros after that. Then with the PS2, both companies left Universal for Sony to create the Jak & Daxter and Ratchet & Clank series, while Spyro became more obscure and Crash became more formulaic under Vivendi Games (which folded into Sierra, which then folded into Activision Blizzard).
I've played a lot of Crash games, but ironically the only Crash game I truly liked was the Vivendi-era Twinsanity. Perhaps it was because the original warp room formula was a little tiring, or that the game over screens didn't give me nightmares like Warped did.
Anyway, after the teams got tired of their tag-team series, they went the way many companies did -- making shooters. But that's where the similarities start to blur. Insomniac's Resistance series was a post-apocalyptic FPS whose third installment reportedly ripped off my beloved Half-Life 2, and Naughty Dog's Uncharted series pulled my much younger brother away from Resident Evil (yes, he's that weird), and whose third installment's Subway promotion got him mad when he found out he had to wait for Naughty Dog to unlock his multiplayer code on the 1st rather than his birthday the 29th.
So thanks for reading this, and don't say tl;dr if you didn't or I will get Freddy Kruger to find you...
11. More to Explore
