Link to first video -    • Spyro the Dragon - A History  

Continuing on with my Spyro the Dragon series, it's time to jump into Gateway to Glimmer.. or Ripto's Rage! if you're American.

Spyo 2 was developed by Insomniac Games and released in November 1999, 14 months after the original game came out. One interesting fact that is mentioned is the origin of the game's title and the main villain's name, Ripto. In the Japanese version, Spyro's name in Katakana looks an awful lot like 'Ripto', so the developers went with it and lo and behold, we have Spyro: Ripto's Rage!

Rumour has it that the game was rushed during its development. For example, even though the homeworlds are named after the seasons, there are only three homeworlds as opposed to four. On top of this, while the first two homeworld's realms have Spyro collecting talismans, with orbs being the reward for completing side missions, the third suddenly abandons this and just shoves more orbs at him.

The story of Spyro 2 starts off with a cutscene 'in the world of Dragons.' Spyro and Sparx are running through what appears to be the Artisan homeworld from the first game. It's a rainy miserable day and Spyro remarks that the two of them really need a vacation. Lo and behold, the Dragon Shores portal is just a few feet away, so the two jump through it, ready for a relaxing sunny holiday.

Meanwhile, in the world of Avalar', Elora, Hunter, Zoe and the Professor are working on a portal in order to bring a dragon to their world. They of course succeed in bringing Spyro to Avalar, and we are then introduced to the main villain of the game - Ripto!

Avalar is split into three hubs - Summer Forest, Autumn Plains, and Winter Tundra. Summer Forest is set at day time, and is as you'd expect - a woodland with tall trees, flowing streams and a large pond which Spyro can dive into.

Autumn Plains is the next homeworld Spyro visits. It's set during the evening, and while not very 'plainy', it is definitely Autumnal; the trees are beautiful shades of gold, orange and brown, and are even shedding their leaves - one of the many nice little touches the level designers included.

Winter Tundra is the last homeworld Spyro visits, and, following the theme of the previous hubs, it's set at night. It's the smallest homeworld of the lot, set in a mountainous region and layered with patches of snow. Very little vegetation grows here apart from grass.

Once you've obtained the talismans or collected enough orbs in each of the realms, you'll be able to take on the boss of that homeworld. Summer Forest's boss is Crush, featured in Crush's Dungeon, Autumn Plains' boss is Gulp, featured in Gulp's Overlook, and Winter Tundra's boss is of course Ripto, featured in Ripto's Arena.

Insomniac Games have added a few new abilities to spice things up. Spyro is still flaming, charging, jumping and gliding his way to victory, but he can also learn to swim, climb and headbash... for a small fee of course.

Besides the talisman and orb collecting, you'll also need to hoard all those shiny gems scattered about each realm. How else are you going to keep Moneybags in the style to which he's become accustomed? Collecting the talisman, orbs and gems of every realm will award you with a 'so and so complete' animation, but if you want to be a real completionist, you can also go after the skill points. These aren't necessary to 100% the realm, they just add a bit more fun and challenge to each level.

Stewart Copeland reprised his role of composer for the music of Spyro 2, so you can expect pretty much the same thing - attack of the keyboards and drums! Nah I'm only kidding, I love the music of the Spyro games, and Stewart once again proves his genius when it comes to creating themes for specific levels.

In terms of voice work, a lot of things have changed since the first game. Perhaps the most noticeable difference is Spyro's voice. He originally had quite a nasally, whiny voice which really grated on my ears. Spyro sounds more mature this time round. Whether this signifies that some time has passed since the first game, or the devs just wanted to appeal to an older audience, it's a very welcome change.

I was quite surprised to find there were so few voice actors for so many different characters. For example, Tom Kenny voiced not only Spyro, but the Professor as well, Gregg Berger voiced Hunter, Ripto and his minions, Crush and Gulp, and Melissa Disney voiced Elora, Queen Finney and the Hippos to name just a few. I suppose if you are going to pursue a career in voice acting it pays to be able to pull off any range, accent and species.

Unlike its predecessor, Spyro 2 was a huge success from the get go. Following the same formula let people familiar with the series know what to expect, while not throwing newcomers into the deep end with overly complicated controls, and the addition of mechanics such as mini games and skill point chasing gave more hard core gamers a challenge.