Ok, I need to make sure I get this right; this game is really important to me. Even if no one reads this, it’s important that I get all these thoughts out, even if just for myself. Alright, let’s get started.

No game left an impact on me the way the original Spyro 2 did. I have vivid memories of being in kindergarten and feigning a stomach virus so I could stay home and play the game, howling in exaggerated pain every time my mother walked by. Nothing could ever measure up to the magic of playing Ripto’s Rage for the first time, and this game is one of my all-time favorites even after twenty years. I am going to discuss my love of this game in five main categories, the things that really make Spyro 2 stand out from other 3D platformers. These categories are: gameplay, worldbuilding, characters, charm/aesthetics, and completion.

Gameplay: Spyro the Dragon was a competent game; it controlled well, the camera was good, and Spyro had a unique feel compared to other game mascots. However, while the gameplay was good, it could be rather basic. The sequel managed to overhaul Spyro’s move set so that it felt like a perfect evolution of the first game, being much richer and more varied. The addition of new power-ups opened so many new possibilities for new combat and side-objectives. Little touches like the hover and ability to climb added so mobility and opened the areas up much more for exploration, but the aspect of Spyro 2 which the game doesn’t get nearly enough credit for is the swimming controls. Underwater exploration in this game has the exact same speed and feel as on-land progression, and the transition is seamless. Underwater traversal in just about any 3D platformer from this era almost always ends up being the worst part of the game, but here it’s a complete nonissue. It’s simply incredible how much depth and variety Spyro 2 adds to the first game’s gameplay without feeling gimmicky or unfaithful. It is also impressive how it manages to keep the gameplay consistent; adding so many new objectives without deviating from the core gameplay loop in any way that would feel jarring (take notes Spyro 3).

Worldbuilding: One thing you’ll hear me say a lot about all three Spyro games is that they’re all really good, and one thing they have in common is great level design. Every Spyro has big, sprawling levels which are equal parts creative and immersive. However, while I love them to pieces, the levels of Spyro 1 and 3 feel like levels in a video game, but the levels of Spyro 2 feel like living, breathing worlds.

The intro and outro cutscenes for each level add so much personality to each world. Not only does every level in the game have unique enemies and conflicts, but we also learn about much of it through gameplay. Whether you are flaming sentient tikis in Idol Springs, blasting stone apart with bagpipe music in Fracture Hills, or turning on a Fountain to stop giant elephant-snails in Mystic Marsh, each area is wildly creative and distinct from any other level I’ve seen in any other platforming game. Other details like characters in one world mentioning another, Zephyr being at war with Breeze Harbor, or worlds with adjacent portals having similar character models all go a long way to making the world feel cohesive and alive. Almost every side-objective in the game teaches you something new about the world you’re in, and the objectives manage to be so creative and memorable, rarely boiling down to ‘just go here and beat up a bunch of enemies’ (are you taking notes Spyro 3?)

Characters: The repetitive Dragon rescues from Spyro 1 were easily the most grating aspect of that game. They lacked in design variety, weren’t well voice-acted, and didn’t add much of a sense of accomplishment to find. Yes, the Reignited version fixed this problem, but that’s a discussion for another time. Ripto’s Rage improved this by having a much smaller cast of characters with much more personality.

Spyro himself has a much better voice actor this time around, but he hasn’t lost any of his spunk from the first game. Elora is a wonderful support who manages to have a lot of personality despite the limited facial animation, Hunter is an endearing companion with a lot of charm, the Professor and Zoe are alright, Moneybags is a funny punching bag, and Ripto is one of my favorite video game villains of all time; the way he can have so much presence and charisma despite his small stature is very impressive. His boss fight is one of my favorites as well.

Even the side-characters manage to be very distinct and memorable. Few of them fall into typical cartoon archetypes. The Juliet character in the game’s Romeo and Juliet spoof has a hilariously non-feminine voice, the fauns in Fracture Hills talk like valley girls because they live in a valley, and the game has a dancing skeleton. Unfortunately, many of these nuances were lost in the transition to Reignited. Many of the characters in the remake have typical voices and personalities, and it makes some levels less memorable. I still think the Reignited version of Spyro 2 is great; I love the revamped soundtrack and a lot of the new character designs and visual details, but a few questionable changes like removing the epilogue and some worse voice acting make me hesitant to call it the definitive way to play the game(they also needed to change Hunter’s age. Seeing him date Bianca is going to be uncomfortable knowing that he’s 42).

Charm/Aesthetics: As a grown adult, I can still listen to Spyro 2’s soundtrack while doing my job, it’s just so damn good. As stated previously, the game is filled with charming characters, unique levels, and beautiful music. There is no other game, even any other Spyro game, that looks like Spyro 2. The aesthetics and music of Spyro 1 and 3 are wonderful as well: this is the only category out of the five where they may actually be as good or better in my opinion, and this was definitely the category I had the least to say about, because the wonderful presentation of these games speaks for itself.

Completion: I was discovering new details and gameplay factors in Spyro 2 up until the remake came out: I spent twenty years coming back to this game, and I was always glad I did. The cutscene theater was a neat reward for the PS1 era, but the permanent super-flame may be the best 100% reward I’ve ever seen in a game. Having the option to neuter the game’s challenge as a reward for finishing the game the first time is ingenious and learning years later that I can start a new playthrough with it was incredibly satisfying. Years apart: I learned about the new game file with the super-flame, the deviously hidden skill point challenges, the cheat codes, the adorable epilogue you get for getting all the skill points, and there is a game-breaking double-jump which lets you skip massive parts of certain levels.

… this game man

I honestly could have kept going. This game was such a crucial, irreplaceable part of my childhood. I love the other Spyro games, and I love the remakes, but the original Ripto’s Rage will always be the best in my eyes. I’m so happy to finally be able to pay my respects to a fantastic game which made me happy and brought me back time and time again. The Purple Dragon has had some less-than-stellar games since the original trilogy, and the future of Spyro 4 is still uncertain. But personally, I’m not worried at all, because I know that no matter what happens, the original Ripto’s Rage will be there for me if I ever need it.

Thanks, Spyro
and thanks Insomniac

the original Spyro the Dragon was the first ever PlayStation game I've ever played. I think I played it back in May of 2022? It's a little silly it took me over a year to finally get to Spyro 2. Now that I've finally got around to it, while I had a couple issues with it, I really did enjoy it!
It's hard for me to properly compare this to the original Spyro. That's mainly because it's been over a year since I played it, and I don't remember much about it. I remember certain things, I mean, I 100%'d it after all! But it's interesting then that I just don't remember much of it. But that being said, I do think Spyro 2 is an improvement to the original.
God, the main levels of Spyro 2 are pretty damn fun! They're mini-overworlds where you can do quests and platforming, and conceptually, they're pretty fun! Another review puts it nicely, where it's not just a "get to the end of the level" design. The actual platforming was pretty good, and worked really well in tandem with Spyro's moveset. I also like how there's both collectables in both the end-of-level talismans, and within-the-level orbs.
But this sort of leads into what is probably my biggest problem with Spyro 2, which is that a lot of the orbs you can get are gained from mini-games. I've mentioned this in numerous other reviews I've made, but I've never been a fan of mandatory mini-games. To beat the game normally, you need 40 orbs, which means you'll probably need to do a handful of mini-games. Most of the time, these mini-games just felt rough. These Mini-Games ultimately feel like they're padding out the run time to me, and taking away from what is a really good 3D platformer. In that regard, I would love if this game was shorter, and just relied around the platforming.
But one big positive that this game has is the bosses. The bosses from what I remember in the original Spyro were just chases. They were really uninteresting because of it. Spyro 2 however has actually bosses, and I loved them! I beat the final boss on my first try and it was the tensest thing I've done in a while.
Spyro 2: Ripto's Rage is definitely an improvement upon the original, and while I did have some issues, I still really enjoyed it! Much like the first game, the game has some absolutely great platforming, but I do wish they toned down on the mini-games. Still a really solid game though.

I didn’t like Spyro 2. Not entirely, but I do feel like it sours the taste of the first game. For every step forward, and for every improvement, Spyro 2 takes an equal step backwards, and with that step, a new inconvenience is born. It all just culminates in an experience that just feels lacking, especially when compared to the incredible framework set up by the first Spyro game.

Firstly, I want to start with the good, which there is a lot of, despite what I may have made it out to seem. Both the story and that story’s presentation have been greatly improved. In my review of Spyro 1 I noted that the player could go the whole game without knowing who the main antagonist is and why they were the bad guy, strictly because the game spends I don’t think even an actual minute telling the player or getting them acquainted with the world. In this game, however, the antagonist Ripto just might be the most memorable thing here; his voice acting and little animations give him so much life and stage presence. On top of that, unlike Gnasty Gnorc, Ripto actually shows up repeatedly throughout the game, in both cutscenes and boss fights, making him feel like a much more prominent threat. As well, the worlds Spyro visits are way more fleshed out and, for the most part, feel way more alive; there are NPCs who are fully voice acted and that are unique to the world you are exploring, some have side quests for the player to complete that add to the liveliness of it all, and each level has its own little isolated conflict that makes them all feel unique and memorable, outside of just aesthetics. My favorite example of this are within the Breezebuilder and Zephyr worlds; it seems that both of these worlds are in some kind of war between each other, so in one world the player will have to fight off the Zephyr inhabitants and help the Breezebuilders get their war ships back up and running, while in the other you help the Zephyr inhabitants clear their valley of the invading Breezebuilders.

On the non-aesthetic side of things, several quality of life improvements have been to how the game is played and navigated. Off the bat, the useless dodgerolls have been removed entirely and have been replaced with a hover move; the hover move is functionally a double jump, but is only available when Spyro is in a full glide. Normally, double jumps cause a problem of making platforming too easy and making it seem trivial; this hover ability is a great compromise because it still allows the platforming to be precise and require skill, while also giving that slight bit of wiggle room that those gliding sections from Spyro 1 desperately needed. As well, the fairies no longer require the player to interact with them and open a bunch of menus in order to save, now they just automatically save whenever Syro is near them. A map has been added too, allowing you to view the general outline and structure of whatever level you are currently in to better help with navigation; though the game does not tell you this, and would only know about it if you dug around in the options menu and found the button that turns it on. I went the whole game without knowing it was there, but I don’t think it is that big of a deal as the levels are pretty linear and flow very well, much like the first game. Finally, if you are missing one or two gems in an area and just can’t seem to find them, Sparks will pull a point straight in the direction of where those last few gems are; this, along with all the other quality of life features that I mentioned, was something I thought was added with the 2018 remakes, but I am very happy and surprised that it is here.

Sadly, this is where my praises of Spyro 2 end, as the rest of this game ranges from being the exact same as the first game, to some of the most infuriating and stupid design choices I have seen in a game. I mentioned earlier that this game has side quests, and it does. It has a whole lot of them actually, about three to four per level. There are so many of these side quests that I’d argue that they aren’t even side quests and are just the main gameplay. They clog up levels by having you do stupid mini games that are either so easy a baby could do it, or make me want to throw my controller across the room with how bad they are; they are like way less interesting versions of mini games that would normally be found in a Mario Party game. By far the worst one in this whole game is the one where you have to catch these crystal popcorn that come out of the ground, while also racing Hunter to see who can get ten of them first. This doesn’t sound all that bad until you start doing it and realize that Hunter not only has some godly form of clairvoyance that lets him immediately know where one is going to pop out of the ground, but also that he can turn on a dime, something that Spyro can very much not do. This ends up making a level that really shouldn’t take more than ten minutes, take over thirty because you have to deal with the most BS AI I have ever seen. While not as bad as this one was, all of the other side quests suffer similar issues of just being annoying and ultimately destroy the immaculate pacing that the first game had; having you repeatedly start, stop, read text boxes, and do mini games, rather than naturally progress through levels and solve puzzles that are organically weaved into the environment. What’s even worse, is that these quests are mandatory; the orbs that serve as the rewards for these quests are needed in order to progress, and eventually fight Ripto. Not all of the orbs are needed, but you still need at least forty of them, which means many of these mini games are gonna have to be done.

On top of this, there is a decent amount of backtracking; nothing too egregious, or even necessary, but still once again sully the satisfying flow and pacing of the first game’s design. In the first game, every collectable could be obtained in the first go in a level; this is still the case for about 85% of this game, but there are a couple of levels that require a revisit once a new ability is gained in order to 100%. This is just entirely unnecessary and, again, only serves to waste the players time, as well as actively discouraging going for 100%; even more so when you realize that levels reset when you revisit them, meaning you have to do the same objectives again just to grab one orb. It is just baffling to me that Insomniac can go from completely understanding what makes a game fun to 100%, so actively making me not want to spend any more time than I have to.

For all its faults, however, Spyro 2 is still an overall fine experience. The moment to moment gameplay is still the same as the first; running around, gliding, collecting gems, and torching enemies. The worlds are still just as whimsical and enjoyable as the first, if not more so with all the new characters and what not. And despite the absolutely awful minigames and weird backtracking, that great sense of flow and cohesion can still be found at points in the game. I may not have entirely liked it, but I can still see its strengths and understand why others really enjoy it.

Spyro 2: Ripto's Rage was my favorite game in the Spyro trilogy when I was growing up, and I can thankfully say that is still the case. It was much easier as an adult, but most games are, so that makes sense. It's wild how many annoying things I put up with when I was a kid, though. I don't know that I could have handled playing some of these mini-games 100 times like I used to back in the day. Still, this was a fun revisit, and this remake trilogy isn't bad at all. Recommend to anybody who wants to play some old-school platformers.

I finished this game 100% earlier this month, but I didn't log it as Mastered then because I still needed to finish all the Skill Points, and then my file got corrupted and I lost all my progress, so I finished the game again 100% for real. I think this should tell you how fun the game is and how much of a breeze it is to finish, especially since how well Spyro controls compared to the first game.
It has some problems, a couple of the things you have to do to get all the orbs are a bit repetitive and not very fun, but most are. I personally prefer the more fantasy look of the first game compared to this one, although it still has some nice views.
Still, I am very impressed with how this game is truly a natural and technical evolution of it's predecesor, and an excellent game by it's own as well.

Spyro 2 introdujo mundos con mayor personalidad que en la primera entrega, con más tipos de personajes y situaciones, pero toda la historia que vivimos en él y las cosas que hacemos giran alrededor de un conflicto que ni siquiera tiene nada que ver con su protagonista. También comete el error de presentar todo tipo de misiones, minijuegos y demás tareas estúpidas propias de otros juegos de la época como Banjo-Kazooie, que innegablemente ha tenido influencia sobre este título. Aunque sigue teniendo su parte de juego de plataformas, es evidente que los diseños de niveles empezaban a flaquear bastante en pos de introducir este tipo de áreas pensadas específicamente para integrar misiones secundarias que, de superarlas, nos recompensarán con objetos clave (los orbes) que nos permiten desbloquear otros niveles.

Si algo mejora respecto a la primera entrega, es que al menos presenta una historia con más desarrollo y teniendo personajes con más conexión entre ellos. Recordemos que en el primer título nuestras interacciones con los dragones a rescatar se resumen en alguno que otro diálogo simpático o consejos. También presenta unos mundos centrales preciosos y relajantes para recorrer, y que también sirven para desconectar de las fases llenas de más acción. Sin embargo, los submundos que pertenecen a los mundos centrales en esta ocasión no comparten cohesión temática, como sí ocurría anteriormente en los mundos del dragón, y son sus propias zonas aisladas (supongo que para dar más variedad de localizaciones). Además, las batallas contra jefes son las mejores de la saga, en especial la batalla final, que se vuelve un duelo de competir por ver quien consigue 3 orbes seguidos que potencian uno de nuestros movimientos y que culmina en una última parte en la que luchar por el aire.

Cabe mencionar que las gemas en este título tienen menos razón de ser, pues en el primer juego estaba justificado que las tuviéramos que recoger porque son tesoros robados del reino de los dragones, pero aquí su presencia es por herencia y funcionan más como una divisa para intercambiarlas por habilidades o para desbloquear barreras que no nos dejan pasar.

Y hablando de habilidades, este juego introduce una mecánica de nado y buceo, y he de decir que, teniendo en cuenta todos los juegos de plataformas de los años 90, a mi gusto no hay ningún otro juego del género de aquella época que las haya realizado mejor que este, pues tiene una agilidad y manejo estupendos. Sin embargo, otras técnicas como la del cabezazo tienen poca vida útil, pues ésta misma solo se acaba utilizando en situaciones muy concretas y contadas con los dedos de una mano.

Aunque va bien encaminado en algunos aspectos como la presentación y mejores jefes, mete la pata en otros tantos, pues le pesa el culo el hecho de que durante la mayor parte del juego seamos el recadero de unos y de otros, haciéndoles favores esperando siempre un orbe a cambio. Especial mención a infame misión del alquimista de Colina Fracturada, en la que, si para ese punto no has conseguido la habilidad del cabezazo para hacer la otra que viene a continuación, tendrás que repetirla de nuevo cuando vuelvas al nivel.