Things No One Cares About: Spyro 2:Ripto's Rage

Ultress

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I never did really get that something could actually be painful to watch but well the Jojo OVAs have made me believe in the concept. So due to it's awfulness and healthy doses of real life I'll need and extra week to slog though that show.


This week we'll look at something I did actually make it through, Spyro 2: Ripto's Rage. Also known as Gateway to Glimmer if your European and snooty. Developed by Insomniac in the far flung past of 1999 for the Playstation as a sequel to the decent Spyro the Dragon. It has more of a sense of direction than the first game and delivers a much tighter game. Adding more characters with a little more personality. So enough stealing from wikipedia,let's dive right in.

The story and characters are nothing really to write home about. It has the stranded plot for a collect them all platformer. There is an evil jerk who wants to rule the land and you as the hero must stop him by collecting weird doodads. Spyro is your dude with a 'tude hero and does get a few funny lines here and there. The other four main NPCs are ok with Hunter being probably the biggest douchebag in history rivaled only by Moneybags the bear. The villain Ripto and his little entourage are nothing special either. Though he is well liked enough to come back in the abysmal Enter the Dragonfly and a few of the GBA Spyros. It's not all bad ,the little mini plots within each level are funny and are fun to go through.

Speaking of levels,the designs is really good for them each level being linear enough that you won't get lost but open enough that it rewards a little exploration. Each level follows the template of talk to guy with punny name,do some simple task with increasing difficulty(usually with either ramming or flaming something) then talk to first guy's pal for a doodad. It's a solid formula that starts to drag around the second hub world(Autumn Plains). It doesn?t help that Autumn Plains is a long world with a bulk of the levels and they begin to run out of decent ideas halfway. I think they were saving the better levels for the last hub because it contains two of the best levels in the game,Robotica Farms and Metropolis. Sadly,the other two levels in that hub are meh.

As for the game play,it's your typical 3-D platformer affair,you jump around ,kill foes and collect trinkets. They throw in some gliding sections and a few shooter sections that play like an unofficial sequel to Panzer Dragoon. You spend the first two worlds collecting Talisman's and maybe some optional orbs then have to go back and collect some more orbs to fight the final boss. The difficulty tends to be all over the map. The main missions themselves are piss easy and so are some of the orb challenges. However some of those challenges go straight into frustrating,if you can hear the phrase ?Trouble with the Trolly,eh? and not fall into rage fits then your either much better at this game than I am or have never played it. It makes 100% this game a right pain in the rear.

The graphics have aged well and look good for a PS1 game, most of the models are smooth and the worlds look cool. The character designs are nice and it is much lighter than it's predecessor . That's all I have to say about the look.

Playing through it again, I was still having fun but I do recognize this for what it is, a really fun kids game. So if your wanting to relive some nostalgia or give your kid something to do to keep them from pillaging the neighborhood then go ahead and find/dust off this one Just be prepared for them to learn some new curse words.

Till next time,Stay Positive.
 

ChupathingyX

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UncleUlty said:
However some of those challenges go straight into frustrating,if you can hear the phrase ?Trouble with the Trolly,eh? and not fall into rage fits then your either much better at this game than I am or have never played it.
I think I'm one of the very few people who never had any problems with that minigame, even as a kid. To be honest, I actually found it to be quite enjoyable.

Personally, I thought this was the best Spyro game on PS1 (or even the best Spyro in general). It had the best mix of platforming and minigames without having too little (the first game) or too much (the third) and I loved the overall aesthetic and soundtrack.
 

Ultress

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Feb 5, 2009
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ChupathingyX said:
UncleUlty said:
However some of those challenges go straight into frustrating,if you can hear the phrase ?Trouble with the Trolly,eh? and not fall into rage fits then your either much better at this game than I am or have never played it.
I think I'm one of the very few people who never had any problems with that minigame, even as a kid. To be honest, I actually found it to be quite enjoyable.

Personally, I thought this was the best Spyro game on PS1 (or even the best Spyro in general). It had the best mix of platforming and minigames without having too little (the first game) or too much (the third) and I loved the overall aesthetic and soundtrack.
Oddly enough I didn't have that much trouble with it this time as I did before.Despite my nitpicks I really do like this game. I kind of question why Hunter is holding out on these orbs when you clearly need them.
 

Imp_Emissary

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Good review. :) Brought back some good memories.
I still can believe how good the Spyro games still look(for PS one games).

The only challenge I really had trouble with was the one in the volcano where you had to beat Hunter at getting the crystals.

Best part of Spyro 3 was getting to take your gems back from Moneybags.

xD Revenge is best served burnt!
 

Ultress

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Feb 5, 2009
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Imp Emissary said:
Good review. :) Brought back some good memories.
I still can believe how good the Spyro games still look(for PS one games).

The only challenge I really had trouble with was the one in the volcano where you had to beat Hunter at getting the crystals.

Best part of Spyro 3 was getting to take your gems back from Moneybags.

xD Revenge is best served burnt!
Sadly,that challenge is what's keeping me from 100% the game.I think the developers sort of realized most people hated Moneybags as he gets abused several times over in this game.
 

Simple Bluff

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Nice review. I always preferred Spyro over Crash Bandicoot. And you reminded me that I never accomplished my childhood goal of collecting all the orbs and getting access to that theme park! Maybe a good reason for me to revisit it now. Thanks, UncleU.

And I have to agree with Chupathingy - this was easily the best game in the Spyro PS1 trilogy. The first one doesn't hold up very well, and the third one placed too much focus on mini games and mandatory, clumsy side characters.

EDIT: Holy shit, after a bit of rummaging around, I actually found the disc. Considering I have three little siblings running around wrecking all my stuff, very few of my childhood games survived. What a great rediscovery!
 

Astoria

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UncleUlty said:
However some of those challenges go straight into frustrating,if you can hear the phrase ?Trouble with the Trolly,eh? and not fall into rage fits then your either much better at this game than I am or have never played it.
Urgh that damn challenge, it was the only thing I had trouble with but damn I had a lot of trouble with it.

Pretty spot on review, Gateway to Glimmer (didn't even know it had two names, you learn somethng new everyday) was easily the worst Spyro game on the PS1 but still a pretty fun game. When I was 8 I played the Spyro games over and over even though I'd 100% completed them the first playthrough. Easily the most fun of all the games is when you get payback on Moneybags, he's still one of my most hated characters.
 

DanielBrown

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Played Spyro like I was obsessed when I was a kid, mostly the first and third game. Only played Ripto's Rage once, and I can't remeber anything about it other than that you could learn to swim. It's odd though. I know I have owned the game, but it disappeared.

Some friend probably stole it. :(
 

Imp_Emissary

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UncleUlty said:
Imp Emissary said:
Good review. :) Brought back some good memories.
I still can believe how good the Spyro games still look(for PS one games).

The only challenge I really had trouble with was the one in the volcano where you had to beat Hunter at getting the crystals.

Best part of Spyro 3 was getting to take your gems back from Moneybags.

xD Revenge is best served burnt!
Sadly,that challenge is what's keeping me from 100% the game.I think the developers sort of realized most people hated Moneybags as he gets abused several times over in this game.
That's a shame. The prize they give you for 100% completion is pretty good. Infinite super flame breath! Fewer games I play now a days give ya stuff that cool at the end for beating the game. Some do still though.

Odd thing was I 100%(and 117%) Spyro 2 and 3 before I found all 80 dragons in the first Spyro. There was one I just couldn't ever find in the level with the possessed suits of armor, and the fairy that kissed ya.
 

Ultress

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Feb 5, 2009
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Imp Emissary said:
UncleUlty said:
Imp Emissary said:
Good review. :) Brought back some good memories.
I still can believe how good the Spyro games still look(for PS one games).

The only challenge I really had trouble with was the one in the volcano where you had to beat Hunter at getting the crystals.

Best part of Spyro 3 was getting to take your gems back from Moneybags.

xD Revenge is best served burnt!
Sadly,that challenge is what's keeping me from 100% the game.I think the developers sort of realized most people hated Moneybags as he gets abused several times over in this game.
That's a shame. The prize they give you for 100% completion is pretty good. Infinite super flame breath! Fewer games I play now a days give ya stuff that cool at the end for beating the game. Some do still though.

Odd thing was I 100%(and 117%) Spyro 2 and 3 before I found all 80 dragons in the first Spyro. There was one I just couldn't ever find in the level with the possessed suits of armor, and the fairy that kissed ya.
Yeah,I've done it before just not this time because I got annoyed at that challenge and Ripto.Plus I was sort of on deadline to get this done.I don't think I've ever 100%ed the other 2 games.
 

EvilRoy

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Good review. Kind of took me down memory lane, since the spyro games were some of the first I ever played on a console. I don't seem to remember having the troubles you're mentioning, but considering that was in the area of ten years ago I'll have to defer to someone with a bit fresher of an experience.

Makes me pine for the days before I wore out my PSX and PS2. I bet I still have the disks and controllers tho. Maybe have to look into legal emulation.
 

Colour Scientist

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Jul 15, 2009
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Gateway to Glimmer (because I'm European and snooty) was one of my favourite PS1 games. I still have it and can finish it 100% without too much difficulty because of the amount I played it as a kid.