Spyro 2: Ripto's Rage!

Spyro 2: Ripto's Rage!
Developer(s)	Insomniac Games
Publisher(s)	Sony Computer Entertainment
Distributor(s)	Universal Interactive Studios
Composer(s)	Stewart Copeland
Series	Spyro
Platform(s)	PlayStation
Release date(s)	NA: November 2, 1999 EU: November 5, 1999
Genre(s)	Platformer
Mode(s)	Single-player

Spyro 2: Ripto's Rage!, known in Europe as Spyro 2: Gateway to Glimmer and in Japan as Spyro × Sparx: Tondemo Tours is a platform video game developed by Insomniac Games and published by Sony Computer Entertainment for the PlayStation, and the second game in the main Spyro series following Spyro the Dragon. It was released in North America on November 2, 1999, in Europe on November 5, 1999, and in Japan on March 16, 2000. The game has also been re-released on PlayStation Network. Like its predecessor, the game was met with positive reviews.

Gameplay

On completing a level, a character will present Spyro with a talisman. All talismans in a world must be gained in order to progress to the next one.

Players once again play the role of Spyro the Dragon as he fights against various enemies and obstacles using his flame breath, charge attack, and glide abilities. Like the previous game, Spyro's health is indicated by the color of his dragonfly partner, Sparx, who can replenish his health by eating butterflies. Bottled butterflies will both completely restore Sparx's health and give Spyro an extra life. The game is split up into three main hub worlds containing portals to various realms. In order to progress through the first two hub worlds, the player must acquire a talisman from each realm, which is awarded for reaching the end of the level, before facing the boss of each world. Each level also contains a certain number of orbs, which can be earned by completing secondary tasks for particular NPCs, such as lighting a series of lamps or protecting characters from attacks. These orbs are required for opening some of the portals to certain levels, as well as progressing through the third hub world. Gems gathered throughout the game are required to pay fees laid out by the greedy Moneybags in order to progress through the game. As well as opening portals or granting access to certain areas, Moneybags also teaches Spyro three brand new abilities over the course of the game. Swimming lets Spyro dive underwater to reach submerged treasure and hidden tunnels, climbing lets Spyro climb up certain surfaces, and the headbash lets Spyro perform an overhead smashing attack which can break rocks and certain cages. In addition, each level has a power-up gate, activated after defeating a specific number of enemies in a level, which grants Spyro a temporary super-ability. As well as flying and supercharging featured in the previous game, power-ups include super fire breath, ice breath, invulnerability, and a super jump for reaching high up areas.

Characters and setting

The only characters from the original game to return as main characters in this game are Spyro, the game's protagonist, and Sparx, his dragonfly sidekick. Sparx functions as the player's health meter, and assists the player in gathering gems. This game introduces new characters into the Spyro series, many of whom would appear in later games. Both Hunter and Moneybags make recurring appearances in the series, while Ripto would make more series appearances than any other antagonist, making him the key villain of the original series. The dragons of the previous installment have been replaced with an entirely new cast of characters, including fauns, satyrs, anthropomorphic animals, and robotic businessmen, among others.

The world of Avalar is divided into three realms: the Summer Forest, the Autumn Plains, and the Winter Tundra. In every realm, there is a castle that, during the course of the storyline, is captured by Ripto. Each realm features a number of different worlds, a speedway world, and a dungeon in which Ripto or his minions are hiding.

Plot

Spyro the Dragon and his dragonfly partner Sparx, feeling tired of it raining all the time, decide to take a vacation to Dragon Shores. Upon going through the portal, however, Spyro ends up in the fantasy realm of Avalar, having been summoned there by Elora the Faun, Hunter the Cheetah, and the Professor. They explain that whilst experimenting with a large portal device, they inadvertently summoned an evil tyrant known as Ripto, along with his minions Crush and Gulp. Pleased to find himself in a world without dragons, Ripto decided to take over Avalar, prompting Elora and the others to summon a dragon to fight against him. Currently stranded in Avalar as a result of Ripto destroying the portal he came in through, Spyro agrees to help fight against him, gathering up talismans from the various realms of Avalar in order to confront and defeat Crush and Gulp. Ripto then manages to steal a power crystal, which was used to power the large portal device, which he uses to create a new scepter for himself, but Spyro manages to defeat him as well. With peace returned to Avalar, Elora and the others fix the portal device, allowing Spyro to take his long awaited vacation to Dragon Shores.

In the game's epilogue, which is unlocked by completing the Skill Points list in the Guidebook, reveals what happened to various friends and enemies that Spyro encountered in Avalar, such as Spyro and Elora missing their chance to kiss, Crush being taught by the Professor how to spell, and a list of dummied enemies that didn't make it into the game. In the end, Spyro returns to the Dragon Realm, with Hunter joining him, setting the stage for the next game.

Development

The game was tentatively titled Spyro the Dragon 2 during its pre-production phase. The music for Spyro 2: Ripto's Rage! was composed by Stewart Copeland and was engineered and co-produced by Jeff Seitz. The character Spyro is voiced by Tom Kenny, replacing Carlos Alazraqui from the first game, while additional voices are provided by Kenny, Gregg Berger, Melissa Disney, Milton James, Mary Linda Phillips and Marcelo Tubert. The game's sound effects were created by Mike Gollum, Harry Woolway and Ron Horwitz of Universal Sound Studios.

Re-releases

The game became available for download on the European PlayStation Network on July 26, 2007, even before its predecessor was released to the same market. Less than a week later, however, it was removed because Colossus and Idol Springs levels failed to load. On April 17, 2008, it was released on the Japanese PlayStation Store. On May 7, 2009, a corrected version of the game became available for download from the North American PlayStation Store and was re-released on the European PlayStation Store on December 12, 2012.

Reception

Spyro 2: Ripto's Rage! received critical acclaim. With a score of 87% at GameRankings, based on an aggregate of 15 reviews.^[1] GameSpot's Joe Fielder gave the game an 8.6/10, saying that it "injected a dose of soul and variety into a game that was already pretty fun to play".^[2] IGN's Doug Perry gave it an 8.8/10, stating that it "is a fun, and excellent platformer".^[3]

References