Spyro (2) - Rutabaga's Revenge

[Catabo]

Spyro 2's music doesn't quite stick with me like Spyro 1's did (see Mezun's post). But there are some standout moments, and one of those is the ambient music of the hub worlds. It makes them feel peaceful and relaxed in ways that Spyro 1's hubs weren't, like you're free to relax and mess around here however you want with no risk. I wouldn't call them better than Spyro 1, but they go in their own direction and I'm here for that.

Now for a thing I don't like about Spyro 2: the game is a lot more aware of its target audience and treats the player as such. I can't fault the game for this, but just compare Spyro 2's "watch out! this next glide is really tricky!" moments with Spyro 1 throwing the player into Dr. Shemp and just trusting that they'll figure out that long glide across the bottomless void. It's like Insomniac had a new team member whose job it was to go around reminding everyone that they're making a game for kids. Yes, there were dragons in Spyro 1 who repeatedly told you to press X at the top of your jump, but they somehow felt less patronising.

You know what? I didn't make the connection before, but the tone and sarcasm are just enough that Hunter is just Barney from Half-Life 2. These two characters now occupy the same place in my mind.

[J. J. W. Mezun]

I generally prefer the Reignited remakes, but 1 change I didn’t like was that they made Hunter no longer talk like he had a lobotomy & just made him talk like a stoner, which is less funny.

I also love how ridiculous it is that Hunter is holding out on an orb you need to collect to stop Ripto & forcing you to do these insipid challenges to get them.

[camwoodstock]

I generally prefer the Reignited remakes, but 1 change I didn’t like was that they made Hunter no longer talk like he had a lobotomy & just made him talk like a stoner, which is less funny.

I also love how ridiculous it is that Hunter is holding out on an orb you need to collect to stop Ripto & forcing you to do these insipid challenges to get them.

the only parts i hate abt Reignited is that they made Hunter and (character in Spyro 3 mr. rao cow don't look!!!)

Bentley

look too good. i have a genuine problem seeing those two as anything other than their ridiculously goofy looking ps1 models. i have internalized that everyone in spyro looks like their reignited versions except for those two.

granted, when the ps1 versions looked like THIS:

...is it any wonder i specifically prefer these appearances given my self-admitted love of goofy 3d models like this???

[KobaBeach]

i know i said i'd fuck hunter in the rayman thread but holy shit i hate his voice. im so glad raocow hates elora and hunter

also the fucking hockey section just popping up out of nowhere in the back gave me huge mario 64 vhs beta creepypasta video vibes which triggers my liminal space spidey sense super bad. the hockey minigame also gives me a weird anxiety vibe

spyro 2 has bad mojo

[EllenHouraisan]

I really thought Hunter would be this game's Globox for rao, definitely wasn't expecting him to dislike Hunter so much. I guess a wobbly feline isn't quite as cool as a squishy amphibian. I do find it extremely funny how in Spyro 3

you can choose Hunter as the image for your save file. Dunno why, but it cracks me up.

Also, I love how raocow is trying to use Spyro 1 logic for this game's levels. Making you jump the other way from the elevator would have been clever, but this game doesn't do clever. Also, can't say I'm a huge fan of the Sparx gem compass feature, but that's just me.

[camwoodstock]

i know i said i'd fuck hunter in the rayman thread

you what

[KobaBeach]

if it makes you feel better im exaggerating

[Catabo]

Also, can't say I'm a huge fan of the Sparx gem compass feature, but that's just me.

Fortunately, the game is still pretty intuitive* with gem placements to the point that I don't think they expected anyone to use it. In my recent replay, I wanted to use it but forgot how to access it (I was clicking the sticks instead of pressing shoulder buttons), figured it was a Spyro 3-only thing I was misremembering, and played the game without it.

*I didn't bother to 100% the game this time around, so I could be wrong, but I still found all the gems in quite a few levels without much effort

also the fucking hockey section just popping up out of nowhere in the back gave me huge mario 64 vhs beta creepypasta video vibes which triggers my liminal space spidey sense super bad.

On one hand, I agree. On another, it reminds me of the whimsy I would expect more from a Japanese game (well, whimsy from the perspective of a kid assuming everything in games that's actually just from Japanese folklore is 100% novel). "The Buddhist caricature guys play hockey? Wow, who would even think of that?" But now that I think about it, there's a perfectly sensical chain of logic. Buddhists ->Tibet ->mountains ->yeti ->we should put an ice cave for the yeti ->oh man you guys, wouldn't it be radical if we put hockey here?

... but then they just shoved it in the back. I guess they'd designed the level already so they couldn't integrate the hockey more? But hockey is 2/3 of the level's orbs, so you'd think it would be worth it to redesign the level... Freaking hell, it is weird. My best guess is that it was designed to be missed the first time around so the player would have a reason to return to Colossus after the talisman quest, since you don't need any upgrades to super-clear the level.

edit: wait, in that case, why shove away the super special mini-game they were excited enough to put in one of the first levels and make people miss it???

[KobaBeach]

also the fucking hockey section just popping up out of nowhere in the back gave me huge mario 64 vhs beta creepypasta video vibes which triggers my liminal space spidey sense super bad.

On one hand, I agree. On another, it reminds me of the whimsy I would expect more from a Japanese game (...)

It's less that it's bad and more like. It feels like it shouldn't be there. Like the game is tapping into my perception of the game and is reworking itself in real time like the SM64 memes. It's the same feeling I get from dreams I have where I dream of games or places in real life and they just have weird added extensions to them that just shouldn't be there. Beta/Autodemo Speed Highway At Dawn is similar with its weird Clock Pit and bizarre mini highway, kind of same with AutoDemo Windy Valley.

It's not exactly a feeling of horror or distaste. It's more... Derealization, which is a feeling I feel many times. Greenio's SM64 videos are a way of experiencing it safely to me.

[ano0maly]

So the UK/Australia/New Zealand version of this game is called Gateway to Glimmer, and I don't know why they changed the name like that. And Glimmer is just a level found in Summer Forest, so whatever title they wanted to use should have emphasized Avalar, not Glimmer. Toys for Bob ditched this alternate title in Reignited.

When I played the trilogy, I was very happy to see that Spyro can actually swim now instead of just helplessly sinking. I also think the hover is a nice addition. In Spyro 1, triangle button midair just cancels your glide and makes you drop straight down (I don't think you can move while dropping even if you wanted to). That can help sometimes, but now hover gives you a little extra boost, so it helps you reach spots that would have been just a little too high and distant to reach in the first game.

Also why can't media creators name characters instead of just calling them Professor

[QuiEstFaba]

I'm late, but this was one of my first console games ever, after a few years strictly handheld. So of course, I've got a weak spot for it.
The BGM for the homeworlds was probably my first introduction to ambient music as its own genre, more than half a decade before I began actively seeking it out.
Stewart Copeland was an excellent choice for musician, and Autumn Plains as a standalone is one of my favorite levels in any game.

I'm kind of reminded of JustAFriend et al's take on this; has anyone here seen that?

[Paragraph]

I'm kind of reminded of JustAFriend et al's take on this; has anyone here seen that?

here, those were great LPs


For myself, Spyro 2 definitely is a weird-feeling game. I do get the posts talking about its strange mood. For me, it's definitely down to structural issues. It's weirdly disjointed in the levels itself, with those clear side areas just for minigames, but that's

every level

- there's just not much overall variety in the game.

The moment-to-moment gameplay is still excellent, but also there aren't that many "oh wow you can go here, and circle around there, and no I'm in the area that has been taunting me from the very start of the level!!!" moment anymore - as exemplified by the ledge raocow explored that seemed like it would lead to a cool secret, but just...didn't.

[MonkeyShrapnel]

The sound effect for breaking the underwater jars is extremely satisfying to me for some reason.

[Catabo]

Today, on "things I like about Spyro 2": if you examine the gems, you'll see that they actually have different shapes now depending on their colour. That's a super cool little touch that I took for granted back in the day!

And now, for something I don't like: the level structure that cowman's already been able to suss out. Talisman quest to introduce you to the level, then a few orbs off to the side. Along with all the NPCs populating the levels (gotta have someone who has problems you can solve in exchange for a talisman), it makes Spyro 2 feel more tamed in comparison to the wild mystique of some of Spyro 1's levels.

Also why can't media creators name characters instead of just calling them Professor

If only they'd looked to raocow, then they would've had a perfectly serviceable Professor Face!

[Zephyr_DragonLord]

Idol Springs has quite a bit going on. Nice song, and some Tikis to deal with as enemies. Something that is nice about Spyro 2 is that enemies are very often personalized to each level, giving them each a more unified theme. Though this may have come at the cost of the levels having some deficiencies in other areas. Indeed, the levels so far have lacked too much mystery to them.

Lots of Idol Springs is locked behind just swimming, including *several* minigame type challenges. I don't feel too much from this particular set, and we'll see why when cleanup happens here.

Summer Forest itself is a fine introduction to Spyro 2 in general, but also home to one of its major warts: Moneybags. The upgrades provided by him gate your progress quite a lot, and it's pretty evident in the first homeworld, where he shows up twice to swindle our intrepid dragon protagonist, and neither of those times are for climbing. Can't say I'm a fan of that too much. I'll return to that particular point later...

[KobaBeach]

no passage behind the waterfall?? FUCK THIS GAME!!!!!!!!

[camwoodstock]

no passage behind the waterfall?? FUCK THIS GAME!!!!!!!!

time to bring back one of my fav satire news articles ever created

[KobaBeach]

no passage behind the waterfall?? FUCK THIS GAME!!!!!!!!

time to bring back one of my fav satire news articles ever created
(snip)

you know what is a better game AND is on the playstation AND has a fucking waterfall cave???!?!?!??!?!?!

fucking

arc the lad 1 and 3




get owned furries

/hj

(major cw on how the english version of 3 handled the drag queen npc, lavender. fuck working designs)

[KobaBeach]

cant escape from crossing hunter and i for one couldn't be happier

too bad the level is shit

[Catabo]

Another standout feature of Spyro 2's musical landscape is apparent in Ocean Speedway, in that the music feels like an evolution of Spyro 1 music. If you listen closely, you can hear the same guitar riffing as we heard in Cliff Town back in Spyro 1. It's a wonderful little echo of a musical theme, and we'll be hearing more of those in future.

You think running is Hunter's most powerful trait? No, no, it's his arm strength! I completely forgot about these special challenges and didn't sweat the orbs in the speedway levels during my recent playthrough because I already had more than enough to unlock everything*.

*well, not Everything, but you know. everything on the way to Everything.

Something that is nice about Spyro 2 is that enemies are very often personalized to each level, giving them each a more unified theme.

I feel that this is as often to the game's detriment as it is to its benefit. Yes, there are handfuls of levels with their own thematic continua going on (e.g.

satyrs/fauns vs earthshapers, birds vs slugs

), and I love those, but then there are also levels where the bad guys are just kinda there that makes me miss having a unified enemy like the gnorcs. It's like they're just part of the architecture rather than actually being Ripto's minions trying to stop you, you know?

[Zephyr_DragonLord]

Yeah, Ripto's forces in general are quite... undefined. Are those yaks supposed to be aligned with Ripto? The boundary is pretty unclear.

As for the speedways, they do feel similar to Spyro 1, but the addition of your charging also being powered up adds another aspect to them, and one that adds to the overall feel. It's a nice change for sure. Other than that note and the aforementioned nice music, this speedway isn't too remarkable to me.

...And then there's the orb there. The challenge doesn't actually suck, but it's easy to get thrown for a loop if you're unfamiliar with it. It thankfully becomes obvious after a while that you need to follow Hunter around to get the challenge done.

[Zephyr_DragonLord]

Well... it's kind of difficult for me to really say my full feelings on Aquaria Towers if a whole segment of level wasn't found. It took me too long to actually complete this stage, even on repeat playthroughs. Here is an exception to that thing I said yesterday; the divers wielding shock prods are obviously part of Ripto's forces, and introduced there specifically to sow discontent.

The music here's nice, and releasing the captured water is a cool thing to do to change the dynamic of the level.

[J. J. W. Mezun]

See, now in this raceway Hunter is actively trying to prevent you from getting the orb by deliberately muddling the order o’ the Superman 64 rings. Hunter truly is a villain in this game.

[Paragraph]

Aquaria Towers sucks. It should not be possible to get lost so much in a stage that's literally a loop (including a map showing that it's a loop), alas. I don't even know why this is such a confusing level. I don't like it!!

[Grounder]

the whole climbing thing feels like padding to me