Collection essentials #379: Spyro 2: Ripto’s Rage (PS1)

It should be no surprise that Spyro got a sequel. This game takes the same solid basics from Spyro 1, and does things just a little differently.

One thing the first game lacked was a cast of colorful characters. Sure, Spyro had to free a whole bunch of dragons who would often deliver a voiced line of dialogue before disappearing, but none of them were especially memorable or important. And the villain, Gnasty Gnorc, really wasn’t memorable at all. And so, this is the most obvious thing Spyro 2 tries to improve upon, as this game features new allies of Spyro’s, a new villain who is more colorful and frequently seen, and levels actually inhabited by characters who Spyro can talk to.

The plot of the game starts with Spyro wanting to take a vacation. But a couple good guys, Elora and Hunter, have need of Spyro and hijack him to their realm instead. They explain to Spyro that, with their portal device, they accidentally unleashed an evil dinosaur named Ripto (who is of short stature) who immediately decided to take over their world. Spyro must collect talismans and power orbs to try and thwart Ripto’s campaign, and he must also collect gems because a greedy bear named Moneybags blocks off parts of the world and needs to be bribed to give Spyro access.

As I said before, the gameplay at its core is the same as the first game. But Spyro does eventually learn new abilities this time around such as climbing, swimming, and a new head-banger attack. There are also sometimes temporary power-ups Spyro can get such as full-on flight, stronger flames, or even ice breath. In order to collect orbs, Spyro often has to talk to an inhabitant of the level he’s in and complete some sort of task or objective to make them happy. 

I tend to think that Spyro 2 is the best game in the series, though I don’t feel like that’s a solid opinion and I could maybe change my mind playing them more. Some may not be as keen on having so much objective-based stuff in Spyro 2 as opposed to the first game which was a bit more open-ended. You can’t go wrong with either one, though, as they’re both among the best platformers on the PlayStation, definitely essentials.