Spyro 2: Ripto's Rage!

Spyro 2 is better than the original in virtually every regard. There's more interesting characters, more voice acting, better stories, better levels, and better gameplay—the full monty. It's immediately evident by the intro cutscene that probably features more characters and dialogue than the entirety of the first game. Hunter and Elora add so much to Spyro's adventure, and make the whole journey a lot less lonely than the first game. Ripto is also a way better baddie.

The first thing I noticed is that enemies no longer drop gems, which is a great change. No longer do you have to keep track of which enemies you've already killed or not to make sure you aren't missing any gems. The biggest change to Spyro's base movement is the new hover ability. This allows you to perform a little flutter before you land, giving you a little extra height and more time to line up your landing. It sounds simple, but this is actually transformative to the platforming experience. It just feels so good to chain a glide to a platform that you're just narrowly going to miss, then hovering to get just enough extra height to pull it off. There's also actual power-ups now, and it adds so much to the gameplay. Supercharge and superflame return, but now there's spring jump, superfly, superfreeze, and invulnerability. The biggest addition is probably superfly, which actually lets you fly around freely in the standard levels—which is so fun and adds a new dimension to exploration. Superfreeze is also super cool, letting you freeze enemies into giant cubes that can be used for platforming—but this is unfortunately only ever used in a single level. My absolute favorite aspect of these new power-ups is how you activate them. You have to actually kill enemies to release their spirit particles that will charge the power-up gates before you can use them. This makes it feel like you actually have to earn the powers, instead of them just being placed arbitrarily in the world.

The standard abilities that Spyro gets to keep forever have to be purchased from Moneybags. This turns gems into an actual currency, and also adds some cool instances where returning to older levels with newer abilities might be fruitful. These abilities include climbing, headbashing, and best of all—swimming. Growing up, my friends would always unanimously mock the dreaded "water level" in video games—but this never made sense to me. I realized that this is because I grew up with Spyro, and my point of reference is the swimming in Ripto's Rage—which is incredible btw. Maybe it's the speed provided by charging underwater, but navigating the water is an absolute joy—and it adds so much to the levels. As for the levels, they're almost all incredible. Each level has its own unique story, and often has a specific gameplay gimmick to go along with it. Levels have mini quests within them too, featuring tons of charming minigames and puzzles. Whether I was figuring out which fish to feed a picky tikiman, playing hockey, riding manta rays, herding cowleks, or preventing evil chefs from making turtle soup—I was always having fun. The cherry on top is the unique intro and outro cutscenes featured in every level, and they never failed to make me smile. The bosses are actually good this time around, too. And the new mystery vases that send you on little easter egg hunts are so fun. Speedway flight levels also return, and are still super hard lol. Just like the first game, there's an awesome reward for 100%—this time in the form of a much needed vacation for Spyro. This secret bonus world is a theme park filled with fun attractions to participate in—from shooting galleries to rollercoasters, and even a theatre that lets rewatch cutscenes. Your final reward is a permanent superflame power-up that will you give you a major leg up if you replay the game!

Outside of a couple hiccups near the end of the game, Spyro 2 is one of the best 3D platformers I've ever played. You got a problem with that, pussycat?

The original trilogy is a nostalgic series I loved as a kid, but this one was always my favorite. Great platformer with an awesome soundtrack.

my favourite spyro game

Best spyro game! Few missions are very bad though

This game is even more on fire. You can even find cheat codes, especially the "All Abilities" cheat. You don't have to pay Moneybags to learn these incredible abilities. And, on top of that, you can have Spyro hover at the end of each time he glides.

was super excited for this as a kid. saw the commercials for it around Christmas and had to have it! Anyways, spyro 2 is a fantastic improvement. still have some nostalgia love for this one but not my personal favorite. there's lots of great platforming to be had along with the addition of mini games with the orb challenges. Bosses are also much more enjoyable although there are 3 compared to 6 from the first game. quality over quantity though, lol! this one also throws some unique power ups. levels in the final hub aren't super great but that's sort of how I feel about the last levels in any ps1 spyro game.