KYHO Ranks The Original Trilogy's 74 Levels! DUN.

Stormy · Feb 15, 2014 4:37 PM

BlueSpirit94 wrote:

This list is great! Please keep it coming! I am very curious to see your top 10! This has definitely given me quite the shot of nostalgia. The past few years have been so busy for me, between moving and going to college, that I haven't been able to play the original Spyro series in quite some time. Reading this list has definitely made me want to drop everything for a few days and go on a crazy Spyro binge. I kind of actually want to make my own list now. It is interesting seeing that one of my favorite levels Idol Springs, placed dead last on your list. I'm not really sure why I like it, but I think it has a lot to do with nostalgia. I remember playing it a lot as a child. Anyway, I digress...keep the list coming please! These have been an absolute joy to read!

Yeah, I'm missing the updates on this. Lets me be nostalgic without taking the time to play the games again.

KYHO, I'll totally add font size markup if it'll make you update again. tongue

KeepYourHornsOn · Feb 18, 2014 1:12 AM

HI I'M SORRY I'M HORRIBLE AT THIS RANKING
It's so tough to decide which levels should beat out which other levels at this point. (Maybe I would be a little more inspired if I could change font sizes...)
But thanks everyone for the comments; things like that and the knowledge that people are actually following is what guilts me into updating <3

There are a few reasons why I haven't been updating. First off is that there are a couple levels whose relative placements I'm still not sure on, and it's just hard to find a time when I have both the time and desire to play through a few levels and analyze their strengths/weaknesses for the umpteenth time, so that's been dragging this a bit.

But what also has made it even harder is that I know perfectly well which level is #11, and, well, I really haven't wanted to eliminate it. It's the hardest thing I've done so far, to leave this one out of the top ten... but if I don't do it now, I never will, so I'll just bite the bullet... ready?

11. Haunted Towers
(Game 1 Rank: 6/29)
(Dream Weavers Rank: 3/5)

Ugh. This pains me. Having to eliminate Haunted Towers from my ranking before the top ten is so brutal. It's one of the most memorable, iconic levels of the game (probably the most memorable one from my favorite world, Dream Weavers) and it most certainly earns that status. It's infamous as one of the hardest levels of the original game (probably bested only by Tree Tops), and the reason is the ridiculously tricky path to get to Copano. Near the level's supercharge track, you can hear a few of the fodder creatures (mushrooms) jumping around and can hear a dragon shaking -- but the problem is that if you play through the level start to finish, you'll never, ever, ever find that dragon or the mushrooms. In the course of normal gameplay, you'll never see him. Haunted Towers is, obviously, another one of the few Game 1 levels I never managed to get 100% in when I was a kid, the others being Dry Canyon and two levels still in this ranking. I spent a huge amount of time running down the supercharge ramp and bashing into the wall hoping it would shatter, then running back up the ramp and charging down again, repeating over and over again until I'd smashed Spyro's head into every single portion of that passageway in the hopes of completing the level.. to no avail. And when that didn't work, I tried superflaming every portion of the wall where you could hear him.. but that didn't work, either, so then I just went back to trying to bash the same places I'd already tried to bash. And while I wasted all this time, I constantly heard the sound of some invisible dragon shaking over and over and over again. Maybe the most tantalizing thing in my entire life.

The solution of how to get Copano is one of the most ridiculous things I've ever seen. You have to go down the supercharge ramp, bash through one of the doors on the right to get outside, immediately take a sharp left jumping over a chasm to a seemingly completely unrelated part of the level, launch yourself off a hill, and then suddenly glide over to an island that's totally invisible when you ordinarily play through the level, and there is Copano. I have no idea how anyone managed to figure this out on their own; I found it out via YouTube years after I'd first played the game and it completely blew my mind. Did anyone here actually manage to figure this puzzle out without the aid of some kind of tutorial? And if so.. Christ, how?? This is the one thing I can't figure out how anyone would have figured out; Tree Tops is similarly challenging, but I feel like you're bound to get Jed if you spend enough time messing around on supercharge ramps. With Copano, you apparently have to know the exact path you're going to take before you do it and I honestly think that if the Internet didn't exist, I would still -- a decade and a half later -- have absolutely no idea how in the world to complete this level. (Of course, the challenge of the level doesn't even end there; you have to then ascend a tower of the reanimated knights who smack you off the staircase they're on, and if you don't reach the top quickly enough, then the doorway to the last couple gems is blocked off by an invulnerable knight who stands in front of you no matter where you are, and you have to lose a life and try again. Lord, what a hard level.) I have said a number of times that what I love about the first game as opposed to the later games is that they merely present you with a level and say "Here it is; now you beat it" and the challenge comes from simply navigating whatever puzzles the level's design contains.. Haunted Towers is by far the best example of the first game's ability to create a challenge through nothing other than the level's layout itself.

Now that I do know how to beat it, though, the level is still one of the most entertaining to play through over and over again. It's incredibly fun to rush to the supercharge ramp, gathering as few gems along the way as you possibly can, access Copano's staircase with the knights, ascend it, get the infinite superflame.. then run back to the start of the level and from there, flame everything you can as quickly as you can, running round and gathering tons of gems from the various dead knights, the metal chests that unleash a whole heap of gems, and the platforms that are filled with crates specifically for this purpose. Insomniac knew while designing this level that there is really nothing more fun than just grabbing a bunch of gems in a row (hence why the game ends with a room full of, like, 1000 treasure worth of pink gems sitting in a room) so they gave you the opportunity to do so, once you've practiced a bit.

I also have to give this level props for having some awesome music; it isn't a track that I necessarily love because it fits with the level (though it does make it a bit more haunting for some reason I can't quite put into words), but it's a very short, very catchy track that I love to listen to, which does make it more fun to play this level. But above all else, this level's gameplay is fantastic and unique; it primarily ranks this high as a tribute to all the hours I and countless other kids spent trying in vain to figure out how to get Copano, and I also love the infinite superflame that allows you to run around grabbing a bunch of gems in a row. Very, very fun level that is a wonderful addition to a wonderful world. Although I'm ranking it at #11, that's just because all the levels still in this are that good; I could not find a single reason to disagree with anyone who ranked Haunted Towers as the #1 best level from the game, as it is one of the most challenging, memorable, and entertaining of them all.

OMG TOP TEN:

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- Five (half!) are from Game 1
- Three are from Game 3
- Two are from Game 2
- Two each from Dream Weavers and Midday Gardens
- One each from Artisans, Magic Crafters, Beast Makers, Summer Forest, Autumn Plains, Evening Lake
- One homeworld remaining
- Five levels with supercharge
- One level with superflight/superflame
- One level with a non-Spyro character

Prism · Feb 18, 2014 2:03 AM

Indeed, I did manage to get to that ridiculous island on my own. It took me a ridiculously long time to figure it out, though. I played the game for 8 straight hours just trying to find out how to get to that dragon. roll

Flapjacks · Feb 18, 2014 4:14 AM

I'll admit, even though I disagree with using walkthroughs, I used a walkthrough on that part of the level. I tried for HOURS running around the level trying to figure out how to get to the dragon, and yes, I did hear him through the walls, taunting me, yet I could never figure it out. I eventually looked it up on YouTube and, although it seemed pretty hard, I still felt really stupid, and angry at the developers for designing the level so badly, yet now that I look back on it, I realize that it was a good decision to make, because it presented a good challenge to an otherwise kinda bland level. I didn't really like Dream Weavers' world that much, honestly. I respect your opinions, (jk, I only respect my opinion,) but I found it kind of boring.

Swaffy · Feb 18, 2014 5:18 AM

If you don't put Fireworks Factory as #1, there will be blood. ripto

Prism · Feb 18, 2014 5:21 AM

Swaffy wrote:

If you don't put Fireworks Factory as #1, there will be blood.

red There shall be.

Flapjacks · Feb 22, 2014 8:18 PM

nah man, it's all about icy peak.

icy peak master race

Flapjacks · Mar 16, 2014 10:13 PM

OI! UPDATE, YA *BLEEP*

36IStillLikeSpyro36 · Mar 17, 2014 2:55 AM

DUDE, I WAS JUST GONNA POST HERE, SERIOUSLY

WHERE IS HE. i want to see what happens, even if. *gulp*. he makes Fracture Hills #1. i just have to know now.

Flapjacks · Mar 17, 2014 5:16 AM

Fracture Hills wasn't that bad. Not worthy of top ten, but not horrible.

36IStillLikeSpyro36 · Mar 17, 2014 5:38 AM

it's not as bad as a lot of people make it out to be, for sure.

or maybe it is, if only for the alchemist.

the rest of the level's really good imo but that part just. man, i *dread* that part.

then again, it's not my review thread, so. tongue

KeepYourHornsOn · Mar 28, 2014 7:32 PM

Hello, friends! I am back in business, but with a bit of a change for the rest of this thread's structure... One that I think makes it much better and one that I KNOW will bring it back to its former pace.

After consideration... I have decided that I am not going to rank the remaining levels. The fact is that when I look at the top ten, there isn't a single level that I can point to and say "That one is less awesome than the others" and feel okay about it, and I didn't feel okay about saying that to Haunted Towers. And this, I think, is why I have been so horrible at updating this recently -- I haven't wanted to say that any of these levels have any real faults, because they don't. I mean if you look at it, the updates were pretty regular up until I reached the top tier of the levels. I like these levels for totally different reasons; some have awesome gameplay, some simply make me happy to be in, some combine all of these traits. I don't think that I can really compare them without splitting hairs and comparing apples to oranges, because I love all of them a lot for completely different reasons. So as a ranking, this is essentially over...

...However!

I'm not just abandoning this altogether. I will do a write-up for all of the best levels... and I still have a #1 that is a little bit better than all of the others. So what I am going to do is, rather than rank the top ten, go through them one at a time and do a post about each of their strengths, explaining why they are in the top ten Spyro levels without trying to compare them to one another... saving the reveal of which level is my #1 favorite for the very end. My #1 level will be the last one that I discuss, and the only one of this top tier that I am ranking. The other nine (and also Haunted Towers, whose #11 placement I am redacting because I think it fits into this "*bleep*ing perfect but just not quite as perfect as Secret Number One Level" tier) will essentially be tied for a runner-up, #2 placement in this ranking.

The order in which I discuss the other nine levels will basically be determined by whatever I feel like writing about at the time. I'll discuss those nine levels in some order... and with each level that I discuss, that removes one more contender for the top spot of KYHO's favorite Spyro the Dragon level. So there is still a ranking aspect to this. There is still the suspense of which level will turn out to be my absolute favorite. But other than that absolute favorite, I am not going to try and nitpick, because none of these levels (including Haunted Towers) deserve to be called worse than any of the others.

I recognize that this might seem like a cop-out, but... I also don't really care. ^_^ This is MUCH more appealing to me than trying to compare perfection in one area to perfection in another, and it is the only way that I am really going to be able to finish this. Now that the ranking aspect of this has been largely cut out (with the exception of one level being crowned KYHO's Favorite), I will be much more engaged in it. I still stand by every other placement that I have posted (with the exception of Haunted Towers) because I do have opinions about which levels are better than others... just not when we get into levels as awesome as these last eleven.

So, with all of that said, I will go edit the first post so that Haunted Towers ranks at #2, and I will be sure to get at least one post up today, and praise the first of the magnificent top-tier levels that falls just short of #1.

KeepYourHornsOn · Mar 28, 2014 10:09 PM

You know, you still should make it so we can change font sizes...

2. Wizard Peak

I gotta say, I feel swell about not having to rank these next nine levels and getting to just talk about how great they are. Wizard Peak is a great introduction to this next set of all the relatively even levels (which, again, Haunted Towers is totally on part with): It's a level that I haven't really seen people say they want to see win or get out soon, meaning that there's still a wonderfully suspenseful selection of levels remaining that could be my favorite. But beyond that, it's a very, very fun level and it just feels appropriate to kickstart this ranking with. I've got the music playing in my headphones right now, and I gotta tell you, it feels like the perfect soundtrack to the revival of this thread. The Wizard Peak theme (later used on The Amanda Show, which of course blew my four-year-old mind -- the same music in multiple forms of media?? no way!!!) is easily one of the best tracks throughout the entire trilogy: It's upbeat, it's happy, it's just fun and throughout most of the track, it has the big drum hits that I absolutely love to hear. It's a perfect track, one of my favorites, and if you're not listening to it now... click that link in a new tab and listen to it! I'm telling you, it's the best "Time to start this thread, *bleep*s!!" track.

But it's not just a great track itself; it fits the level perfectly. The little keyboard jingle at the very beginning sucks you into the level right away and the music sets the tone perfectly as Spyro drops down into one of the most happy, energetic levels of the series. I said the theme is upbeat, happy, and fun, and that's... really all there is to Wizard Peak. It's just a fun, feel-good level. I know I've probably said a lot of levels had this distinction at some point, but Wizard Peak is one that was for quite a long time my favorite level as a kid -- once I got good enough that I could unlock enough levels that I didn't have to stick with Town Square as my favorite, I guess. tongue It's full of fun, fantasy enemies: ice-cold wizards who shoot arrows at you and create Gnorcs out of snow; those Gnorcs themselves, who taunt you and smack you with their clubs; the little wizards that launch lightning bolts at you; the armored wizards with clubs that are a fixture of the Magic Crafters world. It has supercharging, which as I've made clear already is something I *bleep*ing love -- few things are more inherently satisfying than just making Spyro go really, really fast to the extent that simple contact with him kills any and all foes.

The design of this level is really beautiful as well; it's a bunch of snowy mountains on a starry night, and within those mountains you have mystical caves featuring glowing water and multicolored walls. It's full of the typical bright patterns on the walls and floors that make the Magic Crafters world seem so friendly. Very much a bright, happy, welcoming level. This level actually kind of reminds me of Christmas. I mean, it's covered in snow, all of the non-snow scenery is red and green, the snowy Gnorcs kind of sound like sleigh bells when they burst forth onto the level.. and although the multicolored gems look the same in every level of the series, they really stand out to me while I'm playing this level. It's as bright and colorful as the sought-after gems themselves, and they, fitting with the Christmassy feel this level has always had for me, kind of look like bright, twinkling ornaments. ^_^ The whole Magic Crafters world is vaguely Christmassy to me, but it's at its strongest in Wizard Peak -- and of course even besides the happy feelings that come with that, it's just a pretty, fun level in its own right.

There are a few specific parts of this level that I want to point out that I love.. first, right at the beginning, if you look carefully you can step off to the left and walk around the exterior of the entire level (and have to in order to get all the gems and defeat all the enemies, of course.) It's not nearly as tricky as a Haunted Towers or a Tree Tops, but it's still something easy to miss, and I think it's just a pretty neat, unique element of this level that you have to run around both inside of the mountains and around the exterior of them in order to get everything. Not many levels let you explore the same location in two ways like that. And then, this is a really minor thing, but there's one small, circular room with a glowing pool of water... and as the water becomes brighter and darker, so do all of the walls in that one room. It's a small part of the level, but the way the brightness just changes as you're standing there is so pretty and feels so mystical, so it has always stood out to me as a high point in a level that is itself a high point. And I have to say that I love the dragons in this level, too: The one who tells you "Use [the supercharge] to BASH those wizards!" is a favorite of mine, and Lucas is one of the best and most memorable dragons of the entire first game, perhaps the most memorable -- it blew my mind when he told me that there was a hidden portal I could have accessed from the very beginning of the game that I had no idea about! I was too young to remember this now (I was three years old when I first got this game and probably four years old when this happened), but according to my older sister, we beat Wizard Peak right before going out to dinner with our family, and all throughout dinner we were excited to just get back home and see what the secret Artisan level was and we kept talking and thinking about what it might be. I have little to no recollection of this -- I just remember being amazed at the idea of a secret level -- but she says it happened and it is a pretty adorable story.

I think the best thing I can say to summarize Wizard Peak is that it feels like the definitive Spyro The Dragon level. Certainly this level is a microcosm of the Magic Crafters world -- containing snowy mountains and pretty caverns, multiple different wizard enemies who show up in the other lands, incorporating both the Supercharge and Eggs that are regular fixtures of Magic Crafters -- but I would really say that it is the definitive level for this series as a whole. Maybe it isn't the most iconic one (the level that I think is probably the most iconic is still in contention for the #1 spot), but it is without a doubt the one level that I would tell someone to play if they wanted to know what this series was all about. It has fun, bright scenery; it has a multitude of different challenges, including both skills Spyro has to master (supercharging) and the Game 1 simplicity of navigating through areas that might not be obvious (the passages around the exterior of the level that require some almost blind glides to take out a few of the wizards); it has cute, entertaining enemies; it's all set to a killer musical track that fits perfectly with the atmosphere of the level. It has every single thing that a Spyro level should and that most of them do, and in that sense it just feels like the definitive Spyro level. Everything that I love about this game, everything that makes it so accessible to children with the bright colors and cute friends/foes and everything in terms of awesome music and beautiful aesthetics that gives the series so much freaking replay value that I'm making these posts a decade and a half after I first played the game, can be found in Wizard Peak. No level really encapsulates the whole spectrum of what the Spyro the Dragon series is to me quite like Wizard Peak does. It is an absolutely fantastic addition to the series. If you want to remember what the Spyro the Dragon games are like at their absolute best, then play this level.

(And I still have the music playing in the background right now, and it still makes me as happy as it has every other time I've heard it since I was a toddler. :] )

But wait! There's more Wizard Peak!

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The following levels are still in the running...

KeepYourHornsOn · Mar 29, 2014 5:58 AM

2. Summer Forest

See this, this is why I had to not even try to rank most of these remaining levels. I just can't choose between something like Wizard Peak and Summer Forest. They are totally different experiences and I love them both for completely unrelated reasons.

I wanted to do another write-up before bed -- surely anyone following this deserves more than just one post today after how long of a break it's been -- but I'm actually really, really tired while I'm writing this right now, so I thought that I couldn't do a good write-up and had to wait until tomorrow... but then I realized that the mental fog I'm in right now is the perfect state of mind to have while doing a Summer Forest post, because this is a level that I really only fully appreciate while I'm tired. To put it simply, Summer Forest is a very, very, very relaxing level to me. I have called a few levels relaxing throughout this ranking (both of the other Game 2 homeworlds, for instance).. but there is no level that completely mellows me out the way Summer Forest does. It is by far the most relaxing in this series. There are really only a few things that can help me completely chill whenever I'm stressed out, and one of them (the only one that's relevant to this ranking) is playing through Summer Forest at night. It's just such a beautiful, peaceful, serene, calming level...

One of the best experiences I can remember out of my entire life is that in seventh grade, all the seventh graders in my school went on a field trip of sorts that lasted approximately three days (half of us went M-T-W, half of us W-TH-F) to this huge forested campground elsewhere in the state. And we were divided up into little groups with nature-based nicknames. And in our little groups, we did various activities throughout the three days -- some arts and crafts stuff, some educational stuff, etc. I don't remember most of the specific activities at all because it was quite a while ago, but there is one thing that I do remember and probably always will. There was this one activity where, in even smaller subgroups of about four kids each, we went out into the woods. The objective was to play the role of 'animals' and get some kind of little trinkets at various parts of the campus, representing food/water/etc, while avoiding certain teachers wielding water guns who represented hunters.. or something to that effect. It was every single kid's favorite activity and the one that they all looked forward to, because when you're twelve or thirteen years old, what's not to love about running from teachers with water guns in the middle of the woods? ...But my group got totally lost. Like, totally, completely off-base from where we were supposed to be. I'm pretty sure we ended up on the outskirts of the campus (my memory could be lying to me here, but I'm pretty sure we saw fences and a road, meaning that we couldn't go any further), but wherever we were, we had to make our way back to where we were supposed to be. We did so by wandering through a dried-up riverbed probably about twenty feet deep into the ground that we were fairly confident would eventually take us back. Our group was far away from everyone else (who were all doing the fun little activity like they were supposed to be doing -- nobody got as lost as we did, or at least they weren't lost in the same area), and because not one of the four of us (myself, a guy named Mike, a guy named Garrett, and a girl named Alexandra) knew each other at all, we weren't really talking to each other, so for all intents and purposes, I was basically by myself, walking semi-aimlessly through this riverbed in the middle of an unfamiliar forest.

And it was... the most relaxing, indescribably beautiful experience I have had in my entire eighteen years of living up to this point. Just being there in mud and leaves in what used to be a river, with huge, steep hills on both sides of me that were covered in more mud and more leaves and logs and fallen-down trees, hills that we couldn't climb to get out even if we'd wanted to.. being surrounded by all of this nature, effectively with no other people, with no cell phone or iPod or other kind of distraction, with no sounds and nothing at all other than the nature that surrounded me... It was so wonderful and I almost want to say magical. I have never experienced anything else quite like that in my entire life. And the reason why I am bringing it up (and I'm sure going into more detail than necessary, probably just for the sake of reliving and preserving the memory myself) is that ever since then, ever since I spent this unknown amount of time just walking on my own through this forest and soaking in all of the nature, and genuinely loving and taking in every aspect of it and cherishing every part of it with every fiber of my being and wanting to be there forever... Ever since then, forests have been my absolute favorite kind of natural setting, and I want little more than to go back to that campground or certainly somewhere else like it and have that kind of utterly magical experience again.

And... that, right there, is a huge part of why I so strongly adore Summer Forest as a level in this series. It does as much as any game can to take me back to that heaven that I was in that one day when I was thirteen years old. It is that experience above all else that makes me love forests, and even though it's such a small part of the series that I imagine most people reading this have probably overlooked entirely, those first two "rooms" Spyro is in when he exits Glimmer have been and always will be my favorite atmosphere anywhere in the entire game. The fact that they both are actually divided by rivers, just like the campground was divided by the riverbed I wandered through, and the fact that one of them is surrounded on all sides by huge, steep walls, just like I was surrounded by steep hills, makes it feel even more special. There are other reasons why I think I also love forests relating to vacations I'd go on annually when I was a little kid.. but when it comes to Summer Forest, the most relevant personal memory, the thing that I always think of, is walking through that riverbed. So maybe I rank Summer Forest so high for personal reasons - clearly that's at least part of why I love it so much, or I wouldn't be writing about all that - but even if you aren't me with massive nostalgia for one experience in the wilderness, I still think anyone can recognize what a beautiful level this is. I mean, if it were a *bleep*y level, then it wouldn't have that kind of emotional power over me, so I am sure anyone can appreciate this level being what it is, even if they don't have the same specific memories attached to it that I do. Those little forested areas are just so engaging -- and typically in this ranking when I've said the word "engaging", I've meant something exciting that instantly drew me into a generally more fast-paced level.. but here I mean that those areas, with the peaceful river and the serene music and the birds chirping in the first area and the frogs croaking in the second one, they make me feel engaged in the game in a way no other atmosphere does. They pull me into the level itself to the point where I almost feel like I'm actually there in the game itself. And, I mean, if that's not the entire purpose of successful level design.. then I'm not sure what is.

Aside from the little forested areas at the start - God, though, I love those, so very, very much - this level is still full of beautiful scenery. As you will see at the bottom of this post, I have 15 screenshots for this level, which I think might be the most out of any level in the series. The insides of the buildings themselves are gorgeous: the blown-out bridge has always been a piece of Spyro scenery that sticks out to me for some reason; the room you surface into after you dive down underneath the lake (the very first time Spyro swims underwater!) is glowing a beautiful blue totally unlike the rest of the level, not unlike the room I mentioned in Wizard Peak; the circular area with the giant tree is for some reason one of the Spyro locations I think about the most even when I'm not playing the game. When I'm at my most relaxed or nostalgic, images of that area sometimes come into my head. And in between the blue room and the introductory area, you have that bright, outdoor area featuring the portals to Idol Springs and Colossus, an area that I love to just circumnavigate slowly while listening to the sheep hopping and the frogs croaking. There's also the underwater passage you have to backtrack to near the start of the level, which features mysteriously glowing walls -- I don't know why, but I find it so beautiful and calming in games when parts of the scenery glow and darken for no reason. And of course throughout all of this, there's a slow, simple, beautiful ambient track from the lovely Stewart Copeland, which of course I've had playing on repeat to get me in the proper mood to make this post.

There are a very select few levels in video games that I have been known to play deep, deep into the night because it simply relaxes me to be in them for an extended period of time. One of them is Summer Forest. (The other ones all come from the other Insomniac series I have so much respect for, Ratchet and Clank. For people who play those games -- I'm sure there's some overlap since they were made by the same company, and I found R&C via a Spyro website -- the relaxing areas I'm talking about in those games are the desert planet in game two where you collect Crystals, the sewers in game three where you collect Sewer Crystals, and the second game's Insomniac Museum.. I could elaborate on why I love those locations but I don't know that anyone reading this has played these games, so I'll stop with this little tangent.) There is a swimming-in-air glitch in this level -- well there are about fifty, but there's one especially easy one that doesn't risk losing you lives -- and that actually helps out a lot.. swimming through levels is very relaxing, so when you combine it with how serene I already find this level to be, it is just a marvelous combination. A lot of the time when I was younger, I would stay up literally all night in summertime playing and replaying the second game, and I know that many times I would be awake, alone, at like four in the morning just swimming through the air of Summer Forest and listening to its music and its fodder animals' background noises. And that's why I say that I have to be tired to fully appreciate it... the times when I have most enjoyed this level have been in the middle of the night.

Ultimately, that sort of thing is what puts this level in the top tier of this ranking.. it's just an incredibly relaxing level that totally sucks me into its world unlike any other level in the entire series possibly can. No level in any game has the same kind of power for me that Summer Forest does. Basically, it does for me what yoga does for some people... relaxes me all the way down to my core and leaves me feeling peaceful and at ease. This level is a beautiful experience all around -- I love it so much and it means so much to me that it's actually my current cover photo on Facebook. I was actually really stressed out earlier tonight, shortly before doing this write-up, but now, after doing this post -- after listening to Summer Forest's music and reflecting on it and all the memories I have relating to it -- I feel incredibly relaxed, and that is what this level (which incidentally is, and by a wide margin was always going to be, the highest-ranked homeworld) does for me. I don't necessarily know how coherent this write-up was -- it was kind of a stream-of-consciousness thing, written when I was very tired and going to go to bed, but for an ambient level like this one, I think that that's exactly the kind of appropriate write-up it needs. It's just a beautiful, perfectly designed setting that, when I really let myself get fully invested in it, can completely change my state of mind like few other things can, and again, if that isn't the mark of remarkable level design that warrants a placement among the best of the best in this trilogy... then I don't know what is.

But wait! There's (a lot) more Summer Forest!

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Only seven more posts until one of the following levels is crowned KYHO's favorite...

36IStillLikeSpyro36 · Mar 29, 2014 6:15 AM

i read the one about Wizard Peak. i just don't have a lot to say about it. it is a really cool level, for sure!

Summer Forest... i know exactly what you mean about being immersed in nature. it's an amazing feeling to be so far away from civilization, and being in the beauty of nature. Summer Forest comes as close to it as i think the classics can. tongue i don't know if you play the Legend of Spyro games but some levels in DOTD do that pretty well for me.

KeepYourHornsOn · Mar 29, 2014 6:29 AM

Can't say I have. As far as console ones go, I've played the original three and Enter the Dragonfly, but lol @ the idea of Enter the Dragonfly immersing anyone in anything other than secondhand embarrassment

Flapjacks · Mar 29, 2014 8:16 PM

Oh, it's back!
Praise jeezus
I agree, Wizard Peak definitely is one of the most memorable, iconic levels of the game, along with it's music.
I never really thought about it, but when I think of Spyro 2, I think about Summer Forest. It's a very memorable level, just for the way it pulls you in to the game.

s'pyromane · Mar 29, 2014 11:13 PM

Hah, welcome back !

If you ever doubted about people here playing Ratchet and Clank, doubt no more !
I'm one of those (to be honest, I used to think that R&C was the spiritual sequel of Spyro3). wink
I try to finish again from scratch all my R&C copies at the moment, and while playing through the first one I noticed some references to Spyro that were simply NOT here by chance, for example some shells in the surroundings you could destroy that made the exact same noise (and shattered the same way) as it did in Spyro.

Back on topic, as I take a look on the remaining levels...Huh, I love them all too (I remember enjoying Fireworks Factory and Icy Peak a lot). I really need to play the games again to pick one between all of those. tongue

Wizard peak was fun and colorful, exactly what you want for a Spyro level indeed ! Summer forest is surprisingly memorable, and also the place when Spyro learns to swim, which is such a cool feature in the game (that allows the glorious air swimming as you pointed out).

And I gotta agree with 36IStillLikeSpyro36, even though I am definately much more a classic Spyro fan, DotD is a game I love because it did really make a nice work with the overall atmosphere.
ETD was a rushed game sadly, it could have been much, muuuuuuch better, the electric breath looked so cool (and the bubble breath was...well...bubbles. Who can say no to bubbles ?).

Last edited by s'pyromane (Mar 29, 2014 11:40 PM)

Flapjacks · Mar 30, 2014 2:54 AM

I can say no to bubbles when they spray out in random directions making the *bleep* dragonflies impossible to catch.

KeepYourHornsOn · Mar 30, 2014 5:15 AM

Hooray, people still caring about this despite my horrible inability to update in a timely manner!

s'pyromane wrote:

If you ever doubted about people here playing Ratchet and Clank, doubt no more !
I'm one of those (to be honest, I used to think that R&C was the spiritual sequel of Spyro3).
I try to finish again from scratch all my R&C copies at the moment, and while playing through the first one I noticed some references to Spyro that were simply NOT here by chance, for example some shells in the surroundings you could destroy that made the exact same noise (and shattered the same way) as it did in Spyro.

Where, exactly? yikes
I know that I've heard stock sound effects from Spyro in some other media. A few examples I can think of offhand.. the "wwwwAAYO!" scream that starts off the Bentley's Outpost music is used as a transition in the thirteenth season of Survivor. And in certain scenes in season three of Game of Thrones (outdoor ones featuring Sansa and Tyrells), you can hear bird calls that are also in the Mystic Marsh ambience. I know that there's more, but this is all that I can recall offhand. Pretty sure I've heard some enemies in R&C make the same sounds as some Spyro enemies but I can't remember specifics, sadly.

Also, something I forgot to mention that'll really only be relevant to Harry Potter fans.. one of the Wizard Peak dragons is named Cedric, and I think that's so fitting, because the Magic Crafters dragons all seemed to be such archetypal Hufflepuffs to me. <3 Just nice folks who don't really care about much other than being pleasant.

I was gonna do one more update before going to bed but I'm too tired. Tomorrow!

s'pyromane · Mar 30, 2014 12:26 PM

I think it was on the Umbris System (Qwark's HQ) in the pools you had to drain and fill with the hydrodisplacer, there were some shells near the aquatic monsters.

Yeah, bubbles were definately NOT reliable, but the idea is fun regardless and looks much less brutal than using the ice breath on those butterflies like in Spyro season of flames.^^

KeepYourHornsOn · Apr 06, 2014 4:26 AM

2. Dark Hollow

Once again, I'm taking out a level that I don't think most people were expecting to take the #1 spot anyway. I imagine most people wouldn't really expect Dark Hollow to rank so high in the first place, since it's a very early level and, in fact, the shortest level of the entire game. Stone Hill is the shortest just to get to the endpoint, but it's actually a fairly long level as far as getting 100% goes, with so many different pathways, the thief chase, and the locked chest. When it comes to getting every single thing in the level (which is the only way I know how to play this game), Dark Hollow is without a doubt the quickest, which might make it seem out of place among the giant, clearly elite levels like Tree Tops, Fracture Hills (screw all y'all), and Fireworks Factory... but as far as I'm concerned, the fact that it can rank so highly despite being the shortest stage in the entire trilogy is just a sign of how great a level Dark Hollow must be.

Essentially, I think that this level succeeds where Summer Forest succeeds; despite its length, Dark Hollow does a remarkable job of drawing me into a new world and making me feel like I'm actually there... and the atmosphere that it draws me into is, as evidenced by its top-tier status, one of my favorites in the series. Its musical track is another one that I consider one of the absolute best in the series; ever since I was a kid, I loved going to Dark Hollow just because I think its music has such a great sound to it - and a sound that's very distinct from most of the other compositions in the first game. It doesn't have the same huge, chaotic drum hits and blaring organs that I typically associate with the first game's soundtrack... but in its own way, it's still a very appealing piece that sets the tone perfectly for Dark Hollow -- the music kind of reminds me of a summer night, which is what I associate with the rest of the level and its campfires, pure green scenery, and clear night sky. I can't put it into words but I just think Dark Hollow is a very welcoming, peaceful level, and if there were a longer level with this same atmosphere, it would have a very real shot at placing #1.

The enemies this level are also pretty memorable: It's the first level in the series to feature big enemies who can't be charged or metal enemies who can't be flamed. ( (Technically you can flame the small Gnorcs if you're quick and manage to get behind them, but still.) The enemies of Artisans and Stone Hill can all be defeated easily with any of Spyro's tactics, so it's worth noting that Dark Hollow makes some enemies invulnerable to some attacks and thus ups the difficulty level, even if it's only by a little bit. The Gnorcs who have to be flamed from behind - even though there are only two of them - are one of my favorite species of enemy in the series as well. <3

Other various odds and ends to this level that I like: I think the area that those two enemies guard, which has the key, is one of the most aesthetically pleasing areas in the series, even though it's so out of place. It has typical Artisans architecture but in a brown color, which is entirely unique to this level, and a glowing purple pool that contrasts heavily with the rest of the room but in a very pleasing way. The dragon in that area - Oswin, I think? - is brown to match the scenery, and I'm pretty sure he's the only dragon in the game with that design (as opposed to a couple dragons like Nestor who are replicated in other levels.) There's a small castle near the end of the level that I think is really pretty (that area also features one of the first potentially tricky gliding challenges in the game), and nearby it are two campfires that you can flame and light, brightening up the area a little bit. The little campfires are one of my favorite things in the first game.. they don't give you anything, but I flame them every time. They don't serve any purpose whatsoever besides scenery but that's why I like them -- they're just an extra tidbit the level designers decided to throw in to add one more thing to the level, and that extra touch is something I appreciate. (Similarly, the lanterns [which also appear in Dark Passage] make a squeaking sound when you charge them; this really serves no purpose whatsoever other than to add one more little element to the level.) The pit at the end of the level is also something memorable that I enjoy that gave me a hard time when I was a three or four year old trying to figure out how to jump up the steps and get out. It's one of those things that's really easy now, but was a challenge for me when I was young enough to really be challenged by these games.

In general, I think the Artisans world has the potential to be my favorite world in the series (besides Dream Weavers, of course) based on the general design it has. I love all the green grass and all the architecture in that world.. but because most of the levels are so easy, simple, and short, I don't outright love most of them as much as I would if they were incredibly long levels with that same welcoming, friendly atmosphere. Dark Hollow more than any other Artisans level manages to succeed in living up to its full potential despite its length; it may be the shortest level in the series, but that's okay, because it has such a pretty design and appealing atmosphere and is filled to the brim with content that I enjoy. There isn't a single part of this level I don't really enjoy. Because of this, every time I play through the first game, it's when I reach Dark Hollow that I really get excited about the idea of playing through Spyro 1 again... and for me, that's enough to rank it as one of the best in the series.

Only seven levels remain! And they are...

From Game 1, we have Tree Tops and two Dream Weavers levels; from Game 2, we have Fracture Hills; from Game 3, we have Fireworks Factory and two Midday Garden levels.

I'm thinking that in the next update, I will eliminate a frontrunner level that has gotten a lot of support so far... Time will tell which one I am referring to!

Flapjacks · Apr 06, 2014 4:49 AM

It'd better be Fireworks Factory or I'll be angry. (It's the only one I can think of that hasn't gotten a lot of support besides Icy Peak)

Edit: Also, am I the only one who didn't find Tree Tops that hard? If I were to take all of the levels, and seperate them into easy and hard, it probably wouldn't have been in the hard category. It took me maybe 45 minutes, probably 15 minutes of which was me trying to get that one dragon near the end of the level, but Haunted Towers took me at least two or three hours, and I also had to look up a walkthrough, which I hardly ever do. I beat Portal and Portal 2 with no walkthroughs, yet with this game that's 15 years old I needed one.

Last edited by Flapjacks (Apr 06, 2014 5:48 AM)

36IStillLikeSpyro36 · Apr 06, 2014 5:21 AM

Dark Hollow *does* have a nice atmosphere, doesn't it?

and i don't remember any of those levels getting a lot of support. (thenagainidontreadallofthecomments)

s'pyromane · Apr 06, 2014 11:36 AM

He's probably speaking about Fireworks Factory or Icy Peak.^^

I expect Lofty Castle to be #1 or near because it has THAT Dream Weavers atmosphere and such an awesome music, it makes you literally travel on dreams for the entire level !

But yeah, most of the levels I would rank to top10 are already gone lol (mostly from game 3, for nostalgia's sake because it's the one I played as a kid + I did RP with mah friends on some Spyro3 levels), like Charmed Ridge, Lost Fleet, Evening Lake and Misty Bog (for some reason I really loved the swamp levels).

Last edited by s'pyromane (Apr 06, 2014 11:43 AM)

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