Spyro 2: Ripto's Rage!

About Spyro 2: Ripto's Rage!

Spyro 2: Ripto's Rage! (1999), known in PAL regions as Spyro 2: Gateway to Glimmer, is Insomniac's sequel in which Spyro is pulled into the realm of Avalar to stop the sorcerer Ripto, now able to swim, climb and headbash.

Spyro 2: Ripto's Rage! in Depth

Spyro is planning a holiday when he is unexpectedly transported to the realm of Avalar, where the sorcerer Ripto has appeared and is causing havoc, and he joins the locals to stop him. Spyro fights with flame breath, a charge attack and gliding, while his dragonfly Sparx shows his health by colour and restores it by eating butterflies, obtained by flaming, charging or headbashing small creatures; bottled butterflies also grant an extra life. Avalar is split into three homeworlds, Summer Forest, Autumn Plains and Winter Tundra, with portals to realms. Reaching the end of a realm earns a talisman, and enough talismans open each homeworld's boss.

Realms also hold orbs earned through side tasks for characters, such as lighting lamps or protecting people, needed to open some portals and progress through the third homeworld. Gems pay the fees of Moneybags, a greedy bear who opens portals and teaches Spyro three new abilities: swimming to reach submerged treasure and tunnels, climbing certain surfaces, and a headbash that smashes rocks and cages. Each realm also has a power-up gate, activated by defeating enough enemies, that grants a temporary ability such as invulnerability, flight, supercharge, super flame, ice breath or a super jump. The first game's dragons are replaced by fauns, satyrs, animals and robotic businessmen, and Hunter the Cheetah, Moneybags and Ripto became recurring characters.

Making Spyro 2: Ripto's Rage!

Insomniac president Ted Price said it was designed to offer a "greater challenge" for experienced players, with more depth and variety than Spyro the Dragon. Stewart Copeland's jungle-style score was engineered and co-produced by Jeff Seitz, and Universal Sound Studios created the sound effects. Sony Computer Entertainment published it in 1999, and it received favourable reviews for its colourful graphics, variety and amount of content. GamePro called it "an excellent platform action/adventure game ripe with the goods that make gaming great", NextGen said it had "more meat to it than the first", and Famitsu gave it 30 out of 40. It earned a Gold award for 200,000 UK sales, and Spyro: Year of the Dragon followed in 2000.