ROR: Spyro 2: Ripto's Rage (PS1 Vs. PC & Xbox One X) | One Step Forward, One Step Back 

When he started this series with the 2D Mario remakes there was only a week or two between videos if I recall. However 2D Mario is a much more simple game

Dude's bored as hell, must live in a state that hasn't started opening up until the past couple weeks

Seriously. Last time this happened we were doing the Sonic reviews

@@kylecampbell565 Plus, The Videos Were Shorter

@@averytubestudios Or Klonoa reviews.

His voice acting was way better than it had any right to be, I was honestly shocked.

Beautiful

Whoever did the Moneybags impression was very spot on. It was for lack of a better word glorious!

The world is Avalar, Sent to reign...

I miss dead space

The hub themes are fuckin beautiful

Absolutely agree. They exist as beautiful calm platforming spaces to prepare you for the high energy of every level.

They are peaceful for sure, but are indistinguishable

In comparsion to the Spyro 1 hub worlds I much prefer those. While the Spyro 2 hub worlds are okay at best with maybe a few good exploratory elements, Spyro 1's hub worlds has almost every single aspect of them beat. Exploration, engaging level design, and music. The calmer, more serene nature of the hub worlds with its lack of exploration makes them mediocre in comparison.

@@williammiller4093 Come on.. Summer Forrest and Autumn Plains have way more to explore and uncover than any of Spyro 1's home worlds, they're large with hidden rooms and areas, all of S1's are small with nothing that isn't immediately found just by looking. The only thing that makes S1's hub worlds have "engaging level design" is maybe the hazards that you can die on? And the calm music and nature of the S2 homeworlds is not a negative at all, the S2 homeworlds are definitely some of the most beautifully relaxing levels I've ever seen in gaming but still have exploration and things to find. I can instantly think of every single little area in every level in the entire trilogy, they're engraved into my mind from playing them non stop for 20 years and definitely I feel that Spyro 2 has the best home worlds. But that being said I still love Spyro 1's homeworlds, it's nice to have some that have hazards and enemies in but at the same time I prefer it to be like Spyro 2 and 3 where the homeworlds are somewhere to relax and catch your breath. As for the music, yes Spyro 1's home worlds definitely have more variety but at the same time the music in the S2 ones are beautiful and soothing and also just very unique for the series, no other levels in the Spyro games have music like that.

Why weren't you at elf practice?

That makes sense yeah. I do want to point out the GBA games has it mapped to the jump button, but then they don't include standard speedway levels.

@@toadrules4658 "Hermie doesn't want to make toys."

"so a separate button is needed anyway to drop, for example, to quickly get to a supercharge path" That's the square button though.

@@mjc0961 charging midair doesn't stop your forward momentum. With hover/drop you'll fall straight down.

Same haha

He probably recorded all of them right after eachother

Me Niether

I'm glad they came out *relatively* close, any longer and I'd have likely forgotten everything from the first vid entirely.

To be honest 4 weeks isn’t THAT soon. But considering the gap between uploads he usually has, and quarantine, I get what you’re saying

Agreed. Kind of odd that Exo didn't pick up on those as much as I agree with the story flaws, but humans are flawed so mistakes happen. Oddly enough I read a comment somewhere that said despite Ripto losing his scepter in the beginning, he's shown to be holding it in the Gulp fight, as well as falling to his supposed death. I don't know what to say about that except that it reminds me of the Season 10 premiere of the Fairly Oddparents.

Thank you for reminding me, this was the most annoying detail I could think of in terms of plot. Why does Hunter have so many of these orbs? Why not give them to Spyro?

@@williammiller4093 it's Mario Sunshine all over again. Don't care that your own island chain is dying, gotta withhold the collectible from the player

I subscribe to Charri5's theory that Hunter is secretly working for Ripto. There's no explanation as to how someone could be THAT incompetent. Presumably, after Ripto failed Hunter cut his losses and ended the partnership

It was just as bad as the raccoon from Mario Sunshine.

@@williammiller4093 Probably for the same reason as dragging Spyro to Avalar in the first place, the denizens of Avalar are aspiring dragon tamers who see dragons as livestock to be harnessed, not people to treat as equals, and so Hunter is keeping Spyro under the servitude in Avalar by making him work for the orbs he needs to escape to freedom in his homeland.

I like ambient tracks but from the 15 second loops with not much in them for 2 minutes (for summer forest and autumn plains can be hard to enjoy sometimes I've found) I see what he and others that dislike them mean and I have felt it not being that interesting due to preferring more going on (adding/removing or manipulating) more than peaceful but still somewhat use of multiple instruments or samples. Winter Tundra's lasts much longer and has more going on but I've not been too big on it at times. Thats my thoughts though, I'm on the fence really.

I’m with you on the hub worlds. The first time I loaded back into Summer Forest was a trip down memory lane, so comforting.

huge agree, i love the hub themes

I like to headcanon that Ripto wasn't the main cause of most of Avalar's problems, but his presence and all the governing body focusing on him allowed the more criminal elements of Avalar to get a free pass to do their own plans. We know Ripto caused the Tikis to come to life in Idol Springs and summoned the evil spirit in Colossus which made the Yeti, Yaks and Goats become violent. But stuff like Zephyr and Breeze Harbor going to war with each other seemed like an inevitable outcome, Ripto's arrival and manhunt was just an easy excuse to start the war. That's why I like Avalar more then the Dragon Realms and Forgotten Realms, it seems more like an actual society rather then a game hub.

@@heartless2147 That's the annoying thing tho, that it isn't in the game, so you gotta come up with a way to excuse it, which the reignited version could've easily fixed by adding more dialog by Elora or the NPCs.

And yet Ripto is still a fan-favorite to everyone 🤷‍♂️

They were clunky as hell and ruined the comedy of the cutscenes. Felt more like a riff track than a monologue. It was a good idea on paper, but I think cutting them for the final game was for the better.

@@Jekuma How do they "ruin" The comedy of the cutscenes?

@@connorplays6263 Way too much talking during it that sometimes weirdly overexplains what is going on before your eyes, it was just not very well executed

@@Jekuma and yet nowhere does it ever hint at its Ripto that's causing it, for all we know these are just unrelated situations

It's also of note that while some songs loose some of their oomph in some cases, a lot of them sound even better and now have proper loopoints instead of just fading out.

Chad Daddy in some tracks like Idol Springs I agree, but tracks like Colossus, Hurricos, Fracture Hills, and all of the Hub world themes sound miles better with the changes they made and the updated samples.

@@Duskool plus, they're actually in stereo instead of mono.

Wait really? Wow

The "muppet designs" are only a thing due to technological limitations, it's not this special style. Even Spyro 1 didn't have ugly muppet animations nearly as much.

@@Robbie_Haruna Thank you, I'm glad someone said it. It's one thing to find the muppety graphics of the originals to be charming and part of the fun, like bad special effects in a B-movie, but people need to learn to take off their nostalgia goggles before talking about what is or is not good character design. One glance at the concept art for Spyro 2 debunks any notion of "muppet style" being intentional; the game's artists simply were not able to reproduce the intended designs on the PS1. (And as for the intended designs themselves, this is a bit of a hot take, but personally I feel that Oliver Wade's character designs for 2 and 3 were kind of... not very good to begin with. He's certainly no Charles Zembillas.)

I just hope to God that they could finally go back to the Muppet-sequel character animation for the Spyro franchise!

#CrashBandicootandSpyroTheDragon That’s just YOUR opinion, okay? XD

@@kieranstark7213 I second this notion.

Of course you would say that buddy boy

I really liked that too. Really gave the impression that Gnasty is putting in actual effort to take over the dragon kingdom, which makes him more of a genuine threat.

That's like a stock music except way more fitting

He did the same thing when criticizing the Sonic Unleashed Day stages

Except all the games in the original/Reignited Spyro trilogy (mainly the PS1 games, especially Spyro 3, coming from a retro gamer) are tons better than Mega Man X6 (the only worse Mega Man games would have to be the DOS hexalogy and Mega Man X7, otherwise, Mega Man FTW!).

I know this is off topic but I thought Megaman X6 was better then X7 because in theory plays like the ps1 megaman X games, X7 on the other hand is insufferable to play no efence to anyone who like x7 if you do more power to you but for me the gameplay feels clunky the graphics don't hold up anymore now to give X7 credit I think it looks better then X8s graphics but that's not saying much since the characters don't move there lips when they speak now before you say it there is no excuse to why the character models don't have moving lips that game came out in 2003 when Jak and Daxter 2 and rachet and clank 2 came out and they had moving lips if those games can have moving lips then why couldn't this. Also that God awful voice acting now I love the voice actor for X but his performance in that game was really bad and out right cringe-worthy at points zero sounds alright but he kinda sounds like Batman if it was his 1st day on the job and I know this one is controversial but I actually like Axls voice in this game I know some of his lines are cringy yes but for some reason I don't get annoyed bye them and red sounds badass love that guy's voice and sigma sounds like Dr claw if he was a smoker. Now I know this whole commant has nothing to do with Spyro but you guys mentioned Megaman so I thought I would give my own take on the subject yes X6 is not perfect I am aware of that but still I play the X Legacy collections with rookie hunter mode on and it was so easier to play anyways This has been smirky Starscream86 calling out and remember stay cool

Gateway to Glimmer is kind of a dumb name to begin with IMO. Glimmer's only relevance to the plot is that you happen to get taken to that level first because it's "the most well suited" or whatever the character says. Something like "Gateway to Avalar" would make more sense, albeit without the alliteration, which I'm guessing is why they chose GtG to begin with.

Thank you!!!! (Though to be fair, all Spyro games kick ass with the exception of Season of Ice, Enter the Dragonfly, Spyro Orange/Crash Purple, Shadow Legacy, the handheld versions of A New Beginning, the home console version of The Eternal Night and the DS version of Dawn of the Dragon)

@@kieranstark7213 in other words, most spyro games do not kick ass.

Ripto wanted bombs, and had enough rupe... I mean gems, so it was his, my friend.

Lamp oil? Rope? Bombs? It's yours my friend, as long as you have enough gems.

Since they were busy with Luigi's Mansion 3 (and 2/Dark Moon too), they could go on in making another one. I think they even referenced Mario Strikers in their latest game, so they haven't forgotten it or anything. On the other hand Mario Sports is in a bit of crisis right now, the games' quality are merely mediocre compared to the heights on the Gamecube and Next Level Games may be a bit sick of the Mario Franchise and might want to take on another Punch Out project or an entirely new IP.

Am I the only one who wants a Mario Strikers Charged sequel?!

Well...

Yes! I'm not the only one that wants it!

I think he would either rate it a remaster or reprise

No both those games suck and only make money if the all mighty master of cartoons. Spongebob. The modern Mickey mouse

@@ryanmcwilliams8784 ok

I think the issue is that he would also review every version of the original release as well as every version of the remake, meaning that he would have to play the game about nine times.

Lost Fleet is bugged to be too hard, and Super bonus round is bugged to be extremely easy, from what i've experienced. I fell off once there, and got immediatly put in first place

One he was sending Crush back through to "get his things" or in other words sending him to get more minions in to help the invasion. Even if she disabled it once Crush went back in they still would have Crush and Ripto who are a lot bigger problem than Crush.

And so many of the Orbs that Spyro needs to get home are held hostage by Hunter, who's supposed to be on Spyro's team but ropes him into helping Hunter with his chores or playing sports with him in exchange for paying Spyro in orbs, that it seems like the denizens of Avalar intend to enslave Spyro for their own ends beyond disposing of Ripto for them.

I agree, it was and always will be my favorite childhood game and my favorite in the trilogy, but I didn't ever see the story as explicily bad even, it just feels intentionally goofy. It feels like an intentional romp with spyro dragged alonge cause no one else can be assed to defeat the little bastard in the big cape 😂

Tash Candicoot Bwinsanity

Actually, it happens more often than you'll think that someone like Spyro 2 the least. I am one of those people. I didn't know Spyro 2 was the most popular until that review.

And there's no consistency with level themes from each hubworld. There are literally no negatives.

For the record, I never did get how Ripto became the villain to come out with the most impact in the Spyro games afterwards. Your take here was about the same take 10-to-12 year old me had, going on confusion about how come this loser was the big bad when really Crush did more active damage in the entire dang plot.

Key word being most.

@Gratuitous Lurking Think about how many villains Spyro held a conversation with. ... See? Ripto is the only villain with any character dynamic with the hero. People liked them trash talking each other, but The Sorceress and Gnasty Gnorc don’t even speak a *word* to Spyro. The Sorceress and Gnasty Gnorc are *villains,* but they do nothing to *antagonize* the hero directly; they are not true antagonists. It’s not that Ripto is an especially great at being a villain, but he is a fun *antagonist* and that is what people latch onto.

"The Sorceress and Gnasty Gnorc are villains, but they do nothing to antagonize the hero directly;" So the Sorceress using magic to create the bosses and sending them out to take on Spyro is apparently not antagonising the main character? Also, the Sorceress having genocidal intentions is probably the closest Spyro has ever felt like as if I'm watching a Don Bluth film.

Irrelevant BMB You missed the term “DIRECTLY.” Sending your minion out to kill is an INDIRECT act to “antagonize” Spyro. Please look up the definition of “antagonize” to understand where I’m coming from. Mass genocide, on the other hand, is a generic villainous act that she doesn’t even succeed in; it was only her intent. Even then, Spyro himself isn’t *personally* associated with her plans. You could replace Spyro with literally any other dragon and the feeling of opposition is the same. The Sorceress does NOTHING to Spyro DIRECTLY. Even her trap that she set for him is set off by Hunter and Spyro doesn’t even care. He just continues his quest as if nothing happened; he doesn’t immediately go rescue his friend, nothing. The ONLY time when the Sorceress get personal is when Spyro jumps through the boss portal to kill her and they say NOTHING to each other. There is no character dynamic between them, not banter, no closure to their relationship even after the secret fight because they HAD NO relationship. The Sorceress has nothing going on, except purely selfish motivations and the generic villain “kill anyone who gets in my way.” Spyro just wants the eggs back until he attacks her via the player’s command. If anything, it’s the *Rhynocs* that are the true antagonists of the game. They are in every level. They are always out to cause trouble for you. They are always in the way. Just like the Gnorcs, actually. The Sorceress just sits on her big, fat, ugly butt and shouts orders until the end. At least Ripto is *there* in Crush’s and Gulp’s arenas... *antagonizing* Spyro as he enters and takes damage.

Congrats on getting into college. Have fun with debt

@@kimgkomg Will do.

Seriously, i never seen an ASSHOLE Video about insulting Spyro 2 with that Power like this One... And the Worst Part of this, is the fact than he is attacking Spyro 2, When Most of that ^Problems^ he Criticizes, Are equal or Worst in Spyro 3...

Actually no. 3 addresses and fixes practically every issue that was present in Spyro 2.

@@920316player it's his opinion, and he gives good arguments. I'm glad he is able to have a different opinion from others and adds to the community

Grovy Sparky Uhhh....it’s his opinion dude. You can’t expect everyone to instantly think Spyro 2 is as great as you think it is

3 has its treasure pots, minigame additions that are still spyro running through areas (which I assume will be addressed in his video on 3) from 2 but adds mechanics like skateboarding, new characters that feel different. It has a mix of 2 very much in there for sure along with 1 & its own. It has what many sequels fix and take from, some take a bit to move on from them, others embrace them still, it depends what the devs take from. I see both sides but yeah I was fine enough with this review as I never thought too deep into some areas so... and the realisation of aspects in some games over others is too back and forth that it opened my eyes.

Then I bet you'll want to kill me if I say that even though I respect Copeland a lot, non of the Spyro soundtrack would be in my top 50 favorite soundtrack of all time, and I don't care that much about those.

​@@Eclipsmon8421 Yeah, compared to the Crash Bandicoot OST (PSX and Remaster), Spyro doesn't have any song I like. The boss themes are kinda good, but absolutely nothing stands out in any way or shape.

"Yeah, compared to the Crash Bandicoot OST (PSX and Remaster), Spyro doesn't have any song I like." Funny because they're both tied for me. One thing I like about both trilogies is how each specific entry has their own music style that separates them from each other. I can't really critique music since that's one of the most subjective things imaginable. I just enjoy simply what my ears find pleasing.

Lol I gotta go to 400p

Say what?

He was referring to the ladder climb when he said he questioned why it was unlockable

@@galfinsp7216 Actually it looks like we're both wrong. He's actually talking about the head bash. (He's comparing it to hovering, and then says both the head bash and the ladder climb shouldn't be unlockable.)

strongly agree.

It’s why I take speedrunners’ “objective” opinions with a grain of salt. Being part of a community that bases itself around the sole purpose of being the best (fastest) is going to cultivate elitism; by its own very strict and competitive nature. It warps your mindset (perspective) in a way where it becomes hard to differentiate between ‘objectivity’ and ‘optimization.’ Think Pokémon if you’ve ever tried to be even semi-competitive: I used to not care about what I caught as a kid, but once I learned about natures, I now actively grind and breed for HOURS trying to get ‘perfect’ Pokémon. Garchomp is an objectively strong Pokémon, but if you’ve got a nature that ISN’T Adamant or Jolly, it might as well be garbage. It sucks and I’ll never look at Pokémon the same ever again.

Elora is surprised by the talisman you bring back from Glimmer, they are a nice way of showing the you helped the people living in the levels you visited, why do they open doors though? No reason given except "they're magical". As a kid and even when I reaplyed the games, the illusion to visit real places and to help the inhabitants was enough to give much more motivation than in Spyro 1, I think the cutscenes help a lot.

It might be because Elora’s eyes in the remake are FREAKIN HUGE

@@blackhoggaming that, and they are nearly solid black, DARK GREEN. And she is no longer a red head. I mean I figured the red head part because media has been replacing redheads with brown & black heads for awhile; But why the eye color though? Blue eyed red heads are the rarest type of of red head in the world, and red heads themselves are a minority IRL. Shame that Activision/blizzard like the rest of sold out hollywood to china, hates normal red heads, UNLESS it's a stereotype.

Zion The Dragon Whoa dude! I think you might be making a mountain out of a molehill here

@@blackhoggaming because I said they changed elora from a blue eyes red head to a green eyes brown head? I don't see how, as it is a think hollywood does, but to each their own I guess.

I also hate that Hunter is now a ‘Surfer-bro’ instead of a cowardly idiot. I loved his old voice to death.

@@Deoxys_Used_Mimic I agree. I'm confused as to why they recast Hunter, his original VA is in Reignited. In the original version, Greg Berger voiced both Hunter and Ripto. In Reignited, he only voices Ripto!

What do you expect them to look like? Muppets?

@@godofwar234regi5 Actually, yes.

@@ErdrickHero Well this the eighth gen, so there's no excuse of making them muppets anymore.

I was thinking the same thing. I figured that out when I was ten years old.

Honestly, there isn’t a “best” Spyro game. 1, 2, and 3 all have their own merits that make them stand out from each other. Spyro 1 is simplicity itself for the casual collect-a-thon experience. Spyro 2 has personality in spades for quirky cartoon lovers. Spyro 3 has the widest gameplay variety for all kinds of players to find something to latch onto. If I could give the biggest flaw of each, it is: 1’s simplicity can also be its weakness. It can feel same-y after a while. (Don’t get me wrong, Spyro 1 isn’t bad, it just doesn’t have much going for it OR against it other than what you see on the tin.) 2 has the least amount of content. (I could say more, but the video does it for me and I think this is the biggest problem in my biased opinion.) 3 tries to do too much, where many of its gameplay styles either don’t receive enough attention or aren’t as refined as Spyro himself. (Reignited’s butchered glitchfest doesn’t help much either.) I’d love to tear Spyro 3 a new asshole, but I’ve gone on for too long already.

"3 tries to do too much, where many of its gameplay styles either don’t receive enough attention or aren’t as refined as Spyro himself......I’d love to tear Spyro 3 a new asshole, but I’ve gone on for too long already." I would prefer if you didn't tear it a new arsehole (weird you would say you gone on too long yet didn't write a lot). Already had people do it haphazardly like Square Eyed Jak, but moving on. Of the original trilogy, Spyro 3 feels like the most balanced. It has roughly as many core collectibles, if not more so, than Spyro 1 and the side-attractions are a lot more optional. With the exception of the introductory playable character levels (only 4), you can focus all of your attention on Spyro with the majority of that focused on the platforming and exploration, essentially the core principles of Spyro's level design. If I was ever forced to do a few side-attractions, I would do either speedways (around since Spyro 1) or do a few side-attractions that still have you using Spyro's moveset. Normally I would take this as an issue, but it's minor thanks to the side-attractions doing a much better job of making you use Spyro's complete moveset as opposed to only one or two. It also helps that the level design in general is a massive improvement over Spyro 2's, feeling a lot more like genuine Spyro gameplay akin to Spyro 1 as opposed to the sluggish and bloated design of the second entry. It really says something when I even enjoy the worst playable characters over half of the content that Spyro 2 offered. The playable characters are mostly a good change of pace, with Sheila and especially Sgt: Byrd offering some fantastic high points. Good control, superb level design, and not overstaying their welcome. Agent 9 is okay if a bit slow, and Bentley is more of an amusing distraction rather than a great diversion. While I would have liked if these characters had more gameplay to flesh them out better, I'm satisfied enough with what we got. They, as well as the side-attractions where you use vehicles, only take up 1/4 of the entire game which feels like a good enough amount and prevents Spyro from losing its identity. It also helps that the playable characters were a clever way of making the backtracking feel meaningful and that is made more evident by levels opening up shortcuts, making it far less tedious to go back and get what you have missed on the first visit. Spyro 3 isn't a perfect game, but its flaws are far easier to swallow than most 3D platformers of the 5th generation. Plus, they're so few and far between the good stuff that it's easy to forget and it makes the fatigue go away when they do occur. I don't need variety to be perfect, I need it to be strong with the rough edges making me want to go back to the main gameplay and thus I no longer feel exhausted. It's Spyro the Dragon at its most human and fun to say the least, and has recently overtaken Crash Bandicoot 3: Warped as my favourite game on the PlayStation.

@@ultrairrelevantnobody1862 Yeah, it's annoying how much people hate on 3, good to see Exo isn't another person to hate it

@@Deoxys_Used_Mimic U also forgot to mentioned another flawed that Spyro 1 has. Worst bosses in video game history.

"I've also never had a problem with the camera in hockey and crystal popcorn, mainly since I've been playing them that way for so long it's not an issue." Well, like he said: just because one has played so many times that they got used to it and can do it easily doesn't make it good.

Agreed.