Spyro 2's level design is...

[NBOX21]

kind of underwhelming actually. Almost every level in Spyro 2 is very open and flat with barely any real design or substance to it. There's barely any real platforming going on and there's very few secret areas especially compared to the other two, which is most likely due to the focus on mini-games and variety.

Compare that to the level design in Spyro 1 - no two levels felt the same and all felt unique and special in their own way and even Spyro 3 where even though each level felt like a loop where it just ends at the beginning, they all had unique platforming sections, set-pieces and secret areas to find.

To me, it almost felt like the levels had to be designed with the mini-games and other challenges in mind. Notice how half the space of Skelos Badlands was taken up by the caveman village mini-game, or Breeze Harbour being designed around the trolley tracks for example? The space that could've actually been used for level design felt wasted by these mini-games, which is why Spyro 3 had special portals in the levels that seperated the main level from the mini-games, and Spyro 1 never had this issue to begin with.

I'm also really good at all three of these games, however on my most recent playthrough of Spyro 2, I never even died once in any of the levels. Compare that to Spyro 1 and 3 where I still lose a few lives in the main levels here and there, thus they still feel somewhat challenging.

Levels like Magma Cone and Aquaria Towers are my favourite Spyro 2 levels since at least those levels stand out in their own way and actually feel like their own thing compared to other Spyro levels. Magma Cone especially has a really cool secret area that takes a bit of skill to find. Metropolis was also pretty cool due to its futuristic setting and UFOs at the end.

I will say that the HUBs are really good though - Autumn Plains especially has to be one of my favourite HUBs in any game ever! Winter Tundra had a really cool secret area by the waterfall as well. I wish more Spyro 2 levels had secrets like these!

[>M@tEo$<]

Spyro 1 first world has rather flat levels, but it changes afterward

Spyro 2 just have made the different-level part of the levels to be kind of in the middle of these levels, making any location reachable within the playable area (I don't know if i'm clear enough here ^^'); you can walk around a level, and the middle is usually above and can be visited, roughly

As you pointed it has more focus on moving in 3D (free flight power up, submarine levels), while 1 was various level of "flat" if I may say

[NBOX21]

Originally posted by >M@tEo$<:

Spyro 1 first world has rather flat levels, but it changes afterward

Spyro 2 just have made the different-level part of the levels to be kind of in the middle of these levels, making any location reachable within the playable area (I don't know if i'm clear enough here ^^'); you can walk around a level, and the middle is usually above and can be visited, roughly

As you pointed it has more focus on moving in 3D (free flight power up, submarine levels), while 1 was various level of "flat" if I may say

I just felt like Spyro 1 did a lot more with this kind of design. While it's true that game also had mostly flat levels in the first world, the design changes completely after that to make for more unique, memorable levels as soon as you reach Peace Keepers, whereas it felt like Spyro 2 used this kind of design as late as Winter Tundra with Robotica Farms and Mystic Marsh, as well as multiple levels in Autumn Plains.

I'd happily take Tree Tops or Lost Fleet over Fracture Hills any day.