I've decided to review the whole trilogy of the Spyro series (The good series which were still in Insomniac's grubby little paws) because it's my review and it's tough titties what you guys want. Compared to it's primal little brother, Spyro the dragon. You can see that Insomniac pushed this sequel a little further by adding new moves and power ups, heck, even a new entire world.
Spyro 2 was a platformer video game developed by *drool* Insomniac Games and was the second game in the main Spyro series which was released in North America on November 2nd 1999 as Spyro 2: Ripto's rage, then was released in Europe as Spyro 2: Gateway to Glimmer (Because we like sparkles) and then in Japan on March 16, 2000.
The story is quite basic. Spyro and his familiar partner Sparx are sick of the rain and decides to go to Dragon shores but ends up in Avalar, having been summoned there by a Professor, a Cheetah and a Faun. They explain that he was sent there to defeat the evil bad guy, although he doesn't have much of a choice anyway.
The only characters from the past game that had returned in the sequel are only Spyro and his friend Sparx, which he still functions as a health meter. The new world of Avalar gave space to introduce new characters and areas that weren't in the original game but would make more appearances in the later series. Two of which I will pick at because I'll be here forever if I go through them all. Firstly, there's Hunter the Cheetah. Which I must ask.. Why teach me to jump after a whole level? You go through Glimmer before this jumping tutorial and I found it a little irritating being taught something that I had been doing about x number of times before even reaching him. Maybe I'm just nitpicking at a game designed for kids as I have a good knowledge of gaming? Who knows really.
Next is my least favorite character from the Spyro series and I despise. Moneybags. This little shit was always in the way when you were progressing through the game. No gems? Well that sucks to be you. Although he grants you with useful abilities like climbing walls and diving underwater. I don't see what impact it would have on the game if you had them beforehand. It's like the game's invisible wall, stopping you from progressing more until you've explored more.
The graphics are very well done, even-though it was on the PS1 which has to be taken into account. There's less frame rate lag (Still, might just be a personal experience). The new areas in this sequel really did feel like different levels, not just copy and pasted with a different theme on top of it. The music was composed by Stewart Copeland, who did an amazing job on creating the music on the original game.
The sequel made sure to keep the controls and gameplay similar to the original game to stop themselves from scaring away the fans of the first game. He can use his flame breath, charge attack and gliding abilities. However, now Spyro has to collect two new types of items. Tailsmans are rewarded at the end of each realm, which (when collected all of them from the world) unlocks the boss, and orbs are gained for completing side quests and are rewarded at the end of the levels in the final world before fighting Ripto. Like the last game, the levels are well paced and gives the players a free open world to wander around in, helping the non-experienced players to grasp the controls and for experienced players to just rush on ahead if they wish to. Over the course of the game, he will learn new abilities from Moneybags, including diving into deep waters to reach treasure, climbing which lets him reach higher platforms and the headbash which lets him break rocks and cages. Each level has a power up gate, which activates when Spyro defeats a number of enemies in that level, which grants him a temporary super ability, like super fire breath, ice breath, invulnerability and a super charge.
I believe Insomniac Games did a perfect job on creating a sequel of the first Spyro the dragon. They made alot of changes but it never felt over the top, and you don't even need any knowledge of the first game to enjoy this one as it's set in a different word. The characters (excluding a few.. *cough* Moneybags *cough*) Are quite enjoying and each level always introduced a new character to talk to, even if they are only for that level. I'm glad that they also kept the same composer for the music, as the music is still bouncy but fresh, although the level with the bagpipes hurt my eardrums. This game was better than the original, which how sequels are meant to be, and if you're a fan of the Spyro series. You should at least play this again.
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