Spyro 2 Game Info
In Spyro 2: Ripto’s Rage!/Gateway to Glimmer, players once again take control of Spyro the Dragon as he explores a collection of colourful worlds, battles enemies and tackles a variety of platforming challenges. Spyro’s familiar abilities, including his flame attack, charge and glide, remain central to exploration and combat.
As in the original game, Spyro is accompanied by his dragonfly friend Sparx, who acts as his health indicator. Sparx changes colour as Spyro takes damage, allowing players to see how much health remains. Butterflies can be collected to restore Sparx, while certain bottled butterflies completely restore his health and can also provide Spyro with an extra life.
The adventure takes place across the three major regions of Avalar: Summer Forest, Autumn Plains and Winter Tundra. Each hub contains several individual worlds, along with a Speedway and a dungeon connected to the game’s story. Throughout the adventure, Spyro must reclaim castles and defeat enemies working for Ripto, who has taken control of the various realms.
Progression through the first two hub worlds requires Spyro to collect Talismans. These are awarded after reaching the end of each main level and are needed to gain access to the boss encounter in each hub. The later stages introduce additional requirements, with Orbs playing an important role in unlocking certain portals and progressing through Winter Tundra.
Orbs are earned by helping characters throughout the different worlds. Rather than simply reaching the end of a level, these challenges require Spyro to complete a variety of tasks. These can involve activities such as lighting lamps, defending characters from enemies or completing other platforming and puzzle-based challenges. This gives players an incentive to explore beyond the main route through each level.
Gems are another major collectible. They are scattered throughout the worlds and are often hidden inside containers or tucked away in harder-to-reach locations. Spyro needs to collect enough gems to pay Moneybags, the greedy bear who repeatedly charges him for access to new areas and abilities. During the adventure, Moneybags also teaches Spyro three important new moves: swimming, which allows him to explore underwater areas; climbing, which provides access to certain climbable surfaces; and headbash, a powerful downward attack capable of smashing particular rocks and cages.
Each main level also contains a Powerup Gate. These become available after Spyro defeats a required number of enemies and provide a temporary special ability. Some power-ups return from the first game, including flight and supercharge, while Ripto’s Rage! adds abilities such as super flame, ice breath, temporary invulnerability and super jump. These power-ups are often used to reach areas or complete challenges that cannot normally be accessed.
The game also features a collection of Skill Points, which provide optional challenges for players looking to achieve a higher level of completion. These tasks require Spyro to perform particular actions or accomplish specific objectives within the levels. Skill Points aren’t necessary to complete the main storyline, but they encourage players to revisit worlds, experiment with Spyro’s abilities and search for secrets they may have overlooked.
Ripto’s Rage! introduces a much larger cast of characters compared with the original game. Hunter and Moneybags become recurring characters in the wider Spyro series, while Ripto becomes one of the franchise’s most recognisable villains. Rather than the dragons encountered in the first game, Avalar is populated by a completely different collection of characters, including fauns, satyrs, talking animals and other unusual inhabitants.
The three regions of Avalar each have their own distinct atmosphere and collection of worlds. Summer Forest forms the starting area of the adventure, followed by the larger Autumn Plains, before Spyro eventually reaches the icy Winter Tundra. Within each hub are numerous levels to explore, along with Speedway challenges and a dungeon associated with Ripto or his minions.
With its combination of exploration, collectibles, character interactions, platforming challenges, new abilities, minigames and Skill Points, Spyro 2: Ripto’s Rage! builds considerably on the foundations of the original game while giving players much more freedom to explore and revisit its worlds.
