Spyro 2: Ripto’s Rage
Spyro may still be a pint-sized dragon, but his new game is absolutely huge!

The original Spyro the Dragon, released more than a year ago, was criticized for lacking depth and being a little too cute for its own good. Spyro’s camera system was also a bit wacky and would sometimes interfere with gameplay by swinging around the player unexpectedly. Although there are still some flaws, Insomniac Games has made many improvements for Spyro 2, which sits right beside Ape Escape as the best platformer released on the PlayStation this year.

Spyro will be doing quite a bit of swimming in his latest adventure.

After defeating Gnasty Gnorc in the last game, Spyro and his dragonfly friend, Sparx, needed some well-deserved rest and relaxation in Dragon Shores. Unfortunately for Spyro and his pal, a new adversary by the name of Ripto has emerged in the land of Avalar and is up to no good. To make a long story short, the inhabitants of Avalar decide they need a dragon to defeat Ripto and his many evil minions. With the help of magical orbs, a wise professor constructs a portal that can suck up a dragon and transport it safely to Avalar. As you probably guessed, Spyro was just such the dragon to get sucked into the portal enroute to his peaceful retreat.

This new world of Avalar is filled with all types of friendly folk. The five main characters you meet upon arrival become fixtures of the game. These characters are Elora, Hunter, Moneybags, Zoe, and the Professor. They all have unique appearances and personalities, and Spyro will need their assistance in one form or another throughout the game. For example, Moneybags will give Spyro any help he may need and will also teach him a few new moves — for a fee. If you want to borrow Moneybags' shark-proof submarine to make it across shark-infested water, it will cost you a couple of hundred gems. You’ll also need to pay Moneybags a hefty sum to learn each of Spyro's three new abilities.

The other characters aren’t as money-hungry as Moneybags, but they will require your services or offer you some good challenges during your adventure. Hunter the Cheetah is especially competitive and appears to be a little jealous of Spyro. You will occasionally encounter Cheetah (and others) in the various realms you visit. He’ll often challenge you to one of several mini-games or require some sort of help. Hunter, as well as the other characters, also provides some gameplay advice and explains how to do certain things in the game. This is especially useful for younger gamers who may be new to gaming or don’t like to read the manual before playing.

What platform game would be complete without a snow level?

There are three main worlds that make up Avalar. Spyro starts off in the home world of Summer Forest, but he will eventually travel to Autumn Plains and Winter Tundra. Within each of the main worlds, there are several realms that Spyro must visit to help the locals, who have a variety of problems on their hands. Each realm and home world is unique and ranges from being bright and sunny to dark and frigid in appearance. Upon entering each new realm, you are greeted with a cut-scene that visually depicts the problem the inhabitants are having. The main idea behind each realm is to try to solve whatever problem(s) the inhabitants have. Upon solving their problems, they will award you with Talismans (or orbs), which are needed to open the two other home worlds. You will see another cut-scene upon completion of a realm that shows how order was restored to the land.

Just like in the original game, Spyro is equipped with a flame and charge attack. He can also jump, glide, and hover, but he can only stay in the air for a limited amount of time (except in the speedway realms, where he has unlimited flight). Controlling Spyro is a breeze when using the Dual Shock Analog controller, and the game even gives off some satisfying feedback effects. I highly recommend using some type of analog controller if you want to receive the most enjoyment from Spyro 2.

Along with his regular moves, Spyro can also gain new abilities, which must be bought from Moneybags with the gems he collects. Spyro will eventually be able to swim, climb, and perform a Headbash move, which allows him to use his head to crush hard objects like rocks. All these abilities will be important to Spyro, and certain areas will only be accessible to him after he learns (buys) them. These moves will also come in handy when you are trying to find that last gem or a hidden orb in a level.

Spyro 2 has a variety of power-ups, including Supercharge, Superfly, Superfreeze, Invincibility, and my personal favorite, Bigbounce, which sends Spyro flying through the air as if he were shot from a cannon. Power-ups are only available once enough spirit particles have activated them. A spirit particle is released every time Spyro destroys an enemy, and the number needed to activate each power-up varies. Power-ups only last for a limited time and play an important role in many of the orb tasks.

As tough as Spyro is, he would not be able to make it through his adventure without the help of Sparx. If you played the first Spyro game, Sparx should be instantly recognizable; he’s the tiny dragonfly that follows Spyro around wherever he goes. It’s Sparx job to take the first few hits for Spyro and occasionally direct him to the nearest gem. When Sparx takes one hit too many, Spyro will be left to fend for himself. Sparx will change colors every time he takes a hit, so keeping a close eye on what color he is — yellow, blue, or green — is essential. However, even once Sparx has disappeared after receiving too much damage, Spyro can charge or flame attack sheep (always fun), lizards, frogs, and other "fodder" to release butterflies. Every time Sparx gobbles up a butterfly, he regains health and will help Spyro earn an extra life. Spyro can also receive an extra life and restore all of Sparx's health by breaking open a glass jar that contains a full-life butterfly.

Although the main goal in the first several levels is to collect Talismans, there are also 64 orbs to find and a ton of gems to collect. The orbs are needed to unlock other realms and to confront the evil Ripto himself. Many orbs are earned by winning mini-games or completing side-quests for other characters. Most of these are fairly simple, but some can become extremely frustrating. None of them is impossible, though, especially once you learn the patterns. Nevertheless, I do think younger games, whom this game will probably appeal to most, will have some trouble with a couple of the orb tasks and challenges.

Still, the beauty of Spyro 2 is there are a variety of ways to beat the game, which will satisfy on many levels. Even the youngest or most unskilled gamer shouldn’t have too much trouble getting through the realms and defeating the first couple of bosses. More advanced gamers will want to collect everything in sight to receive a "special reward" in Dragon Shores. After earning an orb, unlocking a world, or collecting all of the gems in a particular realm, it is recorded and saved in Spyro’s guidebook. This comes in handy, as the guidebook also lists the percentage of a particular realm you have completed. For instance, if you have only collected one of three orbs in a realm and left some gems behind, it will obviously not be a 100% complete until you do so.

Even after beating the main game, there are 16 skill points that you can earn, which open additional sections to Spyro’s guidebook. I won’t spoil the surprise for anyone, but if you’re interested in finding out what happens to each character after the fall of Ripto, you will want to earn at least eight of these skill points. You will also need to figure out for yourself how to go about earning the skill points because they are not thoroughly explained in the manual.

Some of the enemies will require multiple hits before they are destroyed.

Graphically, Spyro 2 is brilliant. The graphics haven’t improved much since the last game, but they still manage to suck the player into a magical world filled with wonderfully animated characters. I really enjoyed seeing the funny facial expressions that many of the characters displayed, and even the tiny frogs make little facial movements. At times, it feels like you're interacting with a cartoon, which is a true testament to the graphical quality of the game. It would be impossible to count the number of breathtaking moments that occur while flying high above each richly detailed landscape. This is definitely one of the best-looking games on the PlayStation.

Like the first Spyro, the cut-scenes use the regular game engine instead of flashy FMV. I really appreciate it when developers stick with the plain ol’ game engine to tell the story. FMV and CG scenes usually have the negative affect of taking the player out of the game, and they would have definitely ruined the presentation of both Spyro games. If you have a really good game engine like the one in Spyro 2, you might as well take advantage of it.

Spyro 2's music and sound effects are equally impressive. Stewart Copeland returns for an encore performance and delivers topnotch music. If his name sounds familiar it’s because he was the drummer for the Police (Sting’s old band). The sound effects are of equally high quality, and even the voice acting is good. Then again, after reviewing Sonic Adventure, almost any voice acting would sound good, but the voice acting in Spyro 2 can stand on its own.

As for the flaws, Spyro 2 really only has a couple of them, but they are major. The first area concerns the camera angles. Although much improved from the first game, there are still instances when the camera interferes with gameplay. The problem usually occurs when you are flying or running around the environment and want to turn around quickly to face the opposite direction. Usually during these instances, the camera will face the player head-on, and he or she must contend with running or flying toward the camera for a brief moment. To be fair, there are ways to adjust this by using the L & R buttons, but it makes the difficult parts of the game even more difficult when you have to spend time manually correcting a bad camera angle. You can also choose a passive or active camera system, with the active camera being better suited for the areas of the game that require quick maneuvers. Otherwise, I would recommend using the passive camera, as I found it to be better suited for the boss battles and offer a more complete view of the action.

My only other problem with the game is the difficulty level. Spyro 2 definitely has a lot to see and do, especially when compared with the original, but most of the game won’t offer much of a challenge to the advanced gamer. There are difficult parts in the game, but the basic game — collect Talismans and defeat the bosses — is pretty much a cakewalk. This can probably be attributed to the fact that it was designed for the younger crowd, but hopefully as the Spyro series"matures" (Spyro 3?), so will the challenge. Still, it will take some time to complete the game fully, and the 64 orbs, 10,000 gems, and 16 skill points to collect should hold the interest of veteran gamers.

Spyro 2 is the type of game that both parents and gamers can feel good about. It doesn’t contain any blood, sexual themes, or bad language and is kid friendly. Yet, it provides enough challenge to entertain, maybe even frustrate, some of the more advanced gamers out there. I’m sure parts of the game will even cause a few seasoned gamers to throw down their controller in a bout of frustration. If you are a platform game fan, parent of a young gamer, or the type who would enjoy seeing a cute little dragon toast a bunch of sheep (among other small animals), this game is for you. However, those of you who despise anything that can be labeled as "cute" should probably skip this one.

Supports:

• Dual Shock Analog Controller (recommended)
• Vibration Function of the Dual Shock
• Memory Card (recommended)