Spyro 2: Ripto's Rage!

Spyro 2: Ripto's Rage! (known as Spyro 2: Gateway to Glimmer in Europe and Australia) is a platform game developed by Insomniac Games and published by Sony Computer Entertainment for the PlayStation. It is the sequel to Spyro the Dragon and is the second installment of the Spyro series.

A remastered version, along with the rest of the original Spyro trilogy was released in 2018 as Spyro Reignited Trilogy.

Plot
Spyro and Sparx's vacation goes hay wired when a new threat name Ripto plans to upstage Avalar, now Spyro and Sparx must team up with a faun named Elora and cheetah name Hunter to defeat Ripto and save the world.

Why it Rocks

 * 1) All of the aspects of its predecessor that made it good return and are improved.
 * 2) Improved controls and better Flying mechanics.
 * 3) Fantastic graphics.
 * 4) The "Level of Distance" technique is improved, now it is significantly less noticeable when objects drop in polygon count.
 * 5) Entertaining story.
 * 6) Several temporary power-ups which are unlocked by defeating enemies.
 * 7) *Collecting all 10,000 gems and 64 orbs unlocks an all new permanent power-up
 * 8) Tons of sidequests that award orbs.
 * 9) The game's world is much more creative and varied, with many different species besides dragons Spyro will interact with.
 * 10) The difficulty is far more forgiven then in Spyro the Dragon.
 * 11) Many iconic characters from the franchise such as Hunter the Cheetah are introduced in this game.
 * 12) Lots of comedic events.
 * 13) Introduces skill points, optional secret side-quests that act like in game achievements, something that Insomniac Games would later add in all of their game such as Ratchet & Clank.
 * 14) Although there are fewer bosses than the last game, the bosses here are way better and each boss is different than the other, and are a HUGE step up from the previous game's bosses.
 * 15) *Ripto makes for a great final boss.
 * 16) Moneybags, while annoying as a character, is an effective method of encouraging the player to collect gems.
 * 17) After beating the game, you unlock a bonus theme-park level where you can play a few minigames and unlock a special power up that can only be obtain if you get everything in the game.
 * 18) Unlike most games, the underwater levels aren't slowing Spyro down.

Bad Qualities

 * 1) The Orb collectibles aren't needed until the third hub world, where you're asked to collect 40 orbs to get to Ripto, this might catch Players that didn't go after orbs off-guard as the game doesn't exactly tell you that you need to get the Orbs until that point.
 * 2) Talismans serve the same function as the orbs, so adding them in the game is almost pointless
 * 3) The game is shorter than the previous game, which was already short.
 * 4) A lot of backtracking in early levels when 100% the game.

Tips

 * 1) If your having trouble finding the gems, press and hold both the R1 and R2 and Sparks can point at the direction to were the Gem is.
 * 2) If your planning to do no damage runs on the bosses to get a skill point, wait until you get the special power up that is unlocked after getting everything in the game, it makes it easier.